Preparing for the Coming Era of Participatory News

"Storytellers – specialists in the art of conveying human emotions — rule this future. And in this future, everyone is a storyteller. Everyone creates the collective experience. Everyone creates the collective intelligence." Dale Peskin —Preparing for the Coming Era of Participatory News (Online Journalism Review) Similar:Deadline seems to have briefly published, then taken down, story…

Worst Manual Contest

“The instructions in this manual explain more about how to get fired than about how to succeed at work…. For instance, employees are asked to follow ‘rules’ that include stealing, disobedience, and excessive absenteeism (or should they have been termed ‘actions that may result in termination’?).” (Suggested by Jason Amdor.) —Worst Manual Contest (Technical Standards,…

100 Best Fictional Characters since 1900

(NPR) —100 Best Fictional Characters since 1900 Similar:PICT Classic Theatre brings The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll to the airwavesI’m proud of the daughter for her involv…CultureBuzz Aldrin: It’s Time to Put a Man on Mars There are eight U.S. astronauts left o…CultureAn interesting analysis of Trump's rhetorical strategy.In the Washington Post, Greg Sargent ana…CultureWhy…

Don't talk on the phone while driving.

2-year-old Morgan was broad-sided by a man who admitted he was distracted by his cell phone. Morgan was killed; the guy on the phone got a $50 fine and 2 tickets. —Don’t talk on the phone while driving. Similar:We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now | History & Archaeology”Hear my…

Merchants of Cool

(PBS)  A report on the creators and marketers of popular culture for teenagers (teens talk back). —Merchants of Cool Similar:Truth Trumps BiasTrump offers plenty of opportunities for…Current_EventsGIFs, memes and liveblogs: The controversial new language of book reviewingSalon has an interesting essay on multim…AestheticsTwo classic novels returning to Accomack schools following voteAccomack County Public Schools announced…BooksThe…

Digital Divide Basics

There has always been a gap between those people and communities who can make effective use of information technology and those who cannot. Now, more than ever, unequal adoption of technology excludes many from reaping the fruits of the economy. —Digital Divide Basics Similar:Invasive Procedures (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 4) A disgruntled Trill…

Debunking the Digital Divide

It may turn out that the “digital divide”—one of the most fashionable political slogans of recent years—is largely fiction. —Debunking the Digital Divide Similar:What About “The Breakfast Club”?I made three movies with John Hughes; wh…CultureHippocratic Oath #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 4) Bashir and O'Brien disagree …Rewatching ST:DS9 Worf grumbles to Ki…BooksWhat if the…

Gettysburg Address on PowerPoint

"After one too many bad presentations, I decided to see if I could do something about it. Back in my hotel room I decided to show what Abe Lincoln might have done if he had used PowerPoint rather than the power of oratory at Gettysburg." Peter Norvig —Gettysburg Address on PowerPoint Similar:How The Ballpoint Pen…

The Social Life of Paper

“Computer technology was supposed to replace paper. But that hasn’t happened. Every country in the Western world uses more paper today, on a per-capita basis, than it did ten years ago.” —The Social Life of PaperNew Yorker) Similar:Public, Private, Political: Social Theories and Blogging PracticesPublic, Private, Political: Social Theor…AcademiaI MacGyvered myself a heat sinkI’m getting…

Interactive Fiction Online Gallery

I have a small collection of text-based computer games that you can play via a web browser.  These online versions won’t let you save and restore games, but they ought to get you started. —Interactive Fiction Online Gallery Similar:How’s newsgathering during COVID-19 at the state level? Depends on the governor.Journalists covering state responses to …CultureThe…

Star Trek Chaplains?

The first space colonists will probably take their faiths to the stars. The reference to “Star Trek” in the title of the article is cute, but Star Trek: The Next Generation was almost universally hostile to religious concepts (except when aliens presented them, that is). The more recent TV show Bablylon 5, although created by…

Bush's Orwellian Address

A progressive critique of Bush’s response to the 9-11 attacks, interpreting Bush in terms of George Orwell’s bleak totalitarian novel 1984:  "1984 has arrived. In his address to Congress Thursday, George Bush effectively declared permanent war — war without temporal or geographic limits; war without clear goals; war against a vaguely defined and constantly shifting…

You might have a Ph.D. if…

“‘Nigerian Money Offers’ zoomed from the seventh to the third most common type of online fraud last year, and the reason is obvious. In days gone by, the scammers had to canvass potential victims one at a time by fax and snail mail; now they have the speed, cost-effectiveness and anonymity of the Internet at…

The Last Words

"Asked by the firing squad commander if he had a last request, James Roges said, ‘Why yes. A bullet-proof vest!‘" Christopher Orlet —The Last Words (Vocabula Review) Similar:A Box With A Hidden Video Camera Documents Journey Through The MailAs a big fan of Richard Scary, I really …AmusingThe joy of text – the fall and…

Girls Read Twice as Much as Boys

The survey, published by an organization promoting "World Book Day," probably does not count time spent in chat rooms, reading web pages as "reading", but the news item does not raise that issue. Related question: has feminism harmed boys? —Girls Read Twice as Much as Boys (BBC) Similar:A Video Game About Changing What Happens In…

The Company Therapist

A "collaborative hyperdrama" purports to be the archives of a young psychiatrist offering his services to the employees of a dot-com.  "Through transcripts of therapy sessions, patient diaries and logs, doodles, personnel records, telephone conversations, and other written and graphical materials, the Company Therapist is designed to allow a deep exploration of its characters and…

Fine-Tuned: An Auto-mated Romance

Fine-Tuned is a free, text-based game, playable in many formats. From a review by Adam Cadre: “Not only has the author created an absolutely wonderful world, full of ‘anti-autoists,’ roving herds of goats, and fist-shaking train engineers, but it dares — and manages to pull off — a number of pieces of participatory comedy, which…

Accidental Genius

"In 1044, a Chinese manual on producing gunpowder-based weapons included cannons, bombs for lobbing at invaders, two-stage rockets, and land mines." Chinese researchers stumbled across the formula for gunpowder while researching what they called the "immortality pill".  What forces control the way inventions end up being used? Mark Robinson —Accidental Geniusb> (Wired) Similar:Can AI write…