ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Spotting Liars
/We’re bad at accurately interpreting behavior and speech patterns, said James Alcock, professor of psychology at Canada’s York University. Learning is based on getting regular feedback, he told me. Try to add 2 + 2 and someone will tell you whether you got it right or wrong. Over time, that feedback allows you to know when you’re right. But there’s no systematic un-blinding to tell you when you correctly guessed whether you were being lied to. The feedback we get on this is spotty. Often there is none. Sometimes the feedback itself is incorrect. There’s never a chance to really learn and get better, Alcock said. “So why should we be good at it?”
Take people whose job it is to professionally detect lies — judges, police officers, customs agents. Studies show they believe themselves to be better than chance at spotting liars. But the same studies show they aren’t, Alcock said. And that makes sense, he told me, because the feedback they get misleads them. Customs agents, for instance, correctly pull aside smugglers for searches just often enough to reinforce their sense of their own accuracy. But “they have no idea about the ones they didn’t search who got away,” Alcock said.
Maggie Koerth-baker, writing in fivethirtyeight
Articles of Interest - Week of Oct 15
/***TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft to make over 60,000 patents available to the Linux community & join the Open Innovation Network Ars Techinica
I’m very sorry, but you’re going to have to learn to love the blockchain Tech Crunch
Teaching Robots to be Comedians 1843
Why we can’t quit the QWERTY keyboard MIT Tech Review
At 10 trillion frames per second, this camera captures light in slow motion Tech Crunch
Nearly a quarter of US households own a smart speaker, according to Nielsen The Verge
A Drone-Flinging Cannon Proves UAVs Can Mangle Planes Wired
Why Gene Editing Will Create So Many Jobs BBC
***SOCIAL MEDIA
How self-love got out of control Social media, reality TV, politics … has narcissism become the new normal? The Guardian
Snapchat launches first slate of original shows Axios
The Teens Who Rack Up Thousands of Followers by Posting the Same Photo Every Day The Atlantic
An online decency moderator's advice: Blur your eyes BBC
People keep dying taking selfies, this study reveals how The Next Web
Instagram Has a Massive Harassment Problem The Atlantic
Why Instagram’s founders are resigning: independence from Facebook weakened Tech Crunch
Instagram Tests Tapping instead of Scrolling Tech Crunch
Facebook to ban misinformation on voting in upcoming U.S. elections Reuters
Facebook Hack Included Search History and Location Data of Millions New York Times
Facebook prototypes Unsend 6 months after Zuckerberg retracted messages Tech Crunch
***MOBILE
The smartphone app that can tell you’re depressed before you know it yourself MIT Tech Review
Google's cyber unit Jigsaw introduces Intra, a new security app dedicated to busting censorship Tech Crunch
***JOURNALISM
We Can Use Robots But We Still Need Journalists European Journalism Observatory
How Journalists at Local and National Outlets Are Evolving Different Skill Sets Harvard’s Nieman Reports
“Press” offers a look at journalism’s wretched side Economist
Do journalists pay too much attention to Twitter? Columbia Journalism Review
Longtime Archivists Outline What They've Learned From Watching Decades Of News NPR
2018 has been a brutal year for journalists Washington Post
The CIA had a policy of ignoring declassification requirements MuckRock
After Journalist Disappears, Companies Reconsider Saudi Investment NPR
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Bloomberg Media is using text-to-audio to keep app users engaged Digiday
Is Blockchain The Future Of Journalism? Two Entrepreneurs Take A Chance Forbes
***TEACHING JOURNALISM
U. of I. journalism class to study 'Trumpaganda' — the president's approach to the news media Chicago Tribune
What to Teach Journalism Students When Their Field is Under Attack? Editor & Publisher
***FAKE NEWS
Deepfake Videos Are Getting Real and That’s a Problem Wall Street Journal
The Viral Story About A Competitive Barefoot Runner Demanding People Sweep Up Acorns Is A Hoax BuzzFeed News
Memo to the media: Stop spreading Trump’s fake news (opinion) Washington Post
CBS sees surge in US Flat Earthers who say there’s no rover on Mars: ‘Most people think we’re idiots’ Raw Story
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/10/cbs-sees-surge-us-flat-earthers-say-theres-no-rover-mars-people-think-idiots/
The Fix for Fake News Isn't Code: It's Human New York Times
How pro-trust initiatives are taking over the Internet Axios
Kyrie Irving apologizes to US teachers for spreading flat-earth conspiracy theories Quartz
Sasse warns of deepfake "perfect storm" Axios
***BIG DATA & AI
M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1 Billion New York Times
Machine Learning fails simple test for children—what it will take to get past an Achilles’ heel of computer vision systems Quanta Magazine
Here’s why a few simple rules are often more effective than flashy AI Axios
No, quantum computing isn’t going to revolutionize AI anytime soon—and that’s according to a panel of experts in both fields MIT Tech Review
***PERSONAL GROWTH
Our Kids are Watching Us Becoming (my blog)
***GRAMMAR
It’s time to talk about “It’s” The Outline
***WRITING & READING
Stephen King’s 20 Rules for Writers Open Culture
A sensible, free guide to negotiating book contracts BoingBong
***LANGUAGE
Mapping the geographical usage of pop versus soda
When My Class Discussed ‘Mischievious’ Chronicle of Higher Ed
Coca-Cola, trying to mix Maori with English, accidentally puts "Hello, death" on vending machine BongBong
***LITERATURE
25 National Book Award finalists announced NPR
A prestigious university just awarded a literary prize to one of its janitors Quartz
Inside the Rooms Where 20 Famous Books Were Written Literary Hub
How Instagram Saved Poetry The Atlantic
Why Should You Read Don Quixote?: An Animated Video Makes the Case Open Culture
***GENDER
New York City creates gender-neutral 'X' option for birth certificates Reuters
A Deaf Jewish, Asian, Trans Model Just Made History The Forward
Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women Reuters
First-Year Law Students’ Reported Ranking Female Peers by Appearance in Private Group Chat The Cornell Daily Sun
Here’s what the stark gender disparity among top orchestra musicians looks like Quartz
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
California has a racist past. But removing monuments sparks debate about how to reflect an ugly history Los Angeles Times
DNA databases are too white: This man aims to fix that MIT Tech Review
***FREE SPEECH
Elon University event highlights First Amendment rights The Times News
50 Years Later, Raised Fists During National Anthem Still Resonate NPR
***LEGAL ISSUES
Why is a Lisbon soccer team trying to unmask Portuguese bloggers in US court? Ars Techica
Did Uber Steal Google’s Intellectual Property? The New Yorker
Stairway To Heaven Is Not Blurred Lines Tech Dirt
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
New Pentagon weapons systems can easily be hacked Phys.org
It Took 9 Seconds to Guess a DoD Weapons System Password Wired
We Are All Research Subjects Now - The Chronicle of Higher Education Chronicle of Higher Ed
A Guide to Law Enforcement Spying Technology Electronic Frontier Foundation
No One Can Get Cybersecurity Disclosure Just Right Wired
***PRODUCING MEDIA
The iPad Is Soon, Finally, Getting a Full Version of Adobe Photoshop Gizmodo
***INTERNET
The Internet’s keepers? Wayback Machine Director Mark Graham outlines the scale of everyone's favorite archive Ars Technica
DuckDuckGo hits new milestone of 30 million private searches per day The Verge
Dropbox will now scan your images for text The Verge
Oral History of the Early Days of ICANN: A Perspective From Europe Circle ID
***RELIGION
Texas evangelical groups are suing for the right to discriminate against LGBTQ workers Vox
The US witch population has seen an astronomical rise Quartz
Millennial Men on Joining, and Then Leaving, the Priesthood MEL Magazine
Why 3 Christian pastors seek to join 5-member Corona City Council in November The Press-Enterprise
***RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
U.S. Pastor Released From Turkey After Spending 2 Years In Prison NPR
China gives legal basis for ‘re-education camps’ for ‘religious extremists’ South China Morning Post
New Embassy In Jerusalem Attracts Devout Christians From The U.S. NPR
***RELIGION AND U.S. POLITICS
Freed Pastor Brunson thanks Trump in White House meeting MSNBC
***GOOD NEWS
Canada surgeon operates on teddy bear for 8-year-old boy BBC
Wounded Army vet makes it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro CBS News
School social worker writes notes of encouragement to all 600 of his students Lancaster Eagle Gazette
NYC library lets job seekers check out interview attire New York Times
New pilot takes elderly residents of his village on their first flight ever The Times of India
Toddler in need of a new liver and kidney gets both right before her birthday ABC News
Soldier Whose House Was Looted Gives Away Money Raised for Him People
Texas Boy Thought to Be Nonverbal Can Speak After Dentist Discovers He's 'Tongue-Tied' Inside Edition
***ART & DESIGN
New font is designed to boost your memory Cnet
White supremacists are taking their design seriously—and we should, too Quartz
A map of every building in America New York Times
That Painting of Trump Having a Diet Coke With Abraham Lincoln Is Now Hanging in the White House TIME
Buckminster Fuller Creates Striking Posters of His Own Inventions Open Culture
***MUSIC
Leonard Cohen wrote a poem called “Kanye West Is Not Picasso” Consequence of Sound
Trump Signs Sweeping New Music Licensing Legislation Variety
The ridiculous amount of money baby-boomer rockers still make on tour Quarz
Why are so many rappers on LinkedIn? The Guardian
When Lyft passengers find out their driver is actually Chance the Rapper BongBong
***FILM
More and More Movies Are Reflecting Our Fear of the Internet Wired
‘Call Me By Your Name’ Director Plans Film Inspired by Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’ Rolling Stone
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Spotify Launches New Program for Podcasters Variety
The Growth of Sinclair’s Conservative Media Empire The New Yorker
***STUDENT LIFE
Police release body camera videos of college students being pulled over at gunpoint Yahoo
Social media videos designed to inspire millennials to help fill more than 200 officer vacancies Union Tribune
For millennials, a regular visit to the doctor’s office is not a primary concern Washington Post
Michigan high school cheerleader gives out pot brownies in exchange for homecoming votes Freep
How to Get Fortnite on Any Android Phone Now Life Hacker
The Cornell Note-Taking System: Learn the Method Students Have Used to Enhance Their Learning Since the 1940s Open Culture
***JOBS & INTERNSHIPS
Producer Tribune Media, San Diego
Local News Team The Herald, Rancho Cucamonga
Reporter (entry level) Woodland Daily Democrat, Woodland
Social Media Intern Illumina, San Diego
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Anonymous Website Aims to Out Sexual Assaulters at U. of Washington Chronicle of Higher Ed
After a year of #MeToo, American opinion has shifted against victims Economist
Coming To The Right Answer By Themselves: Talking With Boys About Sexual Assault NPR
Amid #MeToo, New York Employers Face Strict New Sexual Harassment Laws NPR
#MeToo hashtag used over 19 million times on Twitter Axios
How 3 Colleges Changed Their Sexual-Assault Practices in Response to a National Survey Chronicle of Higher Ed
***VOTING
What to Do If You Get Turned Away at the Polls Life Hacker
Young Voters Might Actually Show Up At The Polls This Year FiveThirtyEight
***SOCIAL ISSUES
With Kavanaugh Confirmed, Both Sides Of Abortion Debate Gear Up For Battle NPR
5 facts about U.S. suburbs Pew Research Center
Deported parents may lose kids to adoption Associated Press
Migrant Children in Search of Justice: A 2-Year-Old’s Day in Immigration Court New York Times
Selfie deaths: 259 people reported dead seeking the perfect picture BBC
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
Tech Workers Now Want to Know: What Are We Building This For? New York Times
Uber drivers and other gig economy workers are earning half what they did five years ago Recode
If you do any of these things online, you could hurt your credit MSNBC
The Dark Reason So many Millennials are miserable and broke Moneyish
***ENVIRONMENT
'Hyperalarming' study shows massive insect loss The Washington Post
Among the Ruins of Mexico Beach Stands One House, Built ‘for the Big One’ New York Times
***HEALTH
If Your Medical Information Becomes A Moneymaker, Could You Get A Cut? NPR
Mapping out the nation's opioid crisis county-by-county Visual Capitalist
***HEALTH: RESEARCH
Human Retinas Grown In A Dish Reveal Origin Of Color Vision NPR
An elusive molecule that sparks multiple sclerosis may have been found Science Mag
Mosquitoes Genetically Modified To Crash Species That Spreads Malaria NPR
***HEALTH: PREVENTION
Sleep: how much do we really need? The Guaridan
Vitamin D Supplements Don’t Lead to Stronger Bones New York Times
***HEALTH: CHILDREN
The average sticker price for U.S. childbirth: $32,093 Axios
Number of babies born with syphilis has more than doubled since 2013 USA Today
More kids are going without vaccines Axios
***FOOD
New Swedish Museum Spotlights World's Most Disgusting Food NPR
All 50 states, ranked by their food Thrilist
Millennials Kill Again. The Latest Victim? American Cheese Bloomberg
The banana is dying. The race is on to reinvent it before it's too late Wired
***ANIMALS
Wild chimpanzees share food with friends Max Planck Society
Spitfire the whippet jumps 31 feet, sets a new world record for dogs (w/ video) SB Nation
Goats will make return to Anaheim – for yoga, not Disneyland OC Register
More than 100 mountain goats removed from Olympic National Park The Olympian
Americans spend $70 billion on pets, and that money could do more good (opinion) The Conversation
***PSYCHOLOGY
Why Modern Clinical Psychology May Be in Trouble Psychology Today
Reunite After Separation at Birth: An Unethical Psychology Experiment Separates Families The Atlantic
How to Support Someone Who's Had a Miscarriage, Explained By Redditors Life Hacker
How to Help Girls With ADHD Life Hacker
***NEUROSCIENCE
The heroes of science who are unlocking the brain Popular Mechanics
Humans Are Hardwired to Tell History in Stories. Neuroscience Tells Us Why We Get Them Wrong TIME
***PHILOSOPHY
The History of Philosophy Visualized in an Interactive Timeline Open Culture
Meet the philosopher behind “the good place” Quartz
***PRODUCTIVITY
The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world The Guardian\
***HISTORY
The creepiest urban legend in every state Thrillist
Only 1 in 3 Americans would pass the U.S. citizenship test Las Vegas Sun
The Library of Congress Launches the National Screening Room, Putting Online Hundreds of Historic Films Open Culture
The Best Overall History Podcast Is 'In Our Time' Life Hacker
***ETHICS
How Americans Described Evil Before Hitler The Atlantic
Codes of ethics probably don’t work Fast Company
***RESEARCH
The extremely mad professors:Why 3 academics wrote 20 whole fake papers and think other people got played The Outline
How to write a thorough peer review Nature
Researcher Requests for Inappropriate Analysis and Reporting Annals of Internal Medicine
An Ethics of the System: Talking to Scientists About Research Integrity Springer
Ex-researcher who stole funds sentenced to play piano Stat News
Was cancer scientist fired for challenging lab chief over authorship? Science Mag
***HIGHER ED
Report: 4 Million Californians Left College Without Earning a Degree Inside Higher Ed
Confidence in Higher Education Down Since 2015 Gallup
***TEACHING
How to Improve Your Teaching-Philosophy Statement Chronicle of Higher Ed
One Way to Help Students Become Knowledge Creators Chronicle of Higher Ed
Women
/Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood. – Oscar Wilde (born October 16, 1854)
Our Kids are Watching Us
/I do a lot of surveys with people between the ages of 20 and 40, and I ask them to describe who they are now and to reflect on their childhood. Now, we have to be very clear that this is a very imperfect method of getting data about people’s childhoods, because there are all kinds of memory biases. But one of the most consistent findings is the association between the person’s current level of materialism and how they perceived their parents using things when they were growing up.
So in other words, parents who act in ways that value things, parents who make a lot of sacrifices to get a lot of things, parents who get a lot of joy from buying things, parents who talk a lot about things—they tend to have adult children who act the same way. Now, part of this is probably some bias as people recall their childhoods, but I don’t think that’s all of it. The helpful thing for parents here—and also the harmful—is yes, peers are really important, but our kids are watching us. Our kids are learning from us. A lot of what kids take to be normal comes from what they see us doing. Kids are going to learn what their relationship with products should be by looking at our relationship with products.
Marsha Richin quoted in The Atlantic
demanding justice
/Since we have been the recipients of maximum mercy, who are we to suddenly demand justice from others? -Charles Swindoll
a Well-Meaning Lie?
/When caught lying (paternalistically or otherwise), people often defend themselves by saying they lied to protect the other person. But before lying to protect someone’s interests or feelings, ask yourself not only whether you are lying to protect them, but also whether that person would believe your lie was well-intended if they found out. In several studies, we found that people were not likely to believe paternalistic lies were well-intended, and reacted poorly to these lies even when the liar communicated good intentions. However, people were more likely to believe that paternalistic lies were well-intended when they were told by people who knew them well or had reputations as helpful, kind people.
Even though paternalistic lies are often well-intentioned, if uncovered, they will usually backfire. Lying may be helpful when there is no ambiguity about the resulting benefits for those on the receiving end. But in most other circumstances, honesty is the best policy.
Adam Eric Greenberg, Emma E. Levine, Matthew Lupoli writing in the Harvard Business Review
Articles of Interest - Oct. 8
/***TECHNOLOGY
The Robots Are Coming To Las Vegas NPR
New satellite technology may lead to faster internet Axios
California passes law that bans default passwords in connected devices TechCrunch
How Good — And How Secure — Is Facial Recognition Technology? NPR
History of IoT (graphic) Daily Infographic
***BIG DATA & AI
A new neural network framework claims to be faster and require less training than rivals ZD Net
U.S. trails behind Russia, China in organizing militarily in space Axios
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Understanding owned social content is key to an effective social media strategy Nielson
Google+ to shut down after security bug CNN
Why You Shouldn’t Use Facebook to Log In to Other Sites New York Times
Facebook is making a video camera Tech Crunch
The new Facebook hoax you should know about 10 News
The Facebook hack exposes an internet-wide failure Wired
***MOBILE
The Presidential Text Alert Has a Long, Strange History Wired
How to ‘turn off’ the presidential text alert test Wired
Cult of Mac’s 50 Essential iOS Apps [The complete list, sorted!] Cult of Mac
***INTERNET
See what we searched for over the past two decades 20 years
Netflix Consumes 15% of the World's Internet Bandwidth Variety***PERSONAL GROWTH
Intelligence and personality can be developed Becoming (my blog)
In Praise of Mediocrity New York Times
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Ad industry finally embraces privacy rules Axios
Billboards — yes, billboards — are having a heyday in a digital world Recode
***JOURNALISM
Want razor-sharp focus in your audio stories? This group activity can help NPR
A Reporter Who Wore A MAGA Hat While Covering A Trump Rally Has Been Fired BuzzFeed News
Newsroom employees earn less than other college-educated US workers Pew Research Center
ProPublica's experimental journalism Wired
A beginner's guide to joining NYC's journalism community
***JOURNALISM OUTSIDE THE U.S.
Bulgarian TV host Victoria Marinova raped and killed Committee to Protect Journalists
What To Know About The Mysterious Disappearance Of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Digg
Journalist’s Expulsion From Hong Kong ‘Sends a Chilling Message’ New York Times
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
This is the state of nonprofit news in 2018 Harvard’s Nieman Lab
Tronc changing name back to Tribune Publishing Chicago Tribune
***FAKE NEWS
How the Kavanaugh information war mirrors real warzones Wired
More research suggests that Twitter’s fake news “strategy” is either ineffective or nonexistent Nieman Journalism Lab
Even the best AI for spotting fake news is still terrible MIT Technology Review
***GRAMMAR
‘Different Than’ or ‘Different From’: Which Should You Say? Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LITERATURE
William Faulkner was really bad at being a postman Lit Hub
The Chronicles of Narnia being made into new movies by Netflix Entertainment Weekly
Sikh Poet Jasmin Kaur calls out white feminists for co-opting her work Daily Dot
Mary Shelley’s Obsession with the Cemetery Jstor
***GENDER
Viral video of Russian woman bleaching manspreaders was anti-feminist propaganda The Verge
Instagram Now Home to Classic Feminist Literature New York Times
Female Nobel prize winner deemed not important enough for Wikipedia entry South China Morning Post
Largest wave surfed – female Guinness World Records
CERN suspends physicist over remarks on gender bias Nature
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
Iowa State University paid $100,000 to settle a former tennis player's civil-rights complaint Iowa State Daily
The Legendary Black Surfer Who Challenged Stereotypes Atlas Obscura
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-is-nick-gabaldon-surfer
***DIVERSITY
Explore new data on the race, ethnicity, and gender of students at more than 4,300 colleges and universities Chronicle of Higher Ed
Building Diversity in Science, One Interaction at a Time Undark
***LEGAL ISSUES
A look at an anonymous sexual-assault-accusations website and the issue of libel Dynamics of Writing
Media asks Tennessee high court to boost press protection Fox 13
UK Copyright if there’s no Brexit deal The 1709 Blog
Blogger Defeats Defamation Claims Over Posts Claiming a “Scam” Technology & Marketing Law Blog
***RELIGION
The Night Missionaries Smuggled One Million Bibles into China Mental Floss
America’s clergy are teaming up with scientists Wired
Paige Patterson, ousted Baptist seminary leader, to teach ethics course Religion News Service
'God Friended Me' a CBS faith-based comedy Washington Times
The Christian Broadcasting Network launches CBN News Channel Religion News Service
Bayesian inference and religious belief Andrew Gelman Blog
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
Christian Zionism Aeon
Christian nationalism, explained through one pro-Trump propaganda film Vox
***GOOD NEWS
Local woman, 85, is world's oldest trapeze artist Union-Tribune
The Sometimes Stranger: Night after night, this Plano man visits his wife with Alzheimer's Dallas News
Couple that met as kids at St. Jude's gets married there nearly 30 years later People
First-grader unable to play outside forms special bond with school resource officer WKRG
Soldier Whose House Was Looted Gives Away Money Meant for Him People
***ANIMALS
Injured Turtle Gets Around With the Help of Custom Wheelchair Made of Legos Inside Edition
Does it really matter if one animal goes extinct? Phys Org
***ART & DESIGN
Roald Dahl's Matilda confronts Donald Trump in new statue CNN
Meet The MacArthur Fellow Disrupting Racism In Art NPR
What's The Tallest We Could Theoretically Construct A Building? Digg
How Jackson Pollock became so overrated (video)
A Giant Mural of Robin Williams Goes Up in Chicago Open Culture
***BANKSY
Banksy painting 'self-destructs' moments after being sold for $1.4 million at auction CNN
Banksy show us how he destroyed his art (video)
***SPORTS
U.S. Charges 7 Russian Intelligence Officers With Hacking 40 Sports And Doping Groups NPR
***STUDENT MEDIA
OU College of Law associate dean resigns amid controversy surrounding views published in 2014 book OU Daily
***STUDENT LIFE
College students with preschool-aged children are twice as likely as their childless classmates to drop out of college Taylor & Francis
Life After College is Weird: advice on navigating the postgraduate world New York Times
‘Selfie’: One Word to Characterize a Generation Chronicle of Higher Ed
Graduates Are Told They Can Do Anything With Their Degrees. Is That Why They Feel Lost? Chronicle of Higher Ed
Ohio State plans esports program across 5 colleges Education Dive
***JOBS & INTERNSHIPS
Create a ‘Personal Brand,’ and Other Tips Learned During a Day With a Recruiter Chronicle of Higher Ed
The Key to Career Growth: Surround Yourself with People Who Will Push You Harvard Business Review
Here are more than 80 journalism internships and fellowships Poynter
The Washington Post and Instagram launch a midterm elections fellowship for student journalists Washington Post
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Dear dads: Your daughters told me about their assaults: This is why they never told you Washington Post
How Police Investigate Sex Crimes NPR
How Daughters Are Talking To Their Fathers About Sexual Assault NPR
How Minnesota’s criminal justice system often fails victims of rape and sexual assault Minneapolis Star Tribune
***#METOO
After One Year Of Headlines, #MeToo Is Everywhere NPR
The 84 cases that defined the first year of #MeToo Vice
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT ON CAMPUS
Student-created website allowing for anonymous sexual assault allegations vulnerable to defamation charges The Daily (Univ of WA student newspaper)
TCU fires back after conservative comedian proclaims rape culture is a myth Star-Telegram
Professor blasted for saying sexual assault is a prerequisite for manhood New York Post
Students protest professor's 'satirical' blog on sexual assault Fox-5
Rutgers refuses to investigate some sexual harassment claims. Are students at risk? New Jersey.com
A high schooler in Texas accuses two other students of raping her: Few believed her. Her hometown turned against her. The authorities failed her. Washington Post
***SEXUAL ASSAULT & THE KAVANAUGH HEARING
Brett Kavanaugh And The Problem With #BelieveSurvivors NPR
The junk science Republicans used to undermine Ford and help save Kavanaugh (opinion) Washington Post
Every time Ford and Kavanaugh dodged a question, in one chart Vox
***SOCIAL ISSUES
In Louisiana, You Can Be Sent Away for Life Even If Jurors Say You’re Innocent Mother Jones
***VOTING
Interactive on how easy (or hard) it is to vote in every state Washington Post
5 Things You Need to Know About 2018 Election Security Voice of America
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
MBA applications in the US have fallen for the fourth year in a row Quartz
Visualizing the World's Tech Giants 2018 How Much
***ENVIRONMENT
Climate scientists are struggling to find the right words for very bad news Washington Post
Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040 New York Times
***HEALTH
What the Mens’ Calf Size Says About Their Health, According to Science Fatherly
How long different drugs stay in your body IFL Science
How Gym Selfies Are Quietly Changing the Way We Work Out GQ
Climate and city density key factors governing flu outbreaks: Study Axios
A Surgeon So Bad It Was Criminal Propublica
***HEALTH & WEIGHT
A lack of insurance is leading more Americans to have weight loss surgery in Mexico Vox
Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong The Huffington Post
***FOOD
Where Did the Taco Come From? Smithsonian Magazine
Over one-third of US adults eat fast food at least once a day CDC
FDA Bans Use of 7 Synthetic Food Additives After Environmental Groups Sue NPR
***PARENTING
Ending Sexual Violence by Raising Better Boys Slate
***SCIENCE
Watch Scientists Accidentally Blow Up Their Lab With The Strongest Indoor Magnetic Field Ever Mother Board
All the planets we've found in the Milky Way — so far Axios
***PSYCHOLOGY
I Suffer From Depression and Have PTSD Symptoms Medium
The Psychological Make-Up of Conspiracy Theorists New research identifies pro-conspiracy ways to see and understand the world Psychology Today
***NEUROSCIENCE
How much control do you really have over your actions? These brain regions provide clues Science Mag
Best Brain Game To Stave Off Alzheimer's Could Be Your Job NPR
***PHILOSOPHY
A philosopher explains how our addiction to stories keeps us from understanding history The Verge
***RESEARCH
A trio’s systematic trolling of journals yields seven accepted papers Chronicle of Higher Ed
'Real' fake research hoodwinks US journals AFP
A New Series on Scholarly Productivity: ‘Are You Writing? Chronicle of Higher Ed
Academic Grievance Studies and the Corruption of Scholarship Areo Magazine
Why it’s so difficult to correct the scientific record Less Likely
How a failed psoriasis study pushed a whole field forward Salon
What the ‘Conceptual Penis’ Hoax Does and Does Not Prove Chronicle of Higher Ed
***HIGHER ED
Universities roll out digital student IDs 10 News
UWM is bleeding faculty, but its budget is balanced for the first time since 2012 Journal Sentinel
Hey, Alexa, Should We Bring Virtual Assistants to Campus? These Colleges Gave Them a Shot Chronicle of Higher Ed
We Are Building the Most Inclusive, Exclusive Colleges in America! McSweeney’s
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Brad Paisley and wife team with Christian university to open free grocery store for those in Nashville World Religion News
Saint Mary's College president abruptly resigns South Bend Tribune
This SoCal Christian College Supported Gay Relationships: Then It Abruptly Changed Its Mind LAist
***TEACHING
What to Do About Contract Cheating Campus Technology
Furor Over Blended and Active Learning Inside Higher Ed
Survey: 1 in 4 Professors Ban Mobile Phone Use in Class Campus Technology
5 Tips for Using Multiple-Choice Tests to Bolster Learning Chronicle of Higher Ed
Updating pedagogy for the mobile phone era Small Pond Science
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Meet the Academics Who Nabbed This Year’s MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grants Chronicle of Higher Ed
USC Students rally, call for firing of professor after controversial email Daily Trojan
For Some Scholars, a Full Professorship Calls for ‘a Lot of Paperwork’ That ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’ Chronicle of Higher Ed
Intelligence and personality can be developed
/A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled.
A “growth mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. Out of these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early age, springs a great deal of our behavior, our relationship with success and failure in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our capacity for happiness.
The “growth mindset” creates a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval. Its hallmark is the conviction that human qualities like intelligence and creativity, and even relational capacities like love and friendship, can be cultivated through effort and deliberate practice. Not only are people with this mindset not discouraged by failure, but they don’t actually see themselves as failing in those situations — they see themselves as learning.
Maria Popova writing in BrainPickings
Conversation Hogs
/We’ve all been involved in those irritating conversations where we never seem to be able to get a word in edgewise. Unfortunately, we may have been on the other side, too. Mr. Post Senning said it was crucial to “share the conversation pie. Share half if there are two of you, a quarter if there are four. The share of the pie is never as large as what involves you listening.”
To be a true conversation superstar, try these tips:
• Be attentive and give eye contact.
• Make active and engaged expressions.
• Repeat back what you’ve heard, and follow up with questions.
• If you notice something you want to say, don’t say it. Challenge it and go back to listening.
• For bonus points, wait an hour to bring up that thing you didn’t say earlier.
And keep in mind that when you say something declarative, seek out the other person’s opinion as well.
“If I say, ‘The Jets don’t stand a chance,’ I’m entitled to my opinion, but I have to say, ‘What do you think?’ afterward,” Ms. Fine said. “You don’t want to be a conversational bully.”
Jen Doll writing in the New York Times
Perhaps
/Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime. -Dale Carnegie
The importance of doing things solely because we enjoy them
/We are all so very busy. Between work and family and social obligations, where are we supposed to find the time for hobbies?
But there’s a deeper reason, I’ve come to think, that so many people don’t have hobbies: We’re afraid of being bad at them. Or rather, we are intimidated by the expectation — itself a hallmark of our intensely public, performative age — that we must actually be skilled at what we do in our free time. Our “hobbies,” if that’s even the word for them anymore, have become too serious, too demanding, too much an occasion to become anxious about whether you are really the person you claim to be.
If you’re a jogger, it is no longer enough to cruise around the block; you’re training for the next marathon. If you’re a painter, you are no longer passing a pleasant afternoon, just you, your watercolors and your water lilies; you are trying to land a gallery show or at least garner a respectable social media following. When your identity is linked to your hobby — you’re a yogi, a surfer, a rock climber — you’d better be good at it, or else who are you?
Tim Wu writing in the New York Times
Articles of Interest - Week of Oct. 1
/***TECHNOLOGY
How algorithms are controlling your life And why you should probably pay closer attention Vox
The secret data collected by dockless bikes is helping cities map your movement MIT Technology Review
Will L.A.’s Anti-Terrorist Subway Scanners Be Adopted Everywhere? Scientific American
Internet, social media use and device ownership in U.S. have plateaued after years of growth Pew Research Center
Google teams up with T-Mobile on more-accurate 911 location data Cnet
Are Delivery Drones Commercially Viable? Iceland Is About to Find Out IEEE Spectrum
Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever Krebson Security
***TECHNOLOGY & POLITICS
US mid-terms: Hackers expose BBC
Justice Department Sues California To Block State's Net Neutrality Law NPR
***JOURNALISM
Partisans Remain Sharply Divided in Their Attitudes About the News Media Journalism.org
Neo-Nazi activist behind racist robocalls linked to threats of Idaho newspaper The Guardian
As marijuana goes mainstream, reporters wrestle with terminology Columbia Journalism Review
How cable news networks covered the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing Washington Post
New target for POLITICO: California Politico
How social media and engagement roles came to newsrooms Sarah Marshall
How to get reluctant sources to talk on the record Andrew Seaman
WashPost adds editor’s note on child molester article, says man had ‘sex with’ child instead of rape iMediaEthics
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
What will happen when newspapers kill print and go online-only? Most of that print audience will just…disappear Harvard Nieman Lab
Apple News is giving the media everything it wants—except money Slate
Oklahoman sells to GateHouse Media, lays off several newsroom staffers Poynter
Most Western Europeans get news from TV as print reading lags Pew Research Center
***FAKE NEWS
Billionaire LA Times owner: 'Fake news' and how it spreads a cancer CNBC
A master class in how to verify a video using digital tools Columbia Journalism Review
Why Humans Are Bad At Spotting Lies FiveThirtyEight
Why A New Fake News Law In Singapore Could Be A Big Test For Facebook, Google, And Twitter BuzzFeed News
***BIG DATA & AI
Cheat Sheets for AI, Neural Networks, Machine Learning, Deep Learning & Big Data Becoming Human
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Why Snap will get acquired before 2020, probably by Amazon Recode
Facebook discloses “security issue” affecting 50 million accounts Axios
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
That sign telling you how fast you’re driving may be spying on you Quartz
Facebook Is Giving Advertisers Access to Your Shadow Contact Information Gizmodo
Keep Your Data Secure With Mozilla's Newest Tools Life Hacker
A Small Google Chrome Change Stirs a Big Privacy Controversy Wired
No Cash Needed At This Cafe. Students Pay The Tab With Their Personal Data NPR
***INTERNET
Surprising SEO A/B Test Results - Whiteboard Friday Moz
Internet Inventer Tim Berners-Lee wants to remake the web to help you protect your data MIT Technology Review
***PERSONAL GROWTH
The False Loops of Social Media Becoming (my blog)
***WRITING & READING
Boys Don’t Read Enough The Atlantic
How to identify anonymous prose Forget lodestars and concentrate on the fingerprints Economist
6 Tips to Shape Up Your Writing Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LANGUAGE
A Cliché With Staying Power Chronicle of Higher Ed
Yowza! 300 new words added to Scrabble dictionary The Guardian
From Criminal Slang to Modern Acceptability: ‘Kibosh’ Chronicle of Higher Ed
‘Himpathy’ Is a Societal Illness. But at Least We Have a Word for It Chronicle of Higher Ed
What’s the Fastest-Growing Language in the U.S.? You’ll Never Guess Chronicle of Higher Ed
How the English Failed to Stamp Out the Scots Language Against all odds, 28 percent of Scottish people still use it Atlas Obscura
***LITERATURE
A Man Reads ‘Little Women’ (Continued) Chronicle of Higher Ed
Reimaging Homer: In “The Silence of the Girls”, a captured woman becomes the main character Economist
Flannery O'Connor Renders Her Verdict on Ayn Rand's Fiction: It's As "Low As You Can Get" Open Culture
***GENDER
Most Powerful Women Fortune
There’s one big reason women are freezing their eggs, and it’s not career Quartz
Few women executives at top US companies despite modest gains this decade Pew Research Center
California is 1st state to require women on corporate boards Associated Press
***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES
UC Davis to open groundbreaking Filipino studies center NBC News
Study reveals bias against women's basketball teams from historically black colleges Inside Higher Ed
Escondido students spell racial slur in photo during senior picnic NBC San Diego
***DIVERSITY
Diversity Fatigue Is Real And it afflicts the very people who are most committed to diversity work Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LEGAL ISSUES
The War over Music Copyrights TechCrunch
JR Smith says NBA will fine him for new tattoo of Supreme brand logo ESPN
New trial ordered in 'Stairway to Heaven' copyright lawsuit Associated Press
***RELIGION
The Talmud Is Finally Now Available Online Open Culture
Europe’s Oldest Intact Book Was Preserved and Found in the Coffin of a Saint Open Culture
‘New Age’ beliefs common among both religious and nonreligious Americans Pew research Center
Hillsong: ‘What a Beautiful Name’ for a New Denomination Spanning ‘Oceans’ Christianity Today
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
***GOOD NEWS
Turn Your Office into 'The Office' with This Incredible Prop Auction Vice
Students raise money to send a janitor on the first vacation he's had in almost a decade CNN
4-year-old girl named Florence inspired to help victims of Hurricane Florence CBS News
Montana centenarian credits Cheetos for long life Great Falls Tribune
***ANIMALS
UK airport sniffer dogs good at finding sausages, but not drugs Reuters
***ART & DESIGN
The surprisingly dark history of the color pink Fast Company
How To Learn Calligraphy (for beginners) MojoTech
Sculpture or human organ? these photos make it hard to tell Wired
***MUSIC
Musicians celebrating new bill that helps them get paid Axios
How Grammy-winning producer Oak Felder turns his laptop into a studio The Verge
***FILM & TV
Netflix Is Planning a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure ‘Black Mirror’ Bloomberg
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Network TV's leadership crisis Axios
***STUDENT LIFE
So What Are You Going to Do With That Degree? Physics Majors Get That Question, Too Chronicle of Higher Ed
Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet Bloomberg
Need Help Paying For College? There's An App For That NPR
The Most Powerful New Voting Bloc in America Doesn’t Vote Medium
A Majority of Teens Have Experienced Some Form of Cyberbullying Pew Research Center
Marijuana use is now as common among baby boomers as it is among teens, federal data shows Washington Post
Law Student Dresses As Spider-Man To Accept His Degree LADbible
Catholic U. students protest dean who disparaged Kavanaugh accuser Washington Post
***JOBS & INTERNSHIPS
The Lie Generator: Inside the Black Mirror World of Polygraph job Screenings Wired
List of internships across the country in video production, social media and investigative reporting Student Press Law Center
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Kavanaugh case unfolds as DeVos readies sexual assault rule Associated Press
***SOCIAL ISSUES
Is Rent Control An Answer To California's Housing Crisis? NPR
Suicide rate spikes among young US veterans The Guardian
Detailed New National Maps Show How Neighborhoods Shape Children for Life New York Times
***BUSINESS & FINANCE
How Much You Must Earn to Afford a House in the 50 Largest U.S. Cities How Much
The high costs of staff turnover Workers are losing their chains Economist
The American Dream Is Harder To Find In Some Neighborhoods NPR
After Budget Cuts, the IRS’ Work Against Tax Cheats Is Facing “Collapse” Propublica
A Shocking Number of Killers Murder Their Co-workers The Atlantic
***VIDEO GAMES
There are too many video games. What now? Polygon
Fortnite Is So Big It Can Bully Sony And Nintendo IGN
***ENVIRONMENT
***HEALTH
Antibiotics for appendicitis? Surgery often not Ars Technica
Infectious bacteria hibernate to evade antibiotics Univ. of Copenhagan
80,000 people died of flu last winter in U.S., the highest death toll in four decades Chicago Tribune
Flu on a flight! How to avoid getting sick on a plane NBC News
Middle-age drinkers more concerned about reputation than health risks, study says CNN
Scientists Who Sparked Revolution In Cancer Treatment Share Nobel Prize In Medicine NPR
***HEALTH OUTSIDE THE U.S.
Chinese Soup Ingredients May Hold Key to Fighting Dementia Bloomberg
How the anti-vaxxers are winning in Italy The Independent
***TRAVEL
You can now fly with weed out of Los Angeles International Airport Business Insider
***FOOD
The Eternal Life of the Instant Noodle BBC
You Should Be Eating Pie for Breakfast Eater
A Breakthrough for U.S. Troops: Combat-Ready Pizza New York Times
Frites, chips, fries, whatever Europeans want to call them — they’re shrinking Washington Post
***PARENTING
Limiting children's screen time linked to better cognition BBC
Crafty kids are finding ingenious ways to thwart Apple's 'Screen Time' feature The Next Web
How motherhood changes the brain Boston Globe
New app is helping parents track their children Washington Post
***PSYCHOLOGY
A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia -- and his Schizophrenic delusions, too: Some doctors think they know why New York Times
Your weird dreams actually make a lot of sense (according to neuroscience and psychology) NBC News
***PHILOSOPHY
Unpublished and Untenured, a Philosopher Inspired a Cult Following New York Times
***PRODUCTIVITY
Google Maps now helps you plan group events Engadget
Research: Women and Men Are Equally Bad at Multitasking Harvard Business Review
***RESEARCH
The “problem” of predatory publishing remains a relatively small one and should not be allowed to defame open The London School of Economic & Political Science
Austrian agency shows how to tackle scientific misconduct Nature
The Failed Replication of a Retracted Study The 100% CI
***HIGHER ED
3 Ways That Colleges Suppress a Diversity of Viewpoints Chronicle of Higher Ed
A University Comes Undone How scandal and corruption brought down a college sports powerhouse Chronicle of Higher Ed
What It Means When a U.S. College Has a Religious Affiliation WTOP
Liberty University sends 300 students to D.C. to support Kavanaugh Lynchburg News & Advance
APU reinstates ban on LGBTQ relationships on campus San Gabriel Valley Tribune
APU enters 2018-19 school year in $17 million cash flow shortfall ZuNews
***TEACHING
Teacher fired after refusing to abide by ‘No zero' policy when students didn't hand in work WFTV
How to Be a Generous Professor in Precarious Times Chronicle of Higher Ed
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Why Did These Scholars Suddenly Find Their Twitter Accounts Suspended? Chronicle of Higher Ed
Baylor professor resigns after Title IX complaints Waco Tribune
How to Treat Visiting Assistant Professors With Dignity Chronicle of Higher Ed
The False Loops of Social Media
/“We crave some sense of closure, some sense of being done,” says Tim Wu, a Columbia law professor and author of The Attention Merchants. “Much of social media tries to prevent you from ever having that feeling.”
Social media sites, in particular, are designed to create what he calls “false loops,” where you never reach the end of what you can do on the platform. He thinks that goes against our way of making sense of the world: Humans have a natural predilection toward creating experiences and narratives that start and end, like the social ritual of eating dinner with a friend, or attending a concert, or even reading an article. But social media tends to disrupt these things–unlike a well-planned story or meal, Wu compares experiencing social media to a buffet, where nothing really goes together. Coincidentally, you also end up stuffing yourself and feeling ill.
“Our brains like to close things out,” Wu says. “I think that a lot of design now is trying to turn all of us into obsessive-compulsives by making it so the loops are never closed.” Film and TV offer a compelling parallel. “How do you feel after going to see a really great movie, as opposed to channel surfing for three hours?” he says. “It’s a complete difference. One has a beginning, middle, and an end, versus you saw half of 10 shows and kind of got into something that didn’t develop all the way through.”
Katharine Schwab writing in Fast Company
Why some Couples Endure
/There are many reasons why relationships fail, but if you look at what drives the deterioration of many relationships, it’s often a breakdown of kindness. As the normal stresses of a life together pile up—with children, career, friend, in-laws, and other distractions crowding out the time for romance and intimacy—couples may put less effort into their relationship and let the petty grievances they hold against one another tear them apart. In most marriages, levels of satisfaction drop dramatically within the first few years together. But among couples who not only endure, but live happily together for years and years, the spirit of kindness and generosity guides them forward.
Emily Esfahani Smith writing in The Atlantic
The Kind of Person
/The quest for truth, at least the truth about the most important things, cannot be divorced from the quest to become the kind of person we need to become. -C. Stephen Evans
Tuesday Tech Tools: Organizers
/Need to get yourself organized? Here are some tools that will help.
Airtable
Manages projects and processes-weddings, movie shoots, companies, etc. Allows you to log entries in spreadsheets which can be turned into sets of data stored in the cloud. Some limitations you won’t find in tools like Trello. There’s a video explanation here.
Boomerang
Schedule Gmail or Outlook email for a later send date. Add-on for Firefox and Chrome. Free.
Buffer
Popular social media scheduling service for posting to multiple sites at one time or later.
Evernote
Popular note/audio organization tool. Access notes on any computer, tablet or phone.
Freshbooks
A cloud-based accounting app that helps you manage clients and projects, send invoices, and track time, expenses, and estimates right from your iPhone.
Meetways
Find a halfway point between two locations. Great for setting up meetings between people.
Nozbe
Task management system. Organizes according to the context in which they are done (online, at the office, at home, etc.) . Designed with teams in mind.,
OmniOutliner
Mac program that keeps lists and organizes outlines. Low learning curve to create rich, multi-column, collapsible outlines in many styles. Add embedded notes, images, links, etc.
Google Now
Tracks your online behavior and uses this data to predict the information that you will need, such as local traffic or weather updates.
PinBoard
Bookmark things you find in social media. One time $9.94 cost.
Podio
Social work platform for basic project management tasks — calendar, contacts, activity stream — that helps teams collaborate and communicate. Both free and paid versions.
Process Street
Document, manage, and track your workflows and business processes. Records tasks in templates – lists which show what tasks to do and what order to do them in.
Scrivener*
App that gives you a single place to dump all your ideas. Especially helpful for creating and managing complex writing projects.g projects.
Trello
Organizational tool that integrations with many other apps. Tasks or projects are stored in cards which are then arranged into columns.
TripIt
Organize all your travel plans into mobile itineraries.
Ulysses
Writing app for Mac. Uses plain text or Markdown for writing, but also includes notes, exporting, organization and more.
WorkFlowy
Digital note taking app. Excellent design, but lacks due dates, reminders of upcoming deadlines and calendar view. Free version limits you to 500 lists or "items" per month. Pro accounts can be backed up to Dropbox. Individual pro accounts ($4.99 per month or $49 per year) and Team ($3.99 per month per user, or $39 per year per user, with a two user minimum) A short video introduction here.
