Commonly Misused Words: ITS and IT’S

Similar:Context for Hayles, My Mother was a Computer (Ch 3 & 4)My undergraduates are working their way …AcademiaThe Case Against Reading EverythingRight now, I’m teaching “American Lit 19…BooksI just learned I only have months to live. This is what I want to say. – The Boston GlobeWhat a storyteller. Boston Globe jour…Awesome“Your resume is not…

Correlation is not Causation

According to a somewhat dry AFP article (posted on a URL that will probably expire soon), “The researchers estimated that in 2008 Australian adults aged 25 and older spent 9.8 billion hours in front of the small screen, and that this time was associated with 286,000 years of life that ended prematurely. | Every single hour…

In 10 Years Our iPads Will Be Here

Our iPads will one day be stacked on a pallet, like these old PCs. They’ll be retro curiosities, having done their jobs — empowering us to build even better tools. Similar:Oklahoma Was Never Really O.K. (Frank Rich, Vulture)”Oklahoma! was greeted as jingoistic ent…AestheticsYour Letters Helped Challenger Shuttle Engineer Shed 30 Years Of GuiltOn Jan. 27,…

Ian Bogost – Gamification is Bullshit

This rhetorical power derives from the “-ification” rather than from the “game”. -ification involves simple, repeatable, proven techniques or devices: you can purify, beautify, falsify, terrify, and so forth. -ification is always easy and repeatable, and it’s usually bullshit. Just add points. Game developers and players have critiqued gamification on the grounds that it gets…

Apple, publishers conspired against $9.99 Amazon e-books, says lawsuit

I was doing a lot of impulse buying during the $9.99 days, but since then, on occasions when I’ve seen the ebook offered at a higher price than a paperback, I have just turned to interlibrary load instead. “Terrified” by Amazon’s Kindle e-reader and discounted e-book pricing, five major publishers allegedly acted together to increase…

Students aim for Broadway in musical with true-life focus

David Mahokey of Dunbar, a senior at Point Park University, and Greg Kerestan of Greensburg, a senior at Seton Hill University, wrote the 20-song score and script, respectively, for ″In Control,″ a musical that focuses in part on Mahokey’s real-life battle with bone cancer. Two free performances of ″In Control,″ directed by Anthony Marino, artistic…

Books Without Borders

The heartbreaking thing is that this fall, over 10,000 bookstore employees across America will be out of work. The way the publishing industry is going, many of those people won’t be able to find jobs that are even tangentially related to books anymore; they’ll go on to work in movie theaters and grocery stores and…

Karel Capek Slighted

The layout of this display at the Carnegie Science Center almost makes it look like the Maria duplicate in Metropolis came before Karel Capek’s play RUR (which was written in 1920, first performed in 1921). Similar:Opening Night: New "The Little Mermaid"At night, instead of getting ready for b…Current_EventsTimescape (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 25)…

Carnegie Science Center Model Train

The control panel. Similar:Video: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror – NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryYes, the Mars rovers are cute and wonder…DesignThat's what's been bothering me since yesterday's #AirPod reveal. #manamanaNumber of times one of my $9.99 headphon…BusinessAny pasta can become a pasta salad when the office microwave stops working!Culture2001: A Space Odyssey – Discerning Themes…

USS Requin

Images from an extended tour of a cold war submarine. (We liked the tour we took last year so much, my son and I came back.) [portfolio_slideshow size=medium trans=scrollHorz ] Similar:Blade Runner | Typeset In The FutureThis is nerd heaven — a deep analysis o…AestheticsHow Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing ConsensusFrom…

Stage Right Greensburg Wizard of Oz

My daughter, as the wizard, with her talented castmates, in our local theater school’s preteen summer camp musical. Similar:The Interactive Fiction CompetitionDownload and Play The Games of the 2014 …Current_EventsNo, Dr. Seuss is not being "banned" or "censored" — but Dr. Seuss Enterprises is voluntar…It’s nothing new that Theodore “Dr. Seus…BooksGetting ready to run a…

Bluejay Catching a Bug

My friend and colleague, Balázs Tarnai, shared these pictures of a bluejay catching a bug on his garage roof. Similar:The Child –Antoine Bardou-Jacquet –The Child…AestheticsI was part of a nerve-racking, thrilling attempt to break a world record I drove the girl and myself to the Pal…AestheticsThe Most Awesome 450 Page Presentation Everhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt9F7tKc…AestheticsLast event of a…