“Much web design has suffered from an over reliance on graphic design principles. Too many graphic designers have tried to force the Web to be what it is not…” —Information Architecture vs. Graphic Design (New Thinking) Similar:Tolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern surveillance best?Interesting set of observations explorin…CultureThe Quality of Life (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season…
“My cookies, cakes, and brownies are always the highlight of our church bake sales, and everyone says so,” said parishioner Connie Barrett, 49, openly committing the sin of pride. —All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake SaleSatire from The Onion) Similar:Yep, it's time to read student papers on Flannery O'Connor.AcademiaThis makes a lot of…
“From Oklahoma City to New York, we’ve turned violent human loss into epic narratives of suffering and patriotism. Does this help people heal or hurt them?” —Trauma Culture (Salon) Similar:Pitching a Magazine Article: Resources for Beginning Freelance WritersJerz > Writing >&nb…BooksStar Wars: The Last Jedi abuse blamed on Russian trolls and 'political agendas'More than half of the hostile…
An informal 1998 survey by John Rhodes yielded the following advice: create your content first, then design your website; keep your design simple; use proper grammar. —How to Gain the Trust of Your UsersWebWord) Similar:In major step, UCSF scientists translate unspoken words of paralyzed man into writingThe “neuroprosthetic” technology involve…AwesomeWhen T.S. Eliot Invented the Hipster …
“For a game that is so unfair, stylistically inconsistent, and frustrating, it has been tremendously influential. This was the first of its kind — using words to create a rich simulated world. Nobody had seen anything like it; it spread quickly across the Internet.” Dennis G. Jerz [Recently updated.] —Colossal Cave Adventure Similar:How iPhone Apps…
—All Your Usenet Are Belong to Wesley Crusher Similar:Darmok (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 2) Picard of the Federation, His Metapho…Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…CultureBehind the bar in the officers' pub, from the #steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my…AestheticsThe Outrageous Okona (TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 4)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next…
Google has extended its history of newsgroup postings all the way back to 1981. “Most who posted to Usenet back in its glory days were probably unaware that they were creating an archive documenting the most significant moments of the late 20th century.” —Google’s Gaggle of Discussions (Wired) Similar:The Real Reason Why You Can't WriteHave…
How many Internet memes can you cram into one weblog posting? —All Your Wesley Crusher Are Belong to Taliban Similar:“Let It Go,” Idina Menzel’s Frozen ballad: It sends the wrong message.This author is probably overthinking thi…CultureDozens of Plagiarism Incidents Are Reported in Coursera's Free Online Courses”If we really are trying to teach the wo…AcademiaAxios journalism…
“If the poet’s own performance is too perfect—if she seems to get every bit of substance out of the poem—then maybe she didn’t put enough in to begin with.” Adam Hirsch —Hearing Aid : Sometimes poetry should be seen but not heard (Slate) Similar:Woman Yelling at Cat About Academic Argument: an evidence-based defense of a…
“The World Trade Center attack inspired a lot of Web-publishing of independent, personal accounts.” What can weblogs and online diaries teach us about online journalism? —What does Sept 11 teach us about online journalism? (TheMorningNews.org) Similar:Truth Trumps BiasTrump offers plenty of opportunities for…Current_Events'New York Times' considers legal action against OpenAI as copyright tensions swirlBe careful…
Uh… no. That already is college.com. —“This will be college.com. Contact us.” Similar:Out of the Zuckersphere, (back) into the BlogosphereThis is why I still blog. While commerci…AcademiaCapitalists Tell Facebook They've Had EnoughIt started as a murmur of dissent, but o…BusinessNo one’s ready for this: Our basic assumptions about photos capturing reality are about to… Everyone…
A medical student was scanning the dense prose on the copyright page of his textbook, when he read the word, “congratulations”. He now owns a ’65 Thunderbird. —Read Your Textbooks! (Boston Globe) Similar:Virtual debates about homelessness in Sim City hold up a mirror to real lifeBack in 2009, the story of Alice and Kev…BooksWhat’s Wrong…
“Why bother to code a clever and long-lived virus when a stupid one that spreads for an hour or two gets just as much attention from antiviral experts and the media?” (Uh-oh! An anti-virus company’s marketing flack warns that Goner is coming back! Better pay big bucks to the anti-virus companies, to protect you from clicking…
“Sitting by the window of his study on a summer day in the early 1930s, a thin-faced Oxford professor let his mind wander from correcting papers and into a world that would become Middle-earth.” Pamela S. Turner —Visit the Birthplace of Middle-Earth (CSM) Similar:Rhinoceros in Love (World Drama — China, 1999)The blurb for a 2011…
A flashback to the Silicon Valley excesses of 1998, before the bubble burst: “There are headhunters who handle only Cobol programmers from Singapore, and headhunters who specialize in luring toy-company executives, and, I’ve recently learned, a headhunting firm that helps other headhunting firms hunt for headhunters.” Po Bronson —Is the Revolution Over?Wired) Similar:I didn't ask…
Wil Wheaton, the actor whose Star Trek character inspired the newsgroup alt.ensign.wesley.die.die.die, has long been geekdom’s favorite whipping boy. “But now, thanks to a self-coded, shamelessly dorky website, many of the same folks who loathed Wheaton on the show are finding out he’s a whole lot like them in real life.” —Wheaton’s Trek to Respectability…
Wild America – a short story by Jayne Loader. Welcome to Wild America! Do you need instructions? YES You are living in the richest kingdom in the world, where others have found fame and fortune, though it is rumored that some who enter here are never heard from again. Where would you like to begin…
(short story by E.M. Forster, 1909) I want to see you not through the Machine,” said Kuno. “I want to speak to you not through the wearisome Machine.” “Oh, hush!” said his mother, vaguely shocked. “You mustn’t say anything against the Machine.” “Why not?” “One mustn’t.” —The Machine Stops Similar:The Transformation…
“In a study of readers who read either a simulated literary hypertext or the same text in linear form, we found a range of significant differences: these suggest that hypertext discourages the absorbed and reflective mode that characterizes literary reading.” (Miall and Dobson) —Reading Hypertext and the Experience of Literature (Journal of Digital Information) Similar:14…
English studies after Sept 11: What’s the point? “The theoretical models that have dominated English and the related disciplines in the last two decades are especially effective tools (along with the institutional factors that have always existed) for creating demoralization.” Lisa Ruddick —The Near Enemy of the Humanities is Professionalism (Chronicle) Similar:The Hidden Benefits Of…