I live in Washington. If I go and buy a USB drive for $10, Washington gets about 80 cents. If I buy a copy of Microsoft Word for $100, Washington State gets more than $8. Services aren’t always taxed, but probably should be.  It seems to me as we’ve moved from products to services we’ve… Continue reading

The effects of data theft have been enormous this past year, but the situation is likely to get worse. Why? Because right now we are looking at the theft of only slivers of fairly traditional information. But we now live in a world where every device and service you consume is collecting data on you.… Continue reading

Here’s a thing going around Facebook today: Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel banned Trump from Chicago! So did Rahm just go Rahm-bo? Did he ban Trump from the city? Clicking through and seeing the headline on the actual article suggests a less dramatic story: And the quote in context? [Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel] added: “Chicago, our… Continue reading

“HIV dissidents” or “denialists” are people who doubt or reject the fact that AIDS is caused by HIV. This view often results in the death or illness of its believers, and occasionally in the deaths of children who have no say in the matter. One of the fascinating things about HIV denialism is that the primary cause… Continue reading

I was struck this week by Benjamin Doxtdator’s latest post on showing students how to engage with social media in a way that subverts its purposes. On listening as an act of resistance. Of getting past glorifying connection as an end to that important question of purpose.  I wanted to jot down a few quick thoughts… Continue reading

I still don’t know quite what I’m doing with my newsletter, twenty weeks in. I’ve been writing quite a bit there. But should I also put that stuff on the web? Usually I do a series of long pieces and quick hits for it. But yesterday I did a quick round up of news from… Continue reading

Here’s a simple activity you can try in your class: Have students execute a Google search that is a question. Then have the students look at the top five results, and using lateral reading pick the source that is most likely to be authoritative and the source they think is least authoritative. Have them talk… Continue reading

So this is not a photo assignment (reverse image search will get you nowhere!). But here’s a photo anyway, for aesthetic reasons: It’s a quote from current U.S. Defense Secretary General Mattis emblazoned on a coffee mug: “I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading you with tears in my eyes: if… Continue reading

OK, I’m still on a photos kick, but this showed up in Twitter this morning: Here’s the photo alone: And the tweet: https://twitter.com/President_Mommy/status/874617025821368320 Was this really taken aboard the Titanic? What else can you tell us about the photo? Go to it. As usual, don’t read the comments until after you do the assignment. I’m… Continue reading

I have a question I’d love others to answer for me. So I was looking at longer term declines in trust in the press. And what I expected to see was a long steady fall-off from the peak trust of Watergate and if you look at some charts you see that. But when you look… Continue reading