Similar:Why No One Clicked on the Great Hypertext StoryIt’s not that hypertext went on to becom…CultureThe Random Pulp Science Fiction Title Generator from Cornelius Zappencackler's DERANGE-O-L…From Thrilling Tales (where the future i…AmusingThe dress we ordered for the “girl next door” role in The Fantasticks… vs the dress that…AestheticsClose Reading of Sonnet 130: Form, Theme, and…
A few years ago I was working regularly with a director who filled any conversation pause with a descending musical vocalization “doo de-doo de-doo.” While the similar “dum de-dum de-dum” means “I’m just sitting here minding my own business,” the brighter, more cheerful “doo de-doo de-do” was a cross between a satisfied sigh and a…
Rewatching ST:DS9 A man in a fancy suit charms a wealthy widow at Quark’s, as she reveals her secret investment plans. Just when Martus asks about a partnership, Odo apprehends him for a previous con. O’Brien, in schlubby workout clothes, trundles into an angular, futuristic racquetball court and is crestfallen to find Bashir already there,…
Similar:Two Cheers for the Middle Ages! by Eric ChristiansenI love good writing. “Even those who dou…CultureCarolyn's "waiter with wobbly stack of plates" bit from Hello DollyPersonalOur Love Affair With Digital Is OverThe other day I found myself very annoye…CultureYouth Can Check Out Briefcases, Neckties via NYPL Grow Up Work AccessoriesThe New York Public Library has…
Rewatching ST:DS9 Sisko narrates a personal log about almost forgetting the fourth anniversary of his wife Jennifer’s death. Jake shares a dream about being lost and wanting to find his father. (The young actor, Cirroc Lofton does a good job portraying vulnerability.) Later, Sisko is looking out the window on the Promenade deck when a…
A former Google video producer has sued the internet giant alleging he was unfairly fired for blowing the whistle on a religious sect that had all but taken over his business unit. The lawsuit demands a jury trial and financial restitution for “religious discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation and related causes of action.” It alleges Peter…
Similar:Carolyn and Nick in Beauty and the BeastAestheticsThe third Google hit for " #steampunk control panel" is a #blender3d image I cre…PersonalReady to teach another set of students what research is (and what it isn’t).AcademiaAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel goodness. #blender3dart #blender3dAestheticsThe Physics Behind Traffic JamsIn between today’s various events, I das…CultureSpring…
I started teaching myself HTML in earnest after I attended a crowded presentation at the Modern Language Association in the early 90s. Midway through his demonstration of what a mouse was, the speaker asked a crowd of hundreds who had used a graphical web browser (everyone raised their hands), and who had used the Internet…
Science deniers who expect medical research to be as tidy and predictable as a chapter in a middle school textbook sometimes see conspiracy theory when they look at the twists and turns in the scientific community’s response to the COVID-19. The scientists themselves would say they are doing science in real time, adapting to the…
The main reason I still dislike Internet Explorer was because its popularity often meant you had to create one version of a website that was compatible with emerging and established industrywide standards, and another version that worked in Internet Explorer. So I still cringe when I see that dizzy “e” icon — except in this…
Rewatching ST:DS9 On a stormy night on Bajor, a widower in an elegant salon with no electric power offers to pay Quark to retrieve a box from the shop her husband used to keep on Terek Nor (the Cardassian name for what we know as DS9). Inside the box Quark finds only a list of…
The little girl from Adventures of Baron Munchausen grew up thinking the explosions and fire on set were much more dangerous than director Terry Gilliam remembers them. This was painful to read. I couldn’t breathe. It didn’t seem possible that this could have been the plan, that things hadn’t just gone terribly wrong. But they…
Science writer Jon Horgan writes: We live in a world increasingly dominated by science. And that’s fine. I became a science writer because I think science is the most exciting, dynamic, consequential part of human culture, and I wanted to be a part of that. Also, I have two college-age kids, and I’d be thrilled if…
We’ve all encountered this scene in all the the AI-goes-amok stories, just before the scientist’s “Fools! I shall crush you all!” speech. The technology giant placed Blake Lemoine on leave last week after he published transcripts of conversations between himself, a Google “collaborator”, and the company’s LaMDA (language model for dialogue applications) chatbot development system.…
Rewatching ST:DS9 After-hours at Quark’s, Dax is gambling with the Ferengi and casually challenging their uber-patriarchy. A spunky young waiter named Pel makes a business suggestion to Quark; Rom is envious. The Grand Nagus Zek (Ferengi financial leader) makes a video call, offering Quark an “opportunity.” Zek negotiates with Sisko for permission to hold a…
Rewatching ST:DS9 Bashir shows off an electric wheelchair that he replicated to accommodate the mobility needs of Ensign Pazlar, a newcomer from a low-gravity world, and whose usual anti-grav unit “just isn’t compatible” with the station’s Cardassian design. When she arrives, Pazlar is brusque and not interested in socializing. (She is probably physically exhausted adjusting…
Rewatching ST:DS9 Garak, the station’s resident Cardassian tailor, is intrigued by a young Cardassian boy dressed like a Bajoran. Bashir has no sooner told Sisko the youngster bit Garak than the unctuous Gul Dukat contacts the station, seeing in the incident evidence that Bajorans are teaching Cardassian war orphans to hate their own kind. The…
Similar:Star Wars Han Solo in Carbonite Silicon Ice Tray Star Wars Han Solo in Carbonit…AestheticsGoogle's Super Bowl Ad: A Romance in SearchI didn’t watch the game, but I did catch…AestheticsThat's what's been bothering me since yesterday's #AirPod reveal. #manamanaNumber of times one of my $9.99 headphon…BusinessDespite its impressive output, generative AI doesn’t have a coherent…
Similar:Symbiosis (TNG Rewatch, Season 1 Episode 22)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…CultureThe Girl at rehearsal (where else?).PersonalifMUD IF discussion | Emily Short's Interactive StorytellingEmily Short on the limitations of parser…CybercultureNerdy Rainbow Loom CraftingMy wonderfully geeky tween made these Bl…AestheticsYes, this is my 11yo daughter yodeling on stage.http://youtu.be/reyclH7zuHIAmusingHow exactly do bridges bridge? How do rivers rive?…
Similar:My daughter found where all the missing pens and pencils end upAmusingHome Soil (TNG Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 17)The concept was good, and the production…PersonalThe Forsaken (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 17) Lwaxana Troi and the station c…Rewatching ST:DS9 Bashir is hosting t…CultureSaints and Poets, Maybe They Do SomeI wrote the following in 2004,…