Brain-Dead Teen, Only Capable Of Rolling Eyes And Texting, To Be Euthanized

via Brain-Dead Teen, Only Capable Of Rolling Eyes And Texting, To Be Euthanized – YouTube. Similar:An Unexpecting MinorityTruthfully, I expected my new department…AcademiaWonderfully Detailed Tribute to 1970s British TV Show Space: 1999″A middle aged geek” puts it well: “Utte…AestheticsLLM error rates  I worked on LLMs, and now I go…AcademiaPict Free Summer Webinar: Shakespeare’s HeroesCultureSuperman Comic…

Hackers and Makers

A longer-than-usual introduction to a reading assignment in my “Media and Culture” class turned into a useful opportunity to reflect. We are all busy people; yet somehow, many people who say they are too busy to take on another task spend hours reading, interpreting, and debating Harry Potter; some post stop-motion Lego spoofs; some do…

Zombie Code and Extra-Functional Significance | Play The Past

Useless code and comments in code—these are the zombie figures of software. They serve no purpose in a program’s execution, but they exude what Mark Marino calls extra-functional significance. They have meaning beyond the program. They speak not to the machine or the compiler, but to a different audience, another reader. In software development, that…

Tantalizing Details for Colossal Cave Adventure Enthusiasts

The most detail I’ve ever seen about Will Crowther’s other creative projects; here, in a conversation dated 1996, he discusses “different ‘adventures’”, and reveals that he wrestled with many of the same challenges that interactive fiction programmers faced through the 1980s and on to the present. I have at various times made different “adventures.” Two…

Facebook can be used to predict academic success, job performance | ZDNet

A good example of correlation. (Simply changing your Facebook content won’t automatically make you a better worker or student, but certain Facebook details do correspond to achievement in the offline world.) Researchers spent about 10 minutes looking at photos, wall posts, comments, education, and hobbies on Facebook profiles, while answering personality-related questions including whether the…

Bag a Bot Day

At midnight tonight, participants in the FIRST Robotics Competition must stop working on their robots and seal them up in a plastic bag. Here’s the working bot my son’s team built. Pretty good for a rookie team.     Similar:An Opt Out Letter That Speaks to All ParentsOne household notifies the authorities t…CultureCOVID-19 Cases (Useful…

Wonderful Performance of Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse”

Fantastic composition, deeply embedded into the brains of any kid who grew up watching Looney Tunes. Raymond Scott recorded “Powerhouse” on this day 75 years ago. Similar:Lego TimelineThe Lego brick system was patented 50 ye…AestheticsDid you share Russian fake news? Facebook, apparently unable to insert items directly in o…Did you share fake news from Russia…

Gamasutra – News – Second Life developer acquires experimental game studio LittleTextPeople

LittleTextPeople, founded by writer Emily Short and Maxis veteran Richard Evans, has so far focused on the development of software that replicates complex social interaction. For instance, among its internal technology is a simulator that models social behavior and individual personalities. —Gamasutra – News – Second Life developer acquires experimental game studio LittleTextPeople. Similar:Quidditch Comes…

You are standing in a field. There is a meme here.

Via David Thompson Similar:The barbican at Mickelgate was pulled down in the 1800s but I made a rough approximation f…AestheticsBabylon 5 redefined TV science fiction, so why isn’t it better known?The article doesn’t actually answer the …CultureSmash the WindowsBy presenting us with colourful screens …CybercultureControlling behavior of HQ CEO hijacks what should have been a…

Twitter / Search – “couldn’t remove your contacts” – All Tweets

Twitter / Search – “couldn’t remove your contacts” – All Tweets. Similar:Given a chance to explain his support for a YouTuber who warns about alien DNA, Trump abru…After mounting a half-hearted defense of…Current_EventsPipe Trouble’s government woes highlight gaming illiteracyInteresting discussion of a political ho…CultureLies about history in Texas can be traced to the Lone Star…