Mars Express, circling high above the surface, made the discovery on the Red Planet’s south pole, said agency scientist Jean-Pierre Bibring — an indication that Mars may once have sustained life. —Europe probe detects Mars water ice (CNN) Interesting… CNN’s European version of the Mars story says “More than 40 years of Mars exploration have yielded…
A few questions spring out from this. It is generally accepted that giving credit for creation is important; is it the same for ?link discovery credit?? Will (should) the practice of linking to sources of links come to be taken very seriously by bloggers, out of a shared concern to keep things fair and transparent,…
I wanted to tell you that I am scared to death of your class… Give me something known. I don’t know how to read something and figure out the unknown conflicts. I believe what someone tells me. I don’t take hints. If someone wants me to know something they need to tell me. I am…
I’m busy working on the new t-shirt order page and getting the forums back up and running, but I don’t think you care. All you want are more emotions. You all are animals! Animals I tell you! —Emo Eric —Eric Conveys an EmotionEmotionEric.com) From “Happiness” to “Getting a great idea… while falling to your doom,”…
Technology in American Drama NewsE-Mail) I recently received this announcement from my publisher: “I’m pleased to let you know that your book, Technology in American Drama, 1920-1950, has been named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.” A little googling reveals that this award is given to about 3% of the 20,000 or so academic works submitted…
I’d get mic’d up and have a projection screen behind me the size of a drive-in theater, to use for overheads and analyzing film clips. It was like being a rock star or something — the performative aspect of teaching took on a grandiose dimension. I’d make a silly joke and the room roared. I’d…
Scientists at MIT’s Advanced Machine Cognizance Project announced Tuesday that, after seeing the final installment of the Matrix trilogy, they will cease all further work in the field of artificial intelligence…. “I saw Revolutions with my 12-year-old son Eric,” Markovitch said. “He saw the look of worry on my face and said, ‘Dad, don’t be…
Mary Mary quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row. The origins are steeped in history… The Mary alluded to in this traditional English nursery rhyme is Mary Tudor, or Bloody Mary, who was the daughter of King Henry VIII. Queen Mary was…
And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that…
At the turn of the century a Maryland Quaker, Lizzie Magie, was trying to develop a game that would illustrate the inequities of capitalism and promote a popular “single tax” movement led by Henry George. A century ago this month she received a patent for The Land lord’s Game; the illustration in the US Patent…
“The Clark Bar Association“? That name is sure to draw snickers when crunch time arrives. Clark will face mounds of mockery, which may prove to be the kiss of death for his candidacy and, if he’s the nominee, ensure the re-election of the jolly rancher now in the White House. If Clark is smart, he’ll…
Do not use profanity. Be very careful when discussing financial or business affairs. Avoid any mention of your private parts. Do not offer any guarantees, or refer to checks that may or may not be in the mail. | Refrain from describing anything or anybody as “free.” Abstain from the exuberant use of punctuation marks.…
Teens Finding Stupid Ways to DieJerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’ve come across several recent examples of “It’s fun until someone gets killed.” It’s bad enough when a young person dies, but when the family has to grieve over such stupid reasons… ouch, that hurts. My heart goes out to these families. Similar:Pitching a Magazine Article: Resources…
Avalanche is a great word. Its onomatopoeia is horrific. The very syllables bring to mind a Frenchman tumbling down a mountainside, until he meets his demise in a crunching vortex of snow and rock and ice: “Ahhhh…vahhh…laaaaaaaa…uNNCHHH!” — Mike Arnzen —Oddly Chilling Thoughts (The Goreletter) Similar:After Halloween where do all the pumpkins go? Now we knowIn…
After some good-natured ribbing about his taste in clothing, General Wesley Clark, the Democratic Presidential candidate, has decided to donate his much-famed argyle sweater to charity. —General Wesley Clark’s Argyle Sweater (EBay) I found myself doing a little superior dance, because I just happen to have a read a blog entry about the history of sweaters…
Stealthy? 1995? Please. 100% of teenagers play games today (those who don’t are a rounding error)–but I doubt the percentage in, say, 1990, during the SNES/Genesis era, was all that different. And the game industry first made the claim that it was bigger than the movies in 1980 or 81, if I remember correctly–albeit revenues…
When she got home she found her inbox stuffed with new messages, many of which were junk mail. One message was titled “BBC World service proposal,” but Onwueme said she just skipped over it. | The BBC sent a second e-mail, which she also did not take the time to read because it had the…
A student at McGill University has won the right to have his assignments marked without first submitting them to an American, anti-plagiarism website. —McGill student wins fight over anti-cheating website (CBC) As a former resident of Canada, I couldn’t repress a smirk at the CBC’s need to identify the website as “American” in the lead.…
The very premise of an online game is that it is uncontrollable – indeed, even the banned players have found ways to sneak back in various disguises. | That, in turn, presents a thorny set of philosophical problems. How do you seek to curb the baser instincts of a community of autonomous players? Is repression…
On this day in 1984, after a year of deliberation, the US supreme court ruled in favour of Sony (makers of the Betamax video-recorder) and against Universal Studios and Disney, who had claimed that viewers recording television programmes were stealing copyrighted material. The counter-argument was that home-tapers were “time-shifting”: rescheduling programmes through convenience rather than…