blind users are finding that they are spending disproportionately more time sorting through their junk e-mail than their sighted colleagues. That’s because sighted users can simply scan large batches of messages for that one important piece of mail, whereas blind users must listen to the subject line of each message before they know whether it’s…
Chappelle’s harshest words were addressed to those audience members who worship entertainers and athletes. “Stop listening to celebrities,” he said. “They do what they do for money – that’s all. I don’t even know why you’re listening to me. I’ve done commercials for both Coke and Pepsi. Truth is, I can’t even taste the difference,…
The 40-year-old male teacher handed the boy a box-cutter and paper and told him to write an apology in blood. —Japanese boy writes apology in blood (CNN) Now that’s harsh. Looks like the Reuters reporter did some independent checking of a story that appeared on local news… if not for that line, I’d wonder whether this…
Tiny, even microscopic, cameras, deployed ubiquitously, should worry us in any number of ways. Individuals will lose even more of their privacy. Companies will find it difficult to maintain traditional notions of trade secrets. And governments will confront a world in which, to some extent, people will spy on the official snoops, not just the…
How did Eats, Shoots & Leaves land on the best-seller list? I’d like to think it reveals a late-blooming hunger for self-improvement by the ignorant masses. Somehow, though, I doubt it. Truss certainly doesn’t seem to be addressing such people as her readers. “What happened to punctuation?” she wails. “Why is it so disregarded when…
Blogs and E-Mail DownJerz’s Literacy Weblog) Grr… blogs.setonhill.edu is down again. I noticed it while in the middle of drafting an e-mail message, and the university e-mail also went down. Grr. Similar:My brother set my parents up for a Mother's Day video call.AmusingBrain, InterruptedIn most situations, the person juggling …AcademiaWearable Tech: Rest in Peace, Google…
The U.S. Army, riding the success of its action video game America’s Army, has set up a video-game studio with industry veterans to write other kinds of software to simulate training for a variety of armed forces and government projects. —John Gaudiosi —Army Sets Up Video-Game Studio (Wired) Similar:English Is the Language of Science. That…
Flying a foam composite rocket ship powered by laughing gas and burning rubber, Mike Melvill took off faster than a bullet over a ramshackle airport in the desert Monday and overcame serious malfunctions to become the first astronaut to reach space in a mission entirely funded by private entrepreneurs. —William Booth —Starship Private Enterprise: Rocket…
To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing…
Materials that could jump-start organic evolution have shown up in interstellar dust clouds and dusty planet-forming discs around many stars. These findings fuel an increasingly strong suspicion that the raw material of planet Earth was primed for life. —Robert C. Cowen —Outer space: not so lifeless after all (CS Monitor) Similar:In MLA Style, use the ellipsis…
“There’s a silence in the family,” says a newsreader, “because they’re glued to the box”. An arts producer tells me that sleeping habits have changed: “Now people stay up late to watch their favourite programmes”. Another explains how the main family room pre-TV would have seats facing inwards to ease conversation with family and friends…
Blogging is dead, long live blogging. I suspect that over the next few years we will see a lot of calls suggesting that blogging has died, and I suspect that in a sense they will be right. The act of keeping a “Weblog” as a separate entity will become something of an anachronism. The broader…
Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. —Juneteenth Happy Juneteenth.…
Weblogs, Comments, and Law (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) IANAL (“I am not a lawyer”), but here are some links I found interesting. While a newspaper has a responsibility to check the accuracy of letters to the editor, if person A were to start a cafe, and person B walked into the cafe and made statements that the…
A 24-foot sailboat was raised Thursday from the murky depths of Monterey Harbor by divers who filled its hull with pingpong balls. —Kevin Howe —Sunken boat raised by pingpong balls (Monterey Herald) Similar:Memorizer (Memorization Tool)A Midsummer castmate shared a link to th…CybercultureA certain potions instructor is done with everything after submitting midterm grades. (Har…AcademiaI actually don't mind Canvas…
We highlight U.S. prisoner abuse because the photos aren’t too offensive to show. We downplay Saddam’s abuse precisely because it’s far worse — so we can’t use the photos. And that sets the stage for remarks like Sen. Ted Kennedy’s claim that Saddam’s torture chambers have reopened under “U.S. management.” —Deborah Orin —Reporting for the…
SHU Blogs Down The SHU blogs are down. I exchanged three e-mails with the sysadmin yesterday, who described the problem as something minor, that a reboot would fix. I haven’t heard back from him since yesterday afternoon and don’t know what to say. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed. Update: The sysadmin writes, Argh! The…
What If… There Were No IF? An Alternative History of Games, sans Crowther’s Colossal Cave (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) During a break in the Princeton video game conference a few months ago, David Thomas asked me, what would computer games be like today if Will Crowther hadn’t created Colossal Cave Adventure? I pulled Nick Montfort into the…
They circle in front of the motion detector, the doors open, and the birds fly through and take lunch up to the kids that are nesting in the building. Then it’s back to the door, buzz by the motion detector — and fly through again to hunt for more food. —Birds Learn to Operate Automatic…
The 363-foot-long behemoth has lain on its side in front of JSC since 1977, a favorite sight of tourists, but also a victim of the elements. —Apollo moon rocket to get face-lift (CNN) The Houston Space Center was one of the places I visited on my honeymoon (10 years ago next month). If I recall correctly,…