Ms. Pac-Man: Feminist Hero

It’s a spoof, but it’s well-researched and contains plenty of insight. Similar:Jimmy Kimmel Reveals "Worst Twerk Fail EVER – Girl Catches Fire" PrankBrilliant. The combination of a looks-to…AmusingOne Author Breaks Down the Reality of Violent Games in the MediaChris Person posts a link to this very c…AcademiaWhere are Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, etc. in your…

At 13,000 years, tree is world's oldest organism

The Jurupa Oak tree first sprouted into life when much of the world was still covered in glaciers. It has stood on its windswept hillside in southern California for at least 13,000 years, making it the oldest known living organism, according to a study published today. —Independent Reading this story reminded me of a story…

A sound you do not want to hear from your furnace

I canna give the furnace any more power! I hope the lithium crystals are still under warranty. Furnace.mp3 Similar:I just installed the "Old Layout for Facebook" plugin for Chrome.I just installed the “Old Layout for Fac…CybercultureI regularly teach A Raisin in the Sun but haven't seen a live production in decades. Looki… AwesomeCarolyn plays Ti…

Every Day the Same Dream

I just played this Every Day the Same Dream. Simple, stark, and in places charming. I smiled and thought a little. Similar:Know your rights: photographers — what to do if you are stopped or detained for taking ph…When is it legal to make a video in a pu…CultureThe elements, in haikuEach element of the periodic…

Game Studies – Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games

I’m gearing up to teach Video Game Culture and Theory for the third time. It’s a 200-level elective, with no prerequisites. Students will have taken a basic comp course, but some won’t have done any academic research yet. I’m conscious that some students may have difficulty switching from playing the games they want to play,…

The best walkthrough of Myst I've seen so far

The first part of a walkthrough of the classic (1993), a moody, contemplative point-and-click adventure that defies the stereotype of games as violent and chaotic.  Popular with women and causual gamers, but also appreciated by expert gamers for its puzzles and graphics (photo-realistic CGI, with pre-rendered animations), it was the top-selling game for nearly a…

Clicks vs. Bricks

Is this for real? On Christmas Day, for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books. —Amazon.com Hold on, though… who goes online to shop for more books on Dec 25, before the spines have been cracked on the new books that were under the tree?  Amazon was heavily promoting its…

Colossal Cave Adventure, an Exhibit

Fascinating student project from Zach Whalen’s “A Videogame Canon” course. Adventure. Rules, Representation, and Meaning in Colossal Cave Adventure Analysis of Colossal Cave Adventure Social Impact Colossal Cave Adventure as an interactive narrative and similarites [sic] to fictional novels Other projects include coverage of PONG, Half-Life, and Super Mario Kart. Similar:The t-shirt many professors would…

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog

A reading from a chapter of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog Similar:Pope calls Argentine kiosk owner to cancel paper deliveryThis is a very cute story, further illus…AmusingBloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs broke the story of Hope Hicks's COVID-19 InfectionThose darned reporters. Always publishin…Current_EventsRubric for the Rubric Concerning Students’ Core Educational Competency In Reading Things I…Sadly,…

The Buzz on Electronic Writing: Fiction Goes Digital

In the late-eighties and early nineties, electronic writers wrote hypertext fiction and poetry, the classic example being afternoon, a story by Michael Joyce. In hypertext literature the narrative unfolds through a long series of links that produce different outcomes — but now the shrapnel of the technological explosion includes hundreds of sub-categories, each completely unique.…

Emulators — Good and Otherwise

I’m gearing up to teach a Video Game Culture and Theory course this January.  The first time I taught it, in 2006, it didn’t occur to me that students who were looking for information on, say, Space Invaders, would just play any old flash clone, without being discerning about whether it was a faithful port,…

Handheld Learning 2008 – Steven Johnson, Author

Good overview of the concepts Johnson explores in his book Everything Bad is Good for You.   Similar:Fences ( #AugustWilson #CenturyCycle, 6 of 10)August Wilson’s Century Cycle > …BooksHow PatrioticAmusingThrough the Looking Glass #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 3, Episode 19) Sisko Must Rescue … Rewatching ST:DS9 The teaser give…DramaA serious summer activity.Once classes start again, we…