“Coming very near the bottom of an official list of religions put out by the [U.K.] Statistics Office, Jedi Knight is known by the code 896. Heathen comes in at 897. Followed by Atheist at 898 and lastly None with 899.” Kieren McCarthy —Jedi Knights Achieve [Sort of] Official Recognition as Religion (The Register) Similar:Oedipus…
“[T]he Internet story has come to an end.” Reuters —Silicon Alley Reporter Magazine Closes (Wired) Similar:Remember That Class Assignment I Hated? The One That Landed Me My Dream Job?ME (a couple years ago): Okay, students….Academia14% of Americans [say that they] have changed their mind about an issue because of somethi…Young men are more than twice…
“a cybernetic process whereby people in power deepen their dominance by using online communication to negotiate for the consent of the subjugated.” Mike Dorsher —Hegemony Online (UWEC) Similar:Opinion: A deceptively edited video of Joe Biden signals what’s coming (Washington Post)Critical thinking skills and basic textu…AcademiaImpact of One-size-fits-all Web DesignI don’t particularly miss the splash lan…BusinessHe…
“The Argument: A dying human being is like an automated spacecraft leaving the Solar System and entering interstellar space. Do we leave this world and arrive at another world?” Poetry by Jonathon Vos Post —Valedictory on Software Similar:In November 2001 I was blogging aboutIn November 2001, I was blogging about …AmusingOver time, Google has made…
MIT will offer its courses online for free: “This ‘OpenCourseWare’ initiative represents a radically different approach to digitizing, marketing and globalizing education.” —Brave New World for Higher EducationTechnology Review) Similar:Teaching with iPads: Motivation, Inspiration and Alienation in the AppleverseHere are the slides for the half-day wor…AcademiaI was briefly excited that Turnitin.com's new app works in…
(CNet) :”Sometimes they were raw, sometimes they were pretentious and sometimes they were flat-out wrong–I’d dare say that many times it was all three combined!–but the information was fresh and real and unmediated by any intervening institutions.” Charles Cooper —When Blogging Came of Age Similar:Facebook’s Instant Articles restore subscription options they previously strippedThe ability to…
(SiliconValley.com) “Via e-mails, mailing lists, chat groups, personal Web journals and non-standard news sources, they received valuable context that the major American media couldn’t, or wouldn’t, provide.” Dan Gillmor —Webloggers Offer View Media Can’t Similar:You Can Smell Trump's FearLike all successful demagogues, Trump ha…CultureStarted Making a Journalism Game in TwineFor a long time, I’ve thought…
Of course, you can’t trust everything that you find on the Internet…. weblogs and e-mail chains are also responsible for spreading hoaxes: “Is it true, for instance, that Osama bin Laden profits directly from sales of gum arabic, a food additive? Or that radio DJs are forbidden to play more than 150 popular songs now?” …
“Every time he excuses his own refusal to observe the rules he dictates to everyone else on the grounds that he ‘knows his audience’, take one drink…. Every time he quotes statistics from an unrelated study to prove a point about Web usability, take one drink.” Jakob Nielsen Drinking Game Not that I’m condoning the…
“In which we take apart the news and put it back together all wrong.” A collection of short stories composed by re-arranging the words found in front-page news stories. Shelly Jackson —Front Page News Similar:In News, What’s Fake and What’s Real Can Depend on What You Want to Believe The proliferation of fake and hy…CultureSlash:…
Imagine 50 people getting together to write a 20,000-line epic poem, on time and on budget. Software programmers have an added constraint — it has to run! —Software Development as Community Poetry Writing Similar:Trying Out the Zaggmate Keyboard/Case for iPadI was at a meeting yesterday in our IT d…DesignCan you melt eggs? Quora’s AI says…
“These angry radicals who have now declared war on the West emerged from a movement we financed and armed. Then it turned against us.” LA Times —The Warnings Were on Page 1 Similar:The Scapegoat by Richard Maples (1957 Sci-Fi Short Story)I had a great time narrating and coming …Culture15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look…
From the user license for Microsoft FrontPage 2002: “You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services…” Ed Foster (I don’t have FP 2002, so I can’t check this. –DGJ) —A Punitive Puppeteer? Similar:Ethics (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 16) Leaky…
“The popular image of the computer hacker seems to be part compulsive programmer preferring the company of computers to people, and part criminal mastermind… But this is at best only half the story.” Gisle Hannemyr —Technology and Pleasure Similar:All the Classroom’s a StageSome good observations in this essay. As…AcademiaAn overnight traffic spike on an older…
“By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history’s unmarked grave of discarded lies.” George W. Bush —The President’s Speech Similar:Two…
, the captain gave an inspirational speech over the loudspeaker, and concluded: “Now, since we’re a family for the next few hours, I’ll ask you to turn to the person next to you, introduce yourself, tell them a little about yourself and ask them to do the same.” Wash Times —Aboard Flight 564 Similar:Listening to…
Many modern idioms are mechanical: “she has a screw loose,” or “he broke down crying”. Every culture has its in-jokes and specialized language. The Jargon File defines computing terms such as “404 compliant” and “kluge“. Similar:We Are the Product Facebook SellsFacebook does not care what Hobbit you a…BusinessReading fiction early in life is associated with…
“Ever since Stalin and the Nazis, reality has transcended fiction.” (BBC) —Playwright Arthur Miller on Terrorism Similar:No, you’re not going crazy – package sizes are shrinking It’s the inflation you’re not suppos…BusinessA Message from Hester Prynne (Student Video)Have I mentioned lately that I have awes…AcademiaConsciousness: Where Are Words?Words, words, words. With the advent of …CultureChatGPT…
‘‘Hello,’’ a man’s voice, not my husband’s, said. I had no idea whom I’d called, but I had finally gotten through to New York, to news. NYT Magazine —Talk to Me Similar:Clues (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 14) Data's faslehoods nonpluss and Pic…Rewatching ST:TNG After the crew blac…EmpathySondra's Garden: Butterfly Release Honors Dr. Lettrich…
“The freedom we have enjoyed in the states has been unusual in world history and may be becoming more unusual.” (BBC) —Novelist John Updike witnessed the WTC Attack Similar:In-home schooling popularity slipping across stateWe were on our way out the door to see A…CultureFathers' Day: Showing "The Princess Bride"My kids have never seen The Princess…