Vacuum

Retraction watch: Joe Paterno

Note to self: never ever report anyone is dead. (MGoBlog, via Twitter)

UPDATE: Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died January 22, 2012, of complications from lung cancer treatment. He was 85. Hours before, his death was prematurely announced by multiple news services, prompting retractions and apologies from those organizations.

CBSSports.com extends apology to Paterno family:

Earlier Saturday night, CBSSports.com published an unsubstantiated report that former Penn State coach Joe Paterno had died. That mistake was the result of a failure to verify the original report. CBSSports.com holds itself to high journalistic standards, and in this circumstance tonight, we fell well short of those expectations.

Onward State Managing Editor Resigns After Paterno Death Report, Knight News:

The twitter account that first reported former Penn State coach Joe Paterno died just posted an update linking to a letter of resignation from its managing editor, Devon Edwards.

Once the normally reputable national CBS Sports outlet picked up the student news source’s story, the now-retracted report of Paterno’s death went national.

Inside Breaking News: The Paterno story: What went wrong

Our editor noted that CBS Sports — a trusted source — reported Paterno’s death around 9pm ET. The CBS Sports headline and story was based, seemingly, on erroneous reporting by the Penn State student publication ‘Onward State.’ The original CBS Sports obituary didn’t directly attribute the student paper.  The Huffington Post followed with a story.

SB Nation: Explaining The Reports Of Joe Paterno's Passing And An Apology

Before publishing, we waited for multiple reports from national outlets. The reports spread to numerous trusted sources, sparking our own decision to publish a post as a result. It was based not on our own reporting, but on the reporting of others.

Jeff Sonderman has a chronicle on Storify of the false reports and retractions. Many in the news media waited for the AP report before running a story, and thus they were spared the need to reverse themselves. Penn Live has the family's reaction:

Joe Paterno is not dead. 

That's about as blunt as it gets, as sources close to the Paterno family say that the family is tremendously upset with CBS Sports and other news media who have erroneously reported Paterno's passing.

As of this writing, though, People Magazine still has an obituary online, citing the CBS Sports article as its source.

The title of this post is a nod to the weblog Retraction Watch, which tracks retractions in the scientific literature.

Typepad on iPad, edited elsewhere

No support for rich text editing in safari, but otherwise performant. Kind of nice.

I'll need to really learn markdown for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that it descends from setext.

Ann Arbor

A2B3 lunch is Thursday as always. Ann Arbor Parks did trick or treat today, Sunday, noon to 4pm on the Huron River.

Arborwiki makes a good companion as you go for errands around town. Ann Arbor City Council elections and a millage are coming up. The Ann Arbor Chronicle has characteristically thorough coverage of the League of Women Voters forums. Some project, not yet identified, has North Main torn up at Catherine. A second project has North Division down to a single lane. Expect delays.

No one was hurt in last week's fire on Harpst. I'm trying a neighborhood LinkedIn group to see what kind of density I need to get enough people to make a group worthwhile; it might make sense to grab people closest first and then out by distance.

Metro Detroit

Tigers lost in the ALCS, and I'm looking forward to spring training.

Power outages from the Saturday windstorms were worst in Warren.

National

Occupy Chicago has had a lot of protest, via the Chicago Tribune which was on the scene.

Occupy Wall Street took over Times Square.

Living

I am tracking steps with a pedometer again, thanks to Paul Resnick and a research group at UMSI. Statler and Waldorf have taken over the Muppets twitter account. New movie due for Thanksgiving. Cue the Muppets.

Recipes

The wind on Saturday made farmers market blustery. Squash of all sizes and varieties were there, and there's nothing like a big old Hubbard squash to keep the corner of a table down. A farmer was doing the frost dance but said they had none at the last full moon. Traditionally, it's said that the best way to open a Hubbard is to take an axe to it, or to throw it down into the cellar.

Working

It's hard to have great weird ideas when you are closing trouble tickets. My new employer Nutshell has an office where my former employer Pure Visibility used to have it's offices.

Obituaries

Steve Jobs, Dennis Ritchie, Einar Steffrud.

Books

Books moved recently include Kawabata's, Snow Country, to be shelved on the Heikki Lunta shelf to prepare me for winter.

Tech

Pinboard now supports Gopher urls in bookmarks.

Sports

Michigan football lost to State. It was as good an excuse as any to call my aunt who went to East Lansing.

Meta

Wow, I have a lot of categories.

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011; Apple cofounder, visionary, creative genius

Steve Jobs has died at the age of 56, after a long fight with cancer. Details are everywhere on the net. The Telegraph's "Steve Jobs dies: live blog" is doing a credible job of tracking down stories, quotes, remembrances and the like.

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com .

 

Obituary: Faye Amo (1954-2011), high school French teacher

MARQUETTE – Faye M. Amo, age 57, of 425 West Ridge Street, Marquette, entered eternal life Wednesday evening, July 13, 2011, at her home in the loving care of her family and the caregivers of Upper Peninsula Home Health and Hospice.

Born March 23, 1954 in Lima, Ohio, a daughter of Stephen J. and Ethel (Salidas) Catel, Faye was raised in Ishpeming and graduated from the Ishpeming High School as salutatorian of her class. From her days in grade school, Faye held the desire to become a teacher. She enrolled at Northern Michigan University, where she received her baccalaureate degree summa cum laude (with highest honor) with a double major in French and English. She continued at Northern, obtaining a double masters degree in English and French in 1977 and later studied at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris where she earned highest honors in French.

Faye’s lifelong dream of becoming a teacher began with her first teaching assignment at the Ishpeming High School in 1977. In 1979, she started teaching French at the Marquette Senior High School, a career that would span 31 years. Teaching French was her passion in life and she loved all her students and they loved her. Affectionately known as Madame Amo, she was the consummate professional teacher, one who truly cared about her students and was dedicated to their education and well-being.

It was not enough that the students learned the French language, she felt they needed to experience what “French” meant. Heading the French Club at Marquette Senior High School, Faye planned numerous trips for club members to big city museums to view French art exhibits, eat at French eateries, and learn about French culture. Over the years, several trips were taken to Chicago and to France in her mission to educate. These memorable events were always anticipated by Faye and greeted with enthusiasm by her students. For a number of years, she served as class advisor, particularly enjoying building and decorating floats for homecoming and decorating the gym for junior prom activities. Throughout her life, Faye maintained an untiring interest in the students at MSHS, often asking parents about their children, even through the children may never have been her students and she kept in regular contact with students who were now living adult lives, with families of their own.

In addition to her affiliations at MSHS as foreign language department head for several years, class advisor for the MSHS graduating class of 2008, and serving on numerous parent-teacher committees, Faye was also a member of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption and the Ladies Philoptochos Society, and active in civic committees such as the American Association of University Women and the Marquette Beautification Committee. In her leisure, Faye loved walking her dog, Mario, for the 13 years of his life, bicycling, running – even participating in marathons in Detroit and France, and riding in her boat on beautiful Lake Superior.

Faye is survived by her husband, John; her cherished son, Bret; two sisters, Stephanie (Bob) Trumm and Jayme (Rick) Iknoiah both of California; her mother-in-law, Leone Amo of Ironwood; brothers-in-law, Tom Amo of Philadelphia, PA, Jim (Brooke) Amo of Livonia, and Ken Amo of Ft Worth, TX; and several nieces and nephews. Faye was preceded in death by her father, the honorable judge, Stephen J. Catel, her mother, Ethel Catel; brother-in-law, Andrew Walton; and father-in-law, John M. Amo.

The family will receive friends at the Swanson-Lundquist Funeral Home on Sunday from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm. Trisagion will be held at 6:00 pm. The Funeral Liturgy will be held on Monday, July 18, at 11:00 am at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption with Rev. Tom Michalos officiating. Burial will be made in the Park Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Jimmy Pedakis, Lou Roumanis, Paul Andronis, Paul Wainio, Gary Shaffer, and Craig Cox. Memorials may be directed to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, 235 W. Ridge Street, Marquette, MI 49855 or to the Faye Amo Scholarship Fund, Wells Fargo Bank, 101 W. Washington Street, Marquette, MI 49855. Condolences may be expressed online at www.swansonlundquistfuneralhome.com Adieu Madame Amo. Repose en paix.

Obituary: Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011), American musician and poet

Gil Scott-Heron (b. April 1, 1949; d. May 27, 2011) was a poet and musician.

Obituaries: NPR, by Daoud Tyler-Ameen; Wikipedia; Associated Press / New York Times.

Los Angeles Times written by Randall Roberts for the blog Pop and Hiss:

Last year the New Yorker published a reverent but heartbreaking profile of Scott-Heron by Alec Wilkinson. Written after Scott-Heron had recorded "I'm New Here" but after he had relapsed and was smoking crack openly in front of the reporter, the story traced his rise, his fall and his influence.

Some music of his, linked here to Youtube clips so that I can have them in one place.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, 1970.

Whitey's On The Moon.

The Bottle, 1974, from Winter In America.

We Almost Lost Detroit, live 1990 performance; about the Fermi power plant near Monroe, Michigan.

WhoSampled has a list of artists who sampled Gil Scott-Heron in their work.

Compilations of information:

GilScottHeron.com - fan site

It was around the middle seventies when I first heard this brazen, young black man's voice. He was angry! We were angry! I was angry! Angry over the fact that it was a few years ago that they had just taken from us our black shining Prince. He was mad. We were mad. I was mad! Mad over the fact that our struggle for freedom had come to a screeching halt. He was loud! Loud and determined to be heard. And I heard him. I heard him loud and clear. I heard him when he said "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". I heard him when he said "No Knock On My Brothers' Head". I heard him when he was saying that the spirit of Brother Malcolm will flourish in him as it has in me.

GilScottHeron.net - official site - includes his song "I'm New Here" from his album of the same name on XL Recordings.

Jemimah Knight's account of the evening spent confirming the news gives links to all sources along the way, noting how the net having been given some news starts to search for confirmation that the news is true.

Searches on Google under “news” are not showing any pages at five past three. It’s Gil Scott-Heron. You really do want to be sure before you write this up as a news source. No matter who crows about who was first on the web to break a story, trust is the currency. Trust and accuracy so, I am not surprised that the mainstream houses are not publishing yet. (No offence intended for the original tweet)

Obituary: David E. Davis Jr., 80; dean of automotive journalists

David E. Davis, Jr. (b. November 7, 1930, Burnside, Kentucky; d. March 27, 2011, Ann Arbor, Michigan) was the founder of Automobile Magazine and a long time Car and Driver editor. His distinctive voice defined modern automotive journalism. He is survived by a wife, Jeannie, a daughter, and two sons, many friends, and a generation of automotive writers and car lovers. Services are pending.

Memorials:

Automobile Magazine: Davis was a lifelong car enthusiast who worked in all corners of the industry, from racing to advertising to editorial and publishing. He was well-regarded in the industry for the profound impact his work had on many modern car journalists, not to mention readers. 

Eddie Alterman for Car and Driver: He was a champion of the automotive good life, and he lived it right to the very end. I hope he forgives me for using his sign-off, but: Freedom and Whiskey!

Laura K. Cowan: Rest in Peace David E. Davis, Jr. "He refused to use the subjunctive case in his writing, because he hated the way it sounded."

Autoblog: Ever eloquent, where others might simply inquire "How are you?", Davis was known for asking colleagues and friends "Is your life a rich tapestry?"

Jalopnik: Davis had a long and full career in the automotive world, starting as a racing driver and car salesmen and leading to a position as a copy writer for Road & Track before becoming a writer for Car and Driver. 

University Record, 2004, on the occasion of his spring commencement address. "In 1955, at age 24, he flipped his race car upside down during a national championship in California. He lost his left eyelid, the bridge of his nose, the roof of his mouth and all but a half-dozen of his teeth."

Robert Farrago "The Truth About Cars" video interview, Fired for Truth Telling, 2009. "The “fun” starts at about 11:00 in, where the former Car and Driver Editor reveals that Ziff-Davis fired him for not apologizing to Blaupunkt for dissing their products." 

Edward Vielmetti's other vehicle is a half million dollar hybrid that runs on biodiesel, of which Automobile Magazine says they were "most impressed by the hybrid bus's braking power".

Obituary: Bob Frost (1952-2011), U of Michigan School of Information professor and great-grandson of poet Robert Frost

Robert L. "Bob" Frost (1952 - March 2011) was a professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin in 1983 and joined the University of Michigan faculty in 2000. Frost was the great-grandson of poet Robert Frost, and established the Frost Open Access Fund with royalties from his great-grandfather's works to support faculty and student projects related to open access to information. He is survived by his wife Margaret Hedstrom; relations, colleagues, current and former students and many friends. Donations may go to the American Cancer Society via Team Frost. Additional details are pending.

There will be a memorial service for Bob Frost held on Friday, April 15 at 3:00 p.m. at the Michigan Union Ballroom in Ann Arbor.

Frost was interviewed for Michigan Today in Winter of 1996, in a story published under the title Robert Frost's great-grandson is not a big fan of the poetry.

A number of Bob's friends, colleagues and students have written in memoriam, collected in small part here.

Mark Matienzo: In memoriam. "Most importantly, he was a faculty member in a huge and ever-growing graduate program who seemed to enjoy nearly every interaction he had with a student, and encouraged us to reach out to him to send him links to "cool stuff" on the Web that might interest him."

University of Michigan School of Information Dean Jeffrey Mackie-Mason announced his death with this message, which was circulated widely and is reproduced here.

Date: Sat, Mar 26, 2011 at 11:49 PM

Dear friends, students, colleagues

It is with deep personal sadness that I write to tell you that Bob Frost has passed away. He expired while resting at home, with his wife -- our colleague Margaret Hedstrom -- and family members by his side.  

As many of you know, because Bob was a delightfully transparent and honest person, he has been fighting cancer for nearly two-and-a-half years.  He had remarkable courage, and fortitude (the initial prognosis was that he had less than a year to live). Bob was passionate about teaching, about his students, and about our School.  He insisted on continuing to teach a full load, and even developed new courses during his illness.  Remarkably, he was still in the classroom teaching SI 500 less than three weeks ago.  Many generations of undergraduate and graduate students have been touched by Bob; many of them say that he had a transformative impact on their choice of major and career.  

Bob was born in 1952, and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin in 1983. He came to Michigan as a visiting associate professor of history in 1995, and joined the SI faculty in 2000. For more information about his many publications, his teaching and his other interests, see http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rfrost/.

Bob was passionate about many things, including a passion for sharing information for the good of all.  Bob and Margaret established the Frost Open Access Fund by donating the royalties that Bob receives from the works of his great-grandfather, poet Robert Frost.  The fund was also named to honor Bob's friend and colleague Olivia Frost, SI's former interim dean and professor emerita.  The Frost Fund supports innovative projects that utilize open source software, or that study or promote the open access movement.

I have known Bob since shortly after he arrived in Ann Arbor, and over the years was proud to become his friend.  His death is a great loss to me, and I know it is to many of you as well; I share my sympathy with all of you.

A number of activities are planned to help us address our grief, and to remember Bob.  One is a fundraiser for cancer research that his students started a week ago in honor of Bob's battle: if you wish, you may contribute through the American Cancer Society at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/teamfrost.  We will announce details of other activities soon.  

For now, please join me in a moment of silent reflection in Bob's honor.  And please join me in extending support and sympathy to Bob's loving wife, and our friend and colleague, Margaret Hedstrom.

Jeff

Obituary: Jeff Lamb, photographer of New Orleans, Detroit, Ann Arbor and the Leelenau Peninsula

Jeff Lamb (January 16, 1949 - March 22, 2011) was a photographer of New Orleans, Detroit, Ann Arbor and the Leelenau Peninsula. He is survived by his wife, Leyla Lau-Lamb, his dog, Sonny, and other relations and many friends. There will be a celebration of Jeff's life at Hathaway's Hideaway, 310 S. Ashley, Ann Arbor, on Saturday, April 9th beginning at 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations to The Advocacy Department of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans.

Elsewhere

Mark O'Brien: Remembering Jeff Lamb.

Michigan in Pictures: Remembering Jeff Lamb, and sharing Jeff's Leelenau slideshow.

NOLAFemmes: Jeff Lamb.

Flickr: Jeff Lamb's photostream.

Obituary

Lamb, Robert Jeffrey "Jeff", "Ffej", "Honey Bunny"

January 16, 1949 - March 22, 2011

Jeff was born in Oberlin, Ohio, and shortly afterward his family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended public schools in Ann Arbor and earned a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Michigan. In 1978, Jeff moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, a city he loved dearly until the day he died. It was there that he met his loving wife, Leyla, who was visiting New Orleans from Hannover, Germany. Jeff and Leyla were married in Ann Arbor in 1986 and lived there happily until his death.

Jeff was a professional photographer whose extraordinary photographs of New Orleans, Detroit, Ann Arbor and the Leelanau Peninsula will stand the test of time. He showed his love for New Orleans by documenting the architecture of the city and worked closely with the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. After Jeff moved back to Ann Arbor, he continued his photography career and established many professional contacts throughout the world. His work has been influential, especially after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and destroyed many of the homes of which Jeff had taken photographs. He established deep connections with other photographers in New Orleans and made many close friends there through Facebook. Jeff also photographed historic homes in Ann Arbor and was instrumental in trying to save the Ann Arbor Seven.

Jeff was preceded in death by his parents, Jane and Robert Lamb; and sister, Susan. He is survived by his wife, Leyla Lau-Lamb; his dog, Sonny; a cousin, David (Susan) Emmett of Howell, Michigan; nephew, Bryan Emmett (Shawnee); niece, Kelin Emmett; and many friends around the world who miss him terribly. He was one of a kind. There will be a celebration of Jeff's life at Hathaway's Hideaway, 310 S. Ashley, Ann Arbor, on April 9th beginning at 4:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jeff's name to The Advocacy Department of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, 923 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130.

 

 

F. David Aberdeen, former Burns Park Elementary principal, obituary

original from annarbor.com, hyperlinks mine

F. David Aberdeen

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Aberdeen, F. David

Age 79, died September 23 2009. Born on July 10, 1930 in Detroit, MI the only child of Albert Frank Aberdeen and Leona Winifred Cozzens Aberdeen. In 1961, David married Virginia Ray Ackley of Oakdale California. They were married 36 years when she predeceased him in 1997. Together they had two sons, David Hall and John Stuart. David spent his first 8 years in Detroit before moving to Portage Lake, where he graduated from Pinckney High School in 1948. He attended Albion College in his freshman year before transferring to the University of Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1952 and then earned a Masters degree in education from the University of Michigan in 1954. He began his long public school career in Chicago, where he taught elementary school for five years, as well as night classes in English as a Second Language. He then returned to Ann Arbor where he would spend the rest of his professional career working for the Ann Arbor Public Schools. He worked first as an elementary school teacher and later as an administrator, at different times serving as Deputy Superintendent and principal of Thurston and Burns Park elementary schools. An early advocate of equal opportunity for all students, he spent a year with the Mott Foundation in Flint, after which he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1969. After retiring from Burns Park in 1988, he continued to work for the Ann Arbor Administrators Association until earlier this year. He also served on the board of the Pinckey Community Schools Alumni Association, chairing the scholarship committee. He chose the perfect profession as it allowed him to express his lifelong passion for teaching and learning. In 1988 the Michigan State Senate passed a concurrent resolution (No. 672) offering tribute to honor David's contributions to public education. Along with his family, his other great loves were music, literature and the arts. Possessing an uncanny ability to remember the lyrics to any song he was unbeatable at "Name that Tune". His love of words was reflected in his unique writings, his large collection of books and his ability to quote from almost any poem, book or movie. David was never a stranger in any group - if he met you, he was your friend. He is survived by his two sons, David Hall Aberdeen of San Francisco California, and John Stuart Aberdeen of Arlington Massachusetts, and a host of friends, colleagues and former students. A memorial will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 3rd, in the Ballroom of the Michigan League, 911 N. University Avenue in Ann Arbor. David was a lifelong advocate of public education and to honor him donations in his memory may be made to the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation (http://aapsef.org/)

Alice Kim, former third grade teacher at Burns Park Elementary School, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009

from the AnnArbor.com obituaries:

Mrs. Alice Kim passed away on Sunday September 20, 2009. She was a third grade teacher at Burns Park Elementary School in Ann Arbor, MI for many years. She dedicated her life to her profession because she loved children and teaching. She is survived by her daughters and husband. She will be greatly missed by all of the people she taught, worked with, and loved. A private family funeral is planned. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the following would be preferred: "The University of Michigan" -Address: Department of Internal Medicine Development. 301 E. Liberty, Suite 400, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Memo: Swartz Professorship in honor of Alice Kim.