“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:The Hidden Subversive Messages of [MGM's Screen Adaptation of] The Wizard of OzWhen I tried teaching The…
“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:Mars Curiosity rover sings 'Happy Birthday,' dares Earth to…
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:The internet’s memory…
(Word Circuits): Hypertext poetry by Stephanie Strickland —The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot Similar:Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Elizabethan TheaterSomewhere during my education I picked u…AcademiaR.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) Artistic Prosperity TrailerWe rehearsed and recorded a Zoom recordi…ArtThe Miller of the Dee; by James Baldwin; read by Dennis JerzI showed up at the recording…
"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:NBC's Chuck Todd takes aim at CNN”The big…
"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:Parallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesAdvising incoming majors.AcademiaThat's not an argument. (Yes it is.)I spent some time this afternoon sifting…AcademiaAppreciating the production values…
"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:Created a new graphic for an existing handout on writing editorials.The “lead editorial” represents the offi…EmpathyUnderstanding 9/11: A Television News ArchiveStunning collection of thousands of hour…CultureAdventure | T.M. CampGreat story of nerdiness and discovery a…Cyberculturecopyranter: New Milwaukee Public Library ads…
"[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:Ties of Blood and Water #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 19) Kira re-evaluates a …Rewatching ST:DS9…
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:R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) Full Play (via Zoom)All 3 acts and the epilogue to R.U.R. (R…BooksInto the depths of code. Algorithmic archaeologies and cave fantasies in…
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:Aging Gen-Xer Doesn't Find Bad Movies Funny Anymore”I got this cool tape off eBay containin…AmusingThe Skin of Our Teeth Panel Discussion (Seton Hill University, October 2021; Carolyn Jerz,…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k03kQ7Ot…AcademiaYou come very…
, creator of Pippi Longstocking, dies at 94. (Guardian) —Astrid Lindgren Similar:Edward Gorey illustrates H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, 1960 Edward Gorey illustrates H. G. Wells’s…AestheticsHow Common Core Testing Damaged High School English ClassesHelping my students understand how my ro…Academia“The Cowherd Who Became a Poet,” by James Baldwin. (Read by Dennis Jerz)Inspiration…
“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:I just dusted off a #textadventure project I started in Inform6…
(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…
The link above goes to the web version of a powerpoint presentation. Dennis G. Jerz —I Found it On the Internet: Teaching Students to Locate, Evaluate and Cite Online Sources Similar:The Booming Japanese Rent-a-Friend BusinessWe had a case recently where a dying man…BusinessCrying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship EverI’ve felt a bit…
"Most weblogs are drivel, banal sh*t written by angst-ridden teenagers and adults sharing feelings, thoughts, and mind-numbing details about their daily lives that provide little insight into anything or anyone. But the gems can be found amongst the long-since abandoned or forgotten sites." John M. Grohol —Psychology of Weblogs Similar:Civil Defense (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season…