How to Teach Physics to Your Dog

A reading from a chapter of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog Similar:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Willy Wonka Lesson Plans Through our local theater school, ou…CultureTouch Me Now: York Plays 2025A cast of hundreds participated in a pub…AcademiaIn May, 2001 I was blogging about lanuguage, design and Cliffs NotesIn May 2001, I…

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:Anonymous comment cards from student journalists at the end of the second week. These folks are amazing! It’s such a…AcademiaHow Different Cultures Understand TimeBusiness Insider calls this article an “…BusinessAnother visit to downtown Pittsburgh with my history-loving son.CultureHeart…

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:Interior Detail of Steampunk Convertible Gazebo Spent much of Tuesday…

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:How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing ConsensusFrom the Wall Street Journal: At a Marc…CultureUNC student newspaper goes viral for coverage of campus shooting…

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:California Political Cyberfraud Abatement Act Pulled by AuthorCalifornia’s Ed Chau withdrew his propos…CultureShakaar #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 3, Episode 20) Winn asks Kira to reclaim macguffins… Rewatching ST:DS9 After losing to O…EmpathyIs…

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…