A World Unseen

I was hypnotized by the scenery in the film The Revenant. Upon investigation, I found this documentary about the making of the film. A short synopsis here.

Commercial Smart Devices

One day as I was fast-forwarding through the commercials of a show I recorded, I noticed an inordinate number of scenes, however brief, of smartphones whizzing by in the ads. Practically every commercial displayed a smartphone or computer of some type, regardless of the product being advertised. The innumerable number of smart devices are less obvious when watching the commercials at normal speed, but the rapid succession of images brought them to light. My subsequent inspection of commercials have revealed a bit less than my initial discovery, but it’s still striking.

On the other hand, there are movie.

Treasure Hunt

From the Library of Congress to the Smithsonian Institution, national research resources abound for the curious writer. Here’s how to use them.

By Jennifer L. Blanck @ The Writer

Pretty images

with music

C-SPAN Radio

The C-SPAN app may be downloaded here as well.

Intro to Mass Communication

An introduction and overview of mass communication.

(27:31)

Bibliotheca, Hoopla and Overdrive are angry with major publishers

“Fuck you, we’re basically a publicly funded marketing department for every publisher in the country, and we constantly hold author events where authors sell lots of books, the profits from which go to publishers and not libraries.”

By Michael Kozlowski @ Good e-Reader

Slow Journalism

Just the thing for an August afternoon

By Doyle McManus @ Los Angeles Times

Real Clear Politics Lauds Snopes New Satire Label

Sort of

By Bill Zeiser @ Real Clear Politics

Social media’s conspiracy theory problem isn’t going away

And it doesn’t help that we have a president who routinely endorses, or retweets, conspiracy theories, ensuring they stay in the public eye even longer.

By Brian Resnick @ Vox

Medium Massage

Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today by John Shelby Spong @ Good Reads

From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity by Bart Ehrman @ Sycamore Creek Church

The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History by Craig R. Koester @ SnagFilms

FBI document warns conspiracy theories are a new domestic terrorism threat

The FBI acknowledges conspiracy theory-driven violence is not new, but says it’s gotten worse with advances in technology combined with an increasingly partisan political landscape in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election.

By Jana Winter @ Yahoo News