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:Fact check: Trump lies about CNN at Mississippi rallyI tell my journalism students they won’t…Current_EventsTimed Essays: Top 5 Tips for Writing Academic Essays Under PressureWe have one more day of classes Monday, …AcademiaDesigning Cabinets in Blender3D — ExperimentsI designed these simple 3D cabinets in B…CybercultureWATCH two undercover Sunday Times journalists being stung while trying to…

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:How Facebook and Twitter control what you see about FergusonOn Twitter, I see tear-gassed civilians,…CultureMLA In-text citations: Writing that got you through high school won’t do in college.  MLA In-text…

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

Similar:MS Paint AdventuresWonderfully silly take on old-school poi…AmusingIn the Hands of the Prophets (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 19) Keiko's scienc…Rewatching ST:DS9 A candidate for Baj…CultureArsenal of Freedom (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 21)With an A-plot that comments on the Cold…CultureInform 7 is now open sourceInform is a design system for interactiv…CultureMore #steampunk control…

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:Put up the Hoop Sooner: 10 lessons of parenting from one wise guy who's done doing the dad…Earlier today, we dropped our daughter o…AcademiaThis weekend… Would YOU trade a Hank Aaron rookie card for Roberto Clemente… for her? …PersonalGirlhood 2014They don’t even seem to want to watch Fr…CultureBackstage with the White Swan and her prince.PersonalDance…