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:That "Top 5" countdown listicle stuffs 5 pages of runners-up between #2 and #1.Relaxing in bed on the first Sunday morn…BusinessI am shocked — SHOCKED — to find that TV journalism is…

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:The Nightingale (WAOB Audio…

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:The Visitor #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 3) Old Jake Reflects on the life-cha…Rewatching ST:DS9 On a…

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:Royalty: For the Irish, it’s like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and, also, y…When I lived in Canada, I had friends wh…AmusingKorean News Station Pokes Fun at…

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:Destiny (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 15)…

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:“Your resume is…

Point and Think

The genius of Web sites for accommodating multiple points of view is nowhere better illustrated than in the recent on-line craze for public diaries, or “blogs.” The term is a shortening of Weblog – and also the name of the easy-to-use technology available at www.blogger.com: “Push-Button Publishing for the People.” Jeff Warren —Point and Think…

It's been six months since

September 11, 2001.It’s been six months since Similar:"Wolf!", cried the shepherd boy. (The whole thread is worth reading.) https://twitter.com/CT_Bergstrom/statu…CultureThank you, anonymous donor of Mardi Gras candy.Okay, on closer inspection I see the red…AestheticsWhat is a COVID-19 compliance supervisor? What to know about Hollywood's newest jobIn the wake of the pandemic, the enterta…BusinessSeton Hill graduates its…

He Hacks by Day, Squats by Night

If they throw this renegade hacker hero in jail, it’ll be the first time he’s had a steady place to stay in five years. —He Hacks by Day, Squats by Night (Wired) Similar:Google Trends: blog, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook (2004-2012)I rather expected this — popularity of …Current_EventsItalian journalist to be beatified for helping Jews escape persecutionJournalist…

William Shatner's Weblog

: "No more blog blog blog!" — line not quite spoken by Captain Kirk ("Miri," Star Trek).  —William Shatner’s Weblog Similar:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Coloring PagesOver the past few weeks, I spent several…ArtMy Review of the Charlottesville Tryout of "A Few Good Men" 30 Years AgoA librarian at the University of Virgini…CultureThe American Scholar:…

The re-vision thing: Why are contemporary biographers and historians so afraid of footnotes?

"Not telling someone where you got your information from is a kind of power stroke, effectively sealing your book off from any possible scrutiny, debate or challenge." Kathryn Hughes —The re-vision thing: Why are contemporary biographers and historians so afraid of footnotes? (Guardian) Similar:The Hidden Subversive Messages of [MGM's Screen Adaptation of] The Wizard of…

Ancient Domesday Book Outlives Electronic Version

In 1085, William the Conqueror commissioned the Domesday Book. In 1986, the BBC spent £2.5 million to create an electronic version. While William’s original is still in fine shape, there are no computers capable of reading the laser discs on which the BBC version was published. —Ancient Domesday Book Outlives Electronic Versionb> (Ananova) Similar:Harvard revokes…

Cheap PCs will doom Microsoft

(ZDNet) "The only way to explain Microsoft’s decisions over the past couple of years is to say that they know their packaged software business is doomed," says open-source advocate Eric Raymond. —Cheap PCs will doom Microsoft Similar:Robot competition requires science, innovation and teamworkEarly tomorrow my son and I will be carp…EducationTies of Blood and Water…