A bit predictable, but still enjoyable. Similar:Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.First runner-up for the girl’s Halloween…AestheticsMe (glares in iambic pentameter)Me: I need to post the opening lecture f…AcademiaPop Culture Showdown with My Retro DaughterThe girl tried to weird me out with a vi…AestheticsWhat to Do…
Wired has a good piece about the value of local reporting. “In every town in America, almost, you have reporters going out and doing humble jobs and turning over rocks every day and seeing what’s under them,” says John Carroll, the former editor-in-chief of The Los Angeles Times, a man who led his newsroom to…
And you thought the secrets to academic success would involve sensible stuff like “Study for two to three hours for every hour of class” or “Keep up with the readings” and “Meet all the deadlines your prof sets.” But those won’t help you game the system, which is the strategy Don Asher presents as the…
Clearly by “Them” the sign means “dogs,” but the since the sign refers instead to “Your Dog,” so it was already in need of some attention even before this alteration took place. Via Bryan Alexander. Similar:Enjoying my "Dystopia in American Literature" class.After a kind of prelude in which we look…AcademiaI just finished "Beyond Eyes" and…
The following started out as routine e-mail feedback on a freshman essay, but I thought it came out well enough that I might want to use it again. I don’t want this to get buried in my existing handout on thesis statements, so I figured I’d just post the good bits here. A good academic…
I missed this when it came out a few weeks ago. At Hopkins, Knudson uses Twitter as an extension of the classroom, asking students to raise questions, hold discussions online, keep up with breaking news and share links to interesting stories. She believes the limited number of characters allowed is a useful way to remember…
A website will re-create the 1969 moon mission in real time (allowing for the 40-year time lag). http://wechoosethemoon.org/ Similar:Quebec teen discovers ancient Mayan ruins by studying the starsThis sounds like the plot of a Young Ind…Culture8 Questions for 'Star Trek' Superfans Restoring Galileo ShuttlecraftThis nerd’s geek heart grew three sizes …AestheticsVintage TV News Coverage of…
First, there is a general increase in use of Facebook and a general decline in use of MySpace across the board. In 2007, 79% of the study participants were using Facebook while in 2009, 87% of the sample reports doing so. In contrast, while in 2007, 55% of the group reported using MySpace, in 2009,…
She said the manhole she fell in to was left open and unattended with no warning signs or orange cones. She said two workers with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection failed to secure the area as they prepared to flush the sewer. “It was just really gross and it was shocking and…
Post office boxes! Post office boxes! My face hurts from laughing. New Live Poll Allows Pundits To Pander To Viewers In Real Time Similar:Infographics: the PowerPoint of the 2010sI used to say that PowerPoint slideshows…CybercultureStar Trek: Voyager Premiered 20 Years AgoI remember wanting to like Voyager a lot…CultureInternet Explorer and Murder Rates: More Fun with…
Older words also making their debut as a result of renewed interest online: sock puppet (a false identity used to manipulate opinions in online forums) and fan fiction. (Via Guardian) Similar:My son teaching chess to a young pupilCultureA Video Game About Changing What Happens In Shakespeare's HamletElsinore is a game where you play as Oph…CulturePart…
The gradual, and almost invisible, transformation of many “liberal arts colleges” to more comprehensive institutions is similar to another gradual trend that has reshaped the composition and the work of the American academic profession. Over the past three decades, colleges and universities have replaced tenure-track faculty positions with part-time and full-time term-contract positions — a…
A roundup of the initial reactions, via BBC: “One of Google’s major goals is to take Microsoft out, to systematically destroy their hold on the market,” said Mr Enderle. “Google wants to eliminate Microsoft and it’s a unique battle. The strategy is good. The big question is, will it work?” At the popular blog, TechCrunch,…
I have to make a conscious effort to say “Grand Theft Auto” when I’m talking about the game. An excellent group blog begins its afterlife. Grand Text Auto, for six years (May 2003-May 2009) a single blog with six co-authors (Mary Flanagan, Michael Mateas, your very own Nick Montfort, Scott Rettberg, Andrew Stern, and Noah…
I tell my kids steampunk bedtime stories about the adventures of Captain Rod Gearhart and the Magnificent Blimpship. Since I also enjoy playing with Blender 3D, it seemed natural to make these clockwork heart decorations. (My wife offered detailed pointers to tweak the one on the right.) Similar:Professoring. With an(other) apple pie cupcake.I touched up…
At the recent Computers & Writing conference, I found myself, in the Q & A during several sessions, strongly advocating coding skills as a 21st-century core literacy. (See Ian Bogost, Procedural Literacy. In the following reflection, I talk mostly about my use of Inform 7, but I also touch on Scratch.) Here at Seton Hill,…
This bit of educational theatrical fun sounds awesome! Via. Travelling from past to future through a landscape of machines and ideas Walk the Plank and Thingumajig Theatre have created an interactive journey through the courtyard of Manchester’s Town Hall. The audience will help inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage find the clues to repair his Difference…
The Facebook epic fail isn’t just grist for the teen angst mill. It also affects the head of the British secret service. Via. The new head of MI6 has been left exposed by a major personal security breach after his wife published intimate photographs and family details on the Facebook website. Sir John Sawers is…
From a thoughtful review of the Kindle: The Kindle DX’s five-way joystick is quick, convenient, and expertly designed. (Plastic Logic’s touch screen really isn’t markedly better than using Amazon’s joy stick, but that’s because the touch options are fairly rudimentary.) The problem is the dearth of good places to direct the cursor. That’s a real…
This weekend, how can the kids and I spend our time better than playing: Political Machine 2008 (try explaining “special interest groups” to a seven-year-old) Liberty’s Kids (1776, from the perspective of Ben Franklin’s printing apprentice, among others) Sid Meier’s Civil War Collection (sort of a stretch, I know, but the fate of the union…