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:Rare Philadelphia win – for a Whig! For the first time in 159…
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:Because words matter, old sport.AcademiaOrson Scott Card Builds an EmpireVideo games are a viable storytelling me…CybercultureMy 20-year-old…
“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:Saturday morning cartoons are no moreI certainly have fond…
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:LLM error rates …
(Word Circuits): Hypertext poetry by Stephanie Strickland —The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot Similar:Facebook does not care about truth. Facebook wants to sell your attention to the highest b… Don’t trust your Facebook feed…BusinessYou are in a book. There is a typo here.Sigh. Critical Path – Dan Amrich …BooksFCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules For…
"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:Pope calls Argentine kiosk owner to cancel paper…
"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:Pen Pals (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 15) Data Hears a WhoRewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…EmpathyTime Might Only Exist in Your Head. And Everyone Else'sTired brain can’t quite…
"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:My 4Cs StoryI chaired a session on Friday, and gave …AcademiaIn defense of the Selfie StickI’m sure there are hipsters, even now, l…AmusingThe Day I Stopped Saying ‘Hurry Up’Adorable photos help tell this story abo…CultureHow Different Cultures Understand TimeBusiness Insider…
"[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:Hear That? It’s Your Voice Being Taken for Profit.Why do tech companies give us these cool…BusinessFacebook will…
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:In major step, UCSF scientists translate unspoken words of paralyzed man into writingThe “neuroprosthetic” technology involve…AwesomeThe bots are coming. And they have poems. Yet in a…
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:All the 'Happy Birthday' song copyright claims are invalid, federal judge rules In a stunning reversal of decades of c…BusinessT. S. Eliot and his Jellicle CatsLike Caryn Thurman, I came…
, creator of Pippi Longstocking, dies at 94. (Guardian) —Astrid Lindgren Similar:The Gift of the Magi (by O. Henry; read by Dennis Jerz; We Are One Body Audio Theatre)I recorded this oral interpretation of a…CultureA ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ Lesson for the Digital AgeIf we were surprised Tuesday night, it w…CultureMy brother set my parents up…
“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:14 Machines That Were Brilliant in 1985I used something very similar…
(CLA) is a fellowship of individuals who share experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem with clutter and help others recover. The only requirement for membership is a desire to eliminate clutter and bring order into our lives. (via Remarked Bookmarks) —Clutterers Anonymous Ironic: when I was an…
The Space Shuttle’s Solid Rocket Booster problem began with the faulty design of its joint and increased as both NASA and contractor management first failed to recognize it as a problem, then failed to fix it and finally treated it as an acceptable flight risk.” —An Accident Rooted in HistoryNASA) 28 January, 1986. My senior…