In instant messaging and texting, my students detect a clear distinction between the use of lol (laugh out loud) and a smiley : ) either standing on a line of its own (i.e., as a whole utterance) or at the end of an utterance, as in:

You’re a real stud muffin! lol
You’re a real […]

Over the last two months, protests have been breaking out in Iran over the “election” of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as President. The dissenters comprise of supporters of the candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who are convinced that the election has been stolen from them. I have been following the […]

So a couple of news stories caught my attention today. The first piece appeared in the New York Times, entitled Public Provides Giggles; Bloggers Get the Book Deal. This piece begins by discussing blogs that have gone on to be published in traditional book format, like Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves, […]

A very interesting article on Facebook, and the controversial issue of ownership of user-generated data appears in New York magazine.

Money quote:

If there were one word to describe what Facebook has added to my life, I would use it. It’s a multidimensional pleasure: It’s given me a tool for exceptionally mindless, voyeuristic, puerile […]

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal called “The Art of Making Online ‘Friends’” caught my attention today. The author suggests that in the troubled economic times we have today, the “weak ties” afforded by so-called “friends” on social networking sites could end up being very helpful. Networking is critical for finding good […]

Inventor and NYU student Corey Menscher has come up with the “Kickbee,” a device that transmits a baby’s kicks in the mother’s womb, and converts them to Twitter updates. Those following the updates will be informed within moments of the baby kicking. Check it out here!