It’s been so long since this year’s MLA ended that you might wonder why I’m going to the trouble of posting my second talk. Hasn’t the moment passed? Does anyone care about what I said two months ago, even if you weren’t there? And considering the arguments that I make in this talk about social media being faster than regular scholarly communication, isn’t there some irony in my taking so long to get this up? So it goes.

I have a ream of excuses (from snow to THATCamp Southeast) for why I’m a bit behind the curve on posting this talk. But the reason I’m finally getting to it today is the Day of Digital Humanities (AKA #dayofDH). As I wrote in my first post this morning on my Day of DH blog, the digital humanities is not only about Digging into Data and distant reading but is also about the digital distribution of humanities scholarship. Hence, a long delayed blog post.

As I mentioned when summarizing my MLA, this talk was part of the “New Tools, Hard Times” panel, where I spoke alongside Marc Bousquet, Rosemary Feal, Marilee Lindemann, and Chris Newfield. Meredith L. McGill moderated the session. Marilee organized the panel and was generous enough to invite me to play along. Marilee blogged her talk and Chris posted his reflections on the panel. And if you want to read the VERY lively tweetstream for the session, look at the hashtag archive for #newtools.

The one thing that I wish I had done differently with my talk is change the title. Writing for ProfHacker has taught me the value of a title that promises discrete numbers. Your audience knows as they’re going in exactly how many data points you’ll be giving them. What’s more, there’s a suggestion that these data points will be something discrete, something that they can apply and use in the future. Those are some of the reasons why I chose the title I did. But personally, I found the title too similar to the talk I gave in Trinidad last October. It’s more than a little, however, likely that no one else pays enough attention to what I’m doing to notice the parallels. I attribute the lack of creativity in titles to how late I was up re-working on the talk the night before I gave it. If I had it to do over again, I think I’d call it “The Glass Tower: Social Media in the Academy in Hard Times.” But then I’ve gone ahead and committed the terrible sin of the colon-ized academic title. Perhaps it’s well enough as it is.

What follows is the text that I used when presenting. In a few places I ad-libbed, but you’re getting the gist here. And I’ve included the images that accompanied the text (images precede the text). In rare cases, you’re missing part of the dynamism of the transitions, and you’ll just have to consider that a good reason to see me give my next talk in person.

Three Reasons to Use Social Media in Hard Times

Good afternoon. I’m glad to be present today. You may have heard that I was unaccountably absent from last year’s MLA. Of course, if you’ve heard that—or have even heard of me—it’s largely due to the confluence of two trends: hard times in the academy and social media.

The hard times that the academy has been facing recently have been well documented, and unfortunately SUNY Albany is not so much a watershed as a disappointing continuation of a trend. While the number of positions advertised in the MLA’s Job Information List during the last academic year ended up being higher than Fall 2009 led us to believe [PDF], it remains true that most college classes are taught by people who are not on the tenure track. As Marc Bousquet has written about today’s job “market,” finishing one’s PhD is often the best way to make sure that one will never teach college again. My own difficulties with finding even an interview for a “proper” job is my dubious claim to fame and the reason I’m sharing a seat at this table with these more distinguished panelists.

At the same time that the academy has been going through furloughs, hiring and pay freezes, and the erosion of public and private funding, we have been discovering social media. We, like everyone else, use social media for managing networks of friendships. But academics increasingly use social media, both in their research and teaching: for example, a recent Chronicle article cited a survey that suggests more than 30% of faculty are using Twitter.

While this rise in social media is merely correlated with hard times in the academy, it’s still a relationship worth noting. My own, academic use of social media coincides neatly with my own hard times in the academy. I began blogging at the same time I began applying for jobs, in the fall of 2007; I started using Twitter shortly after returning from the 2007 MLA in Chicago; I built my own website in Spring 2008 and radically overhauled it as I was going on the job market for a third time in 2009.

As a whole, I believe many academics view social networking in the way the philologists probably viewed the new criticism: it’s new, it’s what younger scholars are doing, and, perhaps most damningly, it’s “not how things have been done.”

All of this is true, to an extent, and the university is an institution that prides itself on continuity and tradition. But given the hard times in the academy, I’m skeptical that we can hope for continuity. For good or ill, the university is a-changin’. So with that, I’d like to quickly touch on three reasons why hard times call for us to use social media:

It’s cheaper; it’s faster; and it’s more open.

It’s Cheaper

Although we don’t have money to meet with each other as often as we may have had in the past, we can use social media to help us communicate with one another even if we can’t attend. My own experience shows that this can still be effective. Not only did my own paper for last year’s MLA go viral on a small scale, but I was able to participate in other sessions remotely as people tweeted about what they were hearing or blogged their conference talks. I could ask questions in real time and have them relayed to the speaker in the conference rooms.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t have support to attend conferences or to be engaged in professional development. Indeed, we must assert that participation in these venues is necessary to being scholars. But even when money is not such a pressing issue, there are always more events than time. Social media helps us be in multiple places at once.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t have support to attend conferences or to be engaged in professional development. Indeed, we must assert that participation in these venues is necessary to being scholars. But even when money is not such a pressing issue, there are always more events than time. In the interest of time, however, I’ll just point you to Kathleen Fitzpatrick’s Planned Obsolescence.

It’s Faster

Speaking of journals, social networks are much more efficient at disseminating information and scholarly work. This is something you intuitively know if you’ve ever had a journal fall behind on their publication schedule once they’ve accepted one of our articles.

I had a great opportunity to observe a case study of the speed of social media this week in connection with the “Because” manifesto, which was written by a friend.

On the morning of Tuesday, January 4th, the first tweet about the manifesto went out. (It happened to be from me.)

Shortly after my first tweet is sent, people begin retweeting it. And some of them work for The Chronicle.

In retweeting, some people pull out excerpts that resonate with them.

Others comment on what the message says.

Some people offer suggestions for how the MLA could respond.

Another response on Twitter is that people start talking about how the post is “making the rounds.” This naturally gets more people reading it and spreading the post further.

Even AdjunctHulk weighs in.

Not everyone is going to give Paraphernalian a free pass.

And others don’t find that Paraphernalian speaks for his or her experience in the Academy.

Eventually I realize that I have to include this brief history in my talk, which I had already written.

And finally the post gets picked up by Inside Higher Ed. All of this in less than 24 hours.

Social media is fast enough to provide us and our work with a large audience—one that outstrips what we can normally expect from our publications. As Paraphernalian wrote to me privately, it’s “Weird that more ppl will read this than anything I wrote as an academic.”

It’s More Open

Too often the justifications made by state legislatures to cut funding is that no one is really sure what academics do with their time and money. Social media, then, can help those outside the academy understand what we do in higher education.

Suddenly the academy isn’t as shielded from the outside world. It’s no longer an ivory tower.

We’ve become much more like a glass tower. Or as Dan Cohen puts it in his forthcoming book, we move from an ivory tower to an open web. Helping people see how hard professors work is part of helping the academy when we’re in hard times.

Academics are not always especially good at sharing their work with other people. But I think that social media helps us get over that mistrust as we get to know each other better, through what Clive Thompson has called a “social sixth sense.” Social networks, in other words, help those of us inside the academy share our work and ideas, as well as our lives with one another.

Perhaps those who feel most disconnected from an academic community are the contingent labor among us. Even if you’re at a school that invests in you and cares about you, you might not have time to participate in your 9-to-5 academic community because you’re teaching too much or you’re on your way to the next school. The openness of social networks can allow the most disenfranchised among us to find community, then.

Perhaps my attitude about the importance of openness for the academy in hard times is cavalier, a function of my (relative) youth, inexperience, and lack of a tenure-track position. After all, it’s always important to be circumspect when communicating online. That being said, I have to admit that I’ve opted to be fairly open in my online interactions and that it’s had a salutary effect on my career. I’m speaking here now in large part because of it.

As such, if I may propose some questions for discussion, I’d ask how us to consider how we can advise graduate students in effectively using social networks in an academy which appears to be permanently facing hard times. And secondly, to return to the subject of publishing, to what degree should academic freedom be extended not only to the area of one’s research but also the mode/method in which that research is conducted and presented?

As you might have intuited from a previous post, I had the opportunity to attend the recent 2011 MLA Convention in Los Angeles. One of the panels that I spoke on was organized by Jason B. Jones and featured a trio of the ProfHacker team on the theme of “Hacking the Profession: Academic Self-Help in an Age of Crisis.” Here’s the description of session #48 from the official MLA program: “This roundtable discusses how we narrate our academic lives online, whether in blogs or on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or in any other format. In particular, we are interested in how we talk about failure or, more gently, about the common problems that plague any academic life: the class that doesn’t quite work, the committee that’s driving us crazy, or the article that can’t quite find a home.”

To insure that we had plenty of time left for discussion, we decided to practice what we preach and give our talks in the Pecha Kucha format (AKA 20 slides at 20 seconds per slide). This was my first time giving a talk in this style, and I found it a very interesting exercise. Often I write my talks and only come to the images later, but I found that I had to work on both simultaneously since the slides would determine where I would be in the moment of my argument. I also discovered that in 20 seconds I can say at most 4 lines of 12-point Times New Roman text. I liked the whole approach well enough that I’ll definitely include a Pecha Kucha presentation the next time I teach.

What follows is the text that I cribbed from when presenting at the MLA. In a few places I ad-libbed, especially on the first slide. But you’re getting the gist here. And I’ve included the images that accompanied the text (images precede the text). Make sure you don’t miss Natalie M. Houston’s talk from the same session on “Happiness Hacking.”

Dr. ProfHacker, or How I L3rn3d to St0p Worry1ng and <3 teh fail!!1!

Title, introduce myself.

Admit to this being my first time doing Pecha Kucha.

The problem of the academy, especially the humanities, is that we’ve been too easily waylaid by the ideal of the romantic genius. We think we need to be like the people we study. That we as scholars must be solo geniuses. And we believe that genius scholars never have problems…or failures.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Failure is a common human experience. As little as academics seem like humans at times, then, we need to plan on having failures. And we shouldn’t consider it unusual or untoward. Some academics have become better than others at this.

In a 2007 article in Wired, Thomas Goetz considered the problem of “dark data,” information that is abandoned since it doesn’t conform to hypotheses or doesn’t yield a dramatic enough outcome for a high-profile publication. Reporting on failures is valuable, writes Goetz, because “your dead end may be another scientist’s missing link, the elusive chunk of data they needed” (Goetz).

A possible solution to this problem is the Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine, which, Goetz notes, “has offered a peer-reviewed home to results that go negative or against the grain” since 2002. Since that same year, the Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis, reports on “experiments that do not reach the traditional significance levels…[t]hus, reducing the file drawer problem, and reducing the bias in psychological literature” (JASNH website).

These two journals play an important role for their particular fields by making “failure” public. Perhaps the idea of publishing unsuccessful research is not applicable to every field. But while we do not yet have a Failed Lacanian Interventions Quarterly, many academics are talking about failures in their professional lives as a whole. These discussions about research, teaching, and service take place on blogs, on wikis, and on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

The advantage of discussing our failures in public is that we can get help from other people. As an example, in Spring 2010 I taught a senior-level seminar. I’d taught the class once before and it had been really successful. Last January, I found myself in a classroom setting where I couldn’t get the students to talk to me. In a discussion-based class, it was obvious that I was failing.

My frustration with the situation resulted in my trying several different in-class activities. But at the same time, I wrote online about the difficulty of the experience that I was having. (You’ll notice from the tenor of these tweets that I was more caught up in the notion of my own genius rather than noticing that I was failing my class.)

Meeting with the director of undergraduate studies and asking him for help was useful, but so too was the response I received from my network of colleagues who had had similar experiences in the past. In particular, Erin Templeton saw my plaint and wrote a ProfHacker post about how silence is golden…until it isn’t.

Erin’s post begins by recounting her own “failure” in getting a class to talk and what steps she took to both get her students talking and in coming to terms with what she could not change. Among other things, she suggested methods that she had learned from other academics public narratives. (You’ll notice a virtuous circle happening where one person narrates publicly and others get the benefit.)

I never did get that class talking as much as I had hoped to, but narrating my experiences and asking for help online—rather than staying locked in my ivory tower—improved not only the class’s interactions, but also my own abilities as a teacher. ProfHacker became, in a sense, a Journal of Negative Results.

At the risk of patting ourselves too much on the backs, however, I’d like to suggest that ProfHacker and the work of others like Tenured Radical, Dean Dad, Sisyphus, and many more expose a different sort of failure: the general failure of the academy to make plain many of its most regular practices, from mentoring to writing letters of recommendation.

Narrating our lives need not only be about personal failures, then, but a desire to correct the failures of the academy to make its customs navigable to those who are new. By discussing how the academy works—even when it isn’t working so well in its present circumstances of “hard times”—we provide opportunities to diversify who can be successful in the profession.

There are increasing numbers of academic self-help books. Many of these are really useful, from Donald E. Hall to Kathryn Hume to The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career. But these books are limited in being from only one point of view. The advantage of narrating your academic life publicly is that you can hear from a wide range of interlocutors.

It’s this wide range of interlocutors that makes a university interesting. Large groups of creative and interesting people working together are also what author Steven Johnson suggests is responsible for innovation. In other words, Johnson’s book argues against the model of the solitary genius, against the idea that one person can repeatedly create something ex nihilo.

The advantage of narrating your life online, failures included, is that whether you are at a large research institution or not, you can participate in large group conversations that not only inform but also create, such as the real-time, crowdsourced publication Digital Humanities Now or the comment threads at ProfHacker.

Now, it might seem problematic to be narrating our personal and institutional failures when the academy is facing such hard times. After all, how can we expect state legislatures or individuals to continue funding our campuses if they are aware that we fail at times?

Contrary to expectations, however, I think that showing our failings might make us more sympathetic to those outside of academia. Instead of being the romantic geniuses in our ivory tower, we start to look a little bit human. And humans and human experience is what lies at the heart of the university.

In 2009, Google made a splash when it announced Wave. In 2010, Google made a splash when it announced that it was going to kill Wave. If you’d ever used Wave, this probably came as no surprise. I believe there’s a lesson that we can learn from Google, however. Admit our failures—including the academy’s—and do so quickly. Then talk about them.

Thanks.

Last year I gained some attention for not attending the Modern Language Association’s annual convention. The notice that was paid to my situation and to the paper that was read on my behalf took me completely by surprise. That feeling of surprise persisted throughout 2010 as people occasionally sent emails or told me at events that they had heard of me. Standing in for the present absence [paywall] of many contingent or non-tenure-track at the yearly meeting of the MLA—and all the other conferences or department and faculty meetings—was not what I had had in mind when I stayed home. But I’m grateful that my paper resulted in increased attention being paid to the effects of labor casualization in the university.

Because I’m lucky, I have a job now. And because I’m even luckier, I’ve just finished attending my fifth MLA convention, where I spoke on two panels. I say “my” MLA with good reason. Previous to the 2006 MLA Convention, I’d heard that the yearly meeting wasn’t especially enjoyable: people only went for the job interviews; the presenters always took too long and there was never time for Q&A; the lobby was full of the dead gazes of nervous candidates; and conversations were stunted by the sizing up of one other’s badges—their names and affiliations. So I was stunned when I got to Philadelphia, where I was slated to give a paper. For three days straight, there was something fascinating and fabulous happening. Every hour of the day there was something that I wanted to attend. I saw Michael Bérubé and Bitch PhD (RIP) speak about their blogging. I saw Dave Parry (although I didn’t know him at the time) and others talk about the Wikipedia. I attended talks about the authors I was writing about in my dissertation and talks given by friends in my program. I met Katherine Hayles, someone whose work intrigued me and who chaired the panel that I spoke on. I bumped into one of my favorite undergraduate professors in the book exhibit and caught up on the last 4.5 years. I hung out with friends from grad school, met scads of new people, and ate one of the best meals of my life. What had been billed as a soulless gathering at a terribly inconvenient time of year turned out to be quite possibly the most interesting three days of my academic career to that point.

I was hooked. I planned to go back to the MLA the following year since I would be on the market for the first time. But I was very much looking forward to it. In Chicago in 2007, I had two interviews, but I went for the fun of it all. I met Matt Kirschenbaum and Joe Tabbi for the first time, the latter offering me the opportunity to work some on electronic book review and the ELO Directory. I caught up with Jason Jones and his family. I ate a montecristo. In 2008, I hit San Francisco with one job interview, but I was also moderating a panel on Twitter with Dave Parry, Matt Gold, and John M. Jones. The first MLA tweetups took place, and I met so many people whom I had come to know online that listing them would verge on the obnoxious. And the work of my peers continued to keep me rushing from one hotel to the next, as I tried to decide between incredible When I decided not to attend the 2009 convention, then, I was as disappointed by my missing out on what I suspected would be both a great intellectual feast and a fabulous party.

Although any notoriety I was enjoying in March 2010 had come my way primarily by my not attending the conference, I knew that I could pull a(n accidental) stunt like that once. So I began submitting paper proposals with the hope that I could speak in this year’s program. Others kindly invited me to participate in round tables that they were organizing. And after Rosemary Feal, Executive Director of the MLA, wrote to threaten (in a tongue-in-cheek manner) to not accept my panels unless I showed her an airplane receipt guaranteeing I would be at the 2011 convention, I learned that I would have the chance to speak on two different panels. I’ll blog the talks from those panels in a day or so, but I wanted to quickly recap some of what my MLA looked like this year–to the best that I can recall, at least.

Thursday

• On arriving at the JW Marriott on Thursday morning, I found myself riding on an escalator behind someone who looked very familiar. He seemed to have noticed me and was looking quizzically at me as well. Neither of us had yet found name tag holders. Right before I could speak, he turned fully to me and said, “Excuse me, are you Brian Croxall? I’m Michael Bérubé.” This is not how you expect your conversation to go with the Second Vice President of the MLA. He was very kind and asked about my new job.
• I started Thursday with some media training that I and approximately 20 other people (including many ProfHackers had been invited to. Rosemary Feal and Mark Aurigemma provided two hours of helpful and revealing strategies for how faculty can effectively interact with journalists. Expect a ProfHacker post soon on the subject from myself or one of my colleagues.
• For the very first session of the MLA, I attended a panel on labor in the digital humanities (DH), which featured Tanya Clement, Mark Childs, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Amanda French, Carl Stahmer, with William Thompson presiding. The conversations ranged from debating the extent to which non-programmers can really expect to learn code well enough to contribute to a project (Carl said no), to the degradation of digital humanities projects due to the evaporation of labor after a grant ends, to Amanda French’s commonsense (and therefore all the more radical) suggestion that funds from grants be used in part to fund the training of graduate students so they can learn basic programming concepts and therefore become more able to communicate with their DH collaborators. Tanya Clement even read a portion of the whitepaper that she and Doug Reside have been preparing for the upcoming, NEH-funded Off the Tracks meeting that seeks to limn out pathways for DH scholar-programmers (their term, which she pointed out is contentious). At the end of this panel, I was very happy to get to meet Richard Grusin for the first time. His (and Jay David Bolter’s) book Remediation had a profound effect on my dissertation. This, by the way, is what’s cool about the MLA, in case you missed it.
• Directly after this panel, Natalie M. Houston, Jason Jones, George Williams, and myself got to speak about hacking the profession on a ProfHacker-organized and -themed panel. Natalie’s posted her talk, and I’ll put mine up shortly. I really enjoyed the Q&A, which featured tales of poems about burritos and George regaling us with his boxing days. In this panel, I got to meet Kathy Harris for the first time—someone with whom I was able to collaborate a bit on a timeline— and Bill “Thomas H. Benton” Pannapacker, who wrote a blog post on The Chronicle of Higher Education about the panel.
• Following a one-panel interlude where I’m afraid I zoned out more than anything, having hit a wall, I had my second (and final) speaking engagement. The “New Tools, Hard Times” panel featured Marc Bousquet, Rosemary Feal, Marilee Lindemann, Chris Newfield, and myself talking about the use of social media in the academy in hard times. I will simply say that I was floored to be on this panel with these people. My talk is forthcoming, but Marilee has posted hers and Chris has already blogged his reflections on the panel. And if you want to read the VERY lively tweetstream for the session, look at the hashtag archive for #newtools. During Q&A we were all happy that questions were coming in from people who were not at the convention and were asking about issues of anonymity in the academy. Perhaps the best question came from Matt Kirschenbaum who wondered whether work in social media was actually counterproductive at a point as it too often ends up being uncounted by the academy. This is a good question to keep in mind, but I appreciate the fact that my being presently off the tenure track means that I don’t have to worry as much about whether my contributions online count. Or in other words, while I haven’t grabbed the brass ring of the tenure-track job, I do get to exercise a tremendous amount of freedom in how I spend my energies and time. It’s kind of ironic, then, that I have some academic freedom that the tenured and especially the tenure-track faculty lack.
• At this point, I hit a wall, but had a fabulous dinner—and even better conversation—at Cork Bar.
  This was eventually followed by some night caps (orange juice for me!) with friends. And Rosemary Feal introduced me to Gerald Graff.

Friday

• Friday morning started early with a show-and-tell round table of new digital projects. As I tweeted, I was most taken in by some of the new visualizations (still in beta, unfortunately) that John Walsh of The Swinburne Project demonstrated and “For Better For Verse,” an interactive tool for teaching scansion and prosody, which is headed up by Herbert Tucker of UVa. Then I got a personal tutorial on NINES and 18thConnect from Laura Mandell.
• I then took in a panel where Ryan Cordell presented on his work on Hawthorne’s “The Celestial Railroad.” Ryan’s work is fascinating, but even more was his ability to present effectively. He really taught the audience about his work, rather than reading directly from the page. He made it plain that even more traditional talks can be shifted from what is supposed to be the norm at the MLA. I hope that Rosemary Feal really does ask him to do a video about effective presentations.
• I then hurried over to the book exhibit. It’s always fascinating to see what new books are coming out (not to mention how much money I can save). But the real draw this year was the Narrating Lives project, which participated in the larger theme of the conference established by MLA President Sidonie Smith. There wasn’t a line when I arrived, so I was quickly briefed and waivered, and I recorded a one-minute video that talked about why I look forward to the yearly MLA and what made me go to graduate school in literature and language.
  
  
  (You can tell from my presentation that the media training hadn’t quite sunk in yet.) All in all, I’m really excited that the MLA is looking for such user-generated content. And I’m even more thrilled that Kathi Berens recorded two videos along the theme of “It Gets Better,” talking to those—like her— that are not on the tenure track.
• Next on the schedule was a session on “The History and Future of the Digital Humanities,” which featured Kathy Harris, Alan Liu, Tara McPherson, Steve Ramsay, and Bethany Nowviskie (who, due to illness, was channeled by Steve), and Brett Bobley of the NEH, with Kathleen Fitzpatrick chairing (all links are to either the speaker’s blogged talk or to their Twitter account). The speakers each had about 3 minutes to present their perspective on the Digital Humanities. Perhaps most electric was Steve’s polemic (which appears to be his public persona and one which he performs exceptionally) in which he considered “Who’s In an Who’s Out,” a subject that seems to come up frequently in DH. He suggested that knowing how to code is all but required in DH and presented a definition of DH: it’s “about building things.” Steve has blogged his reflections on the panel, and they’re worth reading. Personally, I very much like his definition of building as requisite to DH. I’d suggest that it doesn’t have to be limited to one’s research, however, since I think DH can happen in pedagogy just as well as research. (See Chris Forster on this important point.) But during the discussion, Alan Liu argued that he’s not so much a builder as someone who steals or is a bricoleur, and I think that that’s possibly closer to my vision of myself than one of a builder. It was a very good conversation, but one that I also felt I’ve heard a lot recently, either in person or in the blogosphere about just what DH is. In the end, I wonder to what extent these questions really come down to wondering about how we should train the current generation of graduate students. After all, if we are to prepare people for DH positions, we need to make sure they will be able to have the skills that programs will be looking for. But I don’t know if we’ll ever get as specific in training as we are in breadth requirements for PhDs. The current (and previous) generation of DH practitioners seem to all have taken idiosyncratic paths, and that’s one of the things that makes the community vibrant. I’d hate to lose that (although I recognize that not everyone has the time or opportunity to pursue these paths). Perhaps this is why we keep talking about it. If you want to see more of the conversation, look at the archive for the hashtag #309. One of the things that I found most interesting about this panel was how packed the room was: standing room only, and it was clear that there were a lot of people there who simply wanted to learn about what the digital humanities were. Due to all reports I saw from last year’s MLA, the digital humanities sessions in 2009 were also packed, but were in much smaller rooms. This year saw DH given larger space, but it still wasn’t sufficient. I saw MLA staffers counting attendance during this session, and I think it’s reasonable to expect that we’ll see still bigger rooms in 2012.
• After the DH History and Future panel, I stayed put for a session on “The Open Professoriate” (Twitter hashtag #openprof) featuring Samuel Cohen, Amanda French, Dave Parry, Mark Sample, and Erin Templeton, with Matt Gold chairing. At the moment, only Amanda has blogged her talk, but I am sure that we’ll see more of the talks made available soon given that the openness of faculty’s research, teaching, and lives was the subject of the day. The Q&A was again very lively, and I asked the panel to what extent we should count on large corporations such as Google or Twitter to have our interests of openness at heart. It’s not that they are necessarily more or less profit-driven than the universities most of us work for, but I think that many of us—myself certainly included—forget to consider that we are creating value for the web companies that we contribute to with our searches and discussions. Not that this makes me want to be less open; after all, I’d rather have accessibility. But we need to be aware of everyone with whom we’re consorting in the quest toward openness. I was glad to see the MLA embrace conversations suh as these as well as the standard literary discussions.
• I stuck to the same room for one more talk, and got to hear Stanford’s Dan Edelstein talk about the mapping of Enlightenment correspondence in the Mapping the Republic of Letters project. The visualizations and the patterns they have been discovering by building a massive archive of early modern correspondence is intriguing and brought the conversation from the meta level of the #309 panel back to the practical. Fascinating work and well worth following.
• Following Dan’s talk, I moved to the Electronic Literature Organization‘s meetup, where I caught up with Zach Whalen and Kari Kraus and met Jentery Sayers and Mark C. Marino for the first time. Again, one of the reasons to attend the MLA in my experience is that everyone is there. And even if you don’t get a lot of time to talk to everyone, simply seeing each other in person helps to make possible new chances for working together or learning about what’s at the bleeding edge of different fields.
• After a DH-filled dinner of sushi, the final event of the evening was the MLA Tweetup, which Rosemary Feal sponsored. While it will likely not get the press coverage that 2009′s did, it was still nice to see in person many of the people whose tweets we had been reading throughout the first two days of the conference. I’m sure not everyone there was someone that was on Twitter, since it appeared to include some bleed over from the audience for President Sidonie Smith’s keynote address. Still, it was amazing to see so many people there, who were engaged in the Twitter side of the MLA. And the ambience was something to behold:
  

Saturday

• For my final experience of the MLA, I joined the fun run that Dave Parry had organized for as many MLA participants as were crazy enough to be consider spandex and black turtlenecks at 7am.
  
  Dave and the others at the front of the pack took pity on us and kept it manageable. Fortunately, I had a strategy.
  
  As was the case throughout so much of the MLA this year, it was great to have Rosemary Feal involved. She mentioned before the run how much she appreciated that the run got organized. At the risk of putting words in her mouth, I think she was pleased to see young blood at the MLA. But I also imagine that she enjoys seeing spontaneous organizing taking place: the activities of the underconference.

I don’t want to come off saying that there aren’t any problems at the MLA. There are things that I think can be fixed at the MLA. For one, it would be great to find ways to get those presenting in traditional panel formats (not everything can be pecha kucha, after all) could present rather than read directly from the page. After all, we’re all teachers. Why do we think that we need to communicate to one another in a different mode than we communicate to our students? Second, I think that the MLA can do more to embrace openness. In particular, the MLA should avoid paywalling information related to the conference, such as the program. Part of this trouble is due to the program being published as an issue of PMLA. But it shouldn’t fall to the crowd to hack and republish the simple PDF. If we are in hard times (and boy are we!), then we should be doing everything to make information about ourselves public. How can we expect people to understand what it is that we do in this profession if we don’t let them see what it is we’re discussing? (See Kathi Berens calling for the same openness on her blog.) But these problems are things that we can fix. They aren’t impossible. And on the whole, I’m feeling quite positive about the direction the organization is headed in.

I know that some people think the MLA is stodgy, solipsistic, and stressful. But that’s not my MLA. And I’m glad I was present.

EDITS: Added the photo at the Cork Bar, courtesy of Kathi Berens.

Last week I asked several people on Twitter if they could recommend any books on WordPress. We’re working to more effectively implement a WP Install at Emory for faculty use and for low-key digital scholarship projects. (Bigger projects will most likely be running on Omeka.) A few others asked that I make the list available once I’d collected it, so I’m taking this opportunity to do just that. These books are listed in the order the recommendations came in.

1. Ethan Watrall recommends Head First WordPress by Jeff Siarto.
2. Dimitrios Diamantaras recommends Smashing WordPress by Thord Daniel Hedengren.
3. Bill Wolff recommends WordPress For Dummies, 3rd Edition by Lisa Sabin-Wilson.
4. Boone Gorges recommends Professional WordPress by Hal Stern, David Damstra, and Brad Williams.

In an ideal world, I would be able to purchase all of these texts, and I’m trying to ascertain what the library budget will countenance. If it comes down to my ranking them in the order of preference, however, I will probably rank them as follows: 3, 1, 4, 2.  But that ranking is simply based on what I’ve been able to learn about each text as I’ve read through different reviews of their contents and their approaches.

It’s worth mentioning that a number of people whose Word Press-fu I admire chimed in to say that they didn’t use books. Jeremy Boggs and Amanda French both indicated that they haven’t really used books in the past. Instead, they turn to online resources when they have questions they can’t crack. Amanda specifically referred to the WordPress Codex as a helpful place to go for information. Moaçir de Sá Pereira recommended New2WP as a place that he’s used on on more than one occasion. And Boone reminded me that his own blog, Teleologistic has descriptions of interesting WP hacks.

I think that when I asked the question, I was hoping that there would be some consensus as to which source would be the best for learning more than I do at the moment. Absent that, I look forward to drawing on all the different options as I get my hands dirtier. I do think that a book will be what I’m after at first just so I can avoid switching back and forth between browser tabs.

If we’ve missed some of the texts that you think are critical on WordPress, please let me know. (Here’s where you can see that I’ve been writing for ProfHacker for quite some time: I can’t end a blog post without an an appeal to the imagined reader.)

I’ve just returned from a few days at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (Trinidad). I was invited by the campus’s Instructional Development Unit (IDU) to deliver the keynote address at the presentation of their biennial UWI / Guardian Life “Premium” Teaching Awards. The theme that they asked me to speak on was “Teaching Excellence and Social Media,” something that I was excited to spend a few weeks thinking about more concretely than I have had the chance to recently since I am not currently teaching courses.

It was apparent that the theme struck a chord with many of the campus’s faculty. An afternoon conversation between myself, the Programme Coordinator (Dr. Anna-May Edwards-Henry), and thirty or so faculty members about the practicalities of using social media in the classroom and some of the assignments that I’ve designed was exciting and helped me refine some of my own ideas further. But it wasn’t just the university that was interested in the topic. We were also interviewed on television (watch us from 1:37:25 to 2:00:50) and radio; and these weren’t PBS stations: they were morning shows that are among the most viewed/listened to programs in the morning. Imagine if Good Morning America or Today cared enough to talk about social media — or even just education. (I’m not holding my breath for an invite.)

In the interest of continuing the conversation about social media and putting “theory” into practice, I wanted to post the talk and the accompanying Prezi here. (Prezi takes a lot of time to do well, in my opinion. But if your audience hasn’t seen a Prezi before, your time will be well repaid.) If you want to see how the presentation was linked to the talk, you can see a marked-up copy on Scribd.

“Five Reasons to Use Social Media in the Classroom.”

Introduction

• In an article titled “Fear and Trembling,” Ellen Nold discusses the difficulties of getting scholars to use the computer creatively in their teaching and research. In a statement that might just as well be directed towards social scientists or natural scientists, Nold suggests, “What is preventing humanists from using the computer…is merely their belief that they cannot use the machine. It is ironic that a group known to undertake calmly and surely the study of Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Swahili, or Gaelic often balks at the much simpler task of learning the more logical, far less capricious language of the machine.”
• Nold’s critique of fear and trembling on the part of scholars when faced with new technology is timely. It addresses some of what is at the crux of integrating social media into the classroom: nervousness and uncertainty on the part of the professoriate…which is interesting since the article appeared in 1975…and was discussing the use of the revolutionary, computational tool: the word processor.
• Thirty-five years later, I’d be willing to guess that word processors have become second nature and indispensable to most of us. The only time “fear and trembling” might apply to the tool is when Microsoft radically overhauled the menu interface for Word 2007.
• If we’ve become used to using the word processor, surely we can become used to using social media in the classroom
• Of course, one difference between the two is that the word processor is something that professors adopted before students. In this case, the tables have been turned. We, perhaps, are the students when it comes to social media.
• As such, we should perhaps briefly note what exactly social media is.

Definition of social media

• When we think of social media, we tend to think of a few big players: Facebook, Twitter, perhaps MySpace, Friendster, Orkut
• These social networks are certainly social media. But social networking is not the only type of social media.
• When I talk about social media, I prefer a wider definition. (Something along the lines of the definition on the Wikipedia, itself a social medium)
• Media are how we communicate with one another. Throughout the 20th century, we developed ever more pervasive and sophisticated broadcast/publishing media that could reach more and more people: radio, traditional book publishing, television, and eventually the Internet.
• But access to these electronic and print media was expensive and centralized. Even the Internet was expensive and limited at first, despite all the utopian rhetoric associated with it.
• With advances in technology in the 1990s and in the 2000s, the cost of participating in content creation fell. Suddenly, almost anyone could be involved in publishing or broadcast.
• When almost anyone can be involved, the media landscape suddenly becomes more communal, more participatory, more social.
• Social media supplements traditional media models. Podcasts occupy the same space as radio; blogs and wikis play along with traditional print publication; and YouTube takes over television.
• In short, you might say that any time we get our students creating and responding to one another online that they are using social media.

Social Media In the Classroom

• So that’s what social media is. As Howard Rheingold puts it, “The power of social media in education […] derives from their affordances for forms of communication and social behavior that were previously prohibitively difficult or expensive….”
• Lowering the costs means that it’s easy for all of us to use social media in the classroom.
• But just because it’s easy to use doesn’t mean that that use will necessarily be excellent. So how do we go about encouraging excellence in the classroom with social media?
• As far as I’m concerned, the first step to being effective with social media is to ask yourself why you want to include social media in your classes.
  • What are you hoping to accomplish? What learning outcomes do you desire?
  • And you don’t just need to know why you’re using social media for yourself; you will need to make it clear to students why we are using social media in the classroom.
  • We owe it to them to clarify how a new assignment—something very different from what they’ve probably done before—will help them learn the course’s content better.

What, then, can social media add to the regular classroom dynamic or experience? Let me suggest five ways to think about these additions.

1. It gets the class knowing each other better, which improves the classroom dynamic.

• I believe that getting people to know their classmates is an important thing that social media can do.
• We all know that it’s easier to teach a class at the end of the term than in the beginning. After several 15 weeks, we know one another better. You know who they are and you know their personalities. You can get away with a slightly different pedagogy, and everyone has developed relationships that make it easier for them to talk to one another.
• When used in the classroom, social media can do the impossible: speed up time. We move more quickly to those last weeks of the term where we know one another better and consequently reap the benefits of that increased contact with one another.
• This happens when one uses Twitter or when students read each others’ blog posts.
• Football fan
• Faren’s story
  • In this moment, she explored the tool for its ability to shape our perceptions of her.
• Discussions really did improve when using Twitter in the classroom.
• People asking each other for help with assignments
  • They help each other because they have come to know each other better. Social media is, in other words, a gift economy.

2. It provides a different pathway for people to be talking to each other and to be participating.

• As Monica Rankin (UT Dallas) wrote : “Most educators would agree that large classes set in […] auditorium-style classrooms limit teaching options to lecture, lecture, and more lecture.  And most educators would also agree that this is not the most effective way to teach.”
• So another way that I’ve used Twitter in my classroom is as an in-class backchannel.
• So what I do is I project the students’ tweets on a large projection screen like this. As I teach, the students are welcome to send messages from their phones or computers, and all of the messages end up behind me.
• This proves helpful in a lecture-based course because in that format, students normally do not have the chance to engage with the teacher. The professor is simply talking at the front of the room.
• Using Twitter in this way allows the students to talk to each other and also to me.
• There’s always a backchannel. This just allows me to capture that backchannel and make it public, inviting the students to communicate with each other.
• I can look at the screen and respond to questions and get immediate feedback on what I’m doing.
• There’s the chance that the students will post sarcastic things about what I’m doing or some mistake that I’ve made, but that still indicates that they are engaged with class material.
• In a smaller, discussion-based class it can also engage those who are less vocal.

3. It allows the conversation to continue easily outside the space and time of the classroom. It makes things asynchronous.

• The asynchronous nature of social media means that you and your students can get to things when you have time for them or when you’ve had more time to consider. We all know students—again, the less vocal ones—who take longer than others to formulate what end up being very insightful comments. Social media in the classroom gives these students a different avenue and a different temporality for presenting these viewpoints.
• It also gives the entire class a way to continue discussing the course material, whenever someone wants to. You no longer have to depend upon being in the same place at the same time to learn.
• Digital office hours, accomplished via IM
• Wikis
  • My favorite social media assignment uses a wiki.
  • A wiki is a tool that allows multiple people to edit a document and to track the changes made to it.
  • For each day of class, I assign a small group of students to write notes—a summary, key passages and terms—and publish them on the wiki.
  • Suddenly, group work is much less painful thanks to the technology. They don’t have to be in the same place at the same time.
• The asynchronous approach has the final benefit of keeping my students thinking about my course material.

4. It provides students with transferable skills and toolsets that they will use after completing university.

• How to write clearly and persuasively is perhaps the most important thing I teach students in my literature classes. So writing is good.
• But if they also know how to write online? That’s better.
• Writing online—blogs, tweets, wikis—is an important skill for this century. I want my students to have other abilities that will distinguish them when they meet with employers.
• One of the ways I accomplish this goal of teaching new skills is through an interactive timeline assignment.
• Timelines, Google Docs, and HTML
• It’s not only particular tools or technologies that matter, it’s skills. Working in social media teaches the students how to collaborate on a team (wikis)—something that humanities classes in particular don’t teach by default—and how to behave in a networked environment.

5. The fifth (and last) reason to use social media in the classroom is that it opens the classroom to the world.

• How often have you heard students ask, “Why does this matter?”
• Because social media tends to be public, classes that use social media open themselves to participation from the wider world. From other students.
• You can also bring guests into the classroom using Skype. These guests can include other scholars, authors, or maybe just native speakers of the language your students are learning.
• Alternatively, assignments can ask students to engage with the wider world. Many of my friends who teach political science or film assign their students to write new entries for the Wikipedia. They contribute to the world’s wider knowledge and it’s suddenly clear why what they’re doing matters.
• And because social media is open, it’s something we can capture. We generate our own record of what we’ve learned. This record can be of use to students in the future. It’s something that they can show to other people (parents?).
• And in this sense, it opens the classroom and the learning experience to the larger world.

Conclusion

• So there are five reasons to use social media in the classroom. Even with those reasons, you might still feel nervous about its inclusion.
• But just remember…
• We’re ALWAYS been social. We use a profoundly social space in our teaching—the classroom—, and being social is how we’ve always been excellent. It’s certainly a trait of those who are being honored this evening.
• Just because we’re already social, however, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try supplementing our classroom with something new, like social media. The reasons for using social media in the classroom are so overwhelmingly positive that it’s worth the experiment and the risk of becoming uncomfortable for a short period.
• It is possible to have teaching excellence and social media in the same classroom.
• We just have to be willing to become students again ourselves.
• Thank you.

• @lichborne Thighs weren't a problem. But the feet are very bad. in reply to lichborne #
• @danlowlite Just plain forgot that spot. And was in the ocean a big chunk of the day. in reply to danlowlite #
• @KeepWundering See. Media theory is applicable to daily life. in reply to KeepWundering #
• How to ruin a vacation on the first day: massive sunburn to the top of feet. #
• What's this Prof hacking today? His lawn mower. 3 repairs in an hour. #
• Just finished my last teaching obligation of the year. #
• @erinsells Meaning that I use a stopwatch to see how long I take rather than a timer. And that method gets me going faster, I feel. in reply to erinsells #
• @erinsells "Woo hoo" for an interview. Glad the timing is working too.I've recently found that timing up rather than down works better 4 me in reply to erinsells #
• @jcmeloni I'm not even going to attempt that. I look forward to reading yours (in a week though). in reply to jcmeloni #
• @academicdave I'm *so* far behind on reading those. To say nothing of writing my own. in reply to academicdave #
• RT @ProfHacker: New post @billiehara calls for discussing "Disruptive Student Behavior (t-shirt slogan edition)" http://bit.ly/bEpTAD #
• And FWIW here's a pic of the flying boy from the other side of the stage: http://bit.ly/at2JCs. Taken by someone else. #
• @foundhistory Also Erasure's *The Innocents* #everysongisgood #
• @fearv That's what the Internet suicide machine is for, right? http://suicidemachine.org in reply to fearv #
• @ontoligent It's working for me. in reply to ontoligent #
• @foundhistory Wolf Parade's "Apologies to the Queen Mary" and Broken Social Scene's "You Forgot It In People" #everysongisgood in reply to foundhistory #
• @erinsells Road trip? in reply to erinsells #
• @bitly Thanks, but it's not generating URLs on *any* pages. I click, and it just sits. in reply to bitly #
• @GeorgeOnline @ryancordell But I think a Text Expander is perhaps more useful for how I use it. in reply to GeorgeOnline #
• @GeorgeOnline 2ryancordell I love @ProfHacker for all these tools I never knew existed. I've been using Clips (http://bit.ly/9NPlSX). in reply to GeorgeOnline #
• RT @ProfHacker: New at ProfHacker: @ryancordell on "Smarter Typing Through Text Expansion" http://bit.ly/bF2sh0 #
• @roopikarisam No. Don't. But get me one. in reply to roopikarisam #
• @erinsells Pains of Being and Surfer Blood play in Birmingham on June 9. Same day Neon Indian is in ATL. Which do you choose, Pikachu? #
• @erinsells We were just glad that his brother didn't feel left out. A 3-year old would have been a bit much, even for me. in reply to erinsells #
• .@amandafrench It was prefaced by them singing a quick song about his name, "Chaz with a Z, Chaz with a Z." in reply to amandafrench #
• @erinsells Bat Commander told Chaz, "You are gonna remember this for the rest of your life." in reply to erinsells #
• @bitly My bitly bookmarklet has stopped working in Firefox on two computers. Has something changed? #
• I'm not only the old guy who brings his kids to shows. I'm the old guy who lets his kid crowdsurf at @TheAquabats: http://bit.ly/9c8lPh. #
• @whitneyboles Thanks. We like him pretty well. in reply to whitneyboles #
• Opening band's drummer gave a stick to Finn. #
• I'm not only the old guy at shows now. I'm the old guy who brought his kids. #
• @ibogost Truer words… in reply to ibogost #
• @ibogost That's part of what the post is trying to do: I feel compelled to be somewhat transparent. Others don't. I find it interesting. in reply to ibogost #
• @FelixSmerd Pree-cisely. in reply to FelixSmerd #
• @ibogost That's a bit of what I look at. But unless you're Flickr, interestingness can be hard to measure. #
• @ryancordell Naw. It's just 'cause we like to rock. And lord it over townies. #
• I'm looking to stir up some controversy with my newest @ProfHacker post on how to grade participation: http://bit.ly/c0P4Qb. #
• My second time through the Broken Bells album, and I'm pretty convinced it's not going to grow much on me. #
• I'm having a blast talking FERPA, GooDocs, and privacy with @sivavaid, @johnmjones, @academicdave, and @jbj. But now it's gym time. #
• @ronaldho @sivavaid Thanks. I'd forgotten about the distinction. Clemson *is* a Google Apps school. in reply to sivavaid #
• @sivavaid Perhaps my univ counsel should freak about what they pay adjuncts first. Srsly: what about svcs like Dropbox? in reply to sivavaid #
• @sivavaid That perspective makes sense. in reply to sivavaid #
• @sivavaid I know it's not assignments going back,but where is the level of responsibility? (Says the guy who GooDocs his grade spreadsheets) in reply to sivavaid #
• @sivavaid But if we can't share assignments with 3rd parties, to what degree of risk do we expose them if Word reports details back to M$? in reply to sivavaid #
• @johnmjones That sounds like an approach that's destined to bring ire. Instead, I like @academicdave's point @ educating them. in reply to johnmjones #
• @sivavaid @jbj @johnmjones Expose them to what? To their writing being read by others? Sounds ideal to me. in reply to sivavaid #
• @sivavaid @jbj @johnmjones So where does the liability lie, then? Seems like it would have to be court-tested, right? in reply to sivavaid #
• @johnmjones @sivavaid @jbj It seems John's point is what happens. Individual profs go from school's interp. Anything else = too much time. in reply to johnmjones #
• @farman Is that a case of #tweetingtoohard in reply to farman #
• @farman I did the same thing with my band. It just so happened that my band *was* The Aquabats for a while. in reply to farman #
• It's on. I'm taking Amber and the boys to see @TheAquabats tonight. #
• Feel like I'm 20 again. Just asked a friend to put me on the guest list. #
• @ryancordell You know what they say about students these days…they can't spel. in reply to ryancordell #
• @DrewBrittain Neon Indian in ATL on 9 June. #
• RT @farman: Free download today from @monoskop: Katherine Hayles, My Mother Was a Computer: http://bit.ly/c7mULw. #
• @eviedc That's not the intention. It just occurred to me that we never got coffee last year when I was there. And doing so would be nice. in reply to eviedc #
• @sivavaid So can one assign *any* online assignment? in reply to sivavaid #
• @ryancordell You're doing graduation instead of #thatcamp right? Will you be around for #geoinst #
• It's May and we've already hit our health insurance deductible. Too bad that won't count for anything when I change jobs. #
• @sivavaid But what if students *choose* to do their work in Google Docs of their own volition. Is that still FERPA violation? in reply to sivavaid #
• @ontoligent Plan on it. Would love to meet you in person. in reply to ontoligent #
• @ontoligent Is he going to be talking about this at all at #geoinst in reply to ontoligent #
• Blue Cross Blue Shield South Carolina has the worst internal website imaginable. So many windows spawning… #
• @eetempleton Perhaps, but it means that diplomas and hods are all done by 11am. in reply to eetempleton #
• @lindsaymartini That's terrible. in reply to lindsaymartini #
• @erinsells You know, I honestly can't remember. in reply to erinsells #
• @eetempleton Convocation starts at 7:30am at Emory. It's not a problem, srsly. in reply to eetempleton #
• RT @HASTAC: One of the best pedagogy forums ever. Still lively! Don't miss Teaching with Technology and Curiosity http://bit.ly/c3YQKL #
• @sivavaid So can one really use *any* cloud service and still be in the graces of FERPA? What about TurnItIn? in reply to sivavaid #
• @sivavaid For privacy issues, do you mean the fact that Google scrapes your docs? Or something else? in reply to sivavaid #
• @samplereality That also means it's tax deductible, right? in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality Nice. That's one of mine too. You'll testify before the wife subcommittee on my behalf? in reply to samplereality #
• Amber's in charge of a day-long teacher appreciation event. So I'm Mr. Mom-ing it. Expect cereal fires. #
• @samplereality Did you just go into a store to talk with someone? Or did you call? in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality I might have to look into that then. in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality And me without an upgrade for 7 months… in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality @sramsay How's the new Droid? #
• RT @captain_primate: Best classified advert ever http://twitpic.com/1l4ol3 #
• Super Mario Bros. (original) mashed up with Mega Man, Link, and more. Gobsmackingly brilliant: http://bit.ly/dcqAML. #
• @fearv And Happy NBSSRD to you too. Let's hope we can celebrate again in less than 5 years. in reply to fearv #
• @mkirschenbaum Wow. That's quite a team. Congratulations to @farman and the others. And to UMD! in reply to mkirschenbaum #
• RT @captain_primate: began writing an email to dept. chair. Realized that I put two hashtags in w/out thinking #iusetwittertoodamnmuch #
• In what would not be at all shocking to people in my diss group, my @ProfHacker post for tomorrow topped 1500 words. Average is 500-ish. #
• @captain_primate @jmcclurken http://bit.ly/aXt3L2 in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate No. But @jbj might fly up for the initiation listening/hazing. in reply to captain_primate #
• @erinsells Tell me about it. in reply to erinsells #
• RT @GeorgeOnline: Why @ProfHacker is a "positive jam" (and why The Hold Steady are our unofficial house band), by @jbj http://bit.ly/d6MbAL #
• @HannahRabon You weren't in Atlanta today, I hope. Wouldn't be nice not to stop by and say hi. in reply to HannahRabon #
• Just spent some time with my friends, @acidhousekings, who have the most unintuitive name ever. #music #
• @HannahRabon @DrewBrittain Make that two of us. I need to listen to that album again. in reply to HannahRabon #
• That's it. Grades are submitted. No clue when I'll be doing that again. Split feelings on that, believe it or not. #
• As I'm entering final grades for #eng399 it appears that I could make some shifts to weighting things again. #
• @samplereality I presume you're building this house out of Ash? #bookgeekcred #
• @betajames I agree. That does look better. in reply to betajames #
• @billwolff @betajames I think it's What You Might Have Missed. in reply to billwolff #
• @jcmeloni You just got favorited. in reply to jcmeloni #
• @billwolff Blood? Vomit? in reply to billwolff #
• @billwolff What if you've never *heard* of either team? in reply to billwolff #
• @erinsells Well, my finals were last week. And my grades are due tomorrow. in reply to erinsells #
• Working to wrap the final grades for all my classes. Should be done within an hour, I think. #
• @ibogost I'd reply…but I'm afraid I'd get WC'd. in reply to ibogost #
• Okay, @emusic will I be able to download @bssmusic's new one at midnight EST? #
• Got the iMac back. And they didn't need to replace the drive after all. So that gets a win. #
• @drnels That sums up nicely how I feel each time. I've just had 1.5 weeks to get over it at this point. in reply to drnels #
• Broken window can't be repaired until the broken door motor is. So now I'm going to be out more like $450. Wonderful. #
• Next on my list of idiots: calling the Apple store, to inquire about the iMac they should have called about yesterday. #
• @adamclyde Wow. Who's that? in reply to adamclyde #
• Looks like it's going to be $200. So yeah. There goes the Wii. (Not that I have the TV yet on which to play it.) #
• My insurance (USAA) says they have hours on Saturday, but apparently those are only for emergencies. Website doesn't say this tho. FAIL #
• @captain_primate Ah! I see it now. Color me clueless… in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate Might have actually gone better if I had *had* a Wii in the car. in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate Good way of looking at it. Except they didn't get anything either. So it's an all-around fail for all involved. in reply to captain_primate #
• @cforster Side window. Alas. in reply to cforster #
• I can't tell you how much this screws up my plans to get a Wii. #geekfail #
• $500 deductible = no help from insurance company. Thanks, punk teenagers! #
• @jbj @nowviskie My kids can't compete. But the 3 year-old is sporting a mean dolphin tattoo today. in reply to jbj #
• I've *finally* got my insurance company on the phone to talk about the break-in on Friday night. I'm not impressed w/their hours. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Broken car window. Broken iMac. It's an expensive Saturday. Did finally play with iPad tho. #
• Glad that my car didn't get broken into until I was done with my commute. Am surprisingly not too angry. Must be the ice cream talking. #
• @seabright Car. It does suck, but I lost nothing. in reply to seabright #
• @erinsells Totally. Good call. in reply to erinsells #
• Good thing all I've got in it is some mix tapes from 1992. Literally #
• Sweet. Someone smashed my window. #
• @erinsells better yet, I'll come by your office a bit before 12:30. See you in a bit. in reply to erinsells #
• @erinsells Gah. Flashbacks. in reply to erinsells #
• Watching @buzzdad talk to the Emory tech community about how faculty use of tech is and will change over the next X years. #
• @erinsells Falafel sounds great. Meet you there? in reply to erinsells #
• I'm constantly amazed at what people will leave out in library carrels during finals. Props to the person sleeping under that blanket tho. #
• And…the commencewment chairs begin to appear on Emory's campus. #
• @DrewBrittain It's no 5 Guys, but I guess it'll do. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @samplereality 5 years? That's a long time to be doing your commute. Prost! in reply to samplereality #
• @dradrea Emory. CLIR post-doc. Whee! in reply to dradrea #
• Aw hell. I think I either left my graded #eng465 papers in my office. That or I recycled them. Glad I wrote summary comments in a Word doc. #
• 5 Guys fry coma. #
• @drewbrittain Thanks for the radio recs. Hope you've got McDonalds. I've got 5 Guys. #
• So I guess that's it, Clemson. It's been a lot of fun (srsly). kthxbai. #
• @boonebgorges You ordered the 4th-gen iPhone left-at-the-bar special too, huh? in reply to boonebgorges #
• It's so weird to me that I've been coming here for a year and my family has no idea what it looks like. #
• It's a beautiful day to be having one's last experience of a campus. Instant nostalgia. #
• @DrewBrittain Good. I think it's easier than the midterm. Especially once you've seen the midterm and understand how they work. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @candace_nast I was lucky and had a TTh schedule, which meant I only did it twice a week. Still, that's 30+ trips per semester. in reply to candace_nast #
• @samplereality Great! I had little to say about that perspective, but had hoped it would come out in the comments. Now it need not. in reply to samplereality #
• Apparently Gwen is taking her first steps. Too bad I'm in another state. #
• My newest at @ProfHacker discusses what I've learned while commuting 120 miles, one-way for a year: http://bit.ly/dhGYjd. #
• Love this. RT @GreatDismal Mrs. GreatDismal: 63 Ways Steve Jobs Could Strike Back http://bit.ly/9LGEST #
• @DrewBrittain What are the station numbers? I listened to NPR on 90.1 some of the way. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• I'm really enjoying all the playfulness with font/form/color that my #eng465 students are showing in final papers. Thanks, House of Leaves! #
• @DrewBrittain I do. But radio doesn't cover every mile of the drive. I dug out some old tapes, actually. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• It figures that on my last trip to Clemson that my iPod wouldn't sync right and I'd have NO music to listen to whatsoever. #
• @retius Happened a week or so ago. Haven't seen much press on it though. in reply to retius #
• @SybilV Natuurlijk! in reply to SybilV #
• @hastacscholars Your servers are killing me. I'll try for more tomorrow. #
• In particular, I'm calling out @johnmjones, @jbj, @georgeonline, @samplereality, @triproftri, @academicdave, and you too! #
• A @hastacscholars convo most people that follow me should look into. On teaching and tech:http://bit.ly/a5dxeX. #
• @JenHoward That's where I come down on things.Every students should be able to read basic HTML.Otherwise, they dont understand <snark> tags. in reply to JenHoward #
• @nowviskie I say we break out the tanning beds at #thatcamp Wrinkles are the new tenure for the #alt ac crowd. in reply to nowviskie #
• I'm apparently going to make up for not tweeting much since Thursday in less than one hour. #
• @roopikarisam How do you get any work done WITH it? in reply to roopikarisam #
• @HASTACscholars They must need some extra tubes! http://bit.ly/dzsdqm in reply to HASTACscholars #
• @mwidner I totally triple-posted. Sigh. in reply to mwidner #
• @kfitz You can totally do it! http://amzn.to/bi9yHv in reply to kfitz #
• .@samplereality And I will totally fight anyone who suggests @danocohen is THATGramp. in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality Now we just need to get @mkirschenbaum in here to save us before our brains start getting THATCramps. #
• .@samplereality It's got to be better that @alxjrvs's hands-on THATCrap presentation. Somethings *shouldn't* be digital. in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality Hairspray and pleather, baby. Hairspray and pleather. in reply to samplereality #
• @lindsaymartini Oh totally. I <3 looking up pictures of literary theorists. in reply to lindsaymartini #
• @samplereality Good. Because I've got a post due for RATTCamp that needs tending to first. in reply to samplereality #
• @paleofuture Great interview yesterday. #
• People are already posting their #thatcamp ideas? I've got so much catching up to do on the world at this moment. #
• @samplereality Buckets of win. in reply to samplereality #
• hastac.org is *dragging* #
• @billiehara Oops. No. "Me too" meant, "I want to wish you happy birthday too!" in reply to billiehara #
• @billiehara Me too! Happy birthday! in reply to billiehara #
• @AlexRAAWR BTHR and Indian Camp are 1925. Now I Lay me is 1927. in reply to AlexRAAWR #
• @eastgate I think either http://amzn.to/bg9lUb or–if they're switching– http://amzn.to/bWXlTv in reply to eastgate #
• @whitneyboles I haven't seen the film yet, but I have to say that he doesn't look a thing like Ginsberg. More like Kerouac. in reply to whitneyboles #
• @adarel I find that most books by German authors or German presses don't have indices. And I never know why. in reply to adarel #
• Just got another #jobmarket interview request. Again, it's for an #alt ac position. Who knew… #
• @jcmeloni If there's a good technical reason why @Chronicle closes comments after 30 days. in reply to jcmeloni #
• @ecriturefemme No. I can't run anything through the RCA connectors at the moment. I'd need a whole new box. in reply to ecriturefemme #
• So tempted to pull the trigger on a Wii. But I guess I'd need that new TV first… #
• @derekbruff It's a strange policy, to be sure. I wonder if it's just easier to maintain such a big site if there are limits. (?) in reply to derekbruff #
• @patrickgmj Tongue firmly in cheek, I suppose? in reply to patrickgmj #
• @HannahRabon The test wasn't *that* bad, was it? in reply to HannahRabon #
• @DrewBrittain A kid? Most people aren't selling them. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @jcmeloni The only downside as far as I can see is that I won't be able to compose @ProfHacker posts in my head as I drive. in reply to jcmeloni #
• @derekbruff I think we'd have to see if @jcmeloni knows anything about that. in reply to derekbruff #
• @michaeljaltman Watch this space for #thatcamp SE. #
• Trying to wrap my mind around this being my second-to-last trip to Clemson. #
• @billwolff That's so cool. I would love to work up my piano chops again. I think @captain_primate owes her a beer now. in reply to billwolff #
• Can you get House of Leaves for iPad? Nope? Print rulez!!1! #
• @jcmeloni The not-presence of @SouthwestAir in Atlanta is a plague to my existence. in reply to jcmeloni #
• Since when did @bitly start customizing links like n.pr or amzn.to? Wonder if they're getting paid for that… #
• @jcmeloni Wait, are you coming to #thatcamp after all? in reply to jcmeloni #
• @KeepWundering http://amzn.to/cJF3wD in reply to KeepWundering #
• @whitneyboles What did you think of the test? in reply to whitneyboles #
• @captain_primate There's an app for that. http://peopleioweabeertoatthatcamp.com in reply to captain_primate #
• @whitneyboles Of course he was. He's incorrigible. in reply to whitneyboles #
• The most perplexing thing about the @Chronicle pay-wall is that falls down (30 days) right when comments close on stories. #
• @captain_primate I honestly haven't used it much. (I was Twitter hyperbolizing.)Its slight differences from Word make it hard to get started in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate Oh. I thought you were going to say that Apple Pages sucks. (Because I think it kinda does.) in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate I wish I was, but am not. I'll be gone for a full week, and an extra day was too mean for my wife. in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate It'll be great to meet you! in reply to captain_primate #
• @KeepWundering You'll now be pleased to know that I'm moving through the @Zotero assignments. #
• @erinsells Sounds…beery (?). in reply to erinsells #
• @erinsells But what *kind* of cheese?! in reply to erinsells #
• @KeepWundering @JawsdeLine They've been posted to BB. in reply to KeepWundering #
• @KeepWundering You *will* be pleased to know, however, that i just finished #grading the Twitter assignment. in reply to KeepWundering #
• @KeepWundering Sorry. That's not the point. (Or is it…) in reply to KeepWundering #
• RT @dancohen: For followers who haven't seen it yet, the best article on Twitter at academic conferences, by @nowviskie: http://is.gd/bHFKv #
• @johnmjones I think "Genius" is salvaged simply by the inclusion of any Reich piece. in reply to johnmjones #
• I'm fascinated by the final paper tweets of #eng465 #
• @whitneyboles Agreed. in reply to whitneyboles #
• Giving the first of three finals. And #grading grading, grading. #
• Was supposed to hit Emory's Knowledge Futures Forum tomorrow (http://bit.ly/bzjPvD) but I think it'll be too crazy to pull it off. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Broken car window. Broken iMac. It's an expensive Saturday. Did finally play with iPad tho. #
• Glad that my car didn't get broken into until I was done with my commute. Am surprisingly not too angry. Must be the ice cream talking. #
• @seabright Car. It does suck, but I lost nothing. in reply to seabright #
• @erinsells Totally. Good call. in reply to erinsells #
• Good thing all I've got in it is some mix tapes from 1992. Literally #
• Sweet. Someone smashed my window. #
• @erinsells better yet, I'll come by your office a bit before 12:30. See you in a bit. in reply to erinsells #
• @erinsells Gah. Flashbacks. in reply to erinsells #
• Watching @buzzdad talk to the Emory tech community about how faculty use of tech is and will change over the next X years. #
• @erinsells Falafel sounds great. Meet you there? in reply to erinsells #
• I'm constantly amazed at what people will leave out in library carrels during finals. Props to the person sleeping under that blanket tho. #
• And…the commencewment chairs begin to appear on Emory's campus. #
• @DrewBrittain It's no 5 Guys, but I guess it'll do. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @samplereality 5 years? That's a long time to be doing your commute. Prost! in reply to samplereality #
• @dradrea Emory. CLIR post-doc. Whee! in reply to dradrea #
• Aw hell. I think I either left my graded #eng465 papers in my office. That or I recycled them. Glad I wrote summary comments in a Word doc. #
• 5 Guys fry coma. #
• @drewbrittain Thanks for the radio recs. Hope you've got McDonalds. I've got 5 Guys. #
• So I guess that's it, Clemson. It's been a lot of fun (srsly). kthxbai. #
• @boonebgorges You ordered the 4th-gen iPhone left-at-the-bar special too, huh? in reply to boonebgorges #
• It's so weird to me that I've been coming here for a year and my family has no idea what it looks like. #
• It's a beautiful day to be having one's last experience of a campus. Instant nostalgia. #
• @DrewBrittain Good. I think it's easier than the midterm. Especially once you've seen the midterm and understand how they work. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @candace_nast I was lucky and had a TTh schedule, which meant I only did it twice a week. Still, that's 30+ trips per semester. in reply to candace_nast #
• @samplereality Great! I had little to say about that perspective, but had hoped it would come out in the comments. Now it need not. in reply to samplereality #
• Apparently Gwen is taking her first steps. Too bad I'm in another state. #
• My newest at @ProfHacker discusses what I've learned while commuting 120 miles, one-way for a year: http://bit.ly/dhGYjd. #
• Love this. RT @GreatDismal Mrs. GreatDismal: 63 Ways Steve Jobs Could Strike Back http://bit.ly/9LGEST #
• @DrewBrittain What are the station numbers? I listened to NPR on 90.1 some of the way. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• I'm really enjoying all the playfulness with font/form/color that my #eng465 students are showing in final papers. Thanks, House of Leaves! #
• @DrewBrittain I do. But radio doesn't cover every mile of the drive. I dug out some old tapes, actually. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• It figures that on my last trip to Clemson that my iPod wouldn't sync right and I'd have NO music to listen to whatsoever. #
• @retius Happened a week or so ago. Haven't seen much press on it though. in reply to retius #
• @SybilV Natuurlijk! in reply to SybilV #
• @hastacscholars Your servers are killing me. I'll try for more tomorrow. #
• In particular, I'm calling out @johnmjones, @jbj, @georgeonline, @samplereality, @triproftri, @academicdave, and you too! #
• A @hastacscholars convo most people that follow me should look into. On teaching and tech:http://bit.ly/a5dxeX. #
• @JenHoward That's where I come down on things.Every students should be able to read basic HTML.Otherwise, they dont understand <snark> tags. in reply to JenHoward #
• @nowviskie I say we break out the tanning beds at #thatcamp Wrinkles are the new tenure for the #alt ac crowd. in reply to nowviskie #
• I'm apparently going to make up for not tweeting much since Thursday in less than one hour. #
• @roopikarisam How do you get any work done WITH it? in reply to roopikarisam #
• @HASTACscholars They must need some extra tubes! http://bit.ly/dzsdqm in reply to HASTACscholars #
• @mwidner I totally triple-posted. Sigh. in reply to mwidner #
• @kfitz You can totally do it! http://amzn.to/bi9yHv in reply to kfitz #
• .@samplereality And I will totally fight anyone who suggests @danocohen is THATGramp. in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality Now we just need to get @mkirschenbaum in here to save us before our brains start getting THATCramps. #
• .@samplereality It's got to be better that @alxjrvs's hands-on THATCrap presentation. Somethings *shouldn't* be digital. in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality Hairspray and pleather, baby. Hairspray and pleather. in reply to samplereality #
• @lindsaymartini Oh totally. I <3 looking up pictures of literary theorists. in reply to lindsaymartini #
• @samplereality Good. Because I've got a post due for RATTCamp that needs tending to first. in reply to samplereality #
• @paleofuture Great interview yesterday. #
• People are already posting their #thatcamp ideas? I've got so much catching up to do on the world at this moment. #
• @samplereality Buckets of win. in reply to samplereality #
• hastac.org is *dragging* #
• @billiehara Oops. No. "Me too" meant, "I want to wish you happy birthday too!" in reply to billiehara #
• @billiehara Me too! Happy birthday! in reply to billiehara #
• @AlexRAAWR BTHR and Indian Camp are 1925. Now I Lay me is 1927. in reply to AlexRAAWR #
• @eastgate I think either http://amzn.to/bg9lUb or–if they're switching– http://amzn.to/bWXlTv in reply to eastgate #
• @whitneyboles I haven't seen the film yet, but I have to say that he doesn't look a thing like Ginsberg. More like Kerouac. in reply to whitneyboles #
• @adarel I find that most books by German authors or German presses don't have indices. And I never know why. in reply to adarel #
• Just got another #jobmarket interview request. Again, it's for an #alt ac position. Who knew… #
• @jcmeloni If there's a good technical reason why @Chronicle closes comments after 30 days. in reply to jcmeloni #
• @ecriturefemme No. I can't run anything through the RCA connectors at the moment. I'd need a whole new box. in reply to ecriturefemme #
• So tempted to pull the trigger on a Wii. But I guess I'd need that new TV first… #
• @derekbruff It's a strange policy, to be sure. I wonder if it's just easier to maintain such a big site if there are limits. (?) in reply to derekbruff #
• @patrickgmj Tongue firmly in cheek, I suppose? in reply to patrickgmj #
• @HannahRabon The test wasn't *that* bad, was it? in reply to HannahRabon #
• @DrewBrittain A kid? Most people aren't selling them. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @jcmeloni The only downside as far as I can see is that I won't be able to compose @ProfHacker posts in my head as I drive. in reply to jcmeloni #
• @derekbruff I think we'd have to see if @jcmeloni knows anything about that. in reply to derekbruff #
• @michaeljaltman Watch this space for #thatcamp SE. #
• Trying to wrap my mind around this being my second-to-last trip to Clemson. #
• @billwolff That's so cool. I would love to work up my piano chops again. I think @captain_primate owes her a beer now. in reply to billwolff #
• Can you get House of Leaves for iPad? Nope? Print rulez!!1! #
• @jcmeloni The not-presence of @SouthwestAir in Atlanta is a plague to my existence. in reply to jcmeloni #
• Since when did @bitly start customizing links like n.pr or amzn.to? Wonder if they're getting paid for that… #
• @jcmeloni Wait, are you coming to #thatcamp after all? in reply to jcmeloni #
• @KeepWundering http://amzn.to/cJF3wD in reply to KeepWundering #
• @whitneyboles What did you think of the test? in reply to whitneyboles #
• @captain_primate There's an app for that. http://peopleioweabeertoatthatcamp.com in reply to captain_primate #
• @whitneyboles Of course he was. He's incorrigible. in reply to whitneyboles #
• The most perplexing thing about the @Chronicle pay-wall is that falls down (30 days) right when comments close on stories. #
• @captain_primate I honestly haven't used it much. (I was Twitter hyperbolizing.)Its slight differences from Word make it hard to get started in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate Oh. I thought you were going to say that Apple Pages sucks. (Because I think it kinda does.) in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate I wish I was, but am not. I'll be gone for a full week, and an extra day was too mean for my wife. in reply to captain_primate #
• @captain_primate It'll be great to meet you! in reply to captain_primate #
• @KeepWundering You'll now be pleased to know that I'm moving through the @Zotero assignments. #
• @erinsells Sounds…beery (?). in reply to erinsells #
• @erinsells But what *kind* of cheese?! in reply to erinsells #
• @KeepWundering @JawsdeLine They've been posted to BB. in reply to KeepWundering #
• @KeepWundering You *will* be pleased to know, however, that i just finished #grading the Twitter assignment. in reply to KeepWundering #
• @KeepWundering Sorry. That's not the point. (Or is it…) in reply to KeepWundering #
• RT @dancohen: For followers who haven't seen it yet, the best article on Twitter at academic conferences, by @nowviskie: http://is.gd/bHFKv #
• @johnmjones I think "Genius" is salvaged simply by the inclusion of any Reich piece. in reply to johnmjones #
• I'm fascinated by the final paper tweets of #eng465 #
• @whitneyboles Agreed. in reply to whitneyboles #
• Giving the first of three finals. And #grading grading, grading. #
• Was supposed to hit Emory's Knowledge Futures Forum tomorrow (http://bit.ly/bzjPvD) but I think it'll be too crazy to pull it off. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• @SydneyLCrawford This happens from time to time. Alas. Shoot that damn thing. Silver Bullets FTW. in reply to andthensydsaid #
• @samplereality I think @sramsay or @mkirschenbaum said the exact same thing yesterday. in reply to samplereality #
• Ikea on a Saturday. Whee. #
• My second time through the new @bssmusic, and it's just getting better. #
• @omg_dinoz No, it actually wasn't.I'm not doing #eng465 yet, but it's surprising to see how low people score themselves but give group props in reply to omg_dinoz #
• @StabbityMax Pre-cisely. in reply to StabbityMax #
• It's so interesting to see my students grade selves on wiki assignment. There's nothing but honesty & sincerity as far as the eye can see. #
• @eetempleton That's good to know. I had to wait to buy a MacBook pro until I could get a matte screen. I </3 glare. in reply to eetempleton #
• @matthewjk I figured Batman would be the ne plus ultra of needing correct blacks. Good to know that it really matters. in reply to matthewjk #
• I am lovin' me some Gmail keyboard shortcuts at the moment. #
• @kelseyagnew Or to blog about blogs. Take your pick. in reply to kelseyagnew #
• @kelseyagnew You need more cat pictures for the book deal. in reply to kelseyagnew #
• As I'm starting to read about TVs, I have to admit that I'm surprised that the blackness of black is such an important thing to so many. #
• @lnakamur One could say the same thing about House of Leaves. If the narrative is compelling, what more do you need? in reply to lnakamur #
• Time to write something quick for @nowviskie. #
• @mackenziecruce It's only slightly worse than working on grades on a Friday night. in reply to mackenziecruce #
• @eetempleton A Bravia? in reply to eetempleton #
• RT @dancohen Think the creation of a database is a less worthy historical project than a monograph? Read this: http://nyti.ms/a1gpIW #
• @alogemann I think having a group do notes every day, with maybe 5 days not doing it throughout the semester (tops) is the best model. in reply to alogemann #
• @JenHoward I am not convinced either. I just need something basic. The amount of options out there is overwhelming. in reply to JenHoward #
• Dear Twitterverse. It appears I need to buy a new television. Please advise. #
• Time to write a final for #eng399 and #e399 #
• RT @ProfHacker: New at ProfHacker: @acavender on "Faculty Benefits from Writing Across the Curriculum": http://bit.ly/a8zB23 #
• Serious May 4th? New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, and The Hold Steady? #
• @sramsay History suggests it will be the HTC Cars. Followed by the HTC Ratatouille. in reply to sramsay #
• @iantrevor The result was that they didn't get a feel for the assignment. And didn't have as much buy-in in reply to iantrevor #
• @iantrevor In one class, I did notes on an infrequent basis. 12 sets of notes over semester. Groups went several weeks between turns. in reply to iantrevor #
• @fearv I'm not sure what to make of a Brendan Canning without a beard. Seems wrong somehow. in reply to fearv #
• To the tune of "Rawhide": " #grading grading grading. Though they're disapprovin',
  Keep them students movin'. Gradin' !" #
• Something that I learned this semester: having students do wiki notes on a not-everyday basis makes for a much less successful assignment. #
• @amandafrench @sherah1918 @betajames Turning off Twitter now, so feel free to go crazy. in reply to amandafrench #
• @amandafrench How could you not? Emilio is a blight on humanity, and Mila (while cool) isn't Seth Aaron. in reply to amandafrench #
• @sherah1918 @amandafrench Or I could be nice and just get off Twitter. [Seth Aaron FTW!!!] in reply to sherah1918 #
• @amandafrench I'm watching it on the website, which means I won't see it until Sunday. Which means NO SPOILERS! in reply to amandafrench #
• @lindsaymartini I liked the first two books quite a lot. The next 2 weren't ever all that interesting to me. in reply to lindsaymartini #
• @DrewBrittain His novels aren't as fast paced as that story; but I find them super rewarding. Plowing the Dark is @ virtual reality. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @DrewBrittain Any story that lets me namecheck chiptune, LCD Soundsystem, and Crystal Castles tends to go that way. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @DrewBrittain Having said that, those two books aren't nearly as up to date as "Modulation." Since they're 10-20 years old. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• My last class is taught. When will I be doing this again? Not sure. But at least I went out on House of Leaves, Richard Powers, & chiptune. #
• .@silverasm An excellent point. Definition depends on where one is standing. But here is where collaboration matters. in reply to silverasm #
• @erinsells Yes, yes, and no. Alas. in reply to erinsells #
• @ktcrow I think the cut-off age is around 7-8. It is adorable on kids. in reply to ktcrow #
• @scottpen Is it really that warm in MI already? It's 80 here today, so it seems understandable. in reply to scottpen #
• @eetempleton How *does* one wear signify ironic wearing of the suit? It's amazing that we can read such gestures. Humans rule. in reply to eetempleton #
• @MichaelJAltman As someone from the West, I salute your right to fly your seersucker colors! in reply to MichaelJAltman #
• @DrewBrittain I would do 3 Farmers or Galatea 2.2. I'm going to read the new one, so I can't talk about that. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @samplereality The short story "Modulation." Came out in 2008. Brilliant piece. You'd love it. in reply to samplereality #
• You know you're in the South when you see seersucker shorts. #
• Last day of the semester. My survey class gets to talk about chiptune (esp. @sabrepulse) and Richard Powers. #eng399 #e399 #
• @mikhailg Yes. It should. When the digital is still viewed w/suspicion by T&P, however, there's usefulness in group identification. in reply to mikhailg #
• @mikhailg Appreciated. I'll think more about how to rephrase it. Gloria Anzaldua has suggestions, I'd imagine. in reply to mikhailg #
• @mikhailg I agree. DH is just a methodology for humanities work. But I've found the methodology comes w/community that reg. humanities lack. in reply to mikhailg #
• @mattthomas The original talk? Hadn't even thought about that. Guess we know why I'm moving toward #alt ac… And I own it. in reply to mattthomas #
• @DrewBrittain Sausage McMuffin w/o egg. Always. Hot Cakes = warm cardboard. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @whitneyboles TTIWWOP in reply to whitneyboles #
• @mikhailg DH is absolutely part of the humanities. But I don't know if humanists always see it as such. And praxis btw the two differs. in reply to mikhailg #
• @mattthomas I don't doubt it. And I know that almost every recent #jobmarket interview I had knew about it. It didn't hurt, that I could see in reply to mattthomas #
• @sivavaid My life on the academic D-List. I'm still stunned by the whole thing. in reply to sivavaid #
• What the humanities most need to learn from digital humanities is the possibility of collaboration and community. #du10 #
• @sivavaid You love me! You really love me! in reply to sivavaid #
• Why do all the cool Twitter events suddenly seem to happen when I'm elsewhere? #du10 (Will have fun reading through the hashtag.) #
• @JawsdeLine I've got 2 sources from you, but no note for the Hayles article. in reply to JawsdeLine #
• @DrewBrittain There's a good chance that others are jamming the system. Mine is trying to sync right now. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @samplereality Secret handshakes too, of course. in reply to samplereality #
• Doing final #classprep for the semester. Feeling torn about that in multiple ways. #
• @lanerogers "Modulation." It was published in 2008. All about file swapping and audio viruses. in reply to lanerogers #
• Riding on a shuttle and all but weeping at this Richard Powers story. So smart, so clever. #
• @erinsells #jobmarket / #academia #fail in reply to erinsells #
• I'm glad to discover that my new position makes me reluctant to pursue $20/hour grading opportunities. #
• @betajames No. That's what I meant. I guess I should have realized the Intertoobs are smarter and faster than I am. + I should have searched in reply to betajames #
• I like a good "Downfall" parody as much as the next guy. But can we just do a "Downfall parody" Downfall parody and then be done with them? #
• Regretting again that I won't be able to make the @omeka Playdate or Rosenzweig Forum on Tech and Humanities in connection with #thatcamp #
• @veek I don't know for sure about the latter. Paging @dancohen… in reply to veek #
• @veek Good question. Obviously there's http://bit.ly/5gRCN1
  . But I'd love to see you post your results to the query. in reply to veek #
• It appears that @erinsells and I are going to tempt fate again and try to have a lunch get together. #
• I've decided I need to work w/two monitors this morning, which means a Windows box (first time in a while) & Brizzly. One is really nice. #
• @lindsaymartini House of Leaves, much? in reply to lindsaymartini #
• @FelixSmerd FTW. in reply to FelixSmerd #
• @triproftri So I'm not sure how pedagogy-oriented the tweets will be. But I'll be mixing it up in other ways. Awfully decent of you to ask. in reply to triproftri #
• @triproftri There will be teaching in the library. And a chance for teaching in a dept too. But teaching isn't its focus. in reply to triproftri #
• @samplereality That's a handsome chicken, I'd say. in reply to samplereality #
• @DrewBrittain I'll have to teach a Wheel of Time class, I suppose. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @samplereality Not a problem. I just was faced with seeing myself through the eyes of those I've never met IRL. And it was shocking. in reply to samplereality #
• @KeepWundering @lindsaymartini Wheel of Time? I think I stopped at around Book 6. in reply to KeepWundering #
• @samplereality And this is why one shouldn't hand out links to one's whole flickr page. in reply to samplereality #
• @lindsaymartini Minotaur? in reply to lindsaymartini #
• You can see before and after pictures of our newly painted house at http://bit.ly/8YQ5oA. #
• @lindsaymartini Scooter? in reply to lindsaymartini #
• @lindsaymartini I'm guessing a truck? Maintenance vehicle? Will Navidson falling down a house? in reply to lindsaymartini #
• @lindsaymartini FTW in reply to lindsaymartini #
• RT @johnmjones: My blog post on the iPad & generativity: http://bit.ly/cs9opN #
• @emarsh The moment where the first tracks shifts 3 minutes in just about blew my eardrums out. Was wonderful. in reply to emarsh #
• RT @uncpressblog: The iPad, the Kindle, and the future of books : The New Yorker http://bit.ly/d1QsiJ #
• I'm very grateful to be out of the #jobmarket for the moment, but days like this make me sad that I won't be teaching lit next year. #
• @emarsh I can only get into the first and last tracks so far. in reply to emarsh #
• @roopikarisam WOOO! Congratulations! in reply to roopikarisam #
• Just discovered a raft of important, unread emails that the Clemson server didn't handle correctly. #
• @jimgroom If the blog's at the Chronicle, then it's pretty hard to not point there when you post something to the blog. in reply to jimgroom #
• @mattthomas True. #urdoingitwrong in reply to mattthomas #
• @jbj Actually it's #geoinst I guess I could ask @nowviskie for a hall pass. in reply to jbj #
• I'll be out of town when @theholdsteady comes to Atlanta. @jbj just died a little. #
• RT @buzzdad: Preparing for Knowledge Futures Forum next week at Emory. http://bit.ly/bk7CKn [Looks great. Wish I wasn't giving a final then] #
• RT @ProfHacker: New at ProfHacker: @jbj talks about what he knows best: "Doing It Wrong": http://bit.ly/dmKi9J #
• A good day is when you're teaching YHCHI *and* House of Leaves. #
• @erinsells I agree with @eetempleton Don't give up the ship yet. But I'll vote for A anyway. in reply to erinsells #
• RT @amazonmp3: If you need The Chronic today, download Dr. Dre's classic album for just $6.99: http://amzn.to/dpPEsL #
• Unusually high absences in class. 4/20 strikes. #
• @jenterysayers We talk about how to close read despite the pace. With some prompting, they've always been able to handle it. in reply to jenterysayers #
• @jenterysayers I don't do still frames, altho I've thought of screen capturing it & slowing it down. in reply to jenterysayers #
• @kfitz There's an Oingo Boingo app?! in reply to kfitz #
• @omg_dinoz I'll try to incorporate a physical challenge tomorrow. in reply to omg_dinoz #
• @erinsells I've been thinking the same thing. Which isn't nice to say since I *do* have something for next year. in reply to erinsells #
• I totally want to make a documentary on YHCHI. I'd call it *M0NAC0*. #
• @jenterysayers I've had really good success in getting them around to liking it. The goal is to show them that they can close-read it. in reply to jenterysayers #
• @DrewBrittain I hate to do that as I'm big on the surprise factor. But RCSS is definitely seizure prone. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• Time to prep some Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries for tomorrow: DAK0TA, 0PERATION NUK0REA, TRAVELING T0 UT0PIA, and R0YAL CR0WN SUPER SAL0N #
• @nowviskie If it's feeling *really* tempting, you might simply be the test subject. in reply to nowviskie #
• @tigress31485 Well, I can't say that you didn't make an effort. Counseling and everything wasn't going to save this relationship. in reply to tigress31485 #
• @ibogost Yeah. You've got to learn to avoid those ass fish. in reply to ibogost #
• @jcmeloni No doubt. I guess it really means I just need to up my game. #
• Judging from the top 20 @ProfHacker posts, @ryancordell should be writing more than I do! #
• WOO. Woo. NPR pedge week. woo. #
• @erinsells Crystal Castles. The Tough Alliance. Marching Band. Passion Pit. Go! Team. Many others. I more or less do feel-good #music in reply to erinsells #
• @sherah1918 @samplereality I would totally crash the playdate. Sounds like fun. But my family said I was grounded that day. in reply to sherah1918 #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• @DrewBrittain Best. Week. Evar. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @ecriturefemme Great. We should have a tweetup. in reply to ecriturefemme #
• @BenRobertson Totally. We can also start food fights. in reply to BenRobertson #
• @eetempleton I didn't get an invite for 18 months after I applied. Too bad for both of you. #
• @triproftri This will be my third grading. I've never done a NEH thing alas. in reply to triproftri #
• @erinsells Oh noes! Who's going to go to the ball game with me then? Curses! in reply to erinsells #
• Is anyone else doing the AP Literature grading this year? @erinsells, @georgeonline, @ryancordell? #
• @johnmjones This year I'm going from #thatcamp to #geoinst so my return flight will be from Charlottesville. in reply to johnmjones #
• @johnmjones I did Sunday last year around 4-5pm. Wasn't a problem. Things wrapped around 1pm last year. in reply to johnmjones #
• @fearv I own both Grizzly Bear albums and have never listened to either. #fail in reply to fearv #
• Plane tickets for #thatcamp and #geoinst purchased. My wife loves me to let me go to these DH parties. #
• @fearv It's a fun album. Kind of like if The Go! Team got more rock and roll. in reply to fearv #
• @andthensydsaid It's a plane ticket party tonight!!1! in reply to andthensydsaid #
• Trying to plan my travel for #geoinst What time will we be ending, @nowviskie, on Thursday? #
• @jaheppler We've been in ours for 7 years now, but we're finally getting around to changing what's been a very heavy, chocolate brown. in reply to jaheppler #
• @erinsells Nope. And while I haven't heard the new one, I was more or less meh on the first. So don't expect it. in reply to erinsells #
• Choosing colors for the house is really hard. #
• I did way too much #grading today. 17 5+ page papers. Hard to feel like you can even see when you're done with that. #eng399 #e399 #
• @erinsells The paperwork for mine was very minimal. 2 forms and my 1040, I think. Turn-around time was under 2 weeks. in reply to erinsells #
• @erinsells You know about http://ibrinfo.org/, right? in reply to erinsells #
• @thombrooks I'd say it was worth it. Starts a bit slow, but ends well. in reply to thombrooks #
• Painters have just arrived at the house. #
• Amber and I have finally knocked out both seasons of Flight of the Conchords. #
• @therefore I don't even get the night shift some times. So. Tired. in reply to therefore #
• @kmsqrd I had 11/12 students wearing orange. Normally would be 1 at most. They RT'd, so they all saw it. Which proves they undersand Twitter in reply to kmsqrd #
• My teaching days mean that I miss the entire Twitter happenings. #
• @eetempleton I'm *always* in the perfect MZD mindset. 4 hours makes me too much like Johnny. in reply to eetempleton #
• 4 hours of sleep does not necessarily a good professor make. #
• @farman It adds such an interesting dimension to some texts. I did it in my diss for @GreatDismal's *Pattern Recognition* as well. in reply to farman #
• @kmsqrd It's not so much about school spirit as it is about testing the quickness of the Twitter network in my media theory/lit class. in reply to kmsqrd #
• @farman The discussion was a bit rushed (I get that way at the end of the semester since I have too much to do). But I'll post soon, I hope. in reply to farman #
• @farman I can definitely post it, although I don't know if it makes sense w/o lecture notes. Maybe should post those too. in reply to farman #
• Working on my .kmz for tomorrow's discussion of Jhumpa Lahiri's "Sexy." #
• Dear #eng465 students: 5 points extra credit for wearing Clemson orange tomorrow. #
• @HannahRabon It happens at the end of the semester. Rally the troops. And recognize that I'm a bit behind on grading (ftw?). in reply to HannahRabon #
• @zachwhalen I actually think I could teach Lot 49 and Daisy Miller without re-reading them at this point. (Thought @ this all day). #
• @LookBackMaps Link? in reply to LookBackMaps #
• @ibogost Will do! in reply to ibogost #
• @jcmeloni You're way too kind. The very heartiest congratulations! in reply to jcmeloni #
• @Scrivenings I think I'm going to be working with WC integration with library, among other things FWIW. in reply to Scrivenings #
• @buzzdad We're thinking of a cruise this summer. Sounds like I need to consult with you. #
• Other hash tags appropriate for the previous tweet: #socialmedia #openprofessoriate #alt ac #allmyinternetfriends #
• Many thanks for congratulations.I'd be lying if I didn't say Twitter is a big contributor to any success I enjoy these days. #jobmarket #
• @jtheibault The sad thing is that you only get a 2-year break from the tweets! in reply to jtheibault #
• @rachaelsullivan Congrats!! #
• @HannahRabon Me too, in some ways. Will miss teaching #e399 in reply to HannahRabon #
• @erinsells Ouch. in reply to erinsells #
• I've just accepted a 2-year CLIR post-doc at Emory. Take that, ye mad #jobmarket gods! #
• @samplereality @zachwhalen I like the description of it as a mule, except insofar that it did lead to THAT, which seems more a dead end. in reply to samplereality #
• @zachwhalen @samplereality I tend to call it the rebirth of the novel. Or demonstration of what books can do that no other media can. in reply to zachwhalen #
• @zachwhalen Wow. I have yet to get to that place with any book yet. And this one least of all. Like to have it all very fresh. in reply to zachwhalen #
• @zachwhalen It's also more experimental and provocative than a lot of the e-lit I do…although you teach a LOT more of it than I do. in reply to zachwhalen #
• Am very glad to be turning off my computer for a bit and to lurch back into House of Leaves. #classprep #
• @muziejus That makes sense. It's more because I schlep a mouse along with me in a backpack and wires get old after a while. in reply to muziejus #
• @JenHoward I agree. I have questions about the Agrippa Files (http://bit.ly/XXyJ8) for the same reason. in reply to JenHoward #
• @johnmjones It's pretty clear that they said public tweets. in reply to johnmjones #
• @JenHoward Evanescence also makes bad music. in reply to JenHoward #
• RT @librarycongress: Library to acquire ENTIRE Twitter archive — ALL public tweets, ever, since March 2006! [Guess Twitter *does* matter] #
• @triproftri Thanks! in reply to triproftri #
• @triproftri Link to the assignment? in reply to triproftri #
• @samplereality Those are some flowing locks! in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality http://onceyoustartregisteringdomainnamesitshardtostop.net in reply to samplereality #
• @academicdave I've read a lot of good reviews for those, but they're out of production, it seems. in reply to academicdave #
• @inactinique It's a strange one. I can't explain why it means what it does, however. in reply to inactinique #
• @zachwhalen As always, technology trains the body. #
• @zachwhalen My Father-in-law uses one, and I feel the same way. They are great when you use them a lot. But if not, the thumb isn't trained. in reply to zachwhalen #
• @inactinique My previous to you was meant as tongue-in-cheek. in reply to inactinique #
• @inactinique Curses. And you know they won't be refunding my invite either. in reply to inactinique #
• @erinsells They don't know what they risk missing with you. #
• .@muziejus Good point. I welcome all advice re: mice since my current one isn't Bluetooth. Make a good case for your preferred device! in reply to muziejus #
• Also, @jcmeloni suggests that I could write a @ProfHacker post about my quest to buy a mouse…provided you guys provide advice! #
• It appears that I have some Google Voice invites. Does anyone want one at this point? #
• I've decided that the best thing I got from the @macheist Nano Bundle 2 is Clips (http://bit.ly/9NPlSX). I use it nonstop. #
• .@betajames It's both. Just like literacy. in reply to betajames #
• @samhoff Twittering professors FTW! in reply to samhoff #
• @johnmjones I was wondering about the MS 5000, but I don't know how I'd feel about the smaller, travel mouse size. Magic Mouse = too much $. in reply to johnmjones #
• I'm now providing translations as best as possible from Dutch to English about medical insurance terminology. #fail #
• @sfirth605 No matter how creepy you are, it's nothing on Walt. in reply to sfirth605 #
• It appears I broke my mouse yesterday when I accidentally dropped it yesterday. Now accepting advice for a Bluetooth-capable replacement. #
• My sister-in-law, on her way home from 3 months NGO work in Africa just got hospitalized in Amsterdam for malaria. #
• @jcmeloni I'm not sure what your or my schedule is for tomorrow, so I'm going to wish you luck now. Despite your not needing it. #
• @whitneyboles That's a hell of a fortune cookie. in reply to whitneyboles #
• @dancohen Ups to @chnm and #thatcamp in return! in reply to dancohen #
• My biggest #thatcamp 2009 regret: being out of the room when @georgeonline and @jbj cooked up @profhacker. Curse you, Indian food! #
• @academicdave I know it's supposed to be portable, but I really doubt that running with it is a good idea. in reply to academicdave #
• RT @ProfHacker: No, we won't be behind the @Chronicle paywall. Yes, we were dreamed up because of #THATCamp 2009. w00t! #
• @iantrevor That's right! No pay wall, editorially independence, CC-license. in reply to iantrevor #
• @amandafrench The first posts of next week will feature our gold-plated hot tub time machine! Venture Capital ftw! in reply to amandafrench #
• @nowviskie We do real like California cheese! (Or something like that…) in reply to nowviskie #
• @mackenziecruce @JawsdeLine No. @DrewBrittain is zen. in reply to mackenziecruce #
• Big news for @ProfHacker: "We're Moving!" http://bit.ly/cxyMbw #
• @kelsosCorner Just teaching him in my survey course. He is just fun to teach. in reply to kelsosCorner #
• @samplereality The students aren't really sure what to make of someone who is willing to play with his own characters' lives. in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality I liked Flight, but I prefer the short stories, esp. read against the novels. He tells the same stories but switches chars. in reply to samplereality #
• @samplereality "Because my father…," "Do not go Gentle," and all the poems in 7th Ed of Norton. Also, Joy Harjo. in reply to samplereality #
• Tomorrow is Sherman Alexie day! #
• @andthensydsaid I was worried that you were going to say #eng465 in reply to andthensydsaid #
• Why am I doing #classprep at midnight again? #
• @cscannella That's what I thought when I found out myself a few months back. in reply to cscannella #
• Listening to the third new album today: Lusine. A little too down tempo for the gym. #music #
• @erinsells Fuck Buttons at the moment. in reply to erinsells #
• @FelixSmerd The Braves *are* blowing it, aren't they? in reply to FelixSmerd #
• My newest at @ProfHacker discusses how to "Speed Up Your Searching in Firefox": http://bit.ly/caHy51. #
• Newest post for @ProfHacker is scheduled. Time to go home and see the family. #
• @DrewBrittain That makes sense. I've actually expected more quick questions. The time I chose is probably not ideal either. in reply to DrewBrittain #
• @Sethuality Way to stay on top of the assignment. in reply to Sethuality #
• My digital office hours this semester have largely been a bust as far as students taking advantage of them. #
• RT @ProfHacker: New at ProfHacker: @jcmeloni goes to the archives to discuss "Website Hosting 101" http://bit.ly/bEseF3 #
• @joguldi Nice to have a place to slot that. (Not that I'm going to read it again anytime soon…) in reply to joguldi #
• And yes, I have in fact just pre-ordered the newest @GreatDismal novel. #
• @joguldi Oh, I love WCW's poetry. But that project seemed so strange to a non-historian. in reply to joguldi #
• @samplereality Very. If it's a business, I normally block as well. I'm always amazed at their follower count, but it's probably other bizs. in reply to samplereality #
• Amazon couldn't have come up with a better way for me to spend ll my money there than with Amazon Prime. #
• @joguldi That was perhaps the worst thing that I read for my qualifying exams. in reply to joguldi #
• @clioweb Thanks! in reply to clioweb #
• @clioweb Any hotels in the area? Or are there specific ones? None listed on http://bit.ly/cqhBf1. in reply to clioweb #
• @clioweb @amandafrench Is there going to be conference rate for #thatcamp hotels again? #
• @tigress31485 @andthensydsaid The notes are now open: http://bit.ly/9rB3AP. Sorry to ruin the dream. in reply to tigress31485 #
• @tigress31485 @andthensydsaid Actually, it means that you are to choose if you want Wave or wiki. Let me know, and I'll take care of it. in reply to tigress31485 #
• Having finished waving-chill, I'm listening to Telekinesis, which I apparently have owned for most of a year and not heard. #music #overload #
• @mkirschenbaum @brettbobley Smelling bad is a pre-req for good shows. I'm always jealous of what's playing there. in reply to mkirschenbaum #
• @digitalhumanist I <3 me some music that sounds like it's a Miami Vice soundtrack cassette that's been worn almost through. in reply to digitalhumanist #
• @digitalhumanist I've got them all except toro y moi. I'll check them out. FWIW I like "glo-fi" better than "chillwave." Funnier. in reply to digitalhumanist #
• @dancohen You go to *all* the best meetings. Care to trade lives? in reply to dancohen #
• @cforster Yeah, I think it's strange that I'm seeing more titles there than theses. in reply to cforster #
• I really, really love Washed Out. #music #
• @cforster It's brand-new. A @profhacker reader built it after one of @jbj's posts about ChatRoulette. in reply to cforster #
• @erinsells Hmm. That's not a great prompt. How about doing a "Is My Thesis Hot or Not?" workshop. You could even use: http://bit.ly/9R6rkZ. in reply to erinsells #
• @erinsells What are you teaching? in reply to erinsells #
• @mkirschenbaum Do all shows at the 9:30 club start at 9:30? in reply to mkirschenbaum #
• Time to try something I've never done before. #
• @omg_dinoz Double-extra cool points for that. in reply to omg_dinoz #
• RT @omg_dinoz http://xkcd.com/472/ #eng465 #

Powered by Twitter Tools