“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:Star Wars' Original, Scum-Caked BrillianceThe B-movie shoddiness of actors and aes…AestheticsCockatoos start sipping…
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:At…
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:Economics in Early Computer Games(First published 27 May 2020, when I fou…BusinessThe…
“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:Respect the Text: Teaching Textual Primacy to Non-English MajorsIn the past, I have used the first day o…AcademiaWhat blogging wasI’ve maintained…
Look for an “escape from frames” or “turn this frame off” link. Right-click on a link (or, on a Mac, hold down the control key while clicking) and select the command that will let you “open link in new window.” —Frames: Finding the URL of a Framed Document Similar:This is about half of the #steampunk…
“Writers, pause and think what your purpose is. Sure, you have to earn a living, but does it disgust you to write over-simplified articles that tell a partial truth, or even worse, lie, because your editor and publisher won’t buy anything with more depth. Does it frustrate you that readers know you’re lying, and seek…
Why computer games sacrifice story for graphics: “Often great graphics can enhance a game, but just as often, graphical emphasis — whether in a game or the review thereof — is a result of developers and journalists taking the easy way out. When that happens, we all lose, especially as long as game publishers think…
What do The Iliad, Beowulf and Hamlet have that Doom, Quake, and Tomb Raider don’t? After all, each involves bloodshed, revenge and people armed with nasty weapons running amok. USA Today Similar:TARDIS from today's 3D printing class.Aesthetics5 Ways to Avoid Being Rude (According to 100-Year-Old Etiquette Rules)If you are a gentleman, never lower the …CultureWilliam…
The fantastic and faith-filled works of C.S. Lewis will be re-issued by HarperCollins. Similar:Epilogue to Rossum's Universal RobotsMy big finish as Alquist in a Zoom-based…DramaIn March 2000, I was blogging about Palm V computers for the Navy, NCAA banning online jou…In March 2000, I was blogging about …AcademiaPeter vs. the PenguinsFor the past hour, Peter…
“We put up the instructions on the booths,” said Don Hersey, Putnam County’s supervisor of elections. “We tell them, `Fill in the ovals. A check or an X may not work.’ But that’s the problem we’re having — some people just don’t follow instructions.” —3% of Floridians spoiled their votes in Election 2000 Similar:Why are…
“[P]rofessors who give easy grades gain just a fleeting popularity, salted with disdain. In later life, students will forget those professors; they will remember the ones who posed a challenge.” Harvey C. Mansfield (Mansfield has been criticized for bringing race into the grading equation) —Grade Inflation: It’s Time to Face the Facts Similar:Why Tetris is…
You be the judge… is this plagiarism? [ Jerz handout | UCSB handout ] [Note: at first, the UCSB website did not mention my name anywhere, though it did provide a link to the original source.] Similar:Churnalism SearchAt the University of Virginia, one summe…CultureA Robotic Dog’s MortalityFascinating video journalism from the Ne…CultureC.S. Lewis: "On the…
John Lennon Artificial Intelligence Project: Hey, this is John speaking…Who’re you? [Enter your first name below] > Dennis Nice to meet you Dennis > What do you think of computers? If you could have any kind of pet what would it be? > A walrus? Go on. > I am the eggman! What does it…
“Cases of badly translated English text in Asia remain quite common. Movies, signs, menus, ads, clothing – and now Web sites as well – harbor myriad examples of funny, cute, or just bizarre translations into English. Native English speakers tend to make light of such sightings, but this seems unfair…” Asia Internet Report —All Your…
Browsing through the shelves is one of the great joys of visiting the library. But when the shelves get too tall and threaten to take away precious study space, books are relegated to warehouses, sold, given away, or worse — retired to the circular file… Katie Dean —Library Card Catalog, R.I.P. Similar:Serious reading takes a…
A study of just four users of the Bowling Green State University website finds “that parents received the message better than students, regardless of professed ability to use the computer, both students and parents have trouble finding the sections intended to carry their messages, even when directed to the areas intended to carry their messages,…
Despite the ever-ballooning size of the World Wide Web, which some experts claim is on the order of 550 billion Web pages, much of the most interesting and valuable content remains hard to find. The best search engines, such as Google or AltaVista catalog about 1.4 billion Web pages, or less than 1 percent, barely…
It isn’t as if we have yet lost all awareness of the social significance of modes of address, though that day might yet come. For the moment, people are still aware of the differences between calling someone “Bill” or “Jones” or “Mr Jones”. Theodore Dalyrmple. —Please don’t call me Theo Note: I once worked at…
“There are three gigabytes of e-mail stretching back to 1983, another gigabyte of articles, letters and papers that I’ve written, and one more gigabyte of programs that I’ve coded, photographs I’ve taken, financial records and electronic keepsakes. Every time I get a new computer, I painstakingly copy this data from one machine to the next.” …
“Do [computer] animators’ abilities to make their creations more lifelike actually detract from the spirit of animation? It depends on who you talk to.” Wired. —Every Pixel Tells a Story Similar:Interactive Adventure SongIt seems YouTube will soon discontinue t…AmusingFrom The 'London Times' of 1904A Mark Twain short story, written in 189…Cyberculture30 Web Designs Featuring Vintage…