Social Media Nerd
Concise, curated news and rambling rants on social media
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Quote reblogged from fuck yeah sex education[F]or the first several years the SAT was offered, males scored higher than females on the Math section but females achieved higher scores on the Verbal section. ETS policy-makers determined that the Verbal test needed to be “balanced” more in favor of males, and added questions pertaining to politics, business and sports to the Verbal portion. Since that time, males have outscored females on both the Math and Verbal sections. Dwyer notes that no similar effort has been made to “balance” the Math section, and concludes that, “It could be done, but it has not been, and I believe that probably an unconscious form of sexism underlies this pattern. When females show the superior performance, ‘balancing’ is required; when males show the superior performance, no adjustments are necessary.”“Gender Bias in College Admissions Tests” FairTest.org (via dandelion-junk-queen)
(Source: fairtest.org)
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Photoset reblogged from The Atlantic
In Focus: Afghanistan, May 2012
This month, President Obama and members of NATO involved in Afghanistan formally agreed on a transition plan, preparing to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces by the summer of 2013. France’s new president, François Hollande, restated an earlier pledge to remove all French combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Suicide bombings, IEDs, and a growing number of “green on blue” attacks (men in Afghan uniforms attacking coalition forces) continue to take a toll and limit security efforts.
Top: The chained leg of Jalaluddin, a drug addict, during his 40-day incarceration at the Mia Ali Baba Shrine in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on May 7, 2012. The shrine is a holy place, and those who care for it say that spending 40 days here will, God willing, free Jalaludin from his personal prison of mental illness.
Center-left: Jake Beaudoin, a U.S. Army Private of 508 BSTB, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, takes cover during a controlled detonation to clear an area for setting up a check point in Zahri district of Kandahar province, on May 31, 2012.
Center-right: Stephanie Montgomery of Atlanta, Georgia, lies on the ground while visiting her brother’s grave, Army Staff Sgt. Thaddeus Montgomery, 29, in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on May 28, 2012.
Bottom: Dust lights up the rotors of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter as paratroopers with 3rd Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment load for an air assault mission near Combat Outpost Ab Band in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, on May 23, 2012.
See the rest. [Images: U.S. Army, AP, Reuters]
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Quote reblogged from The AtlanticOf course no one is serious about a coming zombie plague, which is what makes posts like this all the more tasteless. It’s an ironic joke (a boring and overused ironic joke at that — zombies are so very 2009) made at the faraway expense of genuine suffering. Like, a man, a troubled homeless man no less, did have his face eaten off, guys. That did happen! It’s a real, sad, terrible thing that happened.
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Those unable to have children comprised
- 81% of the quotes concerning abortion
- 75% on birth control
- 67% on Planned Parenthood
- 52% on women’s rights
Whether a news organization was “liberal” or not, those with the ability to get pregnant barely got a fraction of speaking time - 13% in print and 16% on television.
Not cool, dudes.
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Photo reblogged from ShortFormBlog
Don’t like gruesome news? This week isn’t your week. Sorry. :(
Three stories that don’t pass the “breakfast test”: This week has been a bit of a roller coaster as far as downright sickening news goes. We feel that all this stuff has to be noted, but let’s be honest. This is not the kind of stuff that one expects to hear about back-to-back-to-back. Initially, we didn’t even mention the first story below because we felt it was too disturbing. But as the week has gone on and a trend of disturbing news has cropped up, we figured we had to get to get a mention in. For your sake, here’s what you need to know. Note: This story is tagged with “trigger warning” for folks who need that sort of thing.
- sunday In Miami, a guy was shot and killed after eating another man’s face in a brutal scene captured on camera. Some sites (Gawker) even posted photos of the victim. This story is weird even for hardened investigators.
- tuesday In Montreal, a manhunt began after body parts started getting mailed to various Canadian political parties. The murder was reportedly filmed; a porn star with an extremely bizarre online reputation is the lead suspect.
- thursday In Maryland, a Morgan State University student is accused of killing his housemate, then eating his heart and part of his brains The suspect had also been charged with assault in an incident less than two weeks ago.
(Photo by Luke Hayfield Photography; the original photoset has three parts)
I wonder if news outlets are just capitalizing on the gruesome news trend, or if things really are getting go-build-a-bomb-shelter weird.
I’m not sure which is more horrifying. -
There has never before been a point in history when a young black guy rich off of Canadian soap operas and luxury super-rap could exchange words with a quasi-eccentric super-rich octogenarian who loves wind power. Now they can—in public. And that, simply, is awesome.In response to 25-year old Canadian rapper Drake conversing with white Texan oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens [via Gizmodo]
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Quote reblogged from NPR Fresh AirHe’s not wrong. The Internet is absolutely made of tubes. What else could it be made of? It’s many other things — these protocols and languages and machines and a whole set of fantastically complex layers and layers of computing power that feeds the Internet every day — but if you think of the world in physical terms, and you’re trying to be as reductive as possible and try to understand what this is, there’s no way around it, these are tubes.Andrew Blum on former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens saying the Internet is made up of ‘a series of tubes.’ [full interview here] (via nprfreshair)
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Photo reblogged from Talking To Strangers
How does Governor Walker spend his workdays? Check out this interactive chart, developed by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. The Center obtained Walker’s calendars through an open records request, then developed a database of all calendar entries. The Center also breaks down the companies Walker met with and the donations made to Walker by each company, so you can get a sense of how money impacts access to Walker’s time.
When people say new technology and the Internet will revolutionize local statehouse coverage and accountability journalism, this is what they are talking about. That said, this also highlights the need for talented staff and lots of time and resources.
People + the Internet will revolutionize journalism. Need to support, protect and develop both.
(Rebloggin’ for commentary)
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Just after the disastrous IPO listing by Facebook comes the rumors that the social networking giant is planning to launch its own version of a smartphone. Several unnamed sources were cited by The New York Times in suggesting that the network has hired smartphone engineers to develop mobile devices aimed at revolutionizing the industry. Facebook, the websites, has already changed the way millions of people share their private lives, as seen in the increasing number of users joining the online network to post real-time content. How this new plan will affect the company, after floating in the stock market, is yet to be seen.
Considering how horrible their mobile app is, I have zero desire to see a Facebook smartphone.
..Ew.
(Source: dailytelegraph.com.au)
