This is from the online version of a paper being presented at Hypertext09. I already knew the general shape of the history, and I’m not sure that the author is actually providing us with a new take or a new insight (the introduction simply establishes the facts, rather than emphasizing how a new archival discovery,…
My favorite “winner” in this year’s Lyttle Lytton Contest, which awards writers who can, in one sentence, imitate the infamous “It was a dark and stormy night” novel opening. Alex turned to Gertrude, in much the same way Martin Landau turned to Barbara Bain in the opening of Space: 1999. — Alex Dering Similar:When is…
I can’t say I understand my creation, but it sure was fun making it. Similar:"I might be putting a little too much effort into designing the cravat for the captai…Aesthetics"Only You" — 11yo Carolyn Sings a Power Ballad from "Starlight Express"The observation car Pearl sings of her l…AestheticsStudent Newspapers Scurry to Make Ends Meet“After 112…
A high school secretary has been charged with illegally changing grades in a school computer system to improve her daughter’s class standing and with lowering the grades of two other girls. —Elanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Similar:Gawker Media Files for Chapter 11 BankruptcyThis is fallout from losing an invasion …BusinessAll those fights over late-arÂrivÂing mail balÂlots…
I just supervised a teaching demonstration in the Writing Popular Fiction program here at Seton HIll, and the experience inspired me to touch up an old handout on developing ideas for short stories. A short story is tight — there is no room for long exposition, there are no subplots to explore, and by the end…
Big, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user’s choices. — Jakob Neilsen Similar:Misaligned interior and exterior portholes. Bulkheads from the deck below visible above th… AestheticsThe Surprisingly Savvy Weird Al Internet Machine When he talks about his business being…AestheticsTARDIS from today's 3D printing…
Set phasers to “meh”! My wife arranged a visit to The Franklin Institute a couple of weeks ago. We didn’t actually know that this Star Trek exhibit was there. I was ready to pass, in favor of the more educational exhibits, but my wife made it a Father’s Day treat and shelled out enough gold-pressed…
Chris Anderson is best-known for championing the long tail (marketing to the niche customers who fill out the trailing end of a demographics chart, rather than trying to create products to please the mass market) and has been promoting a book on the topic. One of the early reviewers for his book identified great swaths…
Woah! Trying to charge bloggers who quote more than 5 words was bad enough (I no longer quote from or link to AP stories). But the most contentious element in the new policy, which the union also decried as “vague,” gives this instruction to employees using Facebook: “Monitor your profile page to make sure material…
I’ve never been a phone guy. My voicemail recording advises people to e-mail me rather than wait for me to remember to check my messages. Around 2004, I told a class of students that I didn’t use instant messager because I would have nobody to talk to. I got a generous “awww!” of pity from…
But does the label Twitter Revolution, which has been slapped on the two most recent events, oversell the technology? Skeptics note that only a small number of people used Twitter to organize protests in Iran and that other means — individual text messaging, old-fashioned word of mouth and Farsi-language Web sites — were more influential.…
Long before web forums, blogs, Twitter, and in many cases, the web itself, Usenet was where the internet gathered to shoot the breeze about anything and everything under the sun. — Koala eye Similar:NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as 'state-affiliated media'NPR will no longer post fresh content to…BusinessWhat's next in game narrative, with…
A few years ago it was enough for a game world to look realistic. Now, in its every action and reaction, it must behave realistically. Physics is what graphics was ten years ago – a yardstick to judge and compare games.– Keith Suart, Guardian The first article in a series. Similar:Principal fires security guards to…
Sore throat. Sinus pressure. Upset stomach. Exhaustion. I’m sitting at home recovering from the flu, which I started to come down with during the Computers & Writing Conference this weekend. I had planned to attend Digital Humanities 2009 in Maryland, where I’m part of a group that’s presenting tomorrow. The group will survive without me as…
Here’s a surprising statement I found in a news article, quoting a Yale psychology professor. “Moms vary markedly in their roles as breadwinners from no income at all to really helping dads,” The language implies that money-making is the father’s responsibility, and the best rating on the scale that a woman can achieve is “helping”…
“You’ll have half the participants BlackBerrying each other as a submeeting, with a running commentary on the primary meeting,” Mr. Reines said. “BlackBerrys have become like cartoon thought bubbles.” Some professionals admitted that they occasionally sent mocking commentary about the proceedings, but most insisted that they used smartphones for legitimate reasons: responding to deadline requests,…
I have not yet bought a Kindle, though I’d like one. However, this bit of news gives me pause. It’s exactly the worry that has kept me from sinking money into a proprietary format. Here’s Dan Cohen, explaining what he learned from an Amazon customer service rep, after some of the books he purchased failed…
I’ll have to leave this panel before the end in order to catch a ride back to the airport. I’m going to try at least to summarize what each speaker says at the beginning, which will no doubt leave the impression that this was a one-way event. (I’ll also miss the digital arts display this…
Roundtable Chair. Charlie Lowe, Grand Valley State University Scott Banville, University of Nevada, Reno David Blakesley, Purdue University How can open source software, open access publishing, and commons-based peer production (CBPP) principles help us to create a sustainable university? How can they positively impact the social and economic development of the university and expand the…
The rise of online media has helped raise a new generation of college students who write far more, and in more-diverse forms, than their predecessors did. But the implications of the shift are hotly debated, both for the future of students’ writing and for the college curriculum. Some scholars say that this new writing is…