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

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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…

It’s Finally Ironic (You’re Welcome, Alanis)

Sample, improved lyrics: “An old man turned 98 /He won the lottery, and died the next day (from a severe paper cut from his lottery ticket).” Similar:Tin Man (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 20) Sad telepath bonds with starshi…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CultureWhy Love Lyrics LastI am inclined to agree with the “favorit…AcademiaMeridian…

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:Tweet: For an anatomy project, my #geekling made a Vulcan…For an anatomy project, my #geekling mad…TweetsParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesFormer student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with…

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:Rolling Stone heading to trial over debunked story of UVa rapeFor the first time since Rolling Stone m…AcademiaFor years, I’ve tried to work my way back…

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:Can the multiverse explain human history?Where did this idea of parallel universe…CultureBusy NYC Restaurant Solves Major Mystery by Reviewing Old Surveillance Restaurant studies surveillance foot…BusinessThe school mocked. I turtled.Draft: “As my classmates tormented,…

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

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