There’s nothing really new in this story, but it’s still good to see my favorite game genre get some good press. Along with simulated space battles and table-tennis matches, interactive fiction (IF) is one of the oldest of computer-game forms. Though far gone from its commercial heyday in the graphics-impaired ’80s, when it was still…
For once we had the possibility of a global platform from which we had the power to make those in power listen to us. What we have ended up with is nothing more that a digital Madison Avenue and a whole lot of digital garbage that won’t shut up. I would like to hold out some…
One of the many interactive fiction events at this now-even-more-awesome event that I cannot attend. The current plan: the main GET LAMP episode at 9:30, followed by a panel on stage of people interviewed for the film, and then some showings of a few more features of the DVD, including the Infocom and Bedquilt episodes.…
The viral clip has been viewed almost 54 million times and gave rise to the catchphrase, “Is this real life?” It was the second most-watched video of 2009, according to YouTube, trailing only Susan Boyle‘s appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent.” It’s also been an unexpected bonanza for the boy’s Orlando, Florida-area family, who, despite some criticism that they exploited their…
By the early sixth century, Western Europe had become largely illiterate, its teachers dead, its students on the run, its libraries turned into kindling. Ireland, however, had just settled down, thanks to a tough old bird named Patrick, a Roman citizen raised in the province of Britain who had been grabbed by Irish slavers when…
This wordle was composed from word frequencies in definitions of “Digital Humanities,” submitted by participants in Day in the Life of the Digital Humanities 2010. About all we can conclude is that the participants know how to repeat the phrase “Digital Humanities” in their definitions. Similar:Twitter / Search – "couldn't remove your contacts" – All…
Penguin recently posted this video to YouTube, explaining that it was an internal training video that was a big hit with the sales force. On YouTube, I posted a comment saying that if it worked on their sales force — that is, if their sales staff didn’t get the gimmick before the midpoint, that actually…
Games tend to evolve enormously over the standard two-year process, with whole missions often culled at a late stage, as playtesting reveals unforeseen fault lines and design issues. Having to recall actors and record chunks of new dialogue to reflect story changes is perceived as an expensive, time-consuming chore – the last thing a hassled…
As an administrator, I worked with other professors and administrators. As an instructor of graduate creative writers and upper-division English majors, I was teaching students who also loved words and writing, students who aspired to be what I was, a published author employed in a bookish field. Believe me, I am no longer preaching to…
“Oh yeah! Scientists I’ve talked to say you cannot overestimate how important HeLa cells have been.” Yet no one in the Lacks family had been informed by Johns Hopkins of the existence of their mother’s cells, until a researcher called in the early 1970s wanting to test the family. “Henrietta’s husband basically got a phone…
Epic Game Design Tour / Final Exam Review from Adam Marshall Smith on Vimeo. Similar:Amazing McDonald's "Maestro Burger" CommercialJaw-dropping. So creative and joyful. …AestheticsChatGPT took their jobs. Now they walk dogs and fix air conditioners.“In every previous automation threat, th…BusinessDaughter doing a thing. Interviewing the Pittsburgh Dance Council’s Randall Miller for Bur… AcademiaThe reluctant wisdom…
Similar:The Neutral Zone (ST:TNG Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 25)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…Culture'Babylon 5' Reboot in Development at The CW From Original Series Creator J. Michael Stracz…The Variety story breaking this news doe…Current_EventsToday's second 10sq cm of #steampunk control panel. Love those letter flip tiles. Maybe I'…AestheticsWhy ‘Cats’ the Movie Fails So FlamboyantlyI can’t…
Very cool design! Thanks for the suggestion, Jefe! An episode of Star Trek TNG featured a character who carried around a roll-out piano keyboard, but the prop they used looked more like just a piece of cloth. This looks very believable. Similar:Modular components to mix and match. The upper storeys are next. #blender3d #medievalyork …Modular…
E-books may be getting all of the attention in publishing these days, but the hype overshadows the cold reality of business: E-books are still just a small fraction of the market. James McQuivey, an analyst with the technology research company Forrester, says that’s why publishing is in such a tough place: A revolution may be…
If that doesn’t make you want to read more, there is probably something wrong with you. Dr. Michael Sykes, a San Diego molecular biologist who runs the International Center for Bathroom Etiquette blog says he’s surprised at how long it’s taken for high-tech toilets to hit the U.S. —MSNBC Via Karyssa Blair, who also notes…
Today, programmers, web-developers and designers possess countless different ways to display digital words online, much like an artist with a blank canvas. As words float across our computer screens, code may be considered the underlying thought and form of expression that supports online words, preventing the words from physically or metaphorically “disappearing into [cyber]space” (Richards,…
These are interactive news packages I’ve selected to show to journalism students as we discuss some of the capabilities of Adobe Flash. Many are very recent. —Mindy McAdams Similar:Multitasking while studying: Divided attention and technological gadgets impair learning a…Fairly early in the semester, I can spot…AcademiaPlaying video games linked to breast-feeding, not crimeGreat piece from…
Link pointing to blog entry about a different self-referential clip, and also a different (more vulgar) self-referential clip. Similar:Checking out of @frontporchtheatricals Grand Hotel. What an experience!My brother had already planned to visit …AestheticsDear Jacksonfish.com: Please contact me to discuss your plans for compensating me for this…Here’s a comment I left on the jacksonfi…BusinessHow…
I am so looking forward to Jason Scott’s Get Lamp. (Family obligations are keeping me from attending the premiere at PAX East.) Talking to Scott, his passion for the subject and for detail are both formidable. Most of our interview was tangents, and I didn’t mind any of them. Discussing Colossal Cave Adventure, he ran…
When writing a paper in MLA style, prefer brief quotations from your sources, in order to emphasize how the complex connections between the sources support your original argument. In the essay “The Full Title of an Essay Fills Lots of Space” by Maxwell Wordsworth Filler, it talks about how easy it is to bury your own thoughts when…