Happy V-Day: Valentines for Journalists

Valentines for Journalists. Similar:A Dance Mom Gets Schooled by a Ballet Mistress Who Can WriteAvoid trying to publicly shame a ballet …ArtPolice Department, Fire Department Tell Different Versions of Same Richmond IncidentA Richmond police official and a fire of…Current_EventsLaughter and Light Abound in Prime Stage’s “Twelfth Night” Kudos to Prime Stage for a Twelf…Culture87,000 Missing Deaths:…

Frisbee inventor dies at 90

Walter Frederick Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, has died at the age of 90. —Guardian Similar:87,000 Missing Deaths: Tracking the True Toll of the Coronavirus OutbreakSobering report from the New York Times,…Current_EventsUnderstanding 9/11: A Television News ArchiveStunning collection of thousands of hour…CultureNarnia board game — enjoyable family activity (but it's weird that…

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:Shatoetry iPhone app lets you put… words… in… William Shatner's… mouthWilliam Shatner and technology go way ba…AestheticsLawsuit Against Warner/Chappell Music…

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:Pipe Trouble’s government woes highlight gaming illiteracyInteresting discussion of a political ho…CultureOne Child, One Laptop … And Mixed Results In PeruBecause you couldn’t go online, everythi…CybercultureI ditched Google for Bing with ChatGPT for…

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:‘Not good, not nice’: At Florida rally, Trump says China has ‘targeted our farmers’They weren’t the most newsworthy part of…Current_EventsHow Russia’s Disinformation Apparatus Ran Aground in UkraineSkillful propagandists always leverage p…CultureEdible Chess Chess pastry cutters handmade in bra…AestheticsMedea at Seton Hill University.CultureThe Best of Both Worlds, Part…

Doom Iphone code review.

Fascinating software study of the Doom iPhone port.http://fabiensanglard.net/doomIphone/index.php Similar:In March, 2002, I was blogging about…In March, 2002, I was blogging about …BusinessBoston marathon bombing: All the mistakes journalists make during a crisis like the Boston… First, do not pass on speculatio…Current_EventsCoronavirus Tribute to Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" (1942) I found this image on Facebook (wher…AestheticsMany things…

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…

Pee-wee Gets an iPad

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"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…