Happy V-Day: Valentines for Journalists

Valentines for Journalists. Similar:Interface (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 3) LaForge, using experimental augmen…Rewatching ST:TNG The cold open featu…AmusingBuzzFeed plagiarism, deleted posts: Jonah Peretti explains.In 2012 my former Slate colleague Farhad…BusinessFirst Day in the Theatre for Twelfth Night (May 3-12) Daughter: (is sad her “first day in …CultureNewsworthy vs snoozeworthyJerz > Writing > Journalism JournalismThe Girl's Obsession with…

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 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:Why NORAD Tracks SantaThe call had come in on one of the top s…AmusingThe Woman in BlackLast night’s preview was a layered treat…CultureYou come very close to successfully combining argument and explication here… I recently came across a box of old wr…AcademiaYour first attempt at a medieval…

Doom Iphone code review.

Fascinating software study of the Doom iPhone port.http://fabiensanglard.net/doomIphone/index.php Similar:I feel juvenile enough today that this headline made me snicker.AmusingClose Reading of Sonnet 130: Form, Theme, and Cultural Context (and a Rage Comic)I’m preparing to teach Shakespeare again…AcademiaUnity Normal Problems (Importing an object from Blender 2.8b)I had a complex model that I created in …AestheticsI gave my…

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:Why your brain’s so bad at letting go of negative comments Negative comments engage avoidance…CybercultureMore details in the powder room of my villain's lair. #Blender3DAestheticsBeard Typeface GuideChristian Goldeman felt compelled to…

Pee-wee Gets an iPad

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman Similar:The Dish (2000 Australian comedy)I try to watch this every July to commem…CultureSix rainbow-colored objects, arranged like THIS?These are shoe-holding racks at a local …AestheticsWhy teens are leaving Facebook: It’s ‘meaningless’However, there’s a silver lining for Mar…BusinessTwitter and the "Two Minutes Hate"Another of the many, many reflections on…CultureThe…

"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…