Forget it
/Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success. –Denis Waitley
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
The Power of Touch
/A study of NBA players found the best teams touch each other a lot, while the losing teams seldom touch each other.
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley looked at what happened between teammates during the 2009 season and found the most touch-prone were the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, two of the league’s top teams at the time. The mediocre Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Bobcats were at the bottom of the touch list. The same held true for individual players. The study took into account the possibility of teams high-fiving just because they were winning and adjusted accordingly. Even when the high expectations surrounding the more talented teams were taken into account, the correlation persisted.
A warm touch reduces stress by releasing hormones that promote a sensation of trust. This can free up the part of the brain that regulates emotion so it can engage in problem-solving.
The investigators also tested couples, finding with more touching came greater satisfaction in the relationship. Previous research has suggested students receiving a teacher's supportive touch on the arm or back or arm were much more likely to volunteer in class, and a sympathetic touch from a doctor gives patients the feeling that a visit lasted twice as long as it actually did.
Stephen Goforth
The best moments of our lives
/The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.
Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen. For a child, it could be placing with trembling fingers the last block on a tower she has built, higher than any she has built so far; for a swimmer, it could be trying to beat his won record; for a violinist, mastering an intricate musical passage. For each person, there are thousands of opportunities, challenges to expend ourselves.
Such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur. The swimmers muscles might have ached during his most memorable race, his lungs might have felt like exploding, and he might have been dizzy with fatigue – yet these could have the best moments of his life. Getting control of life is never easy, and sometimes it can be definitely painful. But in the long run optimal experiences add up to a sense of mastery – or perhaps better, a sense of participation in determining the content of life –that comes as close to what is usually meant by happiness as anything else we can conceivably imagine.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow
Now
/A good plan executed now is better than the perfect plan tomorrow. -George S. Patton
9 Weaknesses We All Have
/These biases are broad tendencies rather than fixed traits or universal behavioral laws. Everyone does not uniformly share them. Plus, multiple influences result in a given behavior.
1. FALSE MEMORIES. Studies have shown we are susceptible to false memories. We selectively remember our own experiences, much less historical and cultural events. Planting fake memories has become easier these days with AI-enhanced photo and video forgeries on the internet.
2. CONFIRMATION BIAS. We tend to seek information that confirms what we already believe to be true. Ask yourself: Do I want to believe this report, not because it is well-sourced and reported, but because it fits with what I already believe? One study found about one in ten US adults are willing to accept anything that sounds plausible and fits their preconceptions about the heroes and villains in politics.
3. CORRELATION VS CAUSATION. Just because events or statistics have a connection doesn’t mean you can assume one causes the other.
4. WE OVERVALUE NARRATIVE. Adding a story to a fact increases the likelihood that people will believe it—even when the story narrows the likelihood of it being true. We like tidy stories, not ambiguity.
5. FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS. Humans tend to read meaning into the unexpected and the improbable, even where there is none.
6. OVERSIMPLIFICATION. To avoid conflict and uncomfortable thinking, we oversimplify to reduce tension. Soon, one side looks good, and the other is dismissed as evil.
7. SUNK COST FALLACY. We hang on to a course of action or idea when we have invested in it, even when circumstances and reasoning show we should abandon it.
8. GOOGLE SEARCH RELIANCE. Google is not neutral. When you Google something, the algorithm isn’t weighing facts but other factors, such as your search history. Google tailors your results to what you want—or what the search engine “thinks” you want. Because of this personalization, you are probably getting different results than the person sitting next to you. Be critical of search engines as you are critical of the media. Don’t assume the first link or the first page that comes up when you Google something is the best answer to your question.
9. AVAILABILITY BIAS. This shortcut for making quick decisions gives your memories and experiences more credence than they deserve, making it hard to accept new ideas and theories.
12 Fact-Checking Sites
/Most fact-checking sites give out-sized space to political issues. This misses a deal of quality journalism published in other areas (health, environment, religion, etc.). Also, a complaint leveled at fact-checkers is that they will sometimes fall into “selection bias”—the tendency to pick apart stories promoting views with which they disagree.
Fact-Checker News Literacy Project
Media Bias Fact Check Truth or Fiction
Language that Ignites
/Language that speaks of hopes, dreams, and affirmations (“You are the best!”), this kind of language--let’s call it high motivation--has its role. High motivation is not the kind of language that ignites people. What works is.. speaking to the ground-level effort, affirming the struggle. Phrases like, “Wow, you really tried hard,” or “Good job, dude,” motivate far better than empty praise.
Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code
22 Tools for Spotting Fake News
/Ad Fontes Media - Producer of The Media Bias Chart® which rates media sources in terms of political bias and reliability.
Bellingcat - Investigative search network for citizen journalists using open-source information such as videos, maps and pictures.
Botcheck - Suggests whether an X/Twitter account is likely to be a bot.
Botometer - Checks the activity of an X/Twitter account and gives it a score based on how likely the account is to be a bot.
ChatGPT Detector - Developed by the ChatGPT team to determine the likelihood that text was produced using GPT technology.
Database Search Engine - Domain, name and keyword searches across more than 1300 databases (subscription required).
Deepfake-o-Meter - Check images, video and audio to see if they are fake. Free but requires signup.
FactCheck Explorer - Filter and analyze date from the Google Fact Check Explorer.
Facterbot - This Facebook Messenger chatbot aimed at delivering fact checks.
Google Reverse Image Search - Check the history of a photo: When it was first used and where.
Hoaxy - Visualizes the spread of articles across social media.
Islegitsite - Check if a website is legit or a scam.
MapChecking – A tool that makes crowd size estimates (protests, rallies). This video explains how it works.
NewsBot - This Facebook Messenger app identifies the political leaning of an article.
NewsGuard - Steven Brill’s site that uses trained journalists to rate news items and information sites. Produces an email newsletter that tracks misinformation.
Phone Validator - Use this database to detect robo-call and spam numbers.
RevEye - A Chrome reverse image search engine add-on.
Sensity - This tool is designed to spot fake human faces in pictures and videos. Engineers say they trained detectors using 100s of thousands of deepfake videos and GAN-generated images. Free.
TinEye - A reverse image search engine to help determine when an image first appeared on the internet. A free extension for Chrome and Firefox browsers.
Trust Project - A Microsoft project providing indicators of reliable, ethical journalism.
WatchFramebyFrame - Fact-check videos by looking frame by frame for out of place shadows and such.
The Remarkable Thing
/The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. –Charles Swindoll
37 Articles about Spotting Fake News
/6 Tips for Identifying Fake News, Sabrina Stierwalt, Quick & Dirty Tips
6 tips to help you detect fake science news, Marc Zimmer, The Conversation
As Fake News Spreads Lies, More Readers Shrug at the Truth, Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times
Beware partisan ‘pink slime’ sites that pose as local news, Margaret Sullivan
The Breaking News Consumer's Handbook, WNYC Studios
‘Cheap fakes’: Viral videos keep clipping Biden’s words out of context, Bill McCarthy, Politifact
The Conspiracy Theory Handbook, Stephan Lewandowsky John Cook
Critics of Dan Rather’s tips about fake news brought up his past. But the points are still solid, Alex Horton, Washington Post
The Fact Checker’s guide to manipulated video, Washington Post
Fake news and the ugly rise of sponsored content, John Pelle, PR Daliy
False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources, Melissa Zimdars
A Finder's Guide To Facts Steve Inskeep, NPR
How I Detect Fake News, Tim O'Reilly, O’Reilly Media
How Science Fuels a Culture of Misinformation, Joelle Renstrom, Open Mind
How to detect if content is written by AI? — ChatGPT Detector, Brandon Carter, Medium
How to fight lies, tricks, and chaos online, Adi Robertson, The Verge
How to Outsmart Election Disinformation, Karim Doumar & Cynthia Gordy Giwa ProPublica
How to spot a fake video, Elyse Samuels, Sarah Cahlan, Emily Sabens, Washington Post
How to Spot Fake News, Eugene Kiely and Lori Robertson, FactCheck.org
How to Spot Visualization Lies, Nathan Yau, Flowing Data
How to Stay Informed Without Getting Paralyzed by Bad News, Jacqueline Lekachman, Wired
How to avoid falling for misinformation and conspiracy theories, Heather Kelly, Washington Post
Hundreds of ‘Pink Slime’ News Outlets are distributing algorithmic stories and conservative talking points, Priyanjana Bengani, Columbia Journalism Review
Infographics Lie. Here's How To Spot The B.S., Randy Olson, Fast Company
In disasters, people are abandoning official info for social media. Here's how to know what to trust, Stan Karanasios, Peter Hayes, The Conversatio
Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online, Alice Marwick, Rebecca Lewis
A philosopher explains America’s “post-truth” problem, Sean Illing, Vox
Photographs cause false memories for the news, Deryn Strange, Maryanne Garry, Daniel M Bernstein, & D. Stephen Lindsay, Semantic Scholar
Reclaim the Facts: Campaigning for information literacy
Searching for Alternative Facts: Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices, Francesca Triopodi, Data Society
Simple tips to help you spot online fraud, Washington Post
Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors, Kim LaCapria, Snopes
Ten Questions for Fake News Detection, Checkology.org
To navigate the dangers of the web, you need critical thinking – but also critical ignoring - Beth Daley
Understand the landscape of information disorder, First Draft
Want to resist the post-truth age? Learn to analyze photos like an expert would, Nicole Dahmen & Don Heider, Quartz
What’s the Harm? – List of reliable sources about misleading information
A Caterpillar
/There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly. -Buckminster Fuller
13 Webinars This Week about AI, Journalism, & More
/Mon, July 22 - Jason Rezaian on freedom 10 years since imprisonment and global press freedom
What: Jason Rezaian, the former Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post, who was unjustly imprisoned in 2014 in Iran on charges of espionage for 544 days, joins The Washington Post’s Frances Stead Sellers to reflect on his freedom 10 years since his imprisonment, his work to raise awareness about journalists being held captive and the state of global press freedom.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Washington Post
Tue, July 23 - Growth-Driven Website Design for Nonprofits
What: Learn how to create an impactful online presence that drives growth and advances your nonprofit cause.
Who: Jason Spangler, Tapp Network, Director of Sales; Jon Hill Tapp Network, Web Project Manager
When: 10am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: TechSoup
Tue, July 23 - FakeSpotting: Verifying visuals in the age of generative AI
What: Learn about the strategies to identify and verify AI-generated content as well as the tech tools you will want to consider.
Who: Patrick Dell, Senior Visuals Editor for The Globe and Mail
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free to members or $25 for nonmembers
Sponsor: Online News Association
Wed, July 24 - AI Essentials for Nonprofits: Understanding Bias
What: This session is designed for nonprofit professionals to demystify AI, with a particular focus on understanding biases in AI and a framework for assessing your organization's readiness to embrace AI technologies. Learning outcomes include understanding what the collective challenge with AI is and understanding what can be done when we intend to center the community at the core of the design.
Who: Meena Das of Namaste Data
When: 12 noon
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The NonProfit Learning Lab
Wed, July 24 - AI Audio Innovations: Transforming Content Creation and Engagement
What: Tailored for newsrooms in radio and podcasting, participants will delve into practical demonstrations, discussions on real-world applications, and critically examine the ethical implications of AI in the industry.
Who: Davar Ardalan, audio industry veteran and Founder of TulipAI
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free to members or $25 for nonmembers
Sponsor: Online News Association
Thu, July 25 - The Digital Marketing Blueprint Series: Creating Engaging Social Media Content
What: This virtual workshop is designed to equip small business owners with the knowledge and practical insights necessary to develop an effective social media content strategy that drives engagement and business growth.
Who: SBDC Business Consultant Elizabeth Fegert; Ellen Mattis of Hello Social Co.
When: 12 noon, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Penn State Small Business Development Center
Thu, July 25 - Free legal trainings for journalists covering 2024 political conventions
What: Legal training for journalists covering the 2024 Democratic National Convention events taking place in Chicago. Attorneys will discuss journalists’ newsgathering rights, safely reporting on protests, ways to avoid arrest and what to do if arrested, local bail procedures, potential security restrictions, and more. Journalists will come away with practical tips and resources to support their work around the 2024 elections.
Who: Jen Nelson Senior Staff Attorney, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Mickey Osterreicher General Counsel·National Press Photographers Association
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsors: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, National Press Photographers Association
Thu, July 25 - Retaining and engaging audiences post-election
What: Experts will share a “lightning round” of ideas on how to keep everyone engaged after votes are counted and winners are announced.
Who: Katie Vogel is the Politics and Washington, D.C., editor for the Associated Press; Shay Totten is API’s newsroom success manager; Gabrielle Jones is the Vice President of Content at Louisville Public Media.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: American Press Institute, Associated Press
Thu, July 25 - Journalism in Crisis: How Did We Get Here and What Comes Next?
What: Journalism is facing a series of intersecting crises. Funding models have not kept pace with technological change, leading to large-scale layoffs and the shuttering of outlets across the country. Misinformation and disinformation are rampant. And increasingly sophisticated generative A.I. stands to exacerbate both these problems and undermine the entire enterprise. Join us for a look at how we got to this point and where we go from here.
Who: Cassandra Willyard Freelance Science Journalist and NASW President; Benjamin Toff Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota; Courtney Radsch Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute; Patrick Dell Senior Visuals Editor at The Globe and Mail.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: National Association of Science Writers
Thu, July 25 - The State of Gen Z and the Future of Advertising
What: Actionable insights across all screens, to help marketers gain new insights into this key consumer cohort and optimize ways to engage and convert them across social, digital, TV, and streaming.
Who: Danan Ren, SVP, Client Insights and GTM Enablement, Comscore; Bo Liu, Principal Analyst, Client Insights, Comscore; Caleb White, Product Marketing Principal, Comscore.
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The Association of National Advertisers
Thu, July 25 - Your New Instructional Design Sidekick Training Network
What: In this workshop you will leave equipped with the skills to leverage AI as your instructional design partner. Together we will explore AI's capabilities and limitations, ensuring you can use different AI tools effectively.
Who: Shannon Tipton, Learning Rebels
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Training Magazine
Thu, July 25 - Nellie Bly: The Investigative Journalist Who Reformed America
What: Explore the fascinating life and legacy of Elizabeth Cochran (1864-1922) — aka Nellie Bly — a tireless and dedicated undercover reporter, wartime journalist, suffragist, and inventor who was a driving force of much-needed change and reformation in America during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Who: Dave Gardner is a licensed New York City tour guide and is also a member of GANYC (Guides Association of New York City).
When: 7 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: $12
Sponsor: The New York Adventure Club
Thu, July 25 - Artificial Intelligence for Journalists with AI expert and digital guru Sree Sreenivasan (this is a rescheduled event from July 11)
Who: Sree Sreenivasan has been teaching generative AI workshops worldwide for the past year. He was a full-time journalism professor at Columbia University for 20+ years and served as the chief digital officer at Columbia. He is the 2024 president of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), which he co-founded in 1994.
When: 7 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists
Fri, July 26 - Design Workshop: How to create compelling visuals when it’s not usually your job
What: Best practices for creating visuals, regardless of your hands-on design experience. We’ll work through specific exercises during the program, so plan to walk away inspired and with at least one design you can use right away.
Who: Beth Francesco, the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s executive director
When: 12 noon, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: $25
Sponsor: The National Press Club’s Journalism Institute
In the dark
/Faith sees best in the dark -Søren Kierkegaard
14 Recent Articles about Running an AI Company
/Censorship slows China's AI advances - Axios
Google brings AI to US broadcast of Paris Olympics – Reuters
OpenAI says chat bots will soon be able to perform human-level reasoning - Axios
A.I. Needs Copper. It Just Helped to Find Millions of Tons of It. – New York Times
OpenAI working on new reasoning technology under code name ‘Strawberry’ – Reuters
AI's problem: The missing revenues - Axios
OpenAI illegally stopped staff from sharing dangers, whistleblowers say - The Washington Post
Microsoft Quits OpenAI’s Board Amid Antitrust Scrutiny – Wall Street Journal
AI Investors Are Starting to Wonder: Is This Just a Bubble? – New York Magazine
OpenAI Scale Ranks Progress Toward `Human-Level' Problem Solving – Bloomberg
AI companies are finally being forced to cough up for training data – MIT Tech Review
OpenAI promised to make its AI safe. Employees say it ‘failed’ its first test. - The Washington Post
California advances unique safety regulations for AI companies despite tech firm opposition – Associated Press
In the AI era, data is gold. And these companies are striking it rich – Fast Company
The digital twin baby boom in the AI industry - Axios
A Hacker Stole OpenAI Secrets, Raising Fears That China Could, Too – New York Times
For AI Giants, Smaller Is Sometimes Better - Wall Street Journal
To Live Fully
/It is a law of human life as certain as gravity: To live fully, we must learn to use things and love people.. not love things and use people.
The Limits of Science
/There is this strain, especially among popular communicators of science, that if you don’t look at the world through a scientific lens, then what’s the point; you’re just fooling yourself; you’re living in a world of delusions.
But my pushback to that is, I’m a professional scientist; the vast majority of decisions that I make in my everyday life are not based on the scientific method. When I’m trying to pick what to have for dinner tonight, or who to fall in love with, I’m not using the scientific method, I’m just following my gut —literally when it comes to dinner. I’m just using other tools than the scientific method to arrive at conclusions and decisions.
There are many, many questions that science does not have a solid answer on, and may not ever have a solid answer on. And it’s perfectly legitimate for people to turn to other modes of inquiry and investigation into this beautiful, messy world that we live in, to seek answers and comfort from that.
Astrophysicist Paul M. Sutter quoted in Undark
23 Recent Articles about Teaching & AI
/Survey: How Are Profs, Staff Using AI? – Inside Higher Ed
What teachers call AI cheating, leaders in the workforce might call progress – Hechinger Report
Teachers Use AI to Grade Student Work. It’s Harsher Than They Are. Teachers Use AI to Grade Student Work. It’s Harsher Than They Are. – Wall Street Journal
AI can't replace teaching but it can make it better – Wired
AI Copilots Are Changing How Coding Is Taught – IEEE
What's next with AI in higher education? – Phys.org
Morehouse College is Using AI assistants – Chronicle of Higher Ed
Can I Use A.I. to Grade My Students’ Papers? – New York Times
Academic Success Tip: Infusing AI into Curricular Offerings – Inside Higher Ed
Google and MIT launch a free generative AI course for teachers – Zdnet
This AI Tool Cut One Teacher's Grading Time in Half. How It Works – Ed Week
California teachers are using AI to grade papers. Who’s grading the AI? – Cal Matters
Making Progress Against ChatGPT - Inside Higher Ed
A quarter of U.S. teachers say AI tools do more harm than good in K-12 education – Pew Research
How two professors harnessed generative AI to teach students to be better writers – Fast Company
AI, online courses divide students, faculty, administrators – Inside Higher Ed
Professors Ask: Are We Just Grading Robots? Some are riding the AI wave. Others feel like they’re drowning. –Chronicle of Higher Ed
How AI Is Changing The Teaching Profession Forever – Forbes
How a computer science professor is using AI in her classroom – UAB
Are You Ready To Use AI In Your Teaching? – Forbes
Survey: How Are Profs, Staff Using AI? – Inside Higher Ed
The Line
/“The line separating good and evil passes, not through states, nor between classes nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart." -Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
Solzhenitsyn endured many years in a Russian Gulag (labor camp) and could write that statement with conviction. Many men did not survive the terrible weather and the harsh treatment in the Gulag.
Solzhenitsyn was dying while interned — until a fellow prisoner showed him unexpected kindness, changing his attitude and refreshing his spirit. He survived to become one of Russia's most well-read and revered writers
Stephen Goforth
Time Alone
/Find a regular time and place to be alone. People in transition are often still involved in activities and relationships that continue to bombard them with cues irrelevant to their emerging needs. Because a person is likely to feel lonely in such a situation, the temptation is to seek more and better contact with others; but the real need is for a genuine sort of aloneness in which inner signals can make themselves heard. Doing housework after the kids leave for school or paperwork with the office door shut are not being alone in the sense I am talking about.
The old passage rituals provide the person with this experience of deep aloneness, often in a wilderness setting. (Interestingly, the Hebrew word for the “wilderness” in which Jesus, Moses, and Buddha spent time during critical periods of their lives is the same word that means ‘sanctuary.” This unmappable “nowhere” was also, as several of these heroes were explicitly told, holy ground.) Traditionally, time spent in such “sanctuaries” was a continuous period; but you many have to plan your time to accommodate your own life situation. One person manages that getting up every morning forty-five minutes ahead of the rest of the family and sitting quietly in the living room with a cup of coffee. Another jogs regularly after work for a half an hour. Another plays ocean sounds and temple bells on his car stereo whenever he drives along. Still another has cleaned out a little storage room off the upstairs hall and sits quietly alone in there for an hour after supper.
William Bridges, Transitions
21 Recent Articles about AI & Legal Issues
/YouTube will use AI to snip copyrighted music and not silence your whole video – Tech Radar
Three senators introduce bill to protect artists and journalists from unauthorized AI use – Engadget
Chevron’s downfall highlights need for clear artificial intelligence laws - FedScoop
The AI Shakeup: New Tech Innovations and the Future of Corporate Law – JD Supra
Decoding US Copyright Law and Fair Use for Generative AI Legal Cases – Medium
Two 80-something journalists tried ChatGPT. Then, they sued to protect the ‘written word’ – Associated Press
Colorado’s Landmark AI Act: What Companies Need To Know – Skadden
Record labels sue two AI startups for copyright infringement – Axios
Deepfakes and the First Amendment: Are Deepfakes Illegal? – Freedom Forum
What Do You Do When A.I. Takes Your Voice? – New York Times
AI Legal Tools Could Be Too Pricey For Those Most In Need – Law360
Drake threatened with lawsuit over diss track featuring AI Tupac – The Verge
AI is creating fake legal cases and making its way into real courtrooms, with disastrous results – The Conversation
Generative AI For Legal Professionals: What To Know And What To Do Right Now – Above the Law
Gen AI Shows Promise — And Peril — For Pro Se Litigants - Law360
AI hustlers stole women’s faces to put in ads. The law can’t help them. – The Washington Post
Generative AI Is Challenging a 234-Year-Old Law – The Atlantic
George Carlin’s estate settles lawsuit over AI comedy special – Washington Post
How GenAI can enhance your legal work without compromising ethics – Reuters Legal
Calif.'s Top Judge Launches Task Force To Probe AI Uses - Law360
How Dow Jones is building a framework to tackle AI copyright challenges – Journalism.co