(Interactive fiction) … She might be the model in a perfume ad; the trophy wife at a formal gathering; one of the guests at this very opening, standing on an empty pedestal in some ironic act of artistic deconstruction — You hesitate, about to turn away. Her hand balls into a fist. “They told me…
Eliza was the first chatterbot — a computer program that mimics human conversation. In only about 200 lines of computer code, Eliza models the behavior of a psychiatrist (or, more specifically, the “active listening” strategies of a touchy-feely 1960s Rogerian therapist). Dennis G. Jerz —Doctor Eliza is in Similar:Google 1407Philipp Lenssen and I had a…
“I was strolling past some Korean shops in Chinatown when I overheard members of a Cambodian mafia having a powwow. One of these heathens had welshed on a deal to buy a ghetto blaster and was shanghaied off to the Near East. As if that weren’t hurtful enough, it was Dutch treat all the way.”…
Most teachers I know cringe when students who missed class e-mail to request a transcript of the class they missed. My policy is to say, “Get the notes from a classmate.” Dennis G. Jerz —I Missed Class…Did I Miss Anything Important? Similar:What blogging wasI’ve maintained this blog since the spri…CybercultureThe new marshmallow test: Resisting the temptations…
As Napster wavers, file-trading network Aimster is using an unusual shield to protect its users from snooping: copyright law sponsored by the recording industry. Wired.com Similar:Misleading Publisher Email Promises Paid Stipend, Delivers LotteryAn email from a reputable higher educati…AcademiaThe Lost Art of Paste-UpWhen I started using a word processor as…AestheticsMarketers package female empowerment to sell…
It would only take an hour to drive out to the crash site, but Uncle Owen will kill you if you don’t finish this repair by sundown. Do you repair the vaporator or investigate the crash? Mike Helba —Star Wars Legos Choose Your Own Adventure Similar:If you win the very first time you play a…
Publishing giant Random House goes after tiny RosettaBooks, which has published e-texts of some popular Random House authors. RosettaBooks says they got permission directly from the authors. —Styron, Vonnegut E-Books Spark Random House Lawsuit Similar:Students Learning about First Amendment FreedomsIn an opening lecture for my journalism …CultureThe Moral Authority Of AnimalsChimpanzees in Arnhem’s Royal Burgers’…
A new generation of three-dimensional printers can create nearly any solid shape as easily as an inkjet printer creates a letter. The trick is to spray layer after layer of thin, fast-drying resin. Rick Overton Similar:All of Your Co-Workers are Gone: Story, Substance, and the Empathic PuzzlerHowever, running parallel to the evoluti…AcademiaVanessa Otero's Complex vs.…
“Content certainly has all the glamor. What content does not have is money.” Andrew Odlyzko. —Content is Not King. Similar:I survived my first day teaching in a masked, hybrid classroom. I survived the first day teaching in…AcademiaA Time magazine with Trump on the cover hangs in his golf clubs. It’s fake. #fakenewsDonald Trump has a…
Tom Van Vleck. (Rather dry reading, but offers an opposing view to The First E-Mail Message) —The History of Electronic Mail Similar:8 Questions for 'Star Trek' Superfans Restoring Galileo ShuttlecraftThis nerd’s geek heart grew three sizes …AestheticsIn August, 2000 I was blogging about poetry, presidential wordplay, home-schooling, online…In August 2000, I was blogging about …CybercultureI’m…
A reporter drops in on a Britney Spears chat room and talks about politics. Sort of. —You are in BRITNEY SPEARS Similar:Rare find discovered amid town's Old West kitschInstead of dispensing a card like Zoltar…AestheticsLife in Code and Software (Open Humanities Press)This book explores the relationship betw…AcademiaWhy Did Dial-Up Modems Make So Much Noise?Screeeech .…
“In addition to selling e-books from their online sites, the stores will be testing numerous methods to cross-market e-books with traditional forms, including in-store kiosks, author appearances and e-book demonstrations.” M. J. Rose —E-Books Are Now on the Shelf Similar:The Hidden Signs That Can Reveal a Fake Photo Farid emphasises that forensic techniq…CybercultureWhen He Clicked…
go hand in hand; and nobody really wants to slow down progress. Jennifer Kahn —Noise and progress Similar:No, the AHCA Doesn't Make Rape a Preexisting ConditionA Republican Facebook friend posted a li…BusinessThe Wedding PresentI’m approaching day 900 in my Duolingo a…Culture"I’d never heard of this play before now, but I love it." — World Drama…
A longtime technology critic has fashioned a prototype of a device that he says could do away with traditional colleges and teachers, replacing them with knowledge-dispensing terminals that look like A.T.M.’s. Jeffrey R. Young —Behold the “Automatic Professor Machine” Similar:Harvard University says it can't afford journal publishers' pricesRobert Darnton, director of Harvard Libr…AcademiaRt Covid-19 –…
The Navy is providing handheld computers to almost all of its new officers and giving them to graduates of the Naval Academy and other naval programs. CNN.com Similar:More Americans now see the media’s influence growing compared with a year agoAmericans’ views about the influence of …CultureWhat a 21st-Century English Major Can Do: Screencast Demo of…
More proof that the apocalypse is nigh: “Typing of the Dead” is a typing tutorial that also just so happens to be 3-D computerized gorefest. GamesDoman review of Typing of the Dead. Similar:In major step, UCSF scientists translate unspoken words of paralyzed man into writingThe “neuroprosthetic” technology involve…AwesomeNews Feed FYI: Click-baitingIt’s hard for me to…
(See also: Digital Hollywood- No Resolution) —Latest on Napster Update, Feb 27, 2021 The above links are dead, but here’s a screenshot of what the Yahoo News “Technology Full Coverage” section looked like on February 23, 2001. (Courtesy the invaluable Internet Archive Wayback Machine) Similar:Make Video Horizontal Again For confessionals or tapdance routi…AcademiaTechnology won’t fix…
Copyright: Your Right or Theirs? In Defense of Copyleft Timeline- A History of Copyright in the U.S. SUL- Copyright & Fair Use- Copyright FAQ Digital Copyright Reading List Similar:What gives you comfort? I collect lights. Some of these have magnets!!AmusingIn Which I Ask a Hard-working Journalism Student to Consider UndeadlinesA student recorded this interaction on…
“Now, let’s look a bit more closely at this data, remembering that it is absolutely first-rate. Do you see the exponential dependence? I sure don’t. I see a bunch of crap.” Undergraduate physics student Lucas Kovar reconsiders his career choice. —Electron Band Structure In Germanium, My Ass Similar:Long Live The English Major—If It’s Paired With…
“Amateur and professional are mutually interconnected. Amateurs are sometimes professionals; professionals are sometimes amateurs. Moreover — brace yourself — history exists.” Marjorie Garber‘s Academic Instincts blows kisses at the literary establishment. Review by Russell Jacoby. Similar:Poetry Stimulates the Brain's Reward-Anticipation Arousal Near Ends of StanzasI fixed the NY Mag’s clickbaity title, “…AestheticsWander (1974) — a…