The second issue of Game Studies is out. Similar:Puns really matter to us over here in English.I swore I would wield my powers only for…AcademiaShakespeare portrait said to be only one made in his lifetime on sale for £10m A portrait said to be the only signed …ArtCaptain Gearheart inspects progress on his #neovictorian #steampunk…
Dave Arneson Interview
“D[ungeons]&D[ragons] sort of came about after a monster marathon week of reading Conan novels, eating popcorn until it was coming out of my ears-no I was not on drugs-and we got the idea to do something in a dungeon.” —Dave Arneson Interview (GameSpy) A “monster marathon”… ha, ha. Similar:IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE — Berkeley Rep…
Tales of the Plush Cthulu
“Once upon a time, in a part of the house where grownups rarely visited, there was the Land of the Stuffed Animals… But Professor Blue Smush DinoBaby’s warning came too late. First a slight tremor came from within the box.” Jon Hansen —Tales of the Plush Cthulu Similar:Addressing Our Biases: Medieval BathingDid medieval people bathe?…
Traces of Genius: Is Art Sullied by Technology?
"The true link between technology and art, regarded in modern times as something shameful, is becoming increasingly apparent, and the evidence suggests that artists’ dependence on machines has been not only extensive but long-lived…" Charles Paul Freund —Traces of Genius: Is Art Sullied by Technology? (Reason) Similar:Beautiful, meditative video shows how books are madePretty sure…
Pluto: Too Hip to Be Out There
"Debate has raged in recent years whether it was even fair to call Pluto a planet, given its newfound status as one object among many in the Kuiper Belt — which actually contains more mass than the better-known asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter." Steve Kettman —Pluto: Too Hip to Be Out…
Who Needs Paper? Not Iowa College
“Instead of a library, the school has a resource center equipped with computer workstations that can access the Web, e-books and online journals. The resource center also houses several meeting tables, audio-visual materials and a few paper magazines — but no books.” Katie Dean —Who Needs Paper? Not Iowa College (Wired) Similar:A comic about Seagulls.…
Aussie Suicide Bags Delayed
Is this for real? "The controversial suicide device will be promoted under the name "Aussie Bags" and will be shipped with the warning ‘DO NOT put this bag over your head. It could kill you.’" —Aussie Suicide Bags Delayedb> (AAP) Similar:Meme alleging Trump said “Africans Are Lazy, Good at Sex, Theft” is a hoax I’ve…
Tablet PC Makers Embrace a Dying Art: Handwriting
"Mr. Storch has found that the ease, speed and accuracy of writing with a computer keyboard have vastly reduced the occasions on which he might turn to a pen or pencil. As a result, he and many others who spend hours a day using computers say that the penmanship they learned in school is deteriorating…
The Power of Portals
"Several years ago, the State University of New York at Buffalo took stock of its proliferating Web sites and found more than 250,000 pages spread out across 17 different servers. Not surprisingly, students and faculty members were having a hard time finding information they needed, even though they knew it was probably online — somewhere." Florence…
"I’m Going to Have an Epileptic Fit…"
“Soon. Like in the next half hour or so. Given that I can’t do anything about it, I thought it might be interesting to stay online as long as I can and tell you what transpires…. I taste salt and something else. I exult in these moments. it’s the payoff for the bad times, the…
Father's Poem, Son's Conviction
"After posting his father’s poem — a bitter reflection on the state of Egyptian society and culture after Egypt was defeated in the 1967 war against Israel — Shohdy was arrested in November 2001." Sergey Kuznetsov —Father’s Poem, Son’s Conviction (Wired) Similar:Auschwitz color photo: 'A 14-year-old girl, not just a statistic'I don’t know what this…
Marilyn Monroe Died 40 Years Ago Today
: The Smoking Gun features a small trove of scanned images of Monroe artifacts, including her will and a love note to Joe DiMaggio. Marilyn Monroe Died 40 Years Ago Today Similar:Most Americans have a high opinion of the humanities, and 81% use at least one humanities-…While some survey respondents were unfam…AcademiaBBC News – TS…
How first-year college students read Popular Science
When asked to read a magazine article, 40% of college students thought that the author had performed the research reported in the article: "The willingness of students to believe that anyone who writes is an expert and authority was striking." Kate Manuel —How first-year college students read Popular Scienceb> (Studies in Media & Information Literacy…
Don’t Link to Us!
In light of the above, it might be appropriate to mention Don’t Link to Us!: “Stupid Linking Policies.” Thanks, “paheil”. Similar:Vote for your favorite Monopoly token — or else!One of the six current game pieces will …AestheticsHow a billionaires boys’ club came to dominate the public squareThe world’s richest man, Elon Musk, atta…BusinessJournalism is…
Who Needs Dr. J? [Journalism-school reform at Columbia]
At Columbia, students "play pretend-journalism" for 10 months and leave with a master’s degree. "It’s striking how small has been the influence of J-school graduates on the upper reaches of American journalism." Tunku Varadarajan —Who Needs Dr. J? [Journalism-school reform at Columbia] (WSJ) Similar:What happens to local news when there is no local media to…
Flogged by Bloggers
Weblogs are vehicles for debunking inaccurate, biased reporting–exposing the media giants like never before. "A favorite target is the [New York] Times, which has developed the habit of running front-page editorials posing as news reports." John Leo —Flogged by Bloggers (U.S. News) Similar:A Video Game About Changing What Happens In Shakespeare's HamletElsinore is a game…
Children's text messages are 'the key to their future'
"Researchers examined how different professions wrote text messages and divided them into four groups – creatives, jugglers, controllers and facilitators." —Children’s text messages are ‘the key to their future’ (Ananova) Sounds like a lazy journalist paraphrasing a press release rather than actually doing journalism, but the basic idea presented in the article seems interesting. Similar:Listening…
The Web Didn't Kill Libraries: It's the New Draw
"The Internet is fueling an increase in library use which, in turn, has led to a library-construction and renovation boom." Steve Freiss —The Web Didn’t Kill Libraries: It’s the New Draw (CS Monitor) Similar:One of my undergrad lit papers. Dot-matrix printed, with hand-written instructor annotatio…AcademiaCrying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship EverI’ve felt…
This Promotional Pen Works So Great…
"I’m far too busy to seek [new drugs] out by reading medical journals and research papers or by talking to my fellow doctors. It really is a huge help to get great drug recommendations by way of hats, T-shirts, coffee mugs, pencil holders, clipboards, and fanny packs that I randomly encounter or that are sent…
Austin Powers Hijacked My Weblog
Through the website http://www.austinpowers.com/, AOLTimeWarner seems to be hosting an altered version of my weblog, with the background colors changed, an advertisement added, and all the links changed — as if my weblog is affiliated with Austin Powers. I checked out the first movie from the library and won’t bother with any of the sequels.…