“It began as a fireside story spun by a Catholic dad. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings became a great epic that has inspired conversions, steeled young people in virtue, and changed lives — including mine.” John Zmirak —The Lord and the Ring (catholic.net) Similar:Paleo-Future: robotsThis is from the robots category of Pale…AestheticsThe Piano Lesson…
“There’s only so much time. And there are so many great books. And every year more books are published, some of which will be great. Reluctantly, the reader begins to acknowledge the appalling necessity of choosing to read certain good things and not other good things.” —Reading Anxiety (Nat’l Post) Similar:Adding random objects to the…
Hundreds of websites that used to give their content away for free are now charging for their services. This weblog chronicles the changes. —The End of Free Similar:The Business 9 Women Kept A Secret For Three Decades, by Lori Weiss Over the next three hours, The 9 Nan…AmusingFarewell Internet Explorer: You Weren't All BadThe main…
Yelling out of cars, turning your speakers out the window to blast your music onto the street, setting off M-80 firecrackers, firing automatic weapons into the air—these are all well and good. But none of them create a merry atmosphere of insouciance and bonhomie quite like a revving motorcycle. —Wow, Check out that Motorcycle Revving! (The…
You have not truly lived, until you have seen Star Wars rendered as ASCII animation. The FAQ page includes the answer to “Why (oh, God why)?” Similar:Is Babylon 5 secretly the most influential TV show of the past 25 years?When my wife and I were grad students in…CultureAnother #neovictorian control panel for a personal #steampunk…
is an open-source encyclopedia. If it doesn’t have an entry for something, you can write it yourself! —Wikipedia Similar:Scholars' unconvincing case about the value of the humanities (essay)A literary work is a powerful tool for s…AcademiaNo focus, no fights, and a bad back – 16 ways technology has ruined my lifeInsightful, funny list. (This guy…
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse… [More or Livingston? Authorship uncertain.] —“A Visit from St. Nicholas” Similar:1949 NBC Radio Adaptation of Orwell's 1984Long before the Apple ad, and Michael Ra…CultureIn August, 2002, I was blogging about ebook readers and email in…
Very sad: “Sixteen mothers, all of whom were pregnant on Sept. 11 and lost their husbands in the terrorist attacks, and their babies are photographed with news anchor Diane Sawyer.” —Sept. 11 Widows with NewbornsAP via Yahoo!) Similar:Journalists Verify ClaimsConfirm what your sources tell you. Fact…CultureNo, Dr. Seuss is not being "banned" or "censored" –…
Programming bugs have bedeviled many a scientific researcher. Now, some researchers in Japan have programmed a bug. Thanks to a surgically-implanted device, scientists can control the motion of “Robo-roach.” —Weird Science (Guardian) Similar:Inform 7 is now open sourceInform is a design system for interactiv…CultureDeadline seems to have briefly published, then taken down, story that says…
“An experiment to uncover the world’s funniest jokes has found that some computer-generated gags can be more amusing than those thought up by humans.” —What Kind of Murderer has Moral Fibre? (New Scientist) Similar:McDouble is cheapest and most nutritious "food" in human historyMorgan “Supersize Me” Spurlock spoke at …BusinessThe Justice Department Deleted Language About Press…
Children born to high-tech nerds appear more likely to show signs of a behavioral disorder similar to autism. Silicon Valley cases are booming. —The Geek Syndrome (Wired) Similar:The Sacramentality of Teaching and LearningFor the one-credit journalism class that…AcademiaUnvaccinated dad records days of regret in hospital — and makes heartbreaking request for…Between difficult breaths of supplementa…Current_EventsRobot…
“We are confident that you will have many years of trouble-free enjoyment if you carefully read these instructions and follow them.” (Note: Anybody who bothers to read instructions at all is probably already grouchy and impatient.) —IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ CAREFULLY! Similar:Almost Flat DesignApple, Google and Microsoft have very di…AestheticsI had some unexpected downtime today, so…
“Does Jackson’s effort remain reasonably true to Tolkien’s richly imagined universe? And will filmgoers not inculcated with the lore of Middle Earth enjoy it anyway? The answers, happily, are ‘probably’ and ‘definitely.’” —Ring: One for the BookWired) Similar:FaceTime Fun: iPod Touch Rides in Jedi FighterThrough the magic of FaceTime and the ve…AmusingAve atque valeWhat is…
Search an index of 6000 frequently-updated weblogs, news summaries, and opinion pages; or, see a list of the top 40 pages cited by the ‘bloggers who create Internet buzz. My new second-favorite website (after google). —DayPop.com Similar:Impact of One-size-fits-all Web DesignI don’t particularly miss the splash lan…BusinessStudents who grew up with search engines might change…
Over a century before Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” hoax, the New York Sun‘s moon hoax claimed that an astronomer discovered life on the moon. The website also describes many other hoaxes —Museum of Hoaxes Similar:Long Live the LARPers — My daughter plays the antagonist in this award-winning 48 Hour Fi…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7wzUtO…AestheticsTwenty-Six Old Characters, The…
(book review) : “…the activity stilled, the cars, houses and workplaces buried beneath layers of volcanic ash, the artefacts of a single moment preserved. What could we learn…?” —Imagine Silicon Valley Buried Like Pompeii Similar:Local news is the building block of a national democracy.Yesterday, I asked my students, “How man…Business11 Sites and Apps Kids Are…
“Much web design has suffered from an over reliance on graphic design principles. Too many graphic designers have tried to force the Web to be what it is not…” —Information Architecture vs. Graphic Design (New Thinking) Similar:Facebook brands and organic reach: Why no one likes your self-promoting posts anymore.The real concern here is that the…
“My cookies, cakes, and brownies are always the highlight of our church bake sales, and everyone says so,” said parishioner Connie Barrett, 49, openly committing the sin of pride. —All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake SaleSatire from The Onion) Similar:Multiple Choice = GoogleNo big surprises here, but this blog pos…AcademiaThe Lost Art of…
“From Oklahoma City to New York, we’ve turned violent human loss into epic narratives of suffering and patriotism. Does this help people heal or hurt them?” —Trauma Culture (Salon) Similar:Advent of Digital Humanities Will Make English Departments Pointless — New RepublicDon’t overreact to the headline, which i…AcademiaWeaponizing Empathy: You reacted to the outrageous claim that…
An informal 1998 survey by John Rhodes yielded the following advice: create your content first, then design your website; keep your design simple; use proper grammar. —How to Gain the Trust of Your UsersWebWord) Similar:My project starts to get clunky while managing 1000 NPCs but I think if I split them up in…My project starts…