I did propose with a diamond ring, for which I paid a substantial portion of my income, but since I was in grad school at the time, my income was very modest. The next time you look at a diamond, consider this. Nearly every American marriage begins with a diamond because a bunch of rich…
As long as Congress focuses on just unlocking cellphones, they’re missing the larger point. Senators could pass a hundred unlocking bills; five years from now large companies will find some other copyright claim to limit consumer choice. To really solve the problem, Congress must enact meaningful copyright reform. The potential economic benefits are significant, as…
College is already pretty stressful, and journalism culture is not exactly relaxed, either. The psychological strain of trying to do justice to a newsworthy story, while also respecting the suffering of members of your own academic community, while also suffering as a member of that community, is no picnic. The stereotype of the hard-hitting journalist…
When In Academia – WHEN A COLLEAGUE KEEPS TALKING ABOUT ‘DIGITAL HUMANITIES’:. Similar:'Nope,' He Says, Body Isn't HisThe story goes like this: A man goes to …AmusingKitchen utensils for my steampunk villain's hideout. #Blender3D. There’s nothing particularly steampu…AestheticsAPNews.com Photo Still Says Sam Smith "declared his pronouns 'they/them'" a Week LaterThe Associated Press was widely criticiz…Culture'Most…
The Washington Post says it will begin selling digital subscriptions this summer, asking frequent visitors to its website and mobile apps to pay a fee supporting the company’s journalism. The Post announced plans Monday for a metered subscription model. It will require a paid subscription after the viewing of 20 articles or multimedia features per…
Excellent analysis of the emotional impact when TV journalism shows gripping footage of convicted rapists breaking down in tears while the victim, whose identity is protected by privacy laws, remains anonymous and invisible. It is unlikely that Candy Crowley and Poppy Harlow are committed rape apologists; more likely they simply wanted a showy, emotional angle…
“The Big Tickle” was the only bot at the the Pittsburgh regional FIRST Robotics Competition that tried climbing all the way to the top rung for 30 points. The crowd went wild every time our bot did its thing. We got picked by the seventh-ranked team to join their alliance in the quarter finals. Though…
Wonderful, inspiring article that uses text, photos, and audio samples to tell how a researcher remixed wordless sounds to create an artificial voice for a voiceless child. Patel can take that sound, run it through a computer and find out all kinds of things about how that person would sound if that person could speak…
Ford Prefect kept a script of Godspell in his satchel, by the way, in order to support his cover story of being an actor. I used an image from the cover of “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish” in a slide presentation I used as a prop on stage during the “Tower of…
I spent 30 minutes trying to upload about 10 photos, but I only succeeded in uploading two. I’ve tried Safari and Chrome… I’ve tried uploading photos individually and in groups. The rest uploaded part of the way, and then froze, seemingly forever, with this bar. Oh, well… I guess that’s why I don’t upload many…
Edward Gorey illustrates H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds, 1960 | Brain Pickings. Similar:Games Without Frontiers: Victory in VomitWired reviews Mirror’s Edge When you ru…AestheticsTimes photo staffer's invention: the streaming backpack “From a photographer’s perspective it…AestheticsPippin! Last show today at 2pm.CultureWhat is a CRT and Why Don't We Use Them Anymore?I remember when…
He knows that if he’d instead posted a song or a poem or a comedy routine on YouTube, the bosses would have watched that, and might have understood what he was trying to say to them. If he’d created something that told the same story through a more traditional form than a game, he’d probably…
So if recessionista and fembot are not really puns, what are they? They’re neolexic portmanteaus, in which root words are brutally slammed together with cavalier lack of wit. “Neolexic portmanteau” is a mouthful, so instead we shall choose a simpler handle. Sherry-manteau, catastrounity, misceg-formation, piss-poortmanteau, and poor-man’s-toes all proffer themselves as alternatives, but they are…
Gaming ledends Dave Lebling and Mark Blank honored for their pioneering work in text-adventure games, at Infocom. (Clips from Jason Scott’s GET LAMP documentary follow Dave Lebling’s introduction, around 1:35 or so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3bXiR22AEU Welcome to the Official D.I.C.E. Summit Website. Similar:Vinyl Chairs, Lace Tablecloth, and Stainless Steel Canisters for a Villain's Lair #blender…I’m working with…
Great advice. [I]t is common to hear students applying for college or a job say before doing so, they plan to take down their online profiles or change their name to something unidentifiable. Innovative educators know this is not the best strategy. Instead our job is to support young people in creating a responsible digital…
Playing games which require children to follow fast-moving events, track moving objects and pay attention to all areas of the screen teaches them to draw meaning from written words, researchers explained. Dr Andrea Facoetti of the University of Padua in Italy, who led the study, said: “Action video games enhance many aspects of visual attention,…
One might argue that the new emphasis on sociability is precisely what autistic spectrum students require. Don’t they, more than anyone else, need to develop their communication and collaborative skills? And in our increasingly social 21st century, aren’t these skills more important than ever before — both for life in general, and for jobs in…
I’d like this article better if it weren’t divided up into four ad-generating chunks, but here’s the payoff: It’s not all about colossal caves and twisty little passages any more. Here are a few IF highlights that show off how varied the genre can be, from card-based trips to the ‘Neath to hunts for lost…
Three weeks ago tonight, I got an email from the director saying he thought he could use me in the cast. A whirlwind of rehearsals, a week of run-throughs, three performances, and we’re done. Wow! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0tbJj5Jpjo The first act of Godspell is almost entirely fun and games, but the second act quickly moves through the…
When I finally found a way to contact Verizon through “email” (really a form to fill out), I typed out my complaint. I have separate internet and telephone accounts; for some reason, the payments I try to make to one account are being applied to the other account, so one account is overdue and the…