“People thought what they had was an address book for an e-mail program, and Google decided to turn that into a friends list for a new social network,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group in Washington. “E-mail is one of the few things that people understand to…
This eagerly awaited restored version of Fritz Lang’s silent classic uses what it said to be nearly an hour of footage long thought to be lost.This is one of the the most important film archival discoveries in history, as surprising as if the missing ending of “The Magnificent Ambersons” were found. —Roger Ebert According to…
Valentines for Journalists. Similar:The president of the US bonds with Vladimir Putin over journalists: "Get rid of them." The president of the US bonds with Vladi…CultureIce Cream and Sharks Scene: writing classroom. …AcademiaMinneapolis protest cleanup: Did you share this meme without fact-checking it? (Don’t spre… A Facebook meme with 52k reactions a…CultureFacebook just dealt another…
[O]n this chilly morning, as bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school students are quiet, typing on laptops. Morning routines have been like this since the fall, when school officials mounted a mobile Internet router to bus No. 92’s sheet-metal frame, enabling students to surf the Web. The students…
Walter Frederick Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, has died at the age of 90. —Guardian Similar:Out for a walk during some downtime. Paused to appreciate this beautiful city of #Pittsbur…AestheticsSnazzy officer uniforms from the #steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my now-adult ch…AestheticsTelevision is Now the Second Screen for Kids with…
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…
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…
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:Maybe I'll start a cover band, cleaning up hip-hop songs…Maybe I’ll start a cover band, cleaning …CulturePlans for the Little…
None of this is a surprise to me, but I’m glad to have statistics to back up my impressions. A very small handful of students whose first introduction to online social networking was the SHU blogosphere, before blogs went really mainstream around 2005, are still blogging here, after they have graduated. In 2003-2005 it was…
I didn’t watch the game, but I did catch the buzz about this ad. Yes, I did tear up. (Wired has details.) Similar:Journalism 101: I fixed this meme for you.I can sympathize with the sentiment, but…CultureThe history of Tetris randomizersA pleasantly detailed analysis of how th…CybercultureStanford to offer new undergraduate majors integrating humanities, computer scienceTraining…
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…
Coming up… we’ll tell you whether you’ll be impaled by sharp, radioactive icicles hurled by mobs of rampaging robots in your neighborhood. But first, people panicking, filling up three shopping carts of toilet paper and canned food. Hear the techno-pop pulse of our theme music, and know that you’re being conditioned to think of us…
Here’s hoping I left gas in the snow-thrower. Similar:Date a girl who reads.I earned a +8 or +9 spousal bonus when I…AmusingThe girl around the house casually dressed "as a Jacobite."AmusingChecking out of @frontporchtheatricals Grand Hotel. What an experience!My brother had already planned to visit …AestheticsDatalore (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 12) Data's bro wants…
Fascinating software study of the Doom iPhone port.http://fabiensanglard.net/doomIphone/index.php Similar:GenZ prefers searching with TikTok, Instagram over GoogleEducating myself about how today’s colle…CybercultureFake News Is Not the Real Media Threat We’re FacingConservative talk radio predates the Int…CultureThey called it a "flashlight" because early handheld lights weren't designed to shine stea…A student’s short story featuring a trea…CultureHere for the…
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…
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:"What Teachers Make" Sequence of AssignmentsEvery year I rewatch Taylor Mali’s passi…AcademiaPR Pop Quiz: Intro to Crisis ManagementPop quiz for public relations 101. Sc…BusinessPractice, practice, practice. Making many things in #Blender3D. Arranging…
Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman Similar:The Nagus (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 11) Quark is named the financial lead…Rewatching ST:DS9 In an episode focus…CultureFormer NFL receiver Antwaan Randle El regrets ever playing football“There’s no correcting it. There’s no he…BusinessHere's some good writing from The New Yorker: "Seattle’s Leaders Let Scientists Take the…
“One of the deepest questions in this field,” Nass says, “is whether media multitasking is driven by a desire for new information or by an avoidance of existing information. Are people in these settings multitasking because the other media are alluring–that is, they’re really dying to play Freecell or read Facebook or shop on eBay–or…
I know, I know: Amazon relied on those $9.99 prices to give it a head start in the digital books market. And raising prices to the $12.99 to $14.99 being talked about could certainly slow sales if consumers don’t bite. But here’s the thing: it’s not as if Macmillan is only raising prices for Kindle.…
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…