Commonly Misused Words: ITS and IT’S

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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:Chilling analysis of organized, anonymous disinformation campaign against Parkland survivo…Forty-seven minutes after news broke of …CultureMesmerizing Video of a Printer Terminal Running "Adventure" on a…

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:Robot wars: 100 years on, it's time to reboot Karel Čapek's RURI was honored to play Alquist in Artisti…BooksWhen F.…

Carnegie Science Center Model Train

The control panel. Similar:Another delightful section of a #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #design #aesthetics #…AestheticsStudents Speak Up: Trust Us With DevicesThe students who are, in the first few w…CybercultureCarolyn as Dolly Levi (Arts4Homeschoolers / Stage Right)I loved listening to her practice the “M…AestheticsStill shot from a flyover video that's been taking about 3 minutes to…

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:Police respond to Twitter bot sending death threat to another Twitter botJeffry built himself a harmless little T…Cyberculture'Anti-dopamine parenting' can curb a kid's craving for…

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:My brother drove my mother in to see Carolyn in tonight’s opening night Kinetic Theatre pr…PersonalI'm Gradually Losing My Hearing. (It’s Part of Aging.)During a department meeting today, I not…AcademiaMy 20-year-old Java Program Is Was Broken!So 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:More sections of #steampunk control panel. #blender3dart #blender3d #design #aestheticsAestheticsIn between 3 walks and a chess game with my son, today I managed to churn out a second 10s…AestheticsOklahoma Was Never Really O.K. (Frank Rich, Vulture)”Oklahoma!…