Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson: Shakespeare’s Editor

A short comedy sketch that emphasizes the importance of finding the right editor.   Similar:The secret history of “Y’all”: The murky origins of a legendary Southern slang wordThe Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is u…CultureHumans are being hired to make AI slop look less sloppy The illustrations clients bring to her…ArtMisleading Publisher Email Promises Paid Stipend,…

Lord of the Memes

David Brooks, NYT: Today, Kindle can change the world, but nobody expects much from a mere novel. The brain overshadows the mind. Design overshadows art. This transition has produced some new status rules. In the first place, prestige has shifted from the producer of art to the aggregator and the appraiser. Inventors, artists and writers…

You are likely to be eaten by a grue

Mark Bruno offers his version of the “Remember text adventure games? People are not only still playing them, they’re writing new ones!” essay. I thought his discussion of the relationship between IF and electronic literature showed some insight. I also discovered that while text adventure games where born into the family of computer games, they…

Parenting Tip #234: Katamari Damacy

Once when I needed to entertain my daughter while we were driving somewhere, I said, “Let’s pretend that, rolling along outside the window, there was a little ball that would pick up trash and boxes and trash cans, and that as it collected items it got bigger and bigger, until it was picking up houses…

Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP): Essential Learning Outcomes

From a 2007 report on liberal education, by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences,humanities, histories, languages, and the arts Focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporaryand enduring Intellectual and Practical Skills, Including Inquiry and analysis…

Malwebolence

The headline writer was having an off day, but the content — a thoughtful examination of the trolling subculture — is excellent. NYT Magazine. In the late 1980s, Internet users adopted the word “troll” to denote someone who intentionally disrupts online communities. Early trolling was relatively innocuous, taking place inside of small, single-topic Usenet groups.…

Jonathan Coulton’s “Mandelbrot Set”

27 Aug 2019 — Updated with a fresh link. Similar:Okay, freshly downloaded app…Okay, freshly downloaded app, If you are…CybercultureHow Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing ConsensusFrom the Wall Street Journal: At a Marc…CultureHere is an example of how I teach with Inform 7.Here is an example of how I teach with I…AcademiaNo, Prince…

Mourning the Internet Famous: Randy Pausch's Distributed Funeral

Interesting observations on the internet’s response to the death of Randy (“The Last Lecture”) Pausch. You interacted with Randy through a little box embedded in a webpage. Your headphones piped his voice clear and strong into the center of your brain, almost as if some deep part of your own mind was delivering his nuggets…