“…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:Pen Pals (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 15) Data Hears a WhoRewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…EmpathyListening to the Text:…
“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:If you like bloody, singing, punning demons you will love this show.If…
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:One Man's Mission To Keep AOL's Legacy Alive”Hi. I’m Jason Scott, and I…
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.…
“I have lost all touch with reality, and only live to comment on the comments that other bloggers have made in reference to my notes about their comments. Is anybody out there?” —Blog ad Nauseam (The Weekly Standard) Similar:Gender and Language — Revisiting Advice I Posted in 1998When I was in college and active in…
“It may sound far-fetched, but a U.S. federal court will hear preliminary arguments next week to determine if this most elemental of Internet activities is the business property of a lone company, protected in the form of a patent.” —British Company Claims Patent on Hyperlinks (Wired) Similar:Joe Biden gives the media a desperately needed lesson…
What’s it like interviewing college students at job fairs? "What a snooze. By the sixth interview of the day I vow that I’ll hire anyone who can make me remember their name, and I’ll sign over my 401(k) to any candidate who can make me laugh." Erin Cronin —Honesty, Shining Throughb> (WashPost) Similar:Writing for the…
(Word Circuits): Hypertext poetry by Stephanie Strickland —The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot Similar:One Man's Mission To Keep AOL's Legacy Alive”Hi. I’m Jason Scott, and I am trying to…CybercultureSocrates envisaged a time when we would forget how to remember.From Daisy Dunn’s review of Puchner’s Th…BooksDaughter Carolyn plays Cherry in Prime Stage's production of The…
"Calling the theological giant’s stranglehold on the religion industry ‘blatantly anti-competitive,’ a U.S. district judge ruled Monday that God is in violation of anti-monopoly laws and ordered Him to be broken up into several less powerful deities." —Judge Orders God to Break Up into Smaller Deitiesb> (TheOnion) Similar:Liberals and conservatives dislike reading opposing viewsMost research…
"Write simply. Keep headings, summaries, sentences, paragraphs and documents short. Get to the point. Then stop." Gerry McGovern —The Need for Simple English on the Web Similar:Courage Wolf: Write "Could Of" or "Would Of." I Dare You.AmusingJournalism: Muzzle your biases. Seek out diverse but credible sources. You’ll be criticize…AcademiaHe Googles for some random memes to…
"Poor sad Mac, born in a plastic age. / A time when the world still thought in beige. / Crafted and molded just like a piece of art. / An orphan, abandoned. It’s enough to break your heart." [Which column would you put this one in? Sometimes I wonder why I continue to split my…
Kaycee Nicole, an attractive student dying from leukemia, shared her ordeal via on online diary. Her mother started a companion diary. Web surfers became close friends with this family through email, chatroom, and even phone conversations. The New York Times even quoted Kaycee about college life. When she finally died, her online friends grieved like…
Yahoo recently ran a story about a man suffocated by a stripper’s breasts… but it was a hoax first published in a tabloid. You may have heard recent reports about the airliner passenger stuck to a toilet seat. (MSNBC, BBC, CNN) Note that no names or dates are given. It’s a hoax. (Unless it’s a…
What is life like for a person who has trouble recognizing human faces? —Face-blindness Similar:DeSantis-backed bill would make it easier to sue news mediaAmerican law protects the free speech an…CultureThe Blood and the BlameMoments after Donald Trump was…CultureBrain, InterruptedIn most situations, the person juggling …AcademiaMedia Bias Chart version 10 — Left / Center / Right; Fact…
"[T]he search and directory firms have put their futures in question by flouting time-tested business practices that require an absolutely clear separation between editorial content and advertising." Hal Plotkin —Doom Ahead for Search Engines That Charge (SF Gate) Similar:The Current War (Quantum Theatre Musical)Waiting for The Current War to start. I …AwesomeBlue Feed, Red FeedFacebook…
When congressional Web sites are good, they’re really good. But most aren’t, says a nonprofit group that rated more than 600 of them. —Congressional Web Sites: Not So GoodCNN) Similar:Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksWhy the Internet Isn’t Fun AnymoreI used to spend time in class teaching s…BusinessWe…
found after 165 years. The watercolors were prototypes for engravings that the impoverished poet hoped would pay his bills. (Daily Telegraph) —Watercolors by William Blake Similar:Students tend to zone out during my lectures on proofreading. I time it so I can say “clas…AcademiaShakespeare on EclipsesPrepping for tomorrow’s first meeting of…AcademiaReading Literature on Screen: A Price…
, creator of Pippi Longstocking, dies at 94. (Guardian) —Astrid Lindgren Similar:I should be writing my "Fake News" paper for this weekend's "Computers and Writing." Inste…Could the absurd examples of bizarre pub…AcademiaFrom The 'London Times' of 1904A Mark Twain short story, written in 189…CybercultureSnow White: The Musical Opens Fridayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiIRCoHoN…AestheticsJustin Bieber and the Beatles: They both…
“The Web has decentralized the control of ideas, as A&LD proves. A few years ago the exchange of opinions and theories had to be managed by people living in great metropolitan centres, the intellectual world’s version of imperialism. But with the Web it can be done anywhere.” Robert Fulford —I Want my Arts & Letters…
"Don’t let anyone tell you that as a programmer you don’t have to make moral or ethical decisions. Every time you decide that making users feel stupid is better than fixing your code, you’re making an ethical decision." —Programmers Make Ethical DecisionsJoel on Software) Similar:Snap's share price sinks, trades just above IPO priceNASDAQ.com throws shade…