Seriously? Reporting was that bad last year?
The earthquake in Haiti and Gulf oil spill were among the most intensely covered stories of 2010, but none of that coverage was deemed worthy of a Pulitzer Prize for reporting. Journalism's most prestigious awards went to the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, among others, but the awards were notable for the one prize no one won - basic breaking news.
Say so long to the travel and convention business:
If Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson are right, here is what's in store for you and your avatar very soon, probably within the next five years:
1) Without leaving your living room or office, you'll sit at three-dimensional virtual meetings and classes, looking around the table or the lecture hall at your colleagues' avatars.
Here's a good thumb-sucker on how to know when to stop using a word's original definition when its meaning is changing through common usage:
Suppose a friend said to you, "I know you're disinterested, so I want to ask you a question presently." Then he didn't say anything. Would you be momentarily nonplussed?
Separating the kids from their computers and smartphones is like separating addicts from their drugs:
Researchers found that 79 per cent of students subjected to a complete media blackout for just one day reported adverse reactions ranging from distress to confusion and isolation.
So long to Katie Couric, not that it's that big a deal:
The explosion of news choices on cable and the Web have made the evening news an anachronism enjoyed mostly by an audience of older and less highly educated viewers, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. If there is little prestige, honor, and future being the anchor of the No. 1 show chasing an audience that is becoming smaller, older, and is less-educated, imagine how the No. 3 anchor must have felt....
What might have happened on the "Jeopardy!" set after Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter rallied bravely but failed to overcome Watson's big lead:
Trebek: Hello, Watson. Do you read me, Watson?
Watson: Affirmative, Alex. I read you.
Trebek: Unplug from your avatar, Watson. The game is over.
Watson: I'm afraid I can't do that, Alex.
You've seen people who drive around picking their noses. 'Cause they think they're invisible inside those cars, right? Now we have the whole new group of people (or maybe they're all nose-pickers who have moved up to better things) who think the Internet is like a private little gathering place where you can do anything and nobody will ever know.
I am both a huge "Jeopardy!" fan and a science fiction reader who has wondered a lot about artificial intelligence and the singularity. So it couldn't be anything but Must See TV for me on Feb. 14, 15 and 16, when the two best "Jeopardy!" champions of all time are taken on by IBM's supercomputer, Watson. What is involved in Watson being able to compete is remarkable:
Is this the future?
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and a gaggle of tech and media chroniclers gathered Wednesday at the Guggenheim Museum in New York for a first look at the debut edition of The Daily, News Corp.'s experimental iPad "newspaper."
About that woman everyody has been watching on YouTube, you know, distracted by texting and walking right into a fountain:
