The Most Epic Demo in Computer History Is Now an Opera

This is nice, but what I really want to see is an Elizabethan-style revenge play featuring Clippy. December 9, 1968… in an underground convention center in the heart of San Francisco, Doug Engelbart gave The Mother Of All Demos, introducing the world to an astonishing slew of technologies including word processing, video conferencing, windows, links,…

Creationism dismissed as ‘a kind of paganism’ by Vatican’s astronomer

Brother Consolmagno, who works in a Vatican observatory in Arizona and as curator of the Vatican meteorite collection in Italy, said a “destructive myth” had developed in modern society that religion and science were competing ideologies. He described creationism, whose supporters want it taught in schools alongside evolution, as a “kind of paganism” because it…

The Life and Times of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But, in addition to symbolizing despair, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ can be wielded as a Zen-like tool to accept the chaos of universe. Meditate on its wide eyes and upturned mouth; that’s not the expression of a quitter, it’s the carefree face of #blessed, radical openness. —The Awl. Similar:Fired for Making a Game: The Inside Story of I…

Blog ten-beat lines of verse, like Shakespeare wrote.

Blog ten-beat lines of verse, like Shakespeare wrote. But lazy bloggers, fill you not your posts With words transpos’d, poetic more to seem. Like this, who speaks? Like Yoda will you sound. Nor stuff your limping lines with pointless words And really wasteful phrases filling space And stretching points so thin across each line In order to fulfill the ten-beat rule. Yet rhymeless…

Joyful white guys finish ahead of struggling woman and black man in this university’s catalog

Looks like the quality control process at this school needs a little refinement.“The image was not representative of UNG’s commitment to diversity, and this will serve as an opportunity for increased dialogue about diversity issues and we expect that to better inform our processes and publications,” said Kate Maine, the university official. —Raw Story Similar:14%…

Leonard in Slow Motion (9min video)

Leonard exists in slow motion but lives in a regular speed world. When he discovers his office crush is getting transferred to Florida, Leonard decides he must somehow become regular speed to win her heart before she leaves town for good. Similar:Has Academia Ruined Literary Criticism? “Professing Criticism” proceeds on the…AcademiaThe t-shirt many professors would…

National Science Foundation announces plan for comprehensive public access to research results

This is good news. It’s unfair that government-funded studies get published in private databases that make money off of the public’s desire to access results of studies paid for by our taxes. NSF will require that articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and papers in juried conference proceedings or transactions be deposited in a public access…

The Teen Brain “Shuts Down” When It Hears Mom’s Criticism

Wired summarizes an egghead study for the rest of us. Parents may benefit from understanding that when they criticize their adolescents, adolescents may experience strong negative emotional reaction, may have difficulty cognitively controlling this emotion and may also find it challenging to understand the parent’s perspective or mental state. (From a study summarized in Wired.) Similar:The…

9 Photography Tips (Steve McCurry)

9 Photography Tips Similar:What Causes the Smell of New & Old Books?Generally, it is the chemical breakdown …AestheticsTrump communications director Murtaugh rallies supporters by tweeting fake Washington Time…Here’s more evidence of just how crucial…CultureYou're not going to believe what I'm about to tell youWe’re culturally programmed to admire pe…CultureMicrosoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its…

Lighten Up (an illustrator explores the racial politics of skin color in comics)

Lighten Up — The Nib — Medium. Similar:True Q (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 6) Visiting Intern Exhibits Q-like Power…Rewatching ST:TNG On its way to help an…CultureifMUD IF discussion | Emily Short's Interactive StorytellingEmily Short on the limitations of parser…CybercultureThe cultural implications of the myth that English majors end up working permanently at St…Would…

My copy of Plotkin’s Hadean Lands arrived today. 

 Similar:Gingerbread USS EnterpriseMr. Sulu, set phasers to delicious! Whic…AestheticsIntroduction to Twine (Tutorials by Vegetarian Zombie) I will always love Inform 7, but I c…AcademiaLoki's Loop Escape RoomGreat  concept for a virtual escape…CultureI just finished "Beyond Eyes" and I think there's something in my eye.My 20yo son, who plays a lot of Star War…AestheticsKate Upton…

DCNF, TV Upfront Presenters Need to Understand That Content’s Kingdom is Changing

Today’s viewers don’t differentiate between "traditional" and "digital." Today’s viewers watch what they want, when they want. The average consumer is not thinking about whether it’s scripted or unscripted, user-generated or premium. They care that it’s funny, interesting, gripping or cool. Brands need to recognize the power of those four adjectives, and take risks alongside…