Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Ralph Hanson
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Ch. 1 Link – Web comics that defy classification

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

NOTE: While none of the comics discussed here go much beyond PG-13 in art, they do sometimes have offensive language in them. (12/15/11)

Regular readers here know that I’m a huge fan of web comics.

In your textbook, there’s a discussion of Jeph Jacques’ Questionable Content.  Here are links to his Tmbler blog and his Twitter feeds:

I’m also a longtime fan of The Devil’s Panties (It’s not Satanic Porn!), Girls With Slingshots, Sheldon, Player vs Player, and Dumbing of Age.  But today I’d like to highlight several comics I’ve been following more recently that defy easy classification:

  • Darwin Carmichael Is Going To Hell
    Skittles the ManticoreThe central plot of this strip (written and drawn by Sophie Goldstein and Jenn Jordan) is almost impossible to describe with a straight face.  As a teenager, Darwin Carmichael made a mistake so bad that he now has the worst karma in the entire world and is destined to go to Hell. (Never mind the theological mash up going on here.)  This incredibly charming strip tells the tale of Darwin, his immortal pet manticore Skittles, his minotaur landlord Pat, and a host of friends.
  • Hark! A Vagrant
    Speaking of indescribable web comics, Kate Beaton’s     Hark! A Vagrant has to be one of the most consistently brilliant ones on the web.  The comic  is a mix of history and pop culture stories.  Where else will you see comics about the French revolution, Nancy Drew, Lois Lane and Andrew Jackson?  Beaton’s published anthology of comics was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 10 best fiction books of 2011.
  • The Abominable Charles Christopher
    The Abominable Charles ChristopherKarl Kerschl’s story of the sasquatch with a binky and a heart of gold is the most beautiful web comic anywhere.  Which is not surprising given that Kerschl’s day job is drawing comic book art for folks like DC and Marvel.  In addition to often being very funny, it can also be absolutely heartbreaking.
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Google’s goes conventional with ‘Sophie’ ad for Chrome

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Google has a new television ad for its Chrome web browser that is quite charming:

Long-time tech journalist Steven Levy (author of the 80s computer classic Hackers) has an interesting analysis of the ad.  He notes that while the ad is based on a true story of a father writing notes for his daughter to see in the future, the ad features models/actors, not the real people.

So? you ask.  Well, Google had previously stated that it didn’t use models in ads.  It wasn’t going to be conventional.  But as Levy points out, Google may have finally reached a point that it has to be conventional.

Because after all, as Truth 3 states: Everything from the margin moves to the center.

Bonus Video — Google’s 2010 Super Bowl commercial (without any actors):

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E-books continue to gain market share

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

E-books are continuing to rapidly gain market share, while sales of paperbacks are falling, according to a story at Paid Content.

And while some “indie” writers are finding success through self-publishing using tools like Amazon’s Kindle support, just putting a book up online at a cheap price does not mean that there will be sales, reports the Washington Post.  Instead, what we are seeing is that authors who have or would find success through conventional publishing are also finding success through e-publishing.

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Link Ch. 1 – Covering bin Laden’s Death

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Here are a number of stories on the death of Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011

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Right Here in Nebraska

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

I was reminded of a great little song about my adopted state of Nebraska this morning by my lovely wife.  For those of you who don’t know much about this state, here’s a refresher course:

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Video Blogs, Part 2

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Here is the second round of video blog entries from my commentary students.  You can see the first round here.

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Video blogs from my students, then and now

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

My commentary students are currently posting their video blog entries, in some cases somewhat against their will. And that’s actually the point of this assignment. I want them all to get used to the idea of creating and posting video. Because this is something journalism grads are all going to be doing at one point or another. For example, here’s a pair of videos produced by recent graduate Cody Riedel, who now does online and social media for the Kearney Hub. The first was produced as a part of my class back in 2009, and the second is a recent Casual Sports Fan from the Hub.

And here are several of my current students’ video blogs:

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Link Ch. 4 – Nicholas Kristof on the Three Cups of Tea fuss

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has written extensively on issues  surrounding world poverty, and he considers Greg Mortinson, the embattled author of Three Cups of Tea, to be a friend.  That makes his reaction to the recent charges to against Mortinson to be particularly interesting.  He understands the issues Mortinson has been working on more than most, and he has some good personal insight on how Mortinson may have arrived at the bad place he is now.  Recommended reading.

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Link Ch. 4 – Three Cups of the Boston Globe in the 90s

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

My commentary students and I spent class yesterday talking about the Greg Mortenson Three Cups of Tea case study, and talk there led to discussion of the Mike Barnicle / Patricia Smith case.

Here’s a link to a great in-depth article about how the Boston Globe dealt with (or didn’t deal with at first) two columnists who fabricated material.  The article’s  by Howard Kurtz, who was writing for the Washington Post at the time.

(BTW, all of this adds up to a great example of Truth 4 – Nothing’s new — Everything that happens in the past will happen again.)

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