Happy V-Day: Valentines for Journalists

Valentines for Journalists. Similar:When an Eel Climbs a Ramp to Eat Squid From a Clamp, That’s a MoraySomewhere today a headline writer is wea…AwesomeMariah Carey meets William Carlos Williams AmusingJournalism has become ground zero for the vocation crisis When scholars of journalism study the …Business‘A slow-motion disaster’: Journalism museum in talks about possible building saleLast…

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…

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:Facebook touts fight on fake news, but struggles to explain why InfoWars isn't banned10 points to CNN’s Oliver Darcy for work…BusinessSam Shepard Giggles, Doesn't GoogleI wrote my undergraduate honors thesis o…CybercultureJerry Lewis’s Costars…

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:'Dream' casting a family affairAmong actors in Cabaret Theatre’s upcomi…CultureMemorizer (Memorization Tool)A Midsummer castmate shared a link to th…CybercultureCommentary: The unbearable smugness of the pressMore on how their desire to control the …CultureThe Best Halloween Costume Is a Robot Halloween Costume – Atlantic MobileAwesome robot costume is awesome. The…AestheticsWest…

Doom Iphone code review.

Fascinating software study of the Doom iPhone port.http://fabiensanglard.net/doomIphone/index.php Similar:I, Borg (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 23) Adolescent Borg Bonds with LaForge Rewatching ST:TNG When a landing …CybercultureThe Portable Writing desk — the Victorian laptopFocusing on the materiality of writing, …AestheticsPositive Feedback on a Blogging AssignmentA former student who is now excelling in…AcademiaCNN Profiles Former…

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

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman Similar:Woodward dismisses CNN's lawsuit against the White House; Fox sides with CNNBob Woodward, half of the Washington Pos…Culture35% of my site visitors right now are using mobile devicesThis year I have seen an uptick in the p…CybercultureThe iPad Falls Short of Expectations—But What Does That Mean? The iPad…

"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…