Zork: The Great Underground Empire

A blogger has started chronicling a journey through the classic 1980s computer game, Zork. Before King’s Quest and its successors took the realm of adventure gaming into colorful graphics, adventure titles were solely text. Infocom specialized in these during the 80s, including the Zork series, Planetfall, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But Zork,…

Stop Clubbing, Baby Seals

Similar:That Much-Despised Apple Ad Could Be More Disturbing Than It LooksApple has apologized, but like writer Pe…AestheticsFor the Cause #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 22) Eddington and Odo suspect Sisk…Rewatching ST:DS9 Sisko and Kassidy pla…EmpathyDHS official whose office compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists and protesters ha…Was it a lizard person who was collectin…Current_EventsWhen Asking…

Tolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern surveillance best?

Interesting set of observations exploring the limits of omniscience and the sheer scale involved in watching an entire population. Failures in empathy lead to misinterpretation of anonymous rebellion in plain sight. Tolkien’s most potent and intimidating image of centralized surveillance, the Eye of Sauron atop a tower, taking in the whole world, has resonated with…

The Pixar Theory

Jon Negroni creates a meta-narrative to connect every Pixar movie, using Boo as the still point in the turning universe. Every Pixar movie is connected. I explain how, and possibly why. Several months ago, I watched a fun-filled video on Cracked.com that introduced the idea (at least to me) that all of the Pixar movies…

The contrast between KTVU’s treatment of its trium…

The contrast between KTVU’s treatment of its triumphs vs errors reminds us of the difference between journalism vs public relations. Similar:10 Rules of Internet – Anil DashA very useful, concise summary of web-en…BusinessParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice knowing you,…

Woman’s work : Columbia Journalism Review

Francesca Borri writes of being a freelancer and a woman covering the war in Syria. (When my life gets hectic, a story like this helps me keep some perspective.) Similar:Times photo staffer's invention: the streaming backpack “From a photographer’s perspective it…AestheticsThe Die Is Cast (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 21) Garak's mentor leads a…

A quick primer on semicolons

Is your Sunday feeling incomplete because you haven’t read anything about punctuation today? This explanation of the semicolon should help. You’re welcome. Similar:I think they mean typeface conference, but "Font Conference" is still amusing.I think they mean typeface conference, b…AestheticsStar Trek: Voyager Premiered 20 Years AgoI remember wanting to like Voyager a lot…Culture'Island of the…

My Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp.

Next up: Stage Right summer musical theater camp starts Monday! Similar:Mars Panorama — 10yo with iPad Pretends Her Bed Is NASA Roverhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4rCkr0oA…Current_EventsThe chief engineer of a fantasy #steampunk flagship needs a small booth for shift change r…AestheticsNature walks 2012 and 2018.AestheticsMy mom’s Lionel train set (a gift from her father in 1948) had been in…