VHS era is winding down

From the LA times, a reminder to get all those family videos onto disc. I talked my father into buying a Betamax way back when. The tapes were smaller, and the quality was better, but the format didn’t stick. Now it’s VHS’s turn. After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of…

Merry Christmas 2008

I’m sitting with my laptop in the hallway, guarding the kids’ bedrooms, One has already tried to sneak out to watch for St. Nick (I had to put a stuffed snake along the crack under the door to keep her from peeking… I’m sure she’ll fall asleep on the floor, trying to peer under the…

The Crippled World of Modern Gaming

This came up in my feed reader today.  Like me, this gamer prefers stories to mindless shoot-em-ups, and laments the current state of commercial gaming. There’s a lot of hipocrysy in the minds of many gamers today. Almost every gamer I talk to tells me they want games with depth, carefully written storylines, and maginificent…

"Star Trek" Creator's Spouse, Actress Dead at 76

Sad news for Trek fans. Majel Barrett Roddenberry, wife of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and the actress who portrayed Nurse Chapel on the original science-fiction television series, died Thursday of leukemia, according to the family. —NBC For more, see her biography on Wikipedia. Similar:Minnesota authorities can't arrest or threaten journalists after judge approves settlement……

Disappearing Jobs

Sad news from the MLA, as reported by Inside Higher Ed. Today the Modern Language Association is releasing information on just how bad the situation is: The number of job postings in the MLA’s Job Information List will be down 21 percent in 2008-9, the steepest annual decline in its 34-year history. For English language…

Gadgets, gifts, boys toys & gift ideas from Firebox.com

Crapwrap, for a personal touch. Bored of perfectly folded paper and exquisitely tied ribbon? Fancy adding a more ‘personal’ touch this year? Then why not have your Christmas presents CrapWrapped™ at Firebox. This exclusive, uniquely shoddy gift wrapping option involves us wrapping your pressies in a slapdash fashion. Similar:Line breaks are really, really importantI’m sure…

Trees Welcome Detroit Free Press Motion Towards Exclusively Digital Issues 4x Weekly

The Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News (both owned by the same corporation) have announced another nail in the coffin of print journalism. Home delivery will be available on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Subscribers will have access to an electronic “e-edition” seven days a week as part of their subscription. This “e-edition” allows you…

Iraq Shoe Tosser Guy: The Animated Gifs

That didn’t take long. BoingBoing assembles a collection of digital interpretations of the shoe-tossing incident. Similar:When You've Already Got a Major, But You Love Books (Seton Hill English) When committee work is fun… making…AcademiaRandom gauge design, for background details in a fantasy #steampunk project. #blender3d #b… AestheticsI didn't mark a single paper or set foot…

What Ails Literary Studies: Leaving Literature Behind: The professionalization of the field is turning students off

We’re not teaching literature, we’re teaching the professional study of literature: What we do is its own subject. Nowadays the academic study of literature has almost nothing to do with the living, breathing world outside. The further along you go in the degree ladder, and the more rarified a college you attend, the less literary…