Microsoft Word requires at least 30% more keystrokes and 100% more mouse moves to accomplish certain editing tasks than would an optimal word processor. Forbes —Bad Design Can Be Costly Similar:Despite its impressive output, generative AI doesn’t have a coherent understanding of the …[A] popular type of generative AI model&…CybercultureThe neglected history of videogames for…
“We are the Gist Generation. We have acquired a taste for hit-and-run, cut-and-paste knowledge. We expect a home page or e-mail correspondence to give us the gist and only the gist—time is money and you’re a click away from an iconographic trash can, so get to the point.” Jeff Barbian Similar:The End of Headphone Jacks,…
This computer game tries something new. “If a character tells you he’ll call you tomorrow, he’s not kidding. You’ll have to wait a day to get his information. Faxes may arrive without warning, and instant messages may pop up onscreen when you least expect them — maybe even while you’re at work.” Wired.com —“Majestic” Invades…
“Organized religion was a primary target of every one of the twentieth century’s regimes of terror. But as is evident in Nazi and Communist terrors alike, organized irreligion (to put it in Royal’s sharp formulation) has proved far more dangerous than organized religion ever was.” Alicia Mosier Similar:The Inner Light (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5,…
You might assume there could not be a worse time for a field calling itself “Internet studies.” You would be wrong. The Chronicle of Higher Education Similar:Shovel ReadyShovel Ready I recently heard our dean …CultureHow Zuckerberg’s Facebook is like Gutenberg’s printing pressHistorian Niall Ferguson notes that Sili…BooksThe Essayification of EverythingThe word Michel de Montaigne chose…
“Lambert received the e-mail in December, a piece of scrap in the vast electronic junkyard that is the World Wide Web. Regrettably, she says now, she removed the letter’s forwarding markers and unintentionally put her name at the bottom, making it appear that she was the author.” Washington Post —Don’t forward that e-mail just yet!…
“[W]hat could be more scholarly than a nice, authoritative statistic, quoted from a professional journal in the student’s field?” The Chronicle of Higher Education —Telling the Truth About Damned Lies and Statistics Similar:Vanessa Otero's Complex vs. Clickbait, Liberal vs. Conservative Media ChartUpdate, June 2020: See Vanessa Otero Ad …CultureIs College Worth It? Clearly, New Data…
The longer the company’s annual report, the less successful the company. This isn’t really a technical writing issue — usually companies with bad news to report need a lot of words to explaining themselves. But if this is what it takes to get some pinhead CEOs to appreciate brevity, so be it. Wired Similar:"What Teachers…
Danielle Preston —You Know You’re a Technical Writer When… Similar:Gen Z Never Learned to Read CursiveWhen I used to teach a “Media and Cultur…AcademiaThe Girl's Obsession with Scottish History ContinuesWife: “What did you do with your bedshee…AestheticsBooks vs. Kindles: The Choice No One Made Ever”I bought a Kindle. I didn’t immediately…BooksMy 13yo homeschooler had no…
A student of mine makes comments on interactive fiction, garish colors, and dancing text. Jan Carroll —Just For the Record Similar:Physics simulation demo: crate made up of mostly loose boards. #Blender3d #design #practic… https://youtu.be/OqqlWZvWaqM Physic…AestheticsMonument Valley: Minimal story, but an engaging world and a satisfying ending.I was in no rush to finish the beautiful…AestheticsSeton Hill…
learns something from my freshman comp students. On March 13, 2000, I e-mailed web guru Jakob Nielsen to tell him that six of my freshmen spent 8-30 minutes on his site without finding a plain-text “search” link on the home page. A week or so later, I noticed that Nielsen changed his page, making the…
“[W]hen it comes to writing, whether you’re a seventh grader, a college student, a professor, a beginning copywriter, or an accomplished novelist, a B isn’t good enough.” Kathy Henning —For Writers, Writing Is Never a Waste of Time: Part 2 Similar:Nor the Battle to the Strong #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 4) Jake Sisko,…
“[A] society without literature, or a society in which literature has been relegated–like some hidden vice–to the margins of social and personal life, and transformed into something like a sectarian cult, is a society condemned to become spiritually barbaric, and even to jeopardize its freedom.” Mario Vargas Llosa Similar:Real or Fake? (News Game)Real or fake?…
The creator of Cliffs Notes has died. Here’s his obituary — although I know you probably won’t bother to read the whole thing. Similar:Two Cheers for the Middle Ages! by Eric ChristiansenI love good writing. “Even those who dou…CultureThe battle against airborne COVID has shifted. Why your mask is the last layer of defence There…
On the tasteless side, but still very funny: “Some Features You May Need on Your Computer“ Similar:Virtual debates about homelessness in Sim City hold up a mirror to real lifeBack in 2009, the story of Alice and Kev…BooksHide and Q (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 9) Riker, buffed up by Q, grants desires of the…Rewatching…
“It is our duty, as responsible citizens, to stop the rot. Next time someone touches base with you or moves your goal posts, punch them in the face.” Clint Witchalls —Business and the English Language Similar:from “The Poet” by Ralph Waldo EmersonThe poets made all the words, and theref…AestheticsThe Anatomy of an Amazon 6-pagerIn the…
“Europe once sought to bring enlightenment—literacy, civil society, modern technology—to benighted parts of the world. It did so in the name of progress and civilization. The ethic of Third Worldism dictates that yesterday’s enlightenment be rebaptized as today’s imperialistic oppression.” Roger Kimball Similar:How Humans Respond to RobotsThe play that coined the word “robot,” K…AestheticsStudents don't…
Imagine yourself creating a game with a world for other people to inhabit on your own computer. It is a world without sounds or visuals. Now, put yourself into the textual world and imagine yourself in that world and living through the game. Laura L. Hogue —Text-based computer game lets players interact with story. Similar:First…
The point is not that we should add stories to our sites to ensnare narrative-starved readers. The point is that the reader’s journey through our site is a narrative experience. Our job is to make the narrative satisfying. Mark Bernstein —The Narrative Web Similar:Blender GriffinTo celebrate yesterday’s on-time submiss…AestheticsInternational Studies Association proposes to bar editors…
“Roget’s Thesaurus… should be roundly condemned as a crucial part of the engine work that has transported us to our current state of linguistic and intellectual mediocrity. Simon Winchester What’s another word for “thesaurus”? Similar:We don’t need more STEM majors. We need more STEM majors with liberal arts training.A chemist celebrates the liberal arts. …AcademiaGoogle:…