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:How iPhone Apps Steal Your Contact Data and Why You Can't Stop ItNothing really new in this article, but …BusinessRebooting “Rossum’s Universal Robots” for the…

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:Sanctuary (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 10) Many refugees from the other side… Rewatching ST:DS9 Sisko mildly brin…PopCultI watched…

Carnegie Science Center Model Train

The control panel. Similar:It's such a privilege to introduce these young people to Shakespeare's body of work.After starting my 200-level “Shakespeare…AcademiaYour Brain on ShakespeareAmusingMy adorable daughter (Easter 2021) AestheticsFacebook Updates News Feed So Your Favorite Friends Rise to the TopNow, News Feed, at its most basic level,…BusinessAlike (2015)This short film reminds us why art matte…AestheticsSnow…

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:Interesting use of A.I. in a radiology journalMedical doctors and scholars Raneem Bade…AcademiaUS regulators demand clamp down on Apple e-book contractsI made a lot of…

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:"Khan!!! the Musical!!!" (Star Trek Parody) 6-Minute Highlight Reel 2022https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrfLWDbJ…AmusingThe poetry of deafnessMy auditory processing disorder makes it…AestheticsAnother section of a #neovictorian control panel for a #steampunk #blender3d project. I h…AestheticsDefiant (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode…

Bluejay Catching a Bug

My friend and colleague, Balázs Tarnai, shared these pictures of a bluejay catching a bug on his garage roof. Similar:Why Were Old Video Games So Pixelated?I get all my news online now, but I grew…AestheticsWest Side Story (One-Minute Preview)From Mrs. Lovett two weeks ago to Maria …AestheticsI've got a lot to learn, but my #blender3D…

LEGO figures flying on NASA Jupiter probe

LEGO figurines representing the Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno and Galileo Galilei are flying to Jupiter. (NASA/LEGO) August 4, 2011 — They have launched aboard the space shuttle, visited the space station, and flown to Mars. Now, three more “very special” LEGO figurines are set to fly to Jupiter with NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The…