Zombies, eh? They’re us, and we’re them. When the worst comes to the worst what we should really fear is ourselves, and each other. I think that’s what Jerry Springer was really trying say. All of which serves as a very lengthy introduction to my latest completed project. A knitted homage to Dawn of the…
Western civilization did not exactly end last night as Katie took to the anchor chair. But the changing of the guard did represent another kind of cultural change. As of yesterday, network TV has proven it no longer feels the need to pretend that its nightly news broadcast is sober stuff, populated by earnest men…
Amusing orchestral piece that features an unusual solo instrument. Various
By “library smut” I am in no way referring to the photo books on native peoples, or the illustrated health manuals, or any of the other volumes which, in your childhood, you lurked about the library aisle to find with the sole purpose of sneaking guilty glances at naked bodies. Nor am I referring to…
Battle sequences, ship exteriors, galaxy shots and landscapes (which previously came courtesy of matte paintings) will be given more shading, depth and computer-generated believability. The original Alexander Courage-composed score has been rerecorded in stereo and, perhaps best of all, William Shatner’s opening monologue has been remastered, so that “Space, the final frontier…” will sound better…
—Wired News: Star Trek Submissions (Flickr) What a cool idea! Wired News has created a Flikr account, and invited readers to sumit their Star Trek memorabilia photos, in preparation for Star Trek’s 40th anniversary. Similar:Editors and editorial board quit top linguistics journal to protest subscription feesWhen I publish as a scholar, my goal is …AcademiaUmberto Eco…
In a picture widely distributed to the media last month, a normal-looking Couric wore a frumpy light gray suit and her trademark smile. But thanks to Photoshop, the popular editing software, the same photo, printed in a CBS magazine, shows her looking much, much thinner – and her suit has become a few shades darker.…
I am a very visual and active learner. I draw circles around words or phrases, highlight pertinent passages, make marginal marks and notes, or draw small doodles so I can visualize a concept. I make arrows that connect similiar ideas, draw stars next to passages that I hope I’ll be able to find again, or…
—Wintergreen ”When I Wake Up” (KeithSchofield.com) Is this for real? I’m not so sure the song goes with the images, but it’s still awesome. Similar:Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wants new Facebook feature to burst 'filter bubble'It’s extremely important to understand w…CybercultureYou are standing in a field. There is a meme here. Via David ThompsonAmusingThat Uplifting Tweet…
Qui ne se souvient pas du SPACE INVADERS, lun des premiers jeux vidéo — Aux commandes d’un vaisseau, il s’agissait de défendre la Terre contre des escadrilles d’envahisseurs venus de l’espace… Et bien, la plus grande partie de SPACE INVADERS de la planète a eu lieu le 24 juin 2006 au festival Belluard. —Space Invaders (notsonoisy.com)…
And yes, Liz’s face registers the shift between thinking Jon is sweet and deeply weird, but the sudden retraction of her hand from Garfield’s back seals the deal: she wants so little to do with Jon that even touching his cat feels wrong. —”Uh…” (Garfield: Permanent Monday) The world needs more daily critical analyses of Garfield…
—Muppet Wiki (Muppet.Wikia.com) Too much information on the muppets. Way, way too much. Similar:The Quickening #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 24) Bashir visits a planet where …Rewatching ST:DS9 After a comic opening…Empathy"What Teachers Make" Sequence of AssignmentsEvery year I rewatch Taylor Mali’s passi…AcademiaThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – About the game30th anniversary refit…
The best students will learn, retain and understand the material they are taught in class no matter how it is presented. However, there are many students in the class who do not have the attention span to concentrate for the whole lesson, who get distracted or do not do the required reading because they are…
Jerz > Writing > Grammar and Syntax > Active and Passive Verbs Introduction Active verbs form more efficient and more powerful sentences than passive verbs. This document will teach you why and how to prefer active verbs. The subject of an active voice sentence performs the action of the verb: “I throw the ball.” The subject of a passive voice…
—The Information Machine (YouTube) A fascinating vintage piece of rhetoric. It skips a bit in the opening, but settles down quickly. The images of room-sized computers and stacks of punch cards made me swoon. The narrator’s patient voice and the final image — of a rose fading into a heart — show an concerted effort to…
Keillor’s humor has always been a bit of a puzzle: What is its irony/sincerity ratio? Is he mocking Midwesterners or mocking the rest of us via Midwesterners? In 1985, when Time magazine called Keillor the funniest man in America, Bill Cosby reportedly said, “That’s true if you’re a pilgrim.” A decade later, a cartoon version…
The whole idea of episodic stories was born in the 19th century when the printing press made cheap magazines possible. Writers like Charles Dickens hit upon the idea of delivering a big story in weekly chunks, each with a cliffhanger to keep the audience in anticipation. (The cliffhanger is essentially a technological invention — a…
New media have always met with suspicion: As The Economist editorialized a while back, a “neophobic” tendency dates from antiquity, with Plato’s argument in the “Phaedrus” that the relatively newfangled medium of writing corrupted the memory-building powers of oral culture. Of course sometimes the new is bad. Yet the critics of video games are not…
Efforts are afoot to not only make IF more accessible, but to make it more modern and attractive in appearance. Along with all of the other innovations of Inform 7, for instance, a facility has now been added by which the author can easily include a “book cover” of sorts for her work, which is…
—Key & Compass – IF Games Index This is an incredibly efficient, beautifully constructed index to interactive fiction games, with icons indicating platform, awards, and additional information. I wish I could click on the award icon and be taken to a list of other games that shared the same award. Actually, clicking on any icon…