When Musicians Play Interactive Fiction

Nick Montfort, Grand Text Auto: Leonard Cohen Manhattan: Taken. Berlin: Taken. Similar:A selfie with a Chekov action figure after learning of Anton Yelchin's deathCurrent_EventsSchool ditches rules and loses bulliesSwanson School signed up to the study by…CultureThe Real Reason Why You Can't WriteHave you ever stopped to think about wha…AcademiaSpot of sunlight seems to be sliding…

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:Which of my colleagues wants attention?AcademiaAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk #neovictorian control panel. Not the end product. Just prac…AestheticsShatner's live, extemporaneous post-touchdown monologue on mortality was…

YouTube – Short Letterpress Documentary (Wonderful)

  Similar:Beatrix Potter-pinching and Žižekian swipes: the strange world of book theftsWe caught a gent last Christmas with £40…Books"Syllabus Day": The Absolute Worst Way to Start the SemesterI’d rather blog about prepping my fall c…AcademiaTravel trouble, gun restrictions and no more ‘Mr Trump’: the trials of life as a felon It’s unlikely to be at…

Colossal Cave Adventure — History

Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d do some more work on the Wikipedia entry for Colossal Cave Adventure. Similar:Grading writing: The art and science — and why computers can’t do itTech companies and university administra…AcademiaGender and Language — Revisiting Advice I Posted in 1998When I was in college and active in a Ca…CultureIn defense of the Selfie…

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:Stop trying to figure out if screentime is good for studentsPro-technology response to the NYT “No C…AcademiaAccession #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 17) Sisko rethinks his role as Emissar…Rewatching ST:DS9 Bashir reluctantly …Aesthetics7 web design…

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,…