US scientists have designed a bionic eye to allow blind people to see again. It comprises a computer chip that sits in the back of the individual’s eye, linked up to a mini video camera built into glasses that they wear. Images captured by the camera are beamed to the chip, which translates them into…
11. We are faced with three fundamental options: formation, participation and dialogue. In the first place, a vast work of formation is needed to assure that the mass media be known and used intelligently and appropriately. The new vocabulary they introduce into society modifies both learning processes and the quality of human relations, so that,…
Conservatives and too many liberals view video games through a jaundiced lens: they are sources of violence and mayhem that destroy the minds of impressionable teenagers. But, as Rejeski points out, “policymakers have spent far too much time focused on the effects of a small number of violent video releases and lost sight of the…
Welcome to the world of professional paper-writing, the dirty secret of the tutoring business. It’s facilitated by avaricious agencies, perpetuated by accountability-free parents and made possible by self-loathing nerds like me. For three-hour workdays, the ability to sleep in and the opportunity to get paid to learn, I tackled subjects like Dostoevsky while spoiled jerks…
For years, the Vatican has had an arrangement with major agencies, including Catholic News Service, whenever there is big news: A cell-phone alert tells them to check their e-mail inboxes for an urgent Vatican statement. So after the pope died, reporters’ cell phones beeped and the e-mailed death announcement began appearing less than a minute…
—Reading, Writing, Plagiarism, and Academic Honesty (CharlesLipson.com) Nothing really quotable on this page — it’s a very useful portal designed to promote Charles Lipson’s book, Doing Honest Work in College. Similar:Had a rough day. Designing another 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel doesn't fix everyt…AcademiaFilmmakers fighting “Happy Birthday” copyright find their “smoking gun”Who owns the…
Another traditional tipoff that a pope has died is the ritual closing of the shutters of the two windows at the side of the pope’s apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square. Some say the closing of the shutters can be the first tangible sign of a death. Despite those arcane traditions, first official word that John…
Shizzam! This, my friends, is entry #201! Hard to believe that only 8 months ago, I wrote my very first entry here on the Seton Hill University blog system. I don’t think I could say enough positive things about blogging: 1) I get to be part of a large r community of like-minded individuals –…
The Pope has died at the age of 84, after becoming one of the longest-serving pontiffs in history. —Pope John Paul II dies in Vatican (BBC) Similar:At Home In Fantasy's Nerd-Built WorldsIn other words, more than the profound l…AestheticsGettysburg Address event marks 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s historic speechOn the Civil War battlefield where Presi…CultureOn UVa…
For the first three days of April, celebrations will be held in Denmark to mark the bicentenary of the birth of the country’s most famous writer, Hans Christian Andersen. —Malcolm Brabant —Enduring legacy of author Andersen (BBC) The Ugly Duckling… The Little Mermaid… The Princess and the Pea… The Emperor’s New Clothes… You know Hans Christian…
They Took It Sitting Down (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) The other night, about a third of my American Lit survey class insisted on sitting on the floor. They pushed the chairs aside and clumped together in the front of the room. The weather was nice, but we couldn’t go outside because a student was using her blog…
As the first lethal robots head for Iraq, the role of the robot soldier as a killing machine has barely been debated. The history of warfare suggests that every new technological leap – the longbow, the tank, the atomic bomb – outraces the strategy and doctrine to control it. “The lawyers tell me there are…
A thorough analysis of the Koran reveals that the US will cease to exist in the year 2007, according to research published by Palestinian scholar Ziad Silwadi. The study, which has caught the attention of millions of Muslims worldwide, is based on in-depth interpretations of various verses in the Koran. It predicts that the US…
Q. If you could travel in time, where would you go and why? A. I’d like to see what my 30s look like, not too far – we’re talking about eight years down the line. I’d like to see what’s going on in my life, that’s quite interesting to me. —Q&A: Billie Piper (BBC) My wife,…
“[B]logging is not an educational use of school computers.” — Chris Sousa, principal of Proctor Jr.-Sr. High School. —High school bans blogging (Rutland Herald) I wish this were an April Fool’s Day hoax. Similar:I assume the police report didn't specify what kind of underwear, because this headline is… As tempting as the pun might be, it…
“Reality is dead,” says Marx; however, according to d’Erlette[1] , it is not so much reality that is dead, but rather the futility, and some would say the fatal flaw, of reality. However, the economy, and thus the rubicon, of postmaterialist constructivism which is a central theme of Tarantino’s Jackie Brown is also evident in…
A Shanghai online game player stabbed to death a competitor who sold his cyber-sword, the China Daily said Wednesday, creating a dilemma in China where no law exists for the ownership of virtual weapons. —Online Gamer Stabbed for Selling Cyber-Saber (Reuters|My Way) But it wasn’t the stabbing that created the dilemma, it was the victim’s act…
Imagine someone coping with real discrimination — a black tanner, say, in 1897 Alabama. To expand his business, he needs capital and access to markets beyond the black business corridors in the south. Every white lender has turned him down, however, and no white merchant will carry his leather goods, even though they are superior…
Whether solving mysteries in text-based adventure games or slaying dragons by phone in multi-user role-playing games, many players still name the written word as their weapon of choice. —Jacob Ogles —Keyboard Is Mightier Than Sword (Wired) Rather than wallow in text-only nostalgia, this piece places text games in the context of modern 3D gaming, so it’s…
Across campus, in a second-floor windowless room, four students huddle around an odd, 3-foot-tall frame constructed of PVC pipe. They have equipped it with propellers, cameras, lights, a laser, depth detectors, pumps, an underwater microphone, and an articulated pincer. At the top sits a black, waterproof briefcase containing a nest of hacked processors, minuscule fans,…