Netflix Will Give You $1 Million…
…if you can find a way to improve Cinematch’s accuracy by ten percent. Cinematch is the program that matches customer ratings with recommendations, and Netflix’s own programmers have hit a wall in...
View ArticleIs Batman Effective?
I just got back from seeing The Dark Knight a second time, and something struck me, not just about the film itself, but about Gotham City’s ongoing problems with crime. Batman has been around for...
View ArticleBlack Friday Turns Deadly
To my students: What does it say about our culture if a mob of shoppers tears the doors to a Wal-Mart off their hinges and tramples several people, killing one of them? Another one of the victims was...
View ArticleThe Decline of Presidential Speeches
Here is a review of an interesting new book about how presidential speeches have focused less and less on logos and more and more on pathos–to America’s detriment.
View ArticleA Couple of Readings for Next Week
Here is the Thoreau piece you need to read by Tuesday: “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” Feel free to tweak the Word document however you like. If you want to read more Thoreau, you can find more...
View ArticlePresidential Reading
Recently, Karl Rove wrote a column for The Wall Street Journal about the competition he and now-former President Bush held every year to see how many books they could read. Today, New York Times book...
View ArticleRalph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
Here is the Word file with Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance.” emerson-self-reliance Interestingly, our new President says this essay is a big influence. See if you can figure out why.
View ArticleA Takedown of Billy Joel
Students, An assessment of an artist’s body of work is a nice thing to put in your critical journal. Here is one man’s take on Billy Joel. Note how the writer’s tone and diction reflect a seething...
View ArticleJohn Updike, 1932-2009
The novelist John Updike has died. One of the most acclaimed writers of the past fifty years, Updike was celebrated for his novels set in suburbia, including the “Rabbit” tetralogy (Rabbit, Run;...
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