Writing Interactive Fiction (a.k.a. "Text Adventure Games") with the Inform Programming Language

A great introduction to a medium near and dear to my heart. —Writing Interactive Fiction (a.k.a. “Text Adventure Games”) with the Inform Programming Language (IndieGameDev) Similar:The Ongoing Obsession with Shakespeare’s True IdentityI’ve never been all too keen on Shakespe…AcademiaIn September 1999 I was blogging about Tom Stoppard, techno-utopianism, voice-recognition …In September 1999, I was blogging about…

The People Who Owned the Bible – a story

Then Jimmy Joe Jenkins’s DNA proved he was the primary descendent of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible. At first, Jimmy was satisfied with ten percent of the price of every KJV sold and 10 percent of every collection plate passed by any church that used the KJV. But when some…

Textbooks: Spring 2005

Textbooks: Spring 2005 (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Classes start the week after next. I’m teaching the regular full teaching load — four courses — plus an overload. Students are starting to ask what books they should buy. I won’t be able to get the syllabi up online until next week, but I thought I’d post the reading…

Who owns your e-mails?

“He was keeping a journal of sorts to put together for future history,” John Ellsworth told BBC News. “He wanted to make sure that his generation, as well as following generations, have actual words from somebody who was there.” But Mr Ellsworth Snr was shocked when Yahoo! turned down a request to release his dead…

Ethics for the Robot Age

Most people’s expectations of robots are driven by fantasy. These marvelous machines, optimists hope, will follow Moore’s law, doubling in quality every 18 months, and lead to a Jetsonian utopia. Or, as pessimists fear, humanoid bots will reproduce, increase their intelligence, and wipe out humanity. Both visions are wrong. —By Jordan Pollack —Ethics for the…

The 'Media Party' is over

A political party is dying before our eyes — and I don’t mean the Democrats. I’m talking about the “mainstream media,” which is being destroyed by the opposition (or worse, the casual disdain) of George Bush’s Republican Party; by competition from other news outlets (led by the internet and Fox’s canny Roger Ailes); and by…

New Data Shatters Video Game Player Stereotypes: Gamers Regularly Involved in Community, Church, and Athletics

“Gamers are everywhere and they’re everyone. They are your friends, neighbors, co-workers, relatives, and kids, they lead responsible and caring lives, balancing their enjoyment of interactive entertainment with many other activities important to a well-rounded lifestyle,” said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Indeed, those…

Aarseth's Anti-Quest

Aarseth, bringing up an overgeneralization in another recent article, his piece in First Person, goes on to admit that ?most proper narratologists, who actually have to think about and define narratives in a scholarly, responsible, and accurate way, are not guilty of this overgeneralization.? I have to wonder, then: Why is most of Aarseth‘sNarrative across…

Writing just to keep the 'streak' alive

All my life I have struggled to succeed. I have toiled at the wheel of journalistic ethos, logic and wisdom. And do I get any credit for this? Oh, no. All I get is, “Hey, better call Tim because there’s a streaker at Wal-Mart.” I have a mind, folks. I can talk intelligently about Social…

The irresistible, singable, stick-in-your-mindable jingle is dead

Ten years ago Eric Korte, vice president and music director at the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, was commissioning original music for 90 percent of the company’s campaigns. This year, more than half of his workload involves licensing published songs, and the trend is only gaining momentum. “The jingle,” Korte says, “is dead.” —Joan Anderman…

Post-Mortem of a Flawed Broadcast

Already under duress from years of budget cuts, poor ratings and reduced influence, CBS News suffered a crushing blow to its credibility yesterday because of a broadcast that has now been labeled as both factually discredited and unprofessionally produced. —Bill Carter —Post-Mortem of a Flawed Broadcast (NY Times) This article describes the fallout from the apparently…

Life, Reinvented

If the notion of hacking DNA sounds like genetic engineering, think again. Genetic engineering generally involves moving a preexisting gene from one organism to another, an activity Endy calls DNA bashing. For all its impressive and profitable results, DNA bashing is hardly creative. Proper engineering, by contrast, means designing what you want to make, analyzing…

Young Cell Users Rack Up Debt, a Message at a Time

Many high school and college students accustomed to sending unlimited instant messages on their computers do not adapt easily to text messaging’s pay-per-message format, and end up with unexpectedly high bills when they get involved in keypad conversations that involve hundreds, even thousands, of messages a month. The results are angry confrontations with parents, long-term…

Fair use of photos on blogs… the photographers speak out.

I had dinner with two big name photographers in L.A. recently. These are folks who’s name you might recognize even if you are not in the photography industry. I asked them both under what circumstances could use their images without paying them, they both immediately responded emphatically “under no circumstances!”–Jason Calacanis —Fair use of photos…

Bush paid TV pundit to push education plan

The Bush administration paid an African-American pundit $240,000 (£127,000) to promote its education policies to the black community and urge other black journalists to do the same in the run-up to the presidential election. In an effort to promote its controversial education reform programme, No Child Left Behind, the education department paid Armstrong Williams “to…

Technology rescues Italy's art

The problem with Italy’s antiquities and culture is that there is simply too much. How do you conserve ancient and priceless artefacts at the same time as letting people come and see them? —David Reid —Technology rescues Italy’s art (BBC News) Thanks for the link, Rosemary. I’ve toyed with using VR to reconstruct the interior of…

Is That A Dragon or a Duck?

Adventure – based on the classic text game of the same name – was the first game ever to contain an easter egg. —Is That A Dragon or a Duck? (Metafilter) It’s great to see Adventure get a mention, but no, the Atari version was a graphics game that really shared nothing besides the name with…

The Blogosphere By the Numbers

—The Blogosphere By the Numbers Nothing terribly quotable, but a good source of statistics relating to weblogs. Similar:The Internet Is RottingI do what I can. It’s disheartening how,…AcademiaThe Offspring (StarTrek:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 16) Data Experiences FatherhoodRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CybercultureJust remember: what you’re seeing and what you're reading is not what’s happening.Words…

Football Slouches Toward a Former Women's College

I don’t have many positive associations with any sport, beyond lots of “quality time” with Dad in kiddie leagues. In high school I once accidentally caught a pop fly ball in my baseball cap. I somehow managed a flabby toss to a teammate, who tagged a passing runner for a double play. But traumatic run-ins…

The Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome and the Potential Downfall Of American Society.

In England it is called the “Graveyard Grannies” problem, in France the “Chere Grand’mere,” while in Bulgaria it is inexplicably known as “The Toadstool Waxing Plan” (I may have had some problems here with the translation. Since the revolution this may have changed anyway.) Although the problem may be international in scope it is here…