[T]he process by which a fringe subculture, through its idiosyncratic reception of Tolkien’s fiction, ultimately came to define the “medieval” imagery, pacing, and plotting of one of the most popular film series in history is a relatively recent development. What was once a conception of Tolkien’s medieval fantasy realm held by an eccentric few has…
Searching for Gregory Yob (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Gregory Yob wrote “Hunt the Wumpus,” a 1972 computer game that featured cave-exploration and combat. Of course, the game was all text, which makes it hard for most of my students to believe that anyone would possibly have enjoyed playing it. 1972 was also the year Atari released Pong.…
The horrible conclusion which had been gradually intruding itself upon my confused and reluctant mind was now an awful certainty. I was lost, completely, hopelessly lost in the vast and labyrinthine recess of the Mammoth Cave. Turn as I might, in no direction could my straining vision seize on any object capable of serving as…
Entering Daddy Mode (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Each day this week, my nocturnal wife (a full-time home-schooling mother who never schedules anything before 11am) will get up early in the morning and head off to work. The director of the local Suzuki music school asked her to direct a play as part of a week-long, 9-5 music…
General Electric is the latest big corporate convert; politicians at the state and national level are looking for solutions; and religious groups are taking philosophical and financial stands to slow the progression of climate change. They agree that the problem is real. A recent study led by James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for…
Listen to the voices of many of the best writers of the English language. These uncut, behind-the-scenes interviews were the foundation of Don Swaim’s long-running CBS Radio show, Book Beat. —Author Interviews by Don Swain (Wired for Books) Great collection of literary interviews. Blogging this for future reference. Similar:Destroying trust in the media, science, and government…
“You mean to tell me that we have just purchased a mega-expensive computer that will build robots, drive cars, walk, talk, and probably wash windows and you want a text computer game that requires less than 640K RAM and a black and white monitor to run?” Indeed that was what he wanted, and off we…
If you want to be “cool”, “hot”, or “whatever”, then you need to know the lingo. –compiled by Anette Lamb —Blog Lingo (Escrapbooking) I especially like “barking moonbat.” Similar:Death of the narrator? Apple unveils suite of AI-voiced audiobooksApple has quietly launched a catalo…CybercultureIn April, 2001 I was blogging about interactive fiction, Roget's Thesaurus, John Lennon, H… A…
Her workout on the Stairmaster pumped the clot right through a too-porous wall in the heart on a direct path to the right side of her brain. Hurrying down to the gym, I suspected that whatever the “small” problem was, we might still have time to make the play. Instead, our lives were about to…
This semester we are going to experiment with blog technology to practice working on your critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Frankly, I‘m not sure where this is going to go this semester, but I hope we will find this useful and productive. Students last term convinced me that blogs rather than course discussion lists…
Lau never expected to become a fortune-cookie writer. After graduating from Columbia with degrees in engineering and business, he joined Bank of America, then ran a company that exported logs from the Pacific Northwest to China. In the early eighties, he was hired by a Chinatown noodle manufacturer, which eventually expanded into fortune cookies. The…
The Love Bug is still a 1963 Volkswagen with a mind of its own and headlights that can freakin’ blink. Herbie is back with Ms. Lohan in the driver’s seat. The VW’s look and story hasn’t changed since actor Dean Herbie rode in “Herbie Rides Again,” “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo” and — perhaps the…
Hollywood actors unions have reached a contract deal with video game publishers, accepting higher pay instead of the profit-sharing they had demanded, the unions said Wednesday, removing the threat of a strike. —Voice Actors Win Bigger Check (Reuters | Wired) Just following up on a story I blogged earlier. Similar:No space for over-30s as relaunched…
Google has become the world’s most highly-valued media company after only 10 months of trading as a public company. It now dwarfs more traditional media companies such as Viacom and Walt Disney, which have stock market capitalisations of between $54bn and $55bn. — $80bn Google takes top media spot (BBC) Similar:ink: Inkle's open source scripting language…
John Watson, who teaches journalism ethics and communications law at American, has noticed another phenomenon: Many students, he says, believe that simply working hard — though not necessarily doing excellent work — entitles them to an A. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a student dispute a grade, not on the basis…
Its doughnuts, available for many years only in the Southeast, had attracted a devoted, even fanatical, customer base. When the company decided to go national, it opened franchises in locations guaranteed to generate buzz — Manhattan, Los Angeles, Las Vegas — and customers lined up around the block. By August 2003, KKD was trading at…
The new so-called “size law” will force clothes sellers to display and exhibit larger clothes sizes in their stores, in an attempt to address the problem of bulimia and anorexia in teenagers. —Argentina to Implement Size Law (China Broadcst) Just filing this for the next time I get a freshman comp research paper with an “Advertisers…
—Bendy Lines in a Menu (Seton Hill University) Do you see it too? That’s one weird warping effect… I just downloaded The Gimp, a free, open-source replacement for Photoshop. I can probably kiss the next couple of hours goodbye… this looks like fun. Similar:14% of Americans [say that they] have changed their mind about an issue…
Much like the film industry, an overemphasis on blockbusters is one of the industry’s biggest weaknesses as far as encouraging innovation and creativity, say observers. “Future titles need to offer more than wild shootouts, violent explosions, and the wholesale cheapening of life,” says game designer Howard Sherman. “We’ve been moving in the wrong direction,” says…
If you saw her in Santa Monica, even in her Mex red apron, you would assume she was an actress. She could easily fill in for a bad blonde in a Mexican telenovela. Yet she shows little animation in her work, and falls short even in the conventional friendliness that I?ve received from checkers at…