The Silver Lining

A fan-produced Kings Quest sequel is shut down. What a way to treat your brand’s most loyal followers. Recently, however, ownership of the Sierra IP changed hands and became the property of Activision. After talks and negotiations in the last few months between ourselves and Activision, they have reached the decision that they are not…

The Internet Bible: The Fall of Eve

Via Similar:Twitter, after 10 years, hasn't been a money-makerRake-thin and bearded, Dorsey radiates a…BusinessAmazon’s Tactics Confirm Its Critics’ Worst SuspicionsThis week, as part of a contract dispute…BooksDissecting a Frog: How to Write a Humor PieceAnalyzing humor, as E.B. White famously …AmusingStudent Newspapers Scurry to Make Ends Meet“After 112 years as The Daily Emerald, t…AcademiaSelling Point…

Doyle Redland Says Goodbye

I’m still mourning the loss of Herman T. Zwiebel.  And now this? Similar:Fathers' Day: Showing "The Princess Bride"My kids have never seen The Princess Bri…Current_EventsText Wrangler Discontinued (Free Mac Text Editor)I still miss Notepad++, a Windows tool o…Current_EventsNational Day on WritingNCTE, the National Writing Project, and …CultureMy Memories of "Joseph…" [an original cast member reflects…

"By Their Sidewalks You Will Know Them"

There are no sidewalks where I live, but if there were, my sidewalk, and my conscience, would be clear. Here’s the first stanza of a five-stanza poem by TImons Esaias. Originally there were eleven CommandmentsMoses, perhaps confused by the unfamiliarsnow, ice, and sidewalk,botched one, and left it out. Similar:Dennis Jerz, R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots), Karel…

The ABCs of Adventuring

Thanks for this find, Mark Sample (via Twitter). The ABCs of Adventuringby Admiral Jota, Dylan O’Donnell, G. Kevin Wilson, and Dan Shiovitz.A is for Adventure, the first of them all;B is for Brass lantern, so you don’t take a fall.C is for Compass, an unseen one you keepD is for Drinking, eating and sleep.E is…

American History: "Growth of a Nation"

This animated map of the expansion of American territory since the original 13 colonies is a bit cheesy in terms of production values, and not nearly as high-quality as the wonderful animated map of The Civil War in Four Minutes, but still a good resource. Similar:Every day on my fantasy #neovictorian interplanetary cruiser features glowing…

What Makes a Great Teacher?

Gripping story of an effort to use data to predict teaching excellence. As Teach for America began to identify exceptional teachers using this data, Farr began to watch them. He observed their classes, read their lesson plans, and talked to them about their teaching methods and beliefs. He and his colleagues surveyed Teach for America…

Why Google Has Become Microsoft's Evil Twin

Google Buzz combined the openness of Twitter with the “whoo-hoo look at me!” aspects of Facebook. The result? A total face plant. —PC World Similar:10 top writing tips and the psychology behind themThere are plenty of folks happy to tell …AcademiaFar-Right Twitter Trolls Won’t Admit They Were Wrong About Killing of a “Patriot” in Denve… …

Critical Code Studies Working Group — Colossal Cave Adventure Annotation

This week, I’ll be facilitating a week-long collaborative annotation project, as part of the Critical Code Studies Working Group online conference, on the source code to Crowther’s original Colossal Cave Adventure (a classic text-only computer game from the 1970s). According to Donald Knuth, designer of the “literate programming paradigm,” Colossal Cave Adventure is the “ur-game…

Happy V-Day: Valentines for Journalists

Valentines for Journalists. Similar:11 Sites and Apps Kids Are Heading to After FacebookRemember MySpace? Not so long ago, pract…CultureDog and TP WallAmusingOne Does Not Simply: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Internet MemesWhen we envisioned a journal of visual c…AcademiaWhere There's a Whip, There's a WayThe girl was singing lyrics she learned …AmusingFaculty stacked…

Frisbee inventor dies at 90

Walter Frederick Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, has died at the age of 90. —Guardian Similar:My simulation project does not require me to master medieval daub and wattle architecture….My simulation project does not require m…AestheticsProto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureThe barbican at Mickelgate was…