Happy V-Day: Valentines for Journalists

Valentines for Journalists. Similar:Advice to a recent journalism graduate* The best stories are the ones you find…Ethics3-Year-Old's Birthday Party Theme: 'NewsHour'When a young St. Paul boy got to pick th…HumanitiesI'm Gradually Losing My Hearing. (It’s Part of Aging.)During a department meeting today, I not…AcademiaFormer Setonian editor-in-chief Amanda Cochran visits my journalism class to discuss her…

Frisbee inventor dies at 90

Walter Frederick Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, has died at the age of 90. —Guardian Similar:Adorable Dolphin encounter makes Texas sloth video go viralMy social media feed just featured adora…AmusingBuilding a ridiculous amount of detail as I create tiles for distant sections of a #blende…AestheticsTrump, halting his own policy: "I didn’t like…

Peter West, Trying the Dark: Mammoth Cave and the Racial Imagination, 1839-1869

Interesting examination of role-playing, illusion, identity, and power in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, one small branch of which was the inspiration for the 1976/7 computer game Colossal Cave Adventure. In the middle decades of the nineteenth century, Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave was a popular tourist destination for travelers from around the United States and beyond. The cave…

Typography and Textuality

Zach Whalen is turning his dissertation into a blog-web-thing, in the hopes of developing a book-thing. In whatever form it takes, it’s an interesting approach to a textual study of video games. This study asks how the design and configuration of text in videogames contributes to their textuality. I argue that videogames are texts in…

The Superbowl, Technology, and the Police State (1984-2010)

There’s a dissertation in here. All I have the energy to do today is imply a connection. Using a police state to market technology in 1984: Using a police state to market technology in 2010: Similar:Reporters say White House sometimes demands changes to press-pool reports The decades-old White House press pool…CultureLanguage Log » 25 Questions…

Google’s Super Bowl Ad: A Romance in Search

I didn’t watch the game, but I did catch the buzz about this ad. Yes, I did tear up. (Wired has details.) Similar:Harvard revokes admission of several students for posting "offensive" memesThe First Amendment of the constitution …AcademiaDonald Trump's chilling escalation of his war with the mediaA journalist’s response to President Tru…Current_EventsStudent Newspapers Scurry to…

The great global warming collapse

It is dangerous to use local weather events (such as a heavy or light winter) to make judgments about global climate. With that caveat, I’m blogging the following because I’ve noted a shift in the online discussion about “global warming,” or the more general “climate change”. This essay does a good job exploring the events…

Obligatory Snowpocalypse Photo

Here’s hoping I left gas in the snow-thrower. Similar:Looking forward to more live local theater. (Support the arts!)PersonalDid you like or share that social media post about two Camp Mystic girls found in a tree? From an article in the Houston Chron…Current_EventsCandyland is a masterpiece of game design (John Brieger unpacks the specific cultural cont……

Doom Iphone code review.

Fascinating software study of the Doom iPhone port.http://fabiensanglard.net/doomIphone/index.php Similar:The lesson of Rolling Stone and UVA: protecting victims means checking their stories It is a depressing certainty that th…Current_EventsFacebook touts fight on fake news, but struggles to explain why InfoWars isn't banned10 points to CNN’s Oliver Darcy for work…BusinessThat gut-wrenching photo of immigrant children in a…

ENG 111: Pop Up Scholarship

Our first few readings in my freshman writing course were personal essays, with a clear narrative.  We read an academic paper today, and there’s another assigned for Friday.  A few students are already reporting feeling a little lost in the detail. I gather this is because they are used to reading textbooks, where all the…

The Videogame History Timeline (beta)

I wish I’d seen this a few weeks ago, before my Video Game Culture and Theory class ended, but it’s still a welcome find. Similar:Little People, Big Fun: A Brief History of Fisher-Price Little PeopleI remember having a Fisher Price airplan…BusinessPitching a Magazine Article: Resources for Beginning Freelance WritersJerz > Writing >&nb…BooksVote for your favorite Monopoly token –…

Pee-wee Gets an iPad

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman Similar:AI crawlers destroying websites in hunger for contentTraffic on my website has plunged over t…BusinessUpdated a handout on writing a process analysis. TechnologyToday’s adulting was brought to you by a failed motor vehicle inspection. #notacarguy #win…The car shop wanted to charge over $300….ModdingSo I’m starting a thing. Wish me…

"Can We Tape?"

I usually carry a digital voice recorder with me.  In most states it’s legal to record a conversation if all parties consent, although Pennsylvania law requires that all parties to a conversation be notified that a conversation is being recorded. “It is always legal to tape or film a face-to-face interview when your recorder or…