The verdict in the Trayvon Martin case brings to mind the Casey Anthony trial from two years ago. In response of the public’s displeasure, Alan Dershowitz wrote a stirring and even-handed article in the Wall Street Journal, where he examined the nature of “not guilty:” A criminal trial is never about seeking justice for the victim. If … Continue reading Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Twitter is gearing up to imminently release some sort of music recommendation service, thanks to its recent acquisition of We Are Hunted. It’s hard to tell what exactly the service will offer, but it may not directly compete with heavyweights like Spotify, Pandora, or the upcoming Apple radio service – opting instead to serve as … Continue reading Social Singing
The New York Times featured an article today discussing recent back and forth over computer graded essays. There seem to be many critics: “Let’s face the realities of automatic essay scoring,” the group’s statement reads in part. “Computers cannot ‘read.’ They cannot measure the essentials of effective written communication: accuracy, reasoning, adequacy of evidence, good … Continue reading Claims About Computer Graded Essays
The saying goes “less is more.” Except, of course, in academic writing, where “more is more.” Effectively, the more verbose, wordy and academic-sounding a work reads, the better it seems, regardless of actual content. This logic has unfortunately mixed into the worlds of Literary Criticism, Gender Studies and Postcolonial Theory, with awful results. Consider titles. … Continue reading Three Little Words
In keeping with the “modern” part of its name, the Modern Language Association has instituted guidelines for citing a tweet. It’s admittedly neat that Twitter posts now have enough resonance to merit inclusion, though the Association’s example – a Pakistani man’s May 2011 observation of a helicopter carrying SEAL Team 6, who shortly thereafter killed … Continue reading The MLA Now has Guidelines for Citing Twitter
As per Yahoo! NBC’s critically-acclaimed The Office will end after the upcoming season nine. NYT confirmation Continue reading The Office to End After Season Nine
Some folks on Broadway are putting together “Chaplin: The Musical.” Anyone else appreciate the irony of making a musical about a silent-movie star? Continue reading Chaplin: The Musical
The news about Flame and its relatives being confirmed as a US/Israel coordinated attack on Iran has mostly been taken with the same awe that a Tom Clancy novel might instill in a reader. We have the President(s) as our Jack Ryan, approving a massive long term software-based intelligence gathering/ infrastructure-crippling mission that keeps our … Continue reading It’s a Cold, Code War
Tyler Cowen links to an article in the Chicago Tribune saying: “Brazilian prisoners are now able to shorten their sentences by reading books and writing essays about them” Is the pun intentional? I don’t know but reading further, the program sounds like a great idea to me. I’d love to read some of those essays … Continue reading Enlightening Society, One Prisoner at a Time
Silicon Spatula 