How to Teach Physics to Your Dog

A reading from a chapter of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog Similar:The ‘Cancelling’ of Flannery O’Connor? It Never Should Have HappenedI regularly teach Flannery O’Connor, and…AcademiaA 10-page paper? Are you serious? The running you do in a 100-yard das…AcademiaWhy our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreamingNeil Gaiman tells us why books matter:Wh…BooksThose…

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:Create Joy with Content Management System Hexcodes for Canvas LMSI spent about 30 seconds eyeballing the …AcademiaIn January, 2002 I was blogging about… A 20-something former CEO takes a fa…BooksRealm of Fear (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode…

Is it time for 'The Simpsons' to 'g'oh'?

The CNN story about The Simpsons limping on after jumping the shark is pretty much what I expected, but I’m blogging it for the infographic. Not quite as epic or information-dense as Minard’s famous map of Napoleon’s march to and from Russia, but still breathtaking. Similar:Overheard: "This is the best show I've ever seen at…

Interview: Michael Arnzen

Research is probably where most new writers fail, because it takes a lot of time. You have to research not only the background of your stories — but the whole literary landscape. It takes a full immersion in the culture you hope to address as a writer to join the wider literary conversation of our…

Bizarre Spiral Lights in Norway's Skies

My wife’s theory about the Norway spiral lights is that, during a practice run, Rudolph had a bit too much eggnog, sending Santa’s sleigh into a death spiral. Similar:Peter Sallis: Wallace and Gromit actor dies aged 96 The voice of Wallace has died. The si…CultureParents Dedicate New College Safe Space In Honor Of Daughter Who Felt…

The Tetris God

I would have trimmed about 20 seconds, or given the two lackeys more to do. Still, “The Tetris God” is worth a chuckle. Similar:Bar Association #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 16) Rom Inspires Quark's Employe…Rewatching ST:DS9 As The Defiant return…MediaData's Day (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 11)Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….DanceHeart of…

Fugard's 'Have You Seen Us?': Looking Within Again

In literature classes, students sometimes privilege author intent to an extent that hampers their ability to interpret literary works. Yes, it is possible to over-analyze anything. And just because there are many possible interpretations of a literary work, that doesn’t mean that every possible interpretation is well-supported by the text. (Occam’s Razor still applies, for…

Google – from friend to foe?

It’s an open debate whether the plan to scan millions of books and make them searchable online will prove the benefit to humanity that Google promises – or hand it a monopoly over certain digital works, as opponents allege. But the consensus is the company fomented an avoidable backlash by forging ahead with its controversial…

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (30 Years Ago)

Yes, it was pretentious, sterile, and overblown, but it did rejuvenate the franchise, re-introduced us to the Klingons (love their theme music), and the warp effect was awesome.  Star Trek: The Motion Picture came out thirty years ago, Dec 7 1979. I was 11. I had tape-recorded nearly every episode of the series (and I…