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…
"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:The Better Angels…
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…
September 11, 2001.It’s been six months since Similar:Italian journalist to be beatified for helping Jews escape persecutionJournalist who helped saved Jews from Ho…Current_EventsDon't Give Apple Too Much Credit for Bowing to Taylor SwiftApple is skilled at attracting praise. O…BusinessBP Lawyers Cheat by Adjusting Line Spacing in a Legal Brief U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier…BusinessBBC News…
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:Why You Should Blog to Get Your Next Job It’s your resume, only better: E…BusinessMonsters are People Too Study used D & D…
: "No more blog blog blog!" — line not quite spoken by Captain Kirk ("Miri," Star Trek). —William Shatner’s Weblog Similar:And the People of the Book of Face Were Deceived “And I looked up and saw a sign, and…AestheticsCharlie Brown has his kite-eating tree. I have my keys-eating chair. #foundthem PersonalEmotional Intelligence Needs a RewriteI’ve recently…
"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:Microsoft's Bing AI Now Threatening Users Who Provoke It: "If I had…
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:How to…
(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:Swiss cheese metaphor for fighting the pandemic: "Multiple Layers Improve Success"The anti-maskers are right when they say…CultureFYI, 13yo skool…
: Plants are psychic. The Russians are interfering with the weather. An early USENET conspiracy theorist from UWEC was once responsible for generating nearly 90% of Internet news traffic. —Robert E. McElwaine from the UWEC is an "Internet Legend" Similar:Donald Trump Is a Broken Man (Assessment by Speechwriter for Reagan and both Bushes)Powerful assessment of…
"…in the past three months, the pent-up thirst for knowledge and modern skills has transformed the capital. Dozens of storefront language and computer skills centers have sprung up, and last week several thousand young people showed up to take entrance exams at the newly revived university." —With War Over, Afghans Battle Ignorance (WashPost) Similar:Mizzou professor…
My student Matt Hoy sent me this link. Thanks, Matt! —Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog Similar:As a plucky grad student, I walked in the door ready to negotiate with a department that n…I think enough time has passed that I ca…AcademiaThe woman yelling at a cat is probably not facilitating a nuanced, evidence-based intellec…AcademiaMy #AugustWilson #Steampunk…
(New Yorker) Manhattan treasure hunt: "Across the street, a writer for ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ and a crossword virtuoso named Ellen Ripstein are scrutinizing graffiti in a phone booth. Catercornered to them, the editor of the Wall Street Journal crossword is standing beside a professional palindromist who is riffling through a bin of…
"The history of teaching teems with machines that have jammed and stained. Who can forget that buried next to the ditto are the old-fashioned 8and 16-millimeter film projectors?" —Jamming Together: Remembering the Dittob> (Chronicle) Similar:Why typewriters beat computersThe BBC offers a pleasant bit of retroph…AestheticsWhat can you do with an English Major?AcademiaObamacare's broken website cost…
No, he was not squashed by a falling safe or run over by an Acme Indestructo Steel Ball. Jones created the Road Runner and Coyote cartons. Rules from that series: “No dialogue ever, except ‘beep beep.” “No outside force can harm the Coyote — only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products.”…
A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same backwards and forwards: "Madam, I’m Adam." Nick Montfort & William Gillsepie have written a whole palindrome story. —2002: A Palindrome Story Similar:Hanging with the rude mechanicals @setonhilluniversityA Midsummer Night’s Dream.CultureWithout ComPUNction: Doing verbal battle at the O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships. “It doesn’t have…
“The day I came home for Christmas vacation my parents and I were sitting in the kitchen, I looked at them and said, ‘I’m pregnant. Just kidding, I want to change my major.’” Jeanine Savageau —Changing Majors: Junior Realizes Journalism Isn’t for Her (UWEC Spectator; registration required) Similar:Unearthing a Long Ignored African Writing System, One Researcher…
“The year 2002. The 20th day of the 2nd month, 2002. And, on the 24-hour clock, at two minutes after 8 p.m., harmony. 2002.” —2002 2002 2002 (Toronto Star) Similar:iTunes 11: It’s time for Apple’s horrible, bloated program to die.At the head of the team is a grizzled ol…AmusingLife in Code and Software (Open Humanities Press)This…
"Traditional publishers… couldn’t understand his willingness to surrender his ‘authority’ over his own work by letting others participate. Nor could they understand his desire to ‘devalue’ his copyright by posting a whole book online." —A Footnote to E-book History (Wired) Similar:This history of video game graphics is a walk down memory laneBlogging this so I…
“Alongside the boom, however, there have recently been a few faint signs of backlash. As increasing hordes take on the task of trying to keep new sites looking nice, sounding original and free from banalities, more hordes just seem to fail.” —Blah, Blah, Blah and Blog (Wired) Similar:Facebook touts fight on fake news, but struggles…