“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:New Graphic for MLA Style Paper HandoutThe other day, I noticed that if you Goo…AcademiaAnother delightful section of #steampunk control…
“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:That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has…
“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:Why No One Clicked on the Great Hypertext…
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:Seton Hill University advertises for “Social & Digital Content Manager”The Social & Digital Content Manager…AcademiaNASA Releases New Earthrise ImageNASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO…AestheticsMore #steampunk #neovictorian goodness. Bring the wood polish. #design #aesthetics #blende… AestheticsI ditched…
“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:Obamacare's broken website cost more than LinkedIn, Spotify combinedMuch of the criticism of Healthcare.gov…
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:Reading Game/Text: EverQuest, Alienation, and Digital Communitiesthough Limbaugh is wrong to decide that …CybercultureAssassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand…
“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:NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as 'state-affiliated…
(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:Annoyed and Bored by Lazy Anachronisms in The Great Gatsby MovieI just watched the recent Great Gatsby m…AestheticsOscar Wilde and the Importance of Being Earnest…
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:Netflix’s ‘The Piano Lesson’ adaptation breaks cycle by not filming in PittsburghVery glad to see another of August Wilso…BusinessI just found an abandoned blog draft, dated 2011, on economics in…
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:Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Minecraft Stylehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti…AestheticsBeowimp (spoof I wrote for my high school lit magazine c. 1985)I got an email this morning from someone…AmusingThey called it a "flashlight" because early handheld…
“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:Journalism In The Service of Democracy: A Summit Of Deans, Faculty, Students And Journalis…This…
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:Leftovers from the food my colleagues brought in to bribe/reward those few students who…
“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…
(UseIT.com) : “A company’s homepage is its face to the world and the starting point for most user visits. Improving your homepage multiplies the entire website’s business value, so following key guidelines for homepage usability is well worth the investment.” Jakob Nielsen —Home Page Usability Guidelines Similar:Life in Code and Software (Open Humanities Press)This book…
“All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.” — Abraham Lincoln —Tribute to Mothers Similar:Why Computers Will Never Write Good Novels If it were possible to build a digit…Books31 Undeniable Truths That Journalism Majors Can All Agree OnBecause you know you have the chance to …AcademiaLet's face it,…
“FACT: A 1987 survey found that Canadians have the worst handwriting in the whole world. They also frequently misspell the word ‘sauce.’” —The Truth about Canada Similar:Doctor Bashir, I Presume #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 16) Smarmy hologram des…Rewatching ST:DS9 Quark watches with …AmusingLocal News in a Digital AgeLocal TV news is the…