The first action heroine

In the figure of the coltish, resolute Sigourney Weaver, Alien may just be the film that overhauled the old, unreconstructed horror genre and dared to put a woman centre-stage. Because make no mistake: a horror movie is what Alien is. “It’s basically a haunted house film,” explains the critic David Thomson. “The only difference is…

Tips on Writing a Literary Book Review

I’ve asked students in my “Writing about Literature” class to write a book review, in order to establish a connection to the literary world outside the classroom. The Purdue Online Writing Lab has a brief handout, Writing a Book Review, which begins by explaining the difference between a “book report” (written for the teacher who…

Alice and Kev

Robin Burkinshaw has finished Alice and Kev, an interesting exercise in computer-assisted storytelling, using screen shots from The Sims 3 to tell the story of a homeless father and daughter. Originally the story was told serially, with a few posts a week; then there were a few very long gaps, but the story is finished…

Insidious pedagogy: How course managment systems impact teaching

Course management systems (CMSs), used throughout colleges and universities for presenting online or technology-enhanced classes, are not pedagogically neutral shells for course content. They influence pedagogy by presenting default formats designed to guide the instructor toward creating a course in a certain way. This is particularly true of integrated systems (such as Blackboard/WebCT), but is…

The Simpsons on Classroom Technology

Full episode. “Text ‘uncle’! Text ‘uncle’!!” “But why talk… when I could text?” “That text was totally worth the 15 cents it cost to receive it!” “Then Zach Skyped us, liveblogged our spelling bee, and friended us on Facebook!”“Faculty lounge talk out in the halls?” Similar:Mixed ReceptionThis activity is set in a research group…AcademiaThirteen seconds.…

Walkthrough (Zork Funk)

Walkthrough pifieErrol Download this MP3 Directly Similar:Courage Wolf: Write "Could Of" or "Would Of." I Dare You.AmusingCaroll "Big Bird" Spinney was originally to be on NASA's doomed Challenger flight And he was even offered a seat as Bi…EducationThis Is What It Looks Like Just Before the Muslim Brotherhood Jumps YouAs the recent death toll in…

The Fiction Generator

All kinds of awesome metatronics going on here. Similar:Requiem for the NewsroomWhen I worked at a radio news station in…CultureBird flight simulator. The boy goes for altitude and distance, the girl does stunts.In the bird-flight simulator at the Pitt…CybercultureJaz Parkinson "Colour Signatures"Amusing visual representations of the co…AestheticsExplore Geotagged Wikipedia Pages as a Text Adventure GameFor…

Federal Judge Rules Video Games are Protected "Expressive Works"

On Wednesday, a federal district court in Los Angeles dismissed Brown’s claim against Electronic Arts for the use of his image in its Madden NFL series. Judge Florence Marie-Cooper essentially found that video games are “expressive works, akin to an expressive painting that depicts celebrity athletes of past and present in a realistic sporting environment.”…

Online Books, Poems, Short Stories – Read Print Library

A good collection, on a well-designed page. www.readprint.com Thanks for the suggestion, Josh. Similar:xkcd: Types of Editorsxkcd: Types of Editors.AmusingMy virtual army of grey capsules is just barely smart enough to follow my avatar around. #…My virtual army of grey capsules is just…AestheticsThe Blood and the BlameMoments after Donald Trump was…CultureToday's 10 sq cm of retro #steampunk…

The 15th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition

>get text games Similar:Kairos: Open Since 1996As a plucky new faculty member I wrote a…AcademiaThink Like A Journalist | Kelsey Samuels | TEDxPlano  CultureInnovative journalism: A game about the rising sea, a podcast about fire, a 20-year Colum…How do you tell a story that people know…CultureWhile at Sadecky's Puppets to record the role of Heidi,…

Everyone Appreciates a Little Boost

I just got a phone call from the parent of a prospective student I spoke with on a campus visit over the summer.  The student has decided to come to Seton Hill, and the parent told me that the time I spent talking with the family over the summer was a major factor. (I’m sure…

Clockwords – Unique Word Game

A fun, free steampunk word game. Too bad I have to work today… Similar:Meet the guys who tape Trump's papers back togetherI tell this old newsroom tale to my stud…CultureSoldiers and Sailors Memorial and Museum Another visit to Pittsburgh with my his…CultureWho Watches the Watchers (ST:TNG Season Three Episode 4) Rationalist, talky mythbustingRewatching ST:TNG after…

Transcendentalism Today: Echoes of Walden, online and in the classroom

Our students are transcendentalists, but they don’t know it. Speaking metaphorically, Thoreau writes “I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.”  Rather than treating children as wild creatures that needed to be tamed and civilized, Thoreau seesorder and meaning in nature, which is threatened, worn down, and buried by civilization.…

The New-Media Crisis of 1949

Old joke… when’s the best time to air a radio drama? 1937.  Radio is still around, but the salary of TV personality Katie Couric ” is more than the entire annual budgets of NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered combined.” (so says Michael Massing).  If you knew nothing about the internet beyond what you…