“[W]hat could be more scholarly than a nice, authoritative statistic, quoted from a professional journal in the student’s field?” The Chronicle of Higher Education —Telling the Truth About Damned Lies and Statistics Similar:Part of Wright brothers' 1st airplane on NASA's Mars chopper “Wilbur and Orville Wright would be pl…AwesomeWhen T.S. Eliot Invented the Hipster Prufrock…
The longer the company’s annual report, the less successful the company. This isn’t really a technical writing issue — usually companies with bad news to report need a lot of words to explaining themselves. But if this is what it takes to get some pinhead CEOs to appreciate brevity, so be it. Wired Similar:Why We…
Danielle Preston —You Know You’re a Technical Writer When… Similar:The Tyranny of Now (Appreciation of Harold Innis)As a grad student at the University of T…CultureThe Myth of North America, in One PaintingFascinating art history — a thoughtful …AestheticsTwitter, after 10 years, hasn't been a money-makerRake-thin and bearded, Dorsey radiates a…Business15 Times "Filler Text" Became a…
A student of mine makes comments on interactive fiction, garish colors, and dancing text. Jan Carroll —Just For the Record Similar:Seton Hill Virtual Commencement Fall 2020 AcademiaDesert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksWe are in a golden age for journalismMost handwringing about the state of jou…BusinessLighting makes…
learns something from my freshman comp students. On March 13, 2000, I e-mailed web guru Jakob Nielsen to tell him that six of my freshmen spent 8-30 minutes on his site without finding a plain-text “search” link on the home page. A week or so later, I noticed that Nielsen changed his page, making the…
“[W]hen it comes to writing, whether you’re a seventh grader, a college student, a professor, a beginning copywriter, or an accomplished novelist, a B isn’t good enough.” Kathy Henning —For Writers, Writing Is Never a Waste of Time: Part 2 Similar:To Apple, Love TaylorApple changes its plans, after initially…BusinessDesigning Cabinets in Blender3D — ExperimentsI designed…
“[A] society without literature, or a society in which literature has been relegated–like some hidden vice–to the margins of social and personal life, and transformed into something like a sectarian cult, is a society condemned to become spiritually barbaric, and even to jeopardize its freedom.” Mario Vargas Llosa Similar:Classroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with…
The creator of Cliffs Notes has died. Here’s his obituary — although I know you probably won’t bother to read the whole thing. Similar:The Secret Power Of Black TwitterA recent Pew study (Smartphone Ownership…CybercultureWatching Shakespeare With Your KidsMy retired parents and bachelor engineer…CultureThe Great Gatsby Character Map SomethingSoSam.AestheticsYou’re Just Gonna Be Nice by A. LangeIn…
On the tasteless side, but still very funny: “Some Features You May Need on Your Computer“ Similar:Like digging ‘your own professional grave’: The translators grappling with losing work to … While workers worldwide ponder how AI …BusinessBooks vs. Kindles: The Choice No One Made Ever”I bought a Kindle. I didn’t immediately…BooksAlphabet in Motion: How Letters…
“It is our duty, as responsible citizens, to stop the rot. Next time someone touches base with you or moves your goal posts, punch them in the face.” Clint Witchalls —Business and the English Language Similar:The Case Against Reading EverythingRight now, I’m teaching “American Lit 19…BooksTake my feedback if you want to pass.As my students…
“Europe once sought to bring enlightenment—literacy, civil society, modern technology—to benighted parts of the world. It did so in the name of progress and civilization. The ethic of Third Worldism dictates that yesterday’s enlightenment be rebaptized as today’s imperialistic oppression.” Roger Kimball Similar:My colleague @crissycp once again left an amazing Irish soda bread in the…
Imagine yourself creating a game with a world for other people to inhabit on your own computer. It is a world without sounds or visuals. Now, put yourself into the textual world and imagine yourself in that world and living through the game. Laura L. Hogue —Text-based computer game lets players interact with story. Similar:Well-chosen…
The point is not that we should add stories to our sites to ensnare narrative-starved readers. The point is that the reader’s journey through our site is a narrative experience. Our job is to make the narrative satisfying. Mark Bernstein —The Narrative Web Similar:Want a tech job? Study this. Advice from Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr and…
“Roget’s Thesaurus… should be roundly condemned as a crucial part of the engine work that has transported us to our current state of linguistic and intellectual mediocrity. Simon Winchester What’s another word for “thesaurus”? Similar:My 1951 day DuoLingo streak was fun, but… Ever since DuoLingo announced it…BusinessMerchant of Venice Part 2 live, now! #PPTPlaytimeDramaEmily Dickinson’s…
Look for an “escape from frames” or “turn this frame off” link. Right-click on a link (or, on a Mac, hold down the control key while clicking) and select the command that will let you “open link in new window.” —Frames: Finding the URL of a Framed Document Similar:Somewhere Nearby is Colossal Cave: Examining Will…
“Writers, pause and think what your purpose is. Sure, you have to earn a living, but does it disgust you to write over-simplified articles that tell a partial truth, or even worse, lie, because your editor and publisher won’t buy anything with more depth. Does it frustrate you that readers know you’re lying, and seek…
Why computer games sacrifice story for graphics: “Often great graphics can enhance a game, but just as often, graphical emphasis — whether in a game or the review thereof — is a result of developers and journalists taking the easy way out. When that happens, we all lose, especially as long as game publishers think…
What do The Iliad, Beowulf and Hamlet have that Doom, Quake, and Tomb Raider don’t? After all, each involves bloodshed, revenge and people armed with nasty weapons running amok. USA Today Similar:My 20-year-old Java Program Is Was Broken!So a harmless little Java program I wrot…CybercultureDon't Like Hamlet? Now's Your Chance To Rewrite It”It’s not really…
The fantastic and faith-filled works of C.S. Lewis will be re-issued by HarperCollins. Similar:The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2 ( #StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 1) Your res…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break …PersonalCaptive Pursuit (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 6) O'Brien Befriends a Nervous,…Rewatching ST:DS9 Sisko is listening …DesignStudents Are Using…
“We put up the instructions on the booths,” said Don Hersey, Putnam County’s supervisor of elections. “We tell them, `Fill in the ovals. A check or an X may not work.’ But that’s the problem we’re having — some people just don’t follow instructions.” —3% of Floridians spoiled their votes in Election 2000 Similar:Happy Father’s…