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:Dinosaur Comics Creator Stuck in Skate Park Hole Takes His…

Walkthrough (Zork Funk)

Walkthrough pifieErrol Download this MP3 Directly Similar:Sound Design and the Wilhelm ScreamAhh-aaggh! https://www.youtube.com/wa…AestheticsThe Ship #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 2) Sisko defends his claim to salvage a…Rewatching ST:DS9 The Ship On a mine…DramaBroken on Purpose: Why Getting It Wrong Pays More Than Getting It RightI have recently started managing the Fac…BooksVisionary #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch…

The Fiction Generator

All kinds of awesome metatronics going on here. Similar:How Not To Make Professional ContactsTowards the end of my year-long radio ne…AmusingTales from the Antiquities Theft Task ForceA shot of Kim Kardashian leaning ag…AestheticsMy virtual army of grey capsules is just barely smart enough to follow my avatar around. #…My virtual army of grey capsules is just…AestheticsThe…

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:What Jane [Austen] Saw: 1796 Shakespeare GalleryYou are invited to time travel to two ar…AestheticsNaomi Baron's Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital WorldWhat’s the deal with ebooks? They run o…BooksA tiny bit of rogue news leaked through the ads.Hey,…

The 15th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition

>get text games Similar:The secret police: Cops built a shadowy surveillance machine in Minnesota after George Flo…Many of the same people who reject maski…Current_EventsFinal week of Pict Classic Theatre's Oliver Twist (NEXTpittsburgh)Today is Carolyn’s day off from Oliver T…BooksHow do you know when your #steampunk fantasy cruiser has enough lamps? #blender3d #unity3dhttps://youtube.com/shorts/YF3z91jL7Pc …AestheticsThe Post drops…

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:Daughter doing a thing. Interviewing the Pittsburgh Dance Council’s Randall Miller for Bur… AcademiaCrying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship EverI’ve felt a bit like this guy the last f…CultureMy mentor interrupted me. “Ignore your students from the neck down,”…

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…