Former Setonian editor-in-chief Amanda Cochran visits my journalism class to discuss her career path, from the SHU blogosphere in 2003 to NYU, CBS News in Manhattan and KPRC in Houston. (Last Wednesday.)

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Meme alleging Trump said “Africans Are Lazy, Good at Sex, Theft” is a hoax

I’ve seen this meme shared by several FB friends in the past few days. It’s clearly a hoax. It was created by someone who wasn’t trained as a journalist. The body of the story doesn’t even include the quotes that are mentioned in the headline. (The head says Trump said “Africans are lazy,” but in…

In September, 2000, I was blogging about PICK UP AX, Bellamy’s Looking Backward, WB Yeats, Jupiter Communications, and why Flash Animations Suck

In September 2000, I was blogging about The nerdy, 3-person 1990 play PICK UP AX The full text of Edward Bellamy’s Utopian fantasy Looking Backward (written in 1888, set in September 2000) The papers of William Butler Yeats (donated by his son to the National Library of Ireland) An elitist press release from Jupiter Communications…

I just installed the “Old Layout for Facebook” plugin for Chrome.

I just installed the “Old Layout for Facebook” plugin for Chrome. Now I can continue to be annoyed by the Facebook I’m used to. Similar:The daughter (giving the piggyback ride in pic 2) doing a thing that starts tomorrow. Tribune ReviewAmusingI've missed doing this! Another 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel goodness. #blender3d …AestheticsA…

Brothers (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 3) Awkward Android Family Reunion

Rewatching ST:TNG after taking a break for 20 years. Data sees firsthand how he’s a chip off the old block, and almost gets emotional about a new chip on his shoulder (or thereabouts). The B-plot about a brother-on-brother prank features children who are believably childish, in that they aren’t wise beyond their years, or prodigies,…

The Pentagon has ordered Stars and Stripes to shut down for no good reason

Stunning. The Stars and Stripes is much more important than any local monument. Even for those of us who are all too wearily familiar with President Donald Trump’s disdain for journalists, his administration’s latest attack on the free press is a bit of a jaw-dropper. In a heretofore unpublicized recent memo, the Pentagon delivered an…

How hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweet

On Sunday night, President Donald Trump retweeted a video of a violent incident on a New York City subway platform. The video shows a Black man pushing a white woman into a train car and is captioned “Black Lives Matter / Antifa.” The problem? It is over a year old and has nothing to do with either Black Lives Matter or Antifa. It, in fact, shows the actions of a mentally ill man with no known ties to either group.

The Duolingo owl is proud of me.

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No, Running Online Classes Isn’t Cheaper

A good response to the myth that the labor of an online instructor is less valuable than the labor of an in-person instructor. Most of a college’s budget is labor. When a physical campus moves to online teaching, it doesn’t save much labor at all. Grading an online student’s paper takes the same amount of…

Story Pitch: How writers present an article idea to a busy editor

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Family ( #StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 2) Picard Retreats to Family Vineyard

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Still recovering from his ordeal with the Borg, Picard visits his brother at the Picard family vineyard. In the village of his boyhood, Picard’s roadside encounter with his nephew Rene is just perfect, as are the domestic scenes with his warm sister-in-law Marie and his brittle, jealous older brother…

“Thank you for being kind.” —Friday afternoon email from a student who’d been a little salty this week.

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Journalists prefer plain language.

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Journalism: Muzzle your biases. Seek out diverse but credible sources. You’ll be criticized anyway, from multiple directions.

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Took the whole day off and spent part of it making #greebles with #Blender3D because reasons.

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Jane Elliott’s “National Brotherhood Week” Lesson

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Imagine a world…

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A Conversation with Dennis Jerz, Actor — WAOB Audio Theatre

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In August, 2000 I was blogging about poetry, presidential wordplay, home-schooling, online learning, and a search engine you may have heard about.

In August 2000, I was blogging about Top 10 Tips for Writing Poetry (which I’ve updated over the years and is the most popular page on my site today) Richard Lederer’s presidential wordplay (“I predict that at the end of the campaign. Gore will be bushed and Bush will be gored. Then we’ll have either…

2020, In One Photo. (“Come join us!”)

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