When Musicians Play Interactive Fiction

Nick Montfort, Grand Text Auto: Leonard Cohen Manhattan: Taken. Berlin: Taken. Similar:Choose Your Own Buzz LightyearI was on the road (and away from a compu…AestheticsMy Tween Preps to Program a Lego Hobbit GameAs part of a course I’m teaching on “Dig…CybercultureThe Zombie Argument that Refuses to DieThe idea that generations of Shakespeare…AcademiaThe Case Against Reading…

John Henry was a steel-drivin' bastard

Via MetaFilter: You’ve got just over two weeks to make it to the John Henry celebration in Leeds, Alabama, where some folks believe the legendary steel driving contest actually took place. Maybe you already made it to John Henry Days in Talcott, West Virginia (or read a fictionalized account), where some more folks claim the…

The Tale of the Mechanical Virus

Sean McBride: The problem I discovered was that one of the thin walls between the holes had broken and bent down, forming a ramp. When I plugged the DVI adapter into my computer, two of the pins went into the same hole, and the projector could no longer understand the output from my computer. However,…

Full Moon Rising

This evening, I was out in the yard playing with the kids, when they noticed the full moon rising above a house a little ways down the street. Similar:My outward-bound editor's graduation cap.PersonalSon took out trash w/o being asked; daughter wore papercraft tophat to grocery store. Life…I took my daughter to an Alice-in-Wonder…ArtiMovie Glitch: Unplug…

YouTube – Short Letterpress Documentary (Wonderful)

  Similar:Bye Facebook, hello Instagram: Users make beeline for Facebook-owned social networkInstagram dialed in early to the power o…BusinessThe Scapegoat by Richard Maples (1957 Sci-Fi Short Story)I had a great time narrating and coming …CultureFact check: Biden ad misleadingly suggests Trump called Covid-19 a 'hoax' CNN fact-checks a misleading Biden a…Current_EventsText Wrangler Discontinued (Free Mac…

Colossal Cave Adventure — History

Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d do some more work on the Wikipedia entry for Colossal Cave Adventure. Similar:Essential Journalists: How Coronavirus Changed TV Newshttps://youtu.be/CWcEABVWbfA Current_EventsWar via TikTok: Russia's new tool for propaganda machine “This is the way they go to war; it’s …Current_EventsPrototypes in Technical Writing: What are They?Many a high school student has muddled t…AcademiaThoughtful…

YouTube – The Wilhelm Scream Compilation

The Wilhelm Scream is a sound effect that appears in many action films, as an in-joke among sound designers. Similar:What Could Have Been Entering the Public Domain on January 1, 2012?Current US law extends copyright protect…BooksThose shoggoths hacked from lungs unspeakable1) Last night, I’m fairly certain some …AmusingCoding Sucks: Why a Job in Programming Is Absolute HellI…

Going South

It’s funny, because it’s true…. David Galef satirizes the humiliation humanities professors have to go through when requesting research funds: To Professor Michael Wall, Chair, English Department: This has to do with the travel budget for the coming academic year. As we discussed last spring, I need something on the order of $700 for the…

Is There Anything Good About Men?

Roy F. Baumeister One can imagine an ancient battle in which the enemy was driven off and the city saved, and the returning soldiers are showered with gold coins. An early feminist might protest that hey, all those men are getting gold coins, half of those coins should go to women. In principle, I agree.…

One in four read no books last year

One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices. The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole,…

First Day Fun…Everday (Pedablogue)

Here’s a collection of teaching tips for the first day of classes brought to us by Honolulu Community College (check their reference lists for more good sources, too). The Pig Personality Profile [try here — DGJ] is frivolous fun, but probably a good icebreaker and something I might even use when I teach Memoir Writing…

BBFC Video Games Report

A large majority of video games sold in the UK receive a rating under the voluntary Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) system, but some games, about 6-7% of the total, are referred to the BBFC. In determining what classification to give, the BBFC employs much the same approach as it does to films and DVDs. However,…