Versu’s Epilogue: How an Interactive Fiction Pioneer’s 15 Year Project Ended Up in Limbo at Linden Lab

However there’s a particularly sad tale tied up in Versu’s fate (literally) and it’s why you won’t find me applauding this clean up any time soon. Versu was co-developed by acclaimed interactive fiction writer Emily Short, and for over a year most of the stories she’s made have been strictly for Versu. The unfortunate result…

DOJ Enters Into Landmark Web and Mobile App Consent Decree

Under the consent decree cite to http://www.ada.gov/hrb-cd.htm, H&R Block must undertake a number of stringent requirements including:Make its web content conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 level AA by January 2015.Make its mobile apps conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 level AA by January 2016.Appoint a Web Accessibility Coordinator…

xkcd: Types of Editors

xkcd: Types of Editors. Similar:Enjoy the showmanship as a 94yo woman performs in a dance competition.https://youtu.be/8LOdmka4_90AestheticsLearning the hard way, by making mistakes and starting over. The fore section of the fanta… AestheticsThe Sacramentality of Teaching and LearningFor the one-credit journalism class that…AcademiaAcademics want to preserve video games. The game industry is fighting them in court.For…

This is what an “umm” looks like

This image, of the audio waveform from a sound clip in Audacity, shows a little “umm” right in the center, surrounded by the larger waveforms of legitimate, fully-voiced words. One reason I enjoy working with audio is I can make myself sound very articulate by carefully snipping out all the vocalized pauses in my speech.…

Stanford to offer new undergraduate majors integrating humanities, computer science

Training humanists who can code like a techie and engineers who can dream like a poet. Well played, Stanford! “We’re also seeing students who want to balance their academic passions with pragmatic considerations about their career development, and this kind of program addresses that need. The intellectual landscape is changing, and the workplace landscape is…

Khan Academy Gets Rare Partnership To Close Wealth Gap In College Test Prep

“We think we can make the playing field more level by making the best-in-class tool and making it free. We hope that beyond individual students, these tools become adopted by after-school and college readiness programs.” With a huge influx of donations from Silicon Valley’s most notable philanthropists, Khan Academy quickly evolved from a YouTube lecture…

What my classroom looks like during today’s video journalism workshop

Within 3 minutes of being placed into groups, my students were out in the field, practicing news gathering. They have one hour to produce a 2.5 min segment. This is the first graded video project of term. (The other two in-class projects have been dry runs.) Similar:Take that, grass! Eat rotary analog steel.HomeDress Rehearsal for…

Vulcans, The Secret Garden, and Venn Diagrams

  Similar:Copper Destroys Viruses and Bacteria. Why Isn’t It Everywhere? Copper is antimicrobial. It kills ba…DesignDon't Give Apple Too Much Credit for Bowing to Taylor SwiftApple is skilled at attracting praise. O…BusinessThe Drowsy Chaperone @setonhilluniversityPersonalFor the record, if I should happen to be murdered by someone with a gun… For the record, if I should happen…

Facebook Puts a Downer on Upworthy

Facebook Inc. changed its newsfeed algorithm. You’ll never believe what happened to Upworthy’s traffic next. —Bloomberg. Similar:We are in a golden age for journalismMost handwringing about the state of jou…BusinessThe joy of text – the fall and rise of interactive fictionAlthough the IF community first formed a…CybercultureRolling Stone and UVA: The Columbia School of Journalism…