When Musicians Play Interactive Fiction

Nick Montfort, Grand Text Auto: Leonard Cohen Manhattan: Taken. Berlin: Taken. Similar:Mentoring skills, communication/listening, empathy, critical thinking define successful em…A Google self-study found that its own m…BusinessResults of the 18th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition The 18th Annual Interactive Fiction Com…Current_EventsWhy the British Tell Better Children’s StoriesIf Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn wer…BooksPerspective | Could ‘Ferris Bueller’s…

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:In July 1999, I was blogging about Dante's ashes, Apollo 11, gender-neutral language, and …In July, 1999, I was blogging about: …CultureRelics (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6,…

YouTube – Short Letterpress Documentary (Wonderful)

  Similar:What Twitter Can BeHardcore Twitterers have the savvy and p…BusinessJust a handful more of these elegant #steampunk control panels and I can move on to the ne…AestheticsZork: The Great Underground EmpireA blogger has started chronicling a jour…CybercultureWhat’s Wrong With Being From the South? Just Ask an Academic in the NorthAs an American studying in…

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:Let's talk about AI art (long, scrollworthy post from The Oatmeal)https://theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_artAestheticsExplaining Twerking to Your ParentsI still haven’t seen the video, but this…AmusingMurder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained DeathSimulations are…

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,…