The second issue of Game Studies is out. Similar:Go Forth and Conquer, but Postpone the Selfie“We have about 850 graduates, and we hav…AcademiaWhat employers really want? Workers they don’t have to trainI do teach a number of very practical co…AcademiaPhoto of William Crowther, 2012I just noticed that a few days ago, a Wi…CybercultureThe Bremen Town…
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:English Is the Language of Science. That…
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:I was perhaps a bit more conversational and…
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:What Jane [Austen] Saw: 1796 Shakespeare GalleryYou are invited…
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:What Twitter Changes Might…
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:The Language of Gender ViolenceOppressors deny their own agency and deh…CultureWhat About “The Breakfast Club”?I…
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:I can probably remove that link to LycosOn a web page that I posted…
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:Long Live the LARPers — My daughter plays the antagonist in this award-winning 48 Hour Fi…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7wzUtO…AestheticsMathematics and What It Means to Be HumanA humanities…
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:Police Department, Fire Department Tell Different Versions of Same Richmond IncidentA Richmond police official and a fire of…Current_EventsSamaritan Snare (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 17)(Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generati…DramaMicrosoft has no shame: Bing…
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:▶ Taylor Mali on "What Teachers Make"I find that re-watching this every…
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:In February, 2001, I was blogging about computer nostalgia, Napster, a horror typing…
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:The…
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:Is it okay to say clanker?Clanker is a derogatory term used to ins…Cyberculture'Our worst nightmare': New legal filings detail reporting of Rolling…
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.…