See also my resources on interactive fiction (text adventure games), programming in Inform 7, making games in Scratch, and coding hypertext stories in Twine.
Why would anyone want to consult Allied Computing (“Due to our unique location in Kalispell Montana, Allied Computing is able to offer zero sales tax on all purchases. We also consider trade-ins and trade ups on most new and some used computer systems.”) while researching religious aspects of birth control? And if Allied Computing has…
Error 404. You do not have the permissions necessary to view the contents of this address. Do you wish to launch a bypass attack? Yes | No —Forbidden: You Do Not Have Permission to View the Contents of this Address. English 110) An engaging animated intro to an “alternate history” creative hypertext project, created by…
“Writing software should be treated as a creative activity. Just think about it — the software that’s interesting to make is software that hasn’t been made before. Most other engineering disciplines are about building things that have been built before. People say, ‘Well, how come we can’t build software the way we build bridges?’ The…
“The theater has been transformed into a multi-player gaming center in which patrons can challenge one another on some 80 computer games. Unlike a video arcade, players will compete against each other on such popular game systems as Microsoft’s XBox, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s GameCube. Where there used to be stadium-style theater seating, there…
“[T]he best news sources have always felt like a rich, somewhat mysterious pageant. And in many ways, this is an exciting experiment. Lately I’ve been visiting Google News several times every day, to see how the media world looks through the emotionless eyes of an algorithm.” William Powers —The Play’s Not the ThingThe Atlantic)
“The link is the basic element of hypertext, and researchers have long recognized that links provide semantic relationships for users. Yet little work has been done to understand the nature of these relationships, particularly in conjunction with the purposes of organizational/informational Web sites. This paper explores the semantic and rhetorical principles underlying link development and…
“I was at the mall today and I was waiting forever in line to tell you what I want for Christmas,” wrote Nichole, 8, from Tucson, Arizona. “So I really like that I can e-mail you right away without lining up. Well except for after my little brother.” Steve Kettman —Dear Santa: You’ve Got E-MailWired)
“Costing me money? I don’t pretend to be an expert on intellectual property law, but I do know one thing. If a music industry executive claims I should agree with their agenda because it will make me more money, I put my hand on my wallet–and check it after they leave, just to make sure…
While the websites that traditional journalists tend to read and cite are written mostly by men, most people who are even vaguely familiar with weblogs would have little trouble finding good ‘blogs written by women. “Was there really a gender gap in Blogville? The answer, I soon learned, was complicated. And it was wrapped up…
“The project was developed by the BBC to create a computer-based, multimedia version of the Domesday Book, marking the 900th anniversary of the 1086 archive. But the snapshot of in the UK in the mid-1980s was stored on two virtually indestructible interactive video discs” which, just 15 years later, were so obsolete they were illegible…
“A TextArc is a visual represention of a text-the entire text (twice!) on a single page. Some funny combination of an index, concordance, and summary, it uses the viewer’s eye to help uncover meaning.” W. Bradford Paley —Text Arc (Literary Concordance/Word Association Thingy)TextArc.org) Extremely cool visual/spatial representation of an entire text… I want to play…
“Put your hands in your laps. Close your eyes and ask yourselves: Is the e-mail I’m about to send necessary? And if not, is it at least fun? If you cannot answer yes to either of those questions–don’t hit that send button.” Stanley Bing Bing offers an interesting list of guidelines, on which I’ll comment……
“Would I open a huge document-say a PDF book chapter from Amazon? I don’t know. What do I want on my computer versus what do I want bookmarked access to? I don’t know. Here’s what I do know: I need help in managing my attachments and getting more value from the megabytes of media material…
“I confess I sometimes don’t know whether to be happy or depressed when I dip into Sims world. Sometimes you get the sense that these Sims fanatics are compensating online for the needs that aren’t met in their real lives…. But the other and more positive sensation you get in Sims world is that some…
“Developing fixed-size Web pages is a fundamentally flawed practice. Not only does it result in Web pages that remain at a constant size regardless of the user’s browser size, but it fails to take advantage of the medium’s flexibility. Nonetheless, Web site creators continue to develop fixed pages.” James Kalbach —The Myth of 800 x…
“If you’ve recently created your first website and you’re getting ready to submit it for a class assignment, then this page is for you. Follow this checklist before you submit your project, and you’ll avoid many of the simple technical issues that might prevent your instructor from accessing or fully appreciating your content.” —Newbie Web…
“A Tablet PC is about the size of a legal pad and includes a digital pen for handwritten data entry and navigation. Its advocates say it will be just the thing for the most mobile workers, including those who work standing up and those who just don’t like to type. But naysayers point out that…
“We thought it would be a great idea to hook up two instances of the A.L.I.C.E chat bot to each other, despite pleb’s pleas that it would have a catastrophic effect on the universe. The results are amusing, you can see them below.” Alice1: You can download me for free!Alice2: No I don’t think I…
“So far, however, I have not seen a book that explains how to build crummy, dysfunctional Web sites that chase away customers and produce no useful results. Of course, there is no shortage of sites of this kind out there, but until now there has never been a systematic, comprehensive guide to how to create…
“If you work in an office with lots of people, chances are that you work with a person who hangs pictures up that their kids have drawn. The pictures are always of some stupid flower or a tree with wheels. These pictures suck; I could draw pictures much better. In fact, I can spell, do…