The Medium is the Moral

It has been more than 40 years since Marshall McLuhan wrote that the “medium is the message,” a lesson that Duke University has had to relearn the hard way concerning its iPod giveaway this academic year to some 1,650 first-year students. Almost immediately, the “iPod First-Year Experience” was dubbed a trendy gimmick, and the university…

Extracurricular Blogging Roundup

Extracurricular Blogging Roundup (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Grades are in, and the semester is winding down. Things are fairly quiet on blogs.setonhill.edu, but that doesn’t mean the site is dead. Our admissions director, Mary Kay Cooper, continues to maintain her Training for the Ride of a Lifetime fitness blog, and she has also recently started the Seton…

Space Case

Tolkien, earthed in Old English, had a head start that led him straight to the flinty perfection of Mordor and Orc. Here, by contrast, are some Lucas inventions: Palpatine. Sidious. Mace Windu. (Isn’t that something you spray on colicky babies?) Bail Organa. And Sith. [..] What can you say about a civilization where people zip…

The Beeb Shall Inherit the Earth

America’s entertainment industry is committing slow, spectacular suicide, while one of Europe’s biggest broadcasters — the BBC — is rushing headlong to the future, embracing innovation rather than fighting it. Unlike Hollywood, the BBC is eager and willing to work with a burgeoning group of content providers whose interests are aligned with its own: its…

Study: trampoline injuries have spiked

“Parents so far have not gotten the message that trampolines should not be used in the home environment,” said James Linakis, a pediatric emergency physician at Rhode Island Hospital’s Hasbro Children’s Hospital. —Study: trampoline injuries have spiked (Washington Times |UPI) Sigh. My next weekend project is to put together the backyard trampoline that my wife got…

Thank You Epstein-Barr

For those of you who don’t know what Mono is… let me explain. It is known to most ignorant people as “The Kissing Disease.” This, of course, makes anyone who has it appear to be a whore or a gameshow host. But, this isn’t a proper representation of how the disease is actually spread. I…

Ladies of Star Trek

—Ladies of Star Trek (SixtiesCity.com) Knee boots and beehive hairdos… I’m in heaven. (Thanks for the link, Scribblingwoman.) Similar:King Hedley II ( #AugustWilson #CenturyCycle, 9 of 10)August Wilson’s Century Cycle >  Spoi…BooksAnother random background control panel for a #blender3d #steampunk project. I wish all us…AestheticsIf I don't design the control panels for my fantasy #steampunk project,…