Aside from a brief flirtation with Pong, Jenkins never really paid much attention to games until the mid 80’s, when he first connected his son’s new Nintendo Entertainment System — and was blown away by what he saw. “Ever since I’ve been passionate about games,” he says. “I want a serious game that engages me…
Inkshedding was first developed by writing teachers Russ Hunt and Jim Reither in the 1980s. You can find all kinds of information about it online. Of course, as with any popular teaching technique, many different practices now fall under the name of inkshedding, as instructors have personalized it and made it their own. Dan’s version…
Milblogs published by authors with “boots on the ground” received little attention from officials in the early days following the Iraq invasion in 2003, when the phenomenon of blogging was less known. But since then, Pentagon scrutiny has increased.–Xeni Jardin —Under Fire, Soldiers Kill Blogs (Wired) Similar:The reflection should show what's about 60 degrees above the…
I’ll return to my analysis of Kairos as a project identity later. But first I’d like to consider one other aspect of Jerz’s critique–attention to audience. Kairos’s design (referring to Issue 5.1), Jerz says tongue-in-cheek, “has drastically improved,” making it “no longer an easy target.” The only mention of audience in Jerz’s critique is when…
Public education in America operates on a manufacturing metaphor. Line up the parts, send ’em down the line, inspect them, then ship them out. The assembly line idea couldn’t be more out of synch with the way a wired (and now wireless) teenager deals with information and with other people. They are social in fundamentally…
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:Why Do People Share Fake News? A Sociotechnical Model of Media EffectsVerrit, like Snopes, Politifact, and a h…CultureIn May, 2002, I was blogging about……
—Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories) Via boingboing. Similar:Sharing a root beer float with your dad doesn't fix everything that's wrong in the world, …AestheticsThe Assignment #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 5) Keiko is not herself after a t…Rewatching ST:DS9 On a bustling morning…DramaCDC: Vaccinated people can resume activities without a mask…
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:All of Your Co-Workers are Gone: Story, Substance, and the Empathic PuzzlerHowever, running parallel to the evoluti…AcademiaCurse you, conference proposal word limits. I’m frustrated by these accursed c…AcademiaThe grandmaster diet: How to lose weight while barely movingFascinating article about how the extrem…CultureWe Got A Look Inside The 45-Day Planning Process That…
“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…