Crowther’s Adventure: Tough Memes to Squash

Will Crowther, an RPG-er, created the first text-based adventure game for computers Colossal Cave Adventure in 1975.6 When Don Woods developed it into Adventure in 1976-1977 he added the Tolkienian elements of trolls and elves. —Helen Young, Journal of Tolkien Research Well, yes, but Crowther had already started with the Tolkenian elements of underground dwarves,…

Facebook does not care about truth. Facebook wants to sell your attention to the highest bidder. 

  Don’t trust your Facebook feed. All Facebook wants is for you to spend time on Facebook, so that they can sell your attention to the highest bidder. Facebook recently fired 18 employees whose job was to write headlines for and monitor the “Trending Topics” list. When that list fell under scrutiny for an alleged…

How to Think Like Shakespeare

Saving this for the next time I teach Shakespeare. All well and good, you say, but my parents are worried about what I’m going to do after I graduate. There, too, Shakespeare can be a model. When he was born, there wasn’t yet a professional theater in London. In other words, his education had prepared him…

Rip Van Winkle

Certain it is, that he was a great favorite among all the good wives of the village, who, as usual with the amiable sex, took his part in all family squabbles, and never failed, whenever they talked those matters over in their evening gossipings, to lay all the blame on Dame Van Winkle. The children…

Facebook Removes Human Curators From Trending Module

Today, Facebook announced that human curators will no longer write short descriptions that accompany trending topics on the site. Instead, the company will rely on an algorithmic process to “pull excerpts directly from stories.” The company also said it will stop using human curators to sort through the news…. It’s important to note that Facebook originally…

Hypertext as a Teaching Tool — Brown University Poetry Classroom 1974

Similar:Clickbait Tactics Drive the Writing of Headlines on ABC NewsI probably should not be surprised, but …BusinessPhoto of William Crowther, 2012I just noticed that a few days ago, a Wi…CybercultureFamily, I Hear You. I Love You. Go Away. This Weekend, I'm Marking Papers.No, I don’t want to see the new jacket y…AcademiaReading Game/Text: EverQuest, Alienation,…

Hypertext as a Teaching Tool — Brown University Poetry Classroom 1974

This short film documents an early attempt to use hypertext to help students study poetry. A fascinating early collaboration between computer science and the humanities. Similar:Breaking up with your favorite racist childhood classic booksA good article analyzes the strong cultu…BooksYou didn’t make the Harlem Shake go viral—corporations didI never found “Harlem Shake” videos to b…BusinessThe…

The girl sank her brother’s last ship with the homophonous cry “I-1.”

Similar:Hidden Spaces, New Possibilities I’ve often had dreams about returning …CultureAbout to launch. PersonalPeter's Evil Overlord ListPeter Anspach posted this list. Here are…AmusingMerry Christmas 2022.PersonalFurnished a random nook in the #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser I'm building. Not ha…PersonalToday's Computer Displays Distort Pixel Art Designed for 1980s CRTsAs a kid, I remember studying my CRT dis…Aesthetics

NASA Just Found a Lost Spacecraft

If movies about space have taught us anything, it’s that no one can hear you scream. If you get lost in space, nobody’s going to find you. Unless you’re a spacecraft with a direct link to NASA. Then, there is hope for you yet. STEREO-B, from the Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission, went missing on…

Connecting with the Boy

Today my son asked me to take him shopping for his favorite foods. He’s tired of fast-food take-out. I told him I was busy today running the spotlight for and videotaping yet another one of Carolyn’s performances (this time her voice teacher’s summer revue).
The poor boy has been left at home a lot while the rest of us did so much theater over the summer. He competed in a chess tournament last week. I fell asleep in the next room. He came in second place. (I have no pictures. I’m a bad father.)

Annie Sullivan on teaching: 

Helen Keller, rendered blind and deaf after an infection as a toddler, learned the gift of language from her patient and determined teacher, Annie Sullivan. Their story is told in the play The Miracle Worker (and my daughter plays Helen in three more shows this weekend at Latrobe’s Cabaret Theatre). As a young woman Helen Keller…

Star Trek Beyond was an enjoyable nerdy family outing.

Similar:Stuffed planet Venus, made for me by my dear mother, around 1974.AestheticsThe girl continues her exploration of Scottish history.Carolyn: “Does no one have a kind word f…PersonalAnother lovely variation of a #steampunk control panel. #blender3dart #neovictorian #desig…AestheticsIt's been a Dwarf Fortress afternoon. AwesomeJust a handful more of these elegant #steampunk control panels and I can…