Power OutageLiteracy Weblog) A storm went through the area a few hours ago, and shortly after that the power went out. My laptop has about an hour of battery left, and the power company expects to have service restored by noon tomorrow. I’ll have to ration my blogging time. Update: Oh, good.. the power went…
My daughter Carolyn looked at me from her high chair and, impatient for the jar of food I was opening, said “Blee blee blee!” As I gave her the first spoon I said, “That was a little extravagant, sweetheart. You made your point with ‘blee blee’.” She looked at me for about fifteen seconds, not…
“The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your weapons inspectors mandate.” —These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed Thanks for the suggestion, Will.
“Over the years I’ve met a diverse collection of writers who have never been published or earned any academic credentials, yet whose claim to the title of artist is genuine. These invisible writers are soldiers and bakers, convicts and salesmen, winos, hairdressers, firefighters, farmers and waitresses. Their only qualifications to literary authenticity are their writings…
Steven Johnson describes the emotional interface over There. The software translates common emoticons and other abbreviations (such as LOL for “laughing out loud”) into gestures and expressions. It also automatically parses a small subset of words: If you type yes, your avatar will nod its head. Most of the time users convey emotion by typing…
“Because everything in her home is waterproof, the housewife of 2000 can do her daily cleaning with a hose.” Waldemar Kaemepffert —Miracles of the Next Fifty Years [2000 as predicted in 1950] I love retrofuture. This article is reproduced on the MIT Architecture website, but the page doesn’t give full source information, and hacking the…
NEW YORK (AP) — Writers of parody news were saddened to learn Monday that merely writing their stories in the clipped, authoritative style of the Associated Press does not make them funny. —AP Style Fake News No Longer Funny (Kuro5hin)
“Graphic designers were often heavily involved in early web development. The role of the graphic designer is greatly diminished today. The Web is about standardized design. Text dominates. Thus, editors and writers are in far greater demand.” Gerry McGovern —Web Team Roles and Responsibilities are Changing (Gerry McGovern)
“Simplicity and intuitive appeal are also the main reasons why scientific language has never succeeded in “cleansing” itself from metaphorical “impurities,” despite several attempts to do so. Indeed, metaphors appear to be essential to all forms of language and understanding (4). But if scientific language is by necessity to some extent metaphorical, then interpretation of…