Beyond Usability and Design: The Narrative Web

We see narrative everywhere. It’s a primitive urge, a way to tie cause to effect, to convert the complexity of our experience to a story that makes sense. We want to see narrative everywhere. Stories are fun, exciting, comforting. This isn’t just a matter of bedtime stories and art. The saga of the Great Browser War, the…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu

My Anti-Linkbait Pledge: Cynical Overhyping vs. Simply Being Online

When I find something interesting that an online friend has shared via a linkbait site, I hereby pledge that I will link to the origin of the story, rather than a third-party site that republishes it without commentary. The people who share and like and respond to Upworthy and similar linkbait websites are just responding…

Feature: History Lesson: the treasured past of LucasArts point and clicks

I played more of the Sierra point-and-click adventures than the LucasArts ones, but “The Dig” and “Full Throttle” were probably as important to me as half a dozen of my once-favorite TV shows or movies. (I’ve revisited these games by watching YouTube longplay videos.) There’s a fondness throughout the catalogue for the catalogue. Monkey Island…

The Formation of Love

Relationships start with a period of courtship: on Facebook, messages are exchanged, profiles are visited, posts are shared on each other’s timelines. The following graph shows the average number of timeline posts exchanged between two people who are about to become a couple. We studied the group of people who changed their status from “Single”…

Valentine’s Day Sensitivity

Me: Yes, that sound was me choking up while running The Secret Garden lines with Carolyn. Wife: (Laughs.) Me: So, you married a sensitive man. Now shut up. Wife: You should blog that. Similar:An unreal Mars skylineThat awesome image showing Earth, Venus …AestheticsTapdance / jazz music outing with the girl. Tapdance / jazz music outing…

Shirley Temple Black, Screen Darling, Dies at 85

Shirley Temple Black, who as a dimpled, precocious and determined little girl in the 1930s sang and tap-danced her way to a height of Hollywood stardom and worldwide fame that no other child has reached, died on Monday night at her home in Woodside, Calif. She was 85. — NYTimes.com. Similar:What if thinking is underrated?What…

The Trouble with Tribbles: A Television Adaptation by Richard Gorey

Shaenon K. Garrity – New Smithson!. Similar:My Father's Day adventure included replacing the family gaming computer (a 2011 Mac Mini…..One of the benefits of working at Seton …AcademiaA familiar performer choreographed and dances the "Canaan Days" tango in Stage Right's Jos…AestheticsToday's Computer Displays Distort Pixel Art Designed for 1980s CRTsAs a kid, I remember studying…

Utility Tactical Waist Pack Pouch Military Camping Hiking Outdoor Hand Waist Bag: Sports & Outdoors

Really. These things aren’t at all associated with nerds. Look at the manly color. Look at the size of those straps. Guys who wear this use metal filings as toothpaste. Chuck Norris wears these in memes! For God’s sake, would you look at the keywords! There’s no reference to how convenient these pockets would be for SD cards,…

Melissa Terras’ Blog: Male, Mad and Muddleheaded: Academics in Children’s Picture Books

Labcoats, suits (but not if you are female!) or safari suits (but not if you are female!) are the academic uniform du jour. The names given to the academics are telling, with the majority being less than complimentary: Professor Dinglebat, Professor P. Brain, Professor Blabbermouth, Professor Bumblebrain, Professor Muddlehead, Professor Hogwash, Professor Bumble, Professor Dumkopf,…

Email (finding the right tone as a writer)

Similar:If not enough people are stopping by your table to hear your presentation, you take your p…AcademiaDeSantis-backed bill would make it easier to sue news mediaAmerican law protects the free speech an…CultureWhy Do People Share Fake News? A Sociotechnical Model of Media EffectsVerrit, like Snopes, Politifact, and a h…CultureAnother social media post attacks journalists for…