My sister sent me links to (what else?) chocolate hexagons.Chocolate is great. So are hexagons. Similar:White House photo access controls public imageRather than permit photojournalists to s…CultureDatalore (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 12) Data's bro wants to be with a big crystal tr…In “Datalore,” an encounter with Data’s …CultureA former student contacted me to share…
Whiteboards vs. Blackboard: “So, on the one hand, we’ve got a classroom board that can be written on only with special pens. You can never tell when the pens will run out before they actually do so, and there’s no good way to extend the life of a pen once it finally expires. On the…
“It is true, of course, that the ‘Far Side’s’ famous cows are not always so secretive; sometimes they even make fun of us, as if getting revenge for all those times that passing car passengers–usually children, like the calf in this cowmobile–‘mooed’ derisively at them when they were behind the fence. But for the most…
“I have, at times, been too quick to bark, and I have whimpered needlessly. I have gnawed upon things I never should have gnawed. Yes, I have even bitten others in anger. Not often, and only when I felt I had to, but now I see that turning to the tooth never solves anything. I…
David Brin knows how George Lucas can save the muddle that the Star Wars franchise has become. His suggestion is brilliant, and at the same time obvious. “Why else would Obi-Wan ‘hide’ Vader’s son in Vader’s home town? Their final ‘deathfight’ distracts the guards to let Luke/Han/Leia get away. How else do you explain that…
“In Heathers, Heather Chandler has the best lines, including a great insult: ‘What, did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?’ She’s killed by Christian Slater in the movie. Kim Walker, the actress who played her, died of a brain tumor in 2001. Creepy.” Lindsey CorcoranHeathers Triviareenhead) Similar:California Political Cyberfraud Abatement Act Pulled by AuthorCalifornia’s…
“[T]he web has been unable to deliver on its socially progressive potential because it has been ‘born’ into capitalism, a socioeconomic system that creates and depends upon the same ‘hierarchical classification systems’ Berners-Lee [inventor of the WWW] would like the Web to eliminate.” mowabb —Illusions of Freedom-Kantian Divisions in an Electronic Agethere is no spoon)…
“It was the image of a rebellious, youth-corrupting Bart Simpson that caused many conservatives-George Bush I, among them-to decry the show as evidence of America’s moral decline when it debuted in 1989. But recently The Simpsons has gotten a lot of positive ink for its thoughtful portrayal of faith and family values, including cover stories…
“A Scottish chemistry lecturer believes she has discovered the scientific reason why cold, left-over pizza, tastes so good the morning after.” —Cold Pizza Passes the Taste Test (BBC) Similar:After Hours – Why The Star Trek Universe is Secretly HorrifyingAfter Hours – Why The Star Trek Universe…AmusingWhy Creative Side Projects Are Good for YouSan Francisco State psychology…
“A surprising number of college students say they regularly use the Internet for academic purposes, but they see cyberspace as a supplement to — not a replacement for — traditional classrooms, a team of researchers reported Sunday…. The researchers warned against ignoring the possible educational benefits of some recreational online activities, such as instant messaging…
“A mysterious new obstacle has emerged for Chinese internet surfers attempting to use the Google search engine – entering politically sensitive search phrases crashes their internet connection.” —Google keywords knock Chinese surfers offlineNew Scientist) Similar:Any pasta can become a pasta salad when the office microwave stops working!CulturePolice stage ‘chilling’ raid on Marion County newspaper, seizing…
“Belief in freedom of speech does not require us to sit by passively as our systems, networks, work and lives are suffocated under an unending torrent of useless and often fraudulent e-mail. This is not to suggest we throw spammers in jail. As appealing as the thought might be…” —A Call to Jail the SpammersWired)…
On the hyped-up TV news reports of terrorists in Florida: “Television reporters were certainly connecting dots — lots of dots, some of them seemingly from another planet — but if journalism is about facts and not hype, then they definitely weren’t doing what they were supposed to do.” —TV Dots Airwaves with InaccuraciesMiami Herald) Similar:Setonian…
A blogger with too much time on his hands uses a search engine to compare the rank-and-file content of an organization’s website to its official rhetoric. “[W]hen one types the word “abortion” into NOW’s search engine, 853 articles that mention the subject appear. But surely childbirth is something an organization that claims to be ‘for…
Description of an Irish museum exhibit: “A giant mechanical bug, it looks like a demented cross between a bat, a praying mantis and the superstructure of a blimp… once it senses someone’s presence its arms begin to hover menacingly, as if they had eyes, over the viewer. ” Daithà Ó hAnluain —Man, Machine: Can’t We…
Here’s what’s reputed to be an archive of the first e-mail message that included a smiley. —The First Smiley (Microsoft) [I wish I’d found it instead of Micro$oft. :( In 1979, someone named Kevin MacKenzie suggested the symbol -) for “tongue in cheek”. It’s not a “smiley”, of course, but it serves the same function.…
“In the old days, it was magnetic stones, magnetized trees, and magnetized air. Today, it’s magnetic bracelets, magnetic necklaces, magnetic shoe inserts, and now, magnetic mattresses. What’s next? Magnetic jock straps? But I knew that Grandma wouldn’t listen to a history lesson or a science lecture, so I thought I’d try another approach. ” Nada…
“[R]ather than examining why online writing is so undisciplined and attempting to appreciate the virtue of such impertinence, O’Conner and Kellerman are determined to impose on electronic communication all the limitations of the forms to which they’re already accustomed.” Review by Jonathan Keats —“You Send Me” by Patricia T. O’Conner & Stewart KellermanSalon) Similar:AI researchers…
“Human communication across the globe began with the same primitive metaphors, logic associations and rules, all of which emerged from three main concerns: food, sex and territory…” Rosella Lorenzi —Is Rock Art a Sign of a Universal Mother Language?Discovery Channel) Similar:40 Things I Want to Tell My Kids Before They're Too Cool to ListenAfter the…
A collaborative online glossary is being developed for the forthcoming book Interactive Fiction Theory. Anyone can edit existing entries or suggest new terms. —Glossary of Interactive Fiction (IF Theory) Emily Short is the editor-in-chief for IF Theory, and I’m the editor of the theory section. The book should be out within a year. Similar:Harvard revokes admission…