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:#AugustWilson #CenturyCycle Three week intensive course (whew!) All the students did very …PersonalThe girl got picked for an audience participation bit as…

The Trouble with Tribbles: A Television Adaptation by Richard Gorey

Shaenon K. Garrity – New Smithson!. Similar:BlewsMicrosoft researchers discuss Blews, whi…CybercultureOkay, please stop droolingIt perfectly pulls together four importa…CybercultureShe’s on her way to the @thepublicpgh for two shows today as Margot in Dial M for Murder.She’s on her way to the @thepublicpgh fo…AestheticsI've missed doing this! Another 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel goodness.…

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:How Artists on Twitter Tricked Spammy T-Shirt Stores Into Admitting Their Automated Art Th…Yesterday, an artist on Twitter named Na…BusinessSpring 2023 Grades: Submitted! (I only had 3 last-minute submissions to mark today.)AcademiaMLA Citations: Citation generators make mistakes. Here’s how to spot 5 errors they often m…Overview Animated GIFIndividual SlidesC…AcademiaPfully Pfizered and pfeeling pfine so pfar. Current_EventsAre…