Today is the day the medieval church celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi (“Body of Christ”); the festivities in the town of York, England, included a massive theatrical performance, involving 300 speaking roles, which lasted from 4:30am until well after dark. —York Corpus Christi Play Simulator Similar:Touch Me Now: York Plays 2025A cast of hundreds…
“Americans buy the most sophisticated computers, the coolest digital cameras, the most advanced automobiles, the most versatile cell phones and handheld organizers, and then . . . and then we forget, or decline, or flat out refuse, to read the directions.” Caroline E. Mayer —Why Won’t We Read the Manual? (WashPost) Similar:Perspective | After a…
“The spectre of eugenics, which reached its culmination in Nazi Germany, haunts both politicians and public. The fear that the ability to monitor and select for desirable characteristics will lead to the subjugation of the undesirable—or the merely unfashionable—is well-founded.” —The Future of Mind Control (Economist) Similar:Great moments from Pride and PrejudiceI haven’t read Pride…
“The average [U.K.] reader spends 17 minutes a day reading a newspaper, compared to 11 minutes on a novel. They spend a further seven minutes online, six minutes on non-fiction, five minutes with a magazine, and two minutes looking up things they did not understand in a reference book.” —Novels Lose out to Newspapers (Guardian)…
“I photographed every door or drawer knob, handle, or latch I touched from the time I awoke on Thursday, June 3rd. until I went to bed on Friday, June 4th.” —Doors I Touched Today (Fluxus) Similar:The daughter (giving the piggyback ride in pic 2) doing a thing that starts tomorrow. Tribune ReviewAmusingCarolyn Gombell Is Not…
“No wonder so much poetry boils down to whining over the inadequacy and immorality of the poet’s little world. No wonder that poets, when they do move at all, head right for the handiest anodyne, whether it’s cheap whisky or pop-Buddhism.” Robert Bové —Do Poets Matter? (The Texas Mercury) Similar:Chipping away at Pygmalion and GalateaPygmalion…
“The Information Age was dealt a stunning blow Monday, when a factual error was discovered on the Internet. The error was found on TedsUltimateBradyBunch.com, a Brady Bunch fan site that incorrectly listed the show’s debut year as 1968, not 1969.” —Factual Error Found on Internet (The Onion) Similar:Boston bombings: Social media spirals out of controlA…
More evidence of the collapse of civilization as we know it: a website offering instructions for making a pink-fur-trimmed “Hello Kitty” laptop. Similar:Twitter suspends Trump's accountTwitter suspended Donald Trump’s account…Current_Events15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look SillyBeautiful synergy of word and image. Pro…AestheticsWindows 3.1 Turns 30: Here’s How It Made Windows EssentialAfter watching all the…
“Last week’s column about the death of my son Chase from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome set off something of a chain reaction across the Net… by the time I awoke on Thursday, words of support were already in from readers in Japan, Australia, India, and Kuwait.” Robert X. Cringely —Is That a Supercomputer in Your…
“Whereas poetry uses highly-charged combinations of words, equations are the most succinct descriptions of the aspect of reality they describe. Dirac’s most famous poem enabled him successfully to predict the existence of antimatter…” Graham Farmelo —Physics + Dirac = poetry (Guardian) Similar:A masked, socially distant museum visit. So nice to get away from syllabuses and…
Have you ever been watching a movie, with sumptuous re-creations of period costumes, hair, and furniture — only to be annoyed by the anachronistic appearance of a modern typeface? No? Me neither, but Mark Simonson has. —Typecasting Similar:Amazing McDonald's "Maestro Burger" CommercialJaw-dropping. So creative and joyful. …AestheticsApple’s new diverse emoji are even more problematic than…
“I can’t change the laws of physics!” [44k wav] says a distraught Scotty in a classic Star Trek episode. But researchers have found evidence that suggests that the value of a fundamental “constant” has changed since the universe was young. —Laws of Physics “May Change” (BBC) Similar:How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a…
(Guardian): Treating earache: 2000BC: Here, eat this root. 1000AD: That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer. 1850AD: Prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion. 1940AD: That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill. 1985AD: That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic. 2000AD: That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root. —Alternative Medicine…
With a popcorn plot engineered to appeal to sci-fi fans, Portal is an “interactive novel” published in 1986, and now available online as freeware. Rob Swiggart —Portal: A Dataspace Retrieval Similar:Shakespeare’s Choose-Your-Own AdventureIf meeting three strange ladies in the s…AmusingMLA-Style Bibliography Builder– updated to handle web sources Choose…AcademiaHeadlines matter. Were they migrants, people who happened…
A confusing name for an amusing medieval personality test. What kind of vocation would have suited you back in ye olde days? —KingdomalityCareer Management International) Similar:8yo who found 1500-year-old artifact in a lake: “I had to give the sword to the local muse… I was crawling along the bottom of the…AmusingStem subject snobbery: a student’s…
Why choose Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party” as a subject for poetry? Stewart Conn says “The painting chose me.” —Luncheon of the Boating Party Similar:The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow: Icelandic bromance, with weapons, secret panels, and…I try to read to my kids for an hour eve…BooksShakespeare portrait said to be only…
“Some weblogs wither once the first flush of enthusiasm passes, while others go from strength to strength, attracting contributions and feedback from experts and interested Internet surfers.” Laurel A. Clyde —Weblogs and Blogging (FreePint) One of her examples looks very familiar… Similar:Twitterverse, are we grieving over coder droves now leaving? AmusingWhen the Reporter Becomes Part…
Do you remember learning that black moths gained an evolutionary advantage in soot-covered woods? “Once it had been cited enough times, it became an irrefutable article of faith. Hooper’s meticulous research provides a fascinating insight into the fallibility of scientists – after all, as she points out, they are only human.” —Darwinism in a FlutterGuardian)…
(NY Times): “At its best, the Internet can educate more people faster than any media tool we’ve ever had. At its worst, it can make people dumber faster than any media tool we’ve ever had.” Thomas L. Friedman —Global Village Idiocy Similar:Who cares about hyphens, commas and capital letters? You should.You’re a busy editor, fighting…
“Instead of a link… put a search box on your home page.” (UseIT.com) I e-mailed web guru Jakob Nielsen on 13 March 2000, telling him that 6 out of 6 college freshman couldn’t find the “search” feature on his website. I wrote: “I think it might help if, instead of a link, you actually put…