Surgeons who stay out late drinking suffer a noticeable decline in surgical performance the next morning, new research shows.” According to Reuters, the researchers were “quite surprised.” Similar:That Much-Despised Apple Ad Could Be More Disturbing Than It LooksApple has apologized, but like writer Pe…AestheticsWhere the press is free, and every man able to read, all…
“Who was Carolyn Keene, the pen name of the series author? It would take 50 years before fans found out that Keene was Mildred Wirt Benson, a gutsy, hard-working, fiercely independent journalist from Toledo, Ohio, with a penchant for adventure, both real and imagined.” —Creator of Teen Sleuth Nancy Drew Dies at 96 (Philadelphia Inquirer)…
Alex Golub notes that some weblogs are full of personal chatter, which reveals the personality of the ‘blogger. Other weblogs (like this one) are mostly links to outside sources. “Any choice between alternatives is by definition information. The more alternatives there are, the more information is signaled in the choice.” —Filtering as PersonhoodGolublog) Similar:World Trade…
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:Show, Don't (Just) Tell (another update)AcademiaIT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE…
“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:Writing School Papers: Does…
“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:A young father sold his beloved sports car for…
“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:How iPhone Apps Steal Your Contact Data and Why You Can't Stop ItNothing really new in this article, but …BusinessScratch…
“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:FYI, 13yo skool grl is nu…
“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:Death of the narrator? Apple unveils suite of…
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:A Brief Tour of the Digital Delights of the Folger Shakespeare LibraryBut luckily for you, one does not need t…CybercultureIn August, 2000 I was blogging about poetry, presidential wordplay, home-schooling, online…In August 2000,…
“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:Did you share Russian fake news? Facebook, apparently unable to insert items directly in…
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:20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don't GetI expect my English majors not to balk w…AcademiaBritish Politician begins reciting colonial-era Kipling…
“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:My 10yo Launches a Soda Bottle Rocket http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbNu8…AestheticsStudents Speak…
(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:Two computer screens aren't better than oneI turned off the extra screen on my desk…CybercultureThe facts evolve as we look into how our re-accommodation process…
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:Journalists dream of puns like this.Amusing‘It’s destroyed me completely’: Kenyan moderators decry toll of training of AI modelsOpenAI has already taken a toll on human…BusinessEssay on how much a professor…
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:If you like to play with words, good newsI wish there were a secret day between F…CultureMultimodal Composition: Every time a student submits a narrated PowerPoint, a puppy cries.AcademiaBob Dylan's…
“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:Requiem for the NewsroomWhen I worked at a radio news station in…CultureWhat If the…