Suffer the geeklings to come unto Me.

My highly dramatic daughter is not likely to achieve kolinahr any time soon, but we can all wish that she live long and prosper on the occasion of her First Communion.P.S.  My wife said I could post this photo as long as I also posted a “normal” one. (See below.) Similar:The American Scholar: Celebrity ProfilesPhllip…

Thoughts on Flash

It’s rather amusing to read Apple’s CEO tut-tutting Flash for not being an open developing environment, but plenty of developers with years of Flash skills are watching this very closely. Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they…

A fond farewell to the floppy disk

Sony is discontinuing the production of the floppy disk. I’ve seen the vast excitement over the arrival of VHS tapes – and the shrug that accompanied their demise. Plus: Betamax videocassettes, reels of recording tape, DAT tapes, audio cassettes, eight-track cartridges, and 5.25in floppy disks. Now, Sony announced this week, 3.5in floppy disks are set…

Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War – PowerPoint

“Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.”– A US general, speaking out, not against firing projectiles, but against the popular oral presentation crutch, PowerPoint. Similar:Elevator shaft on a #steampunk #blender3d cruiser, just because. #design #aesthetics #blen… AestheticsOpen Access Journals in the Field of EducationUpdate, June 2015: New URL for the Direc…AcademiaInsipidest. Play. Ever. –Pepys,…

Embrace technology to avoid 'crisis of relevance'

Universities “should not be doing anything in the classroom that could be done online” (Times Higher Education) I’ll give the speaker the benefit of the doubt, and interpret that to mean “could be done just as well online.”  Actually, I’ve recently been re-considering my goal of collecting and returning all feedback from face-to-face classes electronically.…

Hitler, as "Downfall producer" orders a [YouTube] takedown

Hitler, as “Downfall producer” orders a DMCA takedown from Brad Templeton on Vimeo. As I understand it, the DMCA is not actually involved — it’s YouTube’s internal content-management feature, that lets copyright owners register their material, so that YouTube can search its database and take down, or monetize, any and all instances. Similar:To Apple, Love…

Twitter / AP Stylebook: Responding to reader input …

Responding to reader input, we are changing Web site to website. — Associated Press Stylebook Similar:Tolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern surveillance best?Interesting set of observations explorin…CultureI never have time to create materials like this during the academic year. Brand new handou… AP Style follows the standard Englis…AcademiaUnless Buzzfeed-style Clickbait Replaces all Forms of Human…

Videogames are Art

Roger Ebert recently tweeted this video, calling it a “Brief, well-made video mounting an optimistic defense of videogames.”   Similar:What have my students learned about creative nonfiction writing? During class they are col…What have my students learned about crea…AcademiaPen Pals (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 15) Data Hears a WhoRewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…EmpathyStory…

The 2010 Lyttle Lytton Contest

“I shouldn’t be saying this, but I think I’ll love you always, baby, always,” Adam cried into the email. –Shexmus Amed The winner from Adam Cadre’s “Lyttle Lytton” contest (an awful-first-line contest, named after the author who famously penned “It was a dark and stormy night”) My favorite was actually: There was only one man…

WTF Moment: LOC to acquire Twitter?

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