Armagetron: A Tron Clone in 3D

“In this game, you ride a lightcycle around the game grid. You can only make sharp turns of 90 degrees and a wall constantly builds up after you. Make your enemies crash into your wall, but be aware that they are trying to do the same to you. Only if you are fast enough, you…

Ahoy Desklubbers! [Ergonomic Keyboard for Pirates]

—Ahoy Desklubbers! [Ergonomic Keyboard for Pirates] (Defective Yeti) An R be there on the scurvy dog of a keyboard, but where be the A? And where be the X that marks me buried treasure? Arrrr! Similar:Blender 3D UpdateHoly ray-tracing, Batman, it’s a Blender…AestheticsThe State Of Media EmploymentThis is why I require my “new media jour…BusinessI came…

Conned Big Time

“The bottom line is that someone has been running a con on me for 20 some years and I fell for it like a little old lady in a pigeon drop scheme. I’ve spent the last two hours going through the database of Capitol Hill Blue stories and removing any that were based on information…

The 5k Awards

“The 5k recognizes the roles that constraints play in creativity and discipline in craftsmanship. Please make beautiful things!” —The 5k Awards (the5k.org) 5k websites, sorted according to rating. Plenty of minimalist games. Thanks, Rosemary. Similar:Brain, InterruptedIn most situations, the person juggling …AcademiaBlue Feed, Red FeedFacebook is designed to keep your attent…CultureFaceTime Fun: iPod Touch Rides in…

'Kill the President' E-Mail Sparks Probe

“A political science instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College is being investigated by the Secret Service for telling his students to compose an e- mail to an elected official that included the words ‘kill the president, kill the president,’ a school administrator said Wednesday.” —‘Kill the President’ E-Mail Sparks Probe (SF Gate) Google tells me that…

Backyard Philosopher: I Mow, Therefore I Am

“I had always rejected the suburban ideal of the carefully clipped and methodically poisoned greensward, with its connotations of Babbittry, mundane middle-class aesthetics, and casual ecological depredation. But somehow, in the verdured acreage behind my home–where lately I have taken to carving crop circles and leaving elaborate paisleys of wildflowers intact–I find myself. | I…

Ego-Googling Update: Google Ranks My Seton Hill Site #1

Rosemary Frezza writes: “Google now lists your Seton Hill page first for searches of Dennis Jerz” —Ego-Googling Update: Google Ranks My Seton Hill Site #1 Thanks for notifying me, Rosemary. That was pretty fast, Google. My old UWEC site is now third. Similar:Healing the WebThe lessons I learned in just over an ho…BusinessOn this date…

Crooked Timber

“Crooked Timber is a cabal of philosophers, politicians manque, would-be journalists, sociologues, financial gurus, dilletantes and flaneurs who have assembled to bring you the benefit of their practical and theoretical wisdom on matters historical, literary, political, philosophical, economic, sociological, cultural, sporting, artistic, cinematic, musical, operatic, comedic, tragic, poetic, televisual &c &c, all from perspectives somewhere…

New Rules of the Game, or New Game? Part One

“I joined organizations, attended conferences religiously, subscribed to journals, and made every attempt to connect to and garner the attention of those in the ‘inner circle’ — the members of steering committees, working groups, and editorial boards, as well as the chairs of leading University departments. But, while I still maintain those ties, I now…

I Remember Usenet

“Looking at this, perhaps having all that fresh new blood from AOL — all without their little weblogging heros and talk about weblogging and this conference and that and all with little or no interest in the politics of weblogging — will be a good thing. A very good thing. | Here’s hoping for complete…

The Internet Is Shit

“It is vitally important that we all realize this and move on. People (eg Bloggers) go on and on about how wonderful it is. About how much information is out there in cyberspace. About the way that everything is within reach in just a few clicks of their mice.” —The Internet Is Shit Eh. This…

Secrets of Dungeons and Dreamers

“For many of us, creative life goes beyond machines — creativity is built in at a very low level of our personalities, and the joy of building things from imagination, then sharing those experiences with others and watching their reactions — that’s what drives us.” Richard “Lord British” Garriott, inventor of Ultima Online, in an…

Textbook Writing 101

“About a month after publication, I received a postcard from an Ohio professor. In my textbook on college writing, I had narrated an anecdote Abraham Lincoln told, in which he referred to a tightrope walker named Blondin. I had spelled it ‘Bloudin.’ The professor corrected me and added, ‘Such egregious errors mar an otherwise fine…