What are the capabilities of MIT’s Scratch, a kid-friendly programming tool? In about 30 minutes, I create a working ball-and-paddle game. The last two videos show some further tweaking for another 15 minutes. I presented these videos to my students in the context of a unit on games and education. HTML5 HTML5 480p FLV360p FLV360p…
Wisdom to keep in mind as I plan for this semester’s “History and Future of the Book.” FAIL Blog. Similar:An Academic Conference Where YOU are the Hero: Interactive Fiction in Print and OnlineI wish I had known about this in advance…AcademiaBrain, InterruptedIn most situations, the person juggling …Academia“The author talks about [topic]” is filler.…
Violent video games have triggered substantial controversy due to highly publicized incidents of youth violence that have been allegedly inspired by the content of such games. Several jurisdictions have passed legislation penalizing the distribution of violent video games to minors and used psychological research to support the justification for such laws. However, courts have consistently…
I am far less interested in turning my students into good bloggers, or good podcasters, or good YouTubers, and far more interested in helping them develop the big-picture synthesizing and evaluative skills that will enable them to learn whatever comes along next, and to keep learning whatever comes next. Of course, I also ask students…
The price of printer cartridges has long irritated consumers and their advocates, and they say the lack of information from manufacturers only aggravates the situation. One recent study even estimated that consumers could save billions of dollars a year if they were armed with full information about how much it would cost to operate various…
An interesting spin on Tetris. Similar:Nipper Hears "His Master's Voice"As a kid growing up in Fairfax County, j…BusinessThe Library Adjacent to My Ethership Control Room Needed BooksFor me, summer vacation means spending h…AestheticsMS Paint AdventuresWonderfully silly take on old-school poi…AmusingHere I am sketching spaceships like I’m 12 again. I feel like re-reading the novelization …AestheticsCreate…
Google just got slightly less evil in my eyes. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at…
Why did Brian Wilson use Cooper Black on the cover of Pet Sounds? Why did Obama use Gotham for his election propaganda? It has long been apparent that typefaces reflect the character of the person using them, and that type choice, as well as the words that are typed, is a powerful conveyor of meaning. At…
Hero. No question about it. Miep Gies, who ensured the diary of Anne Frank did not fall into the hands of Nazis after the teen’s arrest, has died. She was 100. […] “More than 20,000 Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years. I willingly did what I…
More online discussion of the digital humanities. This post helped me as I start prying some piece of my brain away from the 3-week online course on gaming I’m currently teaching, and thinking about the “History and Future of the Book” course I’ll be teaching in 2 short weeks. One of the essays I most…
Very catchy tune. I love the way the meter of the refrain sputters, not unlike the sporadic posts of a blog that won’t die. Similar:Interesting use of A.I. in a radiology journalMedical doctors and scholars Raneem Bade…AcademiaThe News from Ferguson – Live, on Twitter[I]t turns out that Twitter is not just …AcademiaDear Google: You Should…
Afer extensive treatments for cancer, including the removal of part of his jaw, film critic Roger Ebert is still critiquing movies and writing, but he is unable to speak; he also can’t eat or drink. His recent column reflects on life without a mouth. One day in the hospital my brother-in-law Johnny Hammel and his…
Ian Bogost has stirred up some discussion with his post on how digital humanities has challenged the humanities at large. I’ve been very happy with the level of support I’ve received from my English colleagues, my humanities colleagues, and the dean, but all interdisciplinary, hybrid, and emerging fields rub against the sharp edges of the…
Similar:Opinion: Don’t Be Fooled by America’s Flattening CurveAnother example of effective new media d…Current_EventsA pie slice from the ring surrounding the ballroom, from the #steampunk bedtime stories I …AestheticsTell-all crime reporting is a peculiarly American practice. Now U.S. news outlets are reth…Journalists should balance the public’s …CultureAs Twinkle Twinkle is to Suzuki musicians, so…
Similar:Coding Sucks: Why a Job in Programming Is Absolute HellI enjoyed the essay, but the truths it i…CultureSpace:1999 design aesthetic merged detailed miniatures with curvy Euro-futurist interior d…Clearly influenced by Kubrick’s 1969 fil…Aesthetics"A Story Before Bed" Publisher Seems to be Scraping and Republishing My Blog Content on "L…According to preterite, Looks like your…BooksPast Tense, Part…
If that’s not good enough for you, try Similar:Hexagons Are the Bestagonshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOifuHs…AmusingThe lesson of Rolling Stone and UVA: protecting victims means checking their stories It is a depressing certainty that th…Current_EventsPushing and pulling vertices. Components that fit together perfectly when I model them in …AestheticsIn January 2001, I was blogging about Bill Clinton's #WhiteHouse security…
While reviewing proposals for a new games journalism assignment in my video game culture and theory course, I found myself thinking about Floyd the Robot, from Planetfall. Some students were commenting excitedly about the emotional impact of the airport scene in Modern Warfare 2 (you are infiltrating a terrorist cell, and the game requires you…
What are thou, Pez, that must needs be dispensed? T’ be merely wrapped would leave thee so incensed? T’were better still to leave the fingers sticky, Than be vomited up by the likes of Mickey. — Mark Janello Curtis Allina, 87, Put Heads on Pez Dispensers Similar:Just remember: what you’re seeing and what you're reading…
What would be more awesome than a colorful display of iconic images from 100 beloved games? How about a colorful display of iconic images from 100 beloved games on cupcakes? Similar:Masks (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 17) Ritual symbols start appearing on the… Rewatching ST:TNG Masks (#StarTre…AestheticsThe Schizoid Man (TNG Rewatch: Season 2, Episode…
Looks like the rumors of an Apple tablet are creating ripples… the HP tablet apparently has two hinged screens, which seems to put it into the smartbook category. On Wednesday, Mr. Ballmer, Microsoft‘s chief executive, will unveil a novel take on a slate-type computer during his evening keynote at the Consumer Electronics trade show in…