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:Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google.When I ask my students to use the librar…AcademiaAll of Your Co-Workers are Gone: Story, Substance, and the Empathic PuzzlerHowever, running parallel to the evoluti…AcademiaI may have mentioned that I have a daughter who does things. Her next is "To Battle: A Fig…Tickets for To…

Doyle Redland Says Goodbye

I’m still mourning the loss of Herman T. Zwiebel.  And now this? Similar:“I don’t know how that Jerz guy thinks he’s going to procure an entire library in the midd…“I don’t know how that Jerz guy thinks h…AcademiaReally enjoyed watching Your Name with the family. Visuals hooked me, but the story kept m…AestheticsYour Brain on…

"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:Bottled Authors: the predigital dream of the…

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…

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:Reading-Is-Fundamentalists Slaughter 52 IlliteratesCommitted to the eradication of illitera…CultureProphet Motive (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 16) The Nagus's eccentricities a… Rewatching ST:DS9 Quark is enjoying a…BusinessTricking the eye to see…

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:FaceTime Fun: iPod Touch Rides in Jedi FighterThrough the magic of FaceTime and the ve…AmusingIn Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrestComedian Robin Williams and actress Laur…CultureI feel juvenile enough today that this headline made me snicker.AmusingThe Women’s Media Center: The Status of Women in the U.S. Media…

Frisbee inventor dies at 90

Walter Frederick Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, has died at the age of 90. —Guardian Similar:NASA has flown a drone on Mars. A tiny robot. A flying robot. On. Another. Planet. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succe…AwesomeFree Game Friday: Text-Based Games 2012 Interactive Fiction contest we’ll…AmusingLook at the adorable little tape casette. Adventure…