Cave Gave Game: Subterranean Space as Videogame Place | Electronic Book Review

Electronic Book Review just published an article I wrote with Dave Thomas, on cave space in video game ecology. Parts of this article are a companion to my 2007 Digital Humanities Quarterly article on the 1970s text computer game Colossal Cave Adventure. Crowther’s translation of real world caving experience into the digital medium provides a…

The Tribune-Review published a nice preview of Dani Girl.

My daughter Carolyn, Matthew Hommel, Vinny Tresco, and my wife are in this show.  (My wife is also the director.) The show runs Oct 1-3 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottsdale, Pa.) Geyer production ‘Dani Girl’ offers inspiration to those touched by cancer. –Tribune Review Similar:#blender3d is teaching me…

NASA confirms the best-ever evidence for water on Mars

Mars is the only [other] place where we have solid evidence for liquid [water]. —The Washington Post –– Similar:Just remember: what you’re seeing and what you're reading is not what’s happening.Words apparently spoken by the President…Current_EventsStage Right spreads the gospel of music with 'Godspell'The Tribune-Review is very dependable in…Current_EventsThe Pentagon has ordered Stars and Stripes to…

All the ‘Happy Birthday’ song copyright claims are invalid, federal judge rules

In a stunning reversal of decades of copyright claims, the judge ruled that Warner/Chappell never had the right to charge for the use of the “Happy Birthday To You” song. Warner had been enforcing a copyright since 1988, when it bought Birch Tree Group, the successor to Clayton F. Summy Co., which claimed the original…

Joust @setonhilluniversity discussion of summer book #readyplayerone

Similar:Those shoggoths hacked from lungs unspeakable1) Last night, I’m fairly certain some …AmusingNutcracker dress rehearsal montage. Carolyn plays the Dew Drop Fairy Saturday at 7.PersonalThe Enemy (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 7) — LaForge and a Romulan Cooperate to …Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….EthicsThe Tribune-Review published a nice preview of Dani Girl.My daughter Carolyn,…

Allergic to Grammar Errors

Source: Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm.net) Similar:Added a pilot and cockpit details to my flyby of a #steampunk scout ship. Costume is a pr…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyvR90jm…AestheticsThe Child (TNG Rewatch: Season 2, Episode 1)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…CultureThis history of video game graphics is a walk down memory laneBlogging this so I can assign it to my “…AcademiaNews…

Kafka Meets Charlie Brown

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. An opportune time, then, to revisit R. Sikoryak’s “Good ol’ Gregor Brown,” which first appeared in Russ Kick’s The Graphic Canon, from Seven Stories Press. —Literary Hub Similar:“Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand. That I might touch that cheek!” #pptplaytime Rome…CultureLoved…

Academic robe, Is this the year I finally send you out to be cleaned? Nah, Febreeze is good enough for you. #SHUConvocation @setonhilluniversity

Similar:The storage shelves of my fantasy steampunk CGI starship will need props with appropriate …  AestheticsMemories of Toronto Yonge Street EncountersI arrived in Toronto in 1992 as a 22yo g…CultureHeadphones, Croutons and RhetoricME (with crouton tongs in one hand and s…CultureSeeing A Wrinkle in Time. @prime_stagePersonalThe daughter is performing now Twin Lakes Park.The daughter is…

Journalism students guiltily ignoring the “no electronic devices” note in the program during Fall Convocation

That moment when you see a dozen or more of your own journalism students guiltily ignoring the “no electronic devices” note in the program so that they can livetweet Honors Convocation. Similar:Pick Up Your Smartphone Less Often. You Might Think BetterResearch suggests we neeed to be bored s…CultureFacebook Puts a Downer on UpworthyFacebook Inc. changed…

#SHUConvocation is about to begin @setonhilluniversity

Similar:Jesus Christ SuperstarI have a daughter who does things. Her n…CultureSiblings gotta sib.PersonalPuns really matter to us over here in English.I swore I would wield my powers only for…AcademiaI regularly teach Uncle Tom's Cabin, but have never seen it before. BooksAnd to think… I had just decided to retire this meme because the last time…

Thank you, anonymous person who left a container of Oreo minis outside my door.

Similar:Another fun 10 sq cm of a #neovictorian #steampunk control panel. #elegance #design #aesth…AestheticsThe Daughter's 21st Birthday Current_EventsMy more or less daily 10cm section of a #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blender3dart…AestheticsWho's ready for some free outdoor Hamlet?PersonalZooming into the abyss: Black squares don’t contribute much to the learning environment.PersonalOne of my students is demonstrating the…

Details matter in journalism.

Get the brand of the beer, the make, model and year of the car and the name and breed of the dog. Here’s a great story that suggests journalists also “get the brand of the bra.” Similar:LLM error rates  I worked on LLMs, and now I go…AcademiaThe 3 Scariest Words A Boy Can Hear ("Be…

Letter of Recommendation: Fanny Packs

What other accessory ensures the safety of your essentials, with easy access, while also liberating your hands? The fanny pack, when used properly, enables a whole host of activities that other bags render awkward: a deep embrace, a dance party, the ability to quickly find and swipe and secure your MetroCard. Through its rare combination…

Nerd Break! Listening To: Wilhelm Scream / Castle Thunder / Amen Break (While Watching Lights Blink in an Oft-recycled Sci-Fi Prop)

In order to provide some context for a blog post on a blinking lights prop we’ve all seen in dozens of different TV shows and movies, I opened different tabs for compilations of the Wilhelm scream, the castle thunder sound cue, and the Amen break drum solo. All three of those sound effects are now playing at once, and I am…