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Video game nation: Why so many play

Since its November release, Skyrim has won award after award and led reviewers to call it the “greatest role-playing video game ever made.” In its first month, it made $650 million, almost double the entire year’s gross in the United States for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” the bestselling movie of 2011.

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Culture | History | Language | Sociology

Culturomics Looks at the Birth and Death of Words

Roughly 30 to 50 years after their birth, they either enter the long-term lexicon or tumble off a cliff into disuse. The authors suggest that this may be because that stretch of decades marks the point when dictionary makers approve or disapprove new candidates for inclusion. Or perhaps it’s generational turnover: Children accept or reject [...]

Culture | Modding | Philosophy | Sociology

Professor is dumpster-diving urban Robin Hood

Ferrell’s wife, Karen, buys groceries and not all her clothes come from the dumpster, and some of their furnishings did not come from the trash. But Ferrell says he never buys clothes for himself.

Scrounging is his word for what he does. When he moved to Texas 10 years ago from Arizona, Ferrell decided to [...]

Culture | Media | Sociology | Technology

For first time in history, TV ownership declines – KansasCity.com

• The total number of U.S. households with TV sets declined year to year for the first time since Nielsen started counting TV ownership.

• The number of households with no TV at all is at its highest level since 1975. Three percent of homes are TV-free.

The decline was not trivial, either — from [...]

Culture | Drama | Education | History | Literature | Religion | Science | Sociology

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Willy Wonka Lesson Plans

Through our local theater school, our children have gained confidence, seen first-hand the value of hard work, mentored younger children, learned from gifted and generous teenaged role models, and had a lot of fun. Oh, and they’ve also done a lot of singing, dancing, and acting.

Thirteen-year-old Peter reads voraciously for pleasure, on topics [...]

Business | Cyberculture | Social_Software | Sociology | Technology | Usability

Google+, Day 7: Nobody Wants to Claim These Invitations

There is a lot to like about Google+, and getting to 25 million users so quickly certainly seems promising for the Google social network. But, it doesn’t bode well if the excitement is already fading. Google needs to not only create a capable social network, but it needs to make that social network compelling enough [...]

Business | Cyberculture | Design | Ethics | Rhetoric | Sociology

Pentagon’s Lightning Gun Sold for Scraps on eBay

Interesting story about a performance artist who bought what was once high-tech military gear, but ended up sold as scrap on eBay. A glimpse into the hardware and software suggests some interesting critiques of the industrial-military complex.

There was no password on the gear that was supposed to be outfitted on the robot, so he [...]

Current_Events | Cyberculture | Media | Social_Software | Sociology | Technology

Why Google+ So Far Is Almost Entirely Male – Technology – The Atlantic Wire

Men are into Google+; ladies, not so much. Google confirmed yesterday that over 10 million people have signed up for the new social networking site, but they didnt mention that men make up three quarters of those early adopters. Instead, Mashables Jolie ODell did some digging using sites that compile these sorts of stats, and [...]

Culture | Ethics | Sociology

Where Have the Good Men Gone? – WSJ.com

Yes, at other points in Western history young people have waited well into their 20s to marry, and yes, office girls and bachelor lawyers have been working and finding amusement in cities for more than a century. But their numbers and their money supply were always relatively small. Today’s pre-adults are a different matter. They [...]

Academia | History | Language | Literacy | PopCult | Rhetoric | Sociology

The Hidden Feminist Messages in ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’

Hidden? Sure, but certainly not accidental. I didn’t notice it when I was a kid, but it sure jumped out at me when I watched the Schoolhouse Rock videos with my kids.

And even small details are pro-girl. The nameless character who shows up in a mini-skirt and platforms in “Interjections!” is unbelievably excited not [...]