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:First page of a student’s Texture project. (This made me laugh.) This clever freshman writing student…AcademiaTwo classic novels returning to Accomack schools following…
: "No more blog blog blog!" — line not quite spoken by Captain Kirk ("Miri," Star Trek). —William Shatner’s Weblog Similar:A Merry Look at Journalism in "The Year Without a Santa Claus" AmusingCrossfire #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 13) Odo's feelings for Kira complicate…Rewatching ST:DS9 Odo meticulously ar…EthicsThe Adversary #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season…
"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:ifMUD IF discussion | Emily Short's Interactive StorytellingEmily Short on the limitations…
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:‘Twelfth Night’…
(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:Star Wars' Original, Scum-Caked BrillianceThe B-movie shoddiness of actors and aes…AestheticsHighlighters and Intellectual Growth in CollegeTucked away in this…
: 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:Fences ( #AugustWilson #CenturyCycle, 6 of 10)August Wilson’s Century Cycle > …Books5 of the Fiercest One-Liners in…
"…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:"Wolf!", cried…
My student Matt Hoy sent me this link. Thanks, Matt! —Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog Similar:The belief that if people only were better educated, they'd engage A few hours after the horrifyi…AcademiaThe dangers of 'character education' in universitiesAs the authors depressingly note, “the U…AcademiaComputers and Writing workshop on Inform 7. (Happening now. In an asynchronous way.)https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8nP…AcademiaConfuse…
(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:Having a rough day. But in a span of about 24 hours, three former students reached out to …One former student…
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:Girl Moved To Tears By Of Mice And Men Cliffs NotesIn what she described as “the most emoti…AcademiaPublic, Private, Political: Social Theories and…
“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:Do television and electronic games predict children’s psychosocial adjustment?Wow……
“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:A Dance Mom Gets Schooled by a Ballet Mistress Who Can WriteAvoid trying to publicly shame a ballet …ArtMedia Bias Chart (Ad Fontes, v. 9)Objective news reporting…
"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:The Booming Japanese Rent-a-Friend BusinessWe had a case recently where a dying man…BusinessThe science of…
“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:The Duolingo owl has been judging my German…
“…I think the wonder of our aesthetic or religious sense, or musicality, is increased by the fact that it depends on three pounds of jelly in our head.” —Interview with Oliver Sacks (neurologist and novelist) Similar:Accession #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 17) Sisko rethinks his role as Emissar…Rewatching ST:DS9 Bashir reluctantly …AestheticsBlondes 'to die…
“I was eight years old when my parents bought these for me, and I can still remember those chewy little peanut butter sticks more vividly than almost anything else from my childhood. I’ve wanted more of them for three decades!” —Space Food Sticks Similar:The Ongoing Obsession with Shakespeare’s True IdentityI’ve never been all too keen…
Kathleen, I wanted to do this in this most potentially embarassing way possible, and I figured doing it here and now, in front of a quarter of a million strangers was as good a way as any. CmdrTaco —Geek in Love (Slashdot) Similar:Post Gazette Corrects Headline of Seton Hill iPad FollowupEveryone makes mistakes. As a…
A short series of philosophical exercises, in a futuristic setting, which asks you to evaluate different definitions of personal identity. (Do you step into a spacecraft that has a 50% chance of killing you, or have your whole body scanned, destroyed, and re-constructed somewhere else three minutes later?) At the end, your choices are analyzed.…