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:My beautiful daughter says "Happy Valentine's Day" View t…AestheticsEmpty InboxMy to-do do list and my “Follow Up” fold…CybercultureDon't Automatically Blame the Reporter for a Headline ErrorWriters make mistakes. That’s why we hav…Current_EventsAnother section of a #steampunk control panel. Useful for a cutaway shot after a character…AestheticsFox News, accused of manipulating…
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:Robot Dramas: Autonomous Machines in the Limelight on Stage and in SocietyA thoughtful overview of robots in cultu…AestheticsHear That? It’s Your Voice Being Taken for Profit.Why do tech companies give us…
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:Star Wars: The Last Jedi abuse blamed on Russian trolls and 'political agendas'More than half of the hostile responses …CultureSon Doong Cave in Viet Nam Featurers Skylight, JungleAs a fan of Colossal Cave Adventure, I’m…AestheticsA Brief Tour of the Digital Delights of the Folger Shakespeare LibraryBut luckily for you, one does not need t…CybercultureSharing…
Similar:Defend the Open Web: Keep DRM Out of W3C StandardsThe DRM proposals at the W3C exist for a…BusinessIn April, 2002, I was blogging about an autistic person's guide to asking a girl on a date…In April, 2002, I was blogging about …BooksNever trust a corporation to do a library’s jobThe Internet Archive is mostly known for…BooksTolkien v.…
If that’s not good enough for you, try Similar:Interface (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 3) LaForge, using experimental augmen…Rewatching ST:TNG The cold open featu…AmusingDid you see that guy’s license plate?Did you see that guy’s license plate? …AmusingWalking in Another's Skin: Failure of Empathy in To Kill a MockingbirdThe money quote: “In this essay, I…
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:50 Years Ago: The World in 1961 – Alan…
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:Star Wars' Original, Scum-Caked BrillianceThe B-movie shoddiness of actors and aes…AestheticsTop deck of a #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser needs an airlock at the top of the…
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…
Americans’ print consumption has declined since 1960, but words delivered by computer have more than made up the difference. (Image courtesy of the University of California at San Diego’s Global Information Industry Center) Conventional wisdom holds that YouTube, videogames, cable TV and iPods have turned us away from the written word. Glowing streams of visual…
I’ve just finished my final training run as a nanotech-augmented super-agent. Nasty terrorists holed up in the ruins of the State of Liberty have captured one of my fellow agents, and it’s my job to get him out. In real life, it’s 2002, and I’m just a guy in Wisconsin. My four-year-old son is asleep…
My online three-week course will start tomorrow morning. It will lean heavily on blogging, so chances are I’ll be a bit more productive than usual in that area. Video Game Culture and TheoryThis course isn’t about learning how to “win” a game, nor is it about programming or design. In fact, according to a recent…
Thanks, John, for sending me this link. Smart phones are great. But I’m not going to blog on my Blackberry. Reading texts from my mom is easy, but I’d rather not read a New Yorker story she emails to me on a 1.5”-by-1.5” screen. The ability of smart phones to do pretty much everything doesn’t…