Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin

—Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories) Via boingboing. Similar:Harvard revokes admission of several students for posting "offensive" memesThe First Amendment of the constitution …AcademiaPrepare for the Ultimate GaslightingThoughtful essay from Julio Vincent Gamb…BusinessLocal TV News Stations Present Amazon PR Video as JournalismAbout a dozen local TV news stations air…BusinessThe Perfect Mate (#StarTrek #TNG…

Fantasy Congress

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…

Wishes

—Wishes (Despair, inc :( ) Similar:Split Infinitives in English: Not Actually Wrong, But UnwiseThe rule against split infinitives is a …CultureI just thought of a time before you were born when I should have been kind, but I can't re… Sometimes when I’m driving along los…AcademiaCollege is not a commodity. Stop treating it like one.If we…

Thinking that Goes beneath the Surface

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

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…

U.S. Cryptographers: 'FrpX-K5jE-Oc4n-e5Dn'

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:Narrative, Creativity, and EvolutionMy students are finishing up Hayles, My …AcademiaFacebook’s News Feed: Often Changed, Never GreatI’ve never liked…

Universal sues video-sharing websites

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.…

Participation Inequality: Encouraging More Users to Contribute

In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action. —Jakob Nielsen —Participation Inequality: Encouraging More Users to Contribute (Useit.com) Similar:Scammer tricks YouTuber who exposes scams to delete his anti-scammer channelThis one is hard to unpack, and painful…