Efthimiou supÂposed that the first vamÂpire arose Jan. 1, 1600, around the beÂginÂning of a cenÂtuÂry durÂing which some of the first imÂporÂtant modÂern writÂings on vamÂpires apÂpeared. The reÂsearchÂers esÂtiÂmatÂed the globÂal popÂuÂlaÂtion at that time, based on hisÂtorÂiÂcal reÂcÂords, as 537 milÂlion. AsÂsumÂing that the vamÂpire fed once a month and the vicÂtim…
What does it mean for Democrats to be agitating over Web communications, which in my view fall under the province of free speech? It’s a civil liberties issue. We can say that what Foley was doing was utterly inappropriate, professionally irresponsible, and in bad taste, but why were liberals fomenting a scandal day after day…
Webb’s novels disturbingly and consistently — indeed, almost uniformly — portray women as servile, subordinate, inept, incompetent, promiscuous, perverted, or some combination of these. In novel after novel, Webb assigns his female characters base, negative characteristics. In thousands of pages of fiction penned by Webb, there are few if any strong, admirable women or positive…
—Tetris – From Russia With LoveBBC | Google Video) I didn’t have time to watch more than the first few minutes of this documentary on Tetris, but it looks really good. Similar:Inequity and BYODIf we are really wanting to help these k…CultureStephen Coles’ The Anatomy of Type, reviewed.Talk nerdy to me. You’re my type. What…
—Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories) Via boingboing. Similar:Taking Harassment Seriously Requires Serious DistinctionsEditor and columnist Jonah Goldberg ques…Culture"What Teachers Make" Sequence of AssignmentsEvery year I rewatch Taylor Mali’s passi…AcademiaAfter Halloween where do all the pumpkins go? Now we knowIn the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jonathan…AmusingStar Wars: TIE Fighter 20th Anniversary RetrospectiveIn the Star Wars…
A new, meticulously researched book of quotations attempts to set the record straight on those beloved phrases that have crept into everyday use as signs of wisdom and wit, including Sigmund Freud’s sage advice that “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” (He didn’t quite say that, although his biographer thinks he would have approved…
At first Nihal and I were slightly wary of each other and then I told him I wondered if an ageing Radio 4 presenter could learn “street”. He humoured me and gave me a lesson. I flatter myself that I have a reasonably good ear for language. I reckoned I could get away with a…
We The Creators of this site, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish Fantasy Congress for the United States of America. In this game, we…
Help! Trapped in a text adventure! – Marc Laidlaw Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time – Alan Moore Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back. – David Brin Cryonics: Disney thawed. Mickey gnawed. Omigawd. – Eileen Gunn MUD avatars rebel: virtual Independence Day. – Paul Di Filippo Leia: “Baby’s yours.” Luke: “Bad news?” – Steven Meretzky…
Mr. Halavais expected some of his fabrications to languish online for some time. Like many academics, he was skeptical about a mob-edited publication that called itself an authoritative encyclopedia. But less than three hours after he posted them, all of his false facts had been deleted, thanks to the vigilance of Wikipedia editors who regularly…
—Wishes (Despair, inc :( ) Similar:Why I Took My Kids’ Toys AwayMy wife is something of a hoarder. Now, …CultureAttribution, Editorializing and DefamationIn the Nightly Noodle Monthly, former No…Current_EventsThoreau's Cellphone ExperimentWhen I teach “Intro to Literary Study,” …AcademiaPope Francis calls for "news communicated with serenity, precision and completeness"Pope Francis recently addressed Italian …CultureUsing "Strive" as a NounObviously I…
“You want feel-good and heartwarming, right?” Scorsese said. “I can do that. Or I can do casual violence with no strings attached. You know I can. What else you want? Kung-fu wire-work? Mentally disabled guy? Boring Robert Redford-style fishing movie? Just tell me what to do, I’ll do it. Done. End of story. Give me…
A month in hyper-space can scatter the brain. Traditional books offer readers respite from hyperactivity. The book’s definitive, closed, linear argument lets mind and sensibility enjoy moments of inner harmony. Linear text offers the kind of contemplative thinking that goes beneath the surface. –Heim, Electric Language: A Philosophical Study of Word Processing. New Haven: Yale…
A place to read? How many students come to scholastic grief because they never find one? Last year the daughter of a friend flunked out of a huge state university because, she claimed, she could never actually read anywhere. The dorm room? Her roommates were all fun and games. The library? Far too noisy. In…
The Federation of American Scientists called for major investment in digital educational games that could reshape how students learn and workers are trained for 21st century jobs…. The news may confound some parents, upset about the hours their teenagers “waste” on video-gaming or about the sex and violence portrayed. But scientists have long recognized such…
I just left WoW permanently. I was a leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the world, a well-equipped and well-versed mage, and considered myself to have many close friends in my guild. Why did I leave? Simple: Blizzard has created an alternate universe where we don’t have to be ourselves…
If I wanted to meet people, I wouldn’t be sitting on my ass filling out a MySpace profile. So I skip that and move on to Interests. Exhaustive lists of interests are a major feature of MySpace pages, which is odd because very few of them include “reading other people’s exhaustive lists of interests.” I…
Scholars in all fields continue to gain preferment because they are “productive” (the academic euphemism for obsessive), and students continue to emulate them. Future investment bankers pull all-nighters delving into subjects that they will never need to know about again, and years later, at reunions, they recall the intensity of the experience with something close…
In a carefully phrased, 128-bit encoded announcement that has challenged U.S. security agency procedures, top officials of the National Cryptography and Information Security Council warned that “FrpX-K5jE-Oc4n-e5Dn” if “Ha4d-87gH-uiH3-gB5r-g8Bh” late Monday. —U.S. Cryptographers: ‘FrpX-K5jE-Oc4n-e5Dn’ (The Onion (Satire)) Similar:How a billionaires boys’ club came to dominate the public squareThe world’s richest man, Elon Musk, atta…BusinessMaking the Switch…
Universal Music, the world‘slargest record company, has launched the established media industry‘sfirst legal action against user-generated internet sites in the wake of its distribution deal last week with YouTube, the most popular video-sharing website. —Joshua Chaffin —Universal sues video-sharing websites (FT.com) Note that YouTube isn’t the one being sued. YouTube actually cut a deal with Universal.…