Enjoy Bigger Online Advertisements

Huzzah! Bigger, more annoying online advertisements will soon be clogging up your Internet connection! (Now is the time to check out ad-erasing software such as WebWasher.) Similar:Why liberal arts and the humanities are as important as engineeringWe learned that though a degree made a b…AcademiaTwo Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbots Talk and Argue with Each OtherSounds…

One year after the dot-com bubble burst

“As all parties assess the damage wrought by the market meltdown, 20-20 hindsight shows some startlingly clear mistakes–beginning with a preponderance of money in search of investment, no matter how dubious the venture.” news.com —One year after the dot-com bubble burst Similar:Fatworld ReviewOn Jan 14, Ian Bogost of Persuasive Game…CybercultureWhy Is Othello Black?To us today,…

Galatea

(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…

Doctor Eliza is in

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:How Zuckerberg’s Facebook is like Gutenberg’s printing…

I Missed Class…Did I Miss Anything Important?

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:Harvard Science Historian Publishes Results of Unprecedented 30-Year Census of Copernican …”Catholic church authorities were…

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:Internet Explorer and Murder Rates: More Fun with Causation and Correlation IE.png – mlkshk.AmusingWhy No One Clicked on the Great Hypertext StoryIt’s not that hypertext went on to becom…CultureNew stamp…

Star Wars Legos Choose Your Own Adventure

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:Drumming Kid Is Epic. That Is All.https://youtu.be/MRvHI8tgx8A AestheticsBirthright, Part 1…

Styron, Vonnegut E-Books Spark Random House Lawsuit

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:14% of Americans [say that they] have changed their mind about an issue because of somethi…Young men are more than twice…

Three-dimenstional Printers

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:Another delightful section of a #steampunk #neovictorian control panel. #design #aesthetic…AestheticsGoogle engineer put on leave after saying AI chatbot has…

Content is Not King.

“Content certainly has all the glamor. What content does not have is money.” Andrew Odlyzko.  —Content is Not King. Similar:DC Art Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER)Live in the DC area? June 19 I’ll be spe…CultureWhy You Hate Google’s New LogoThe new logo retains the rainbow of colo…BusinessNo, you’re not going crazy – package sizes are shrinking…

The History of Electronic Mail

Tom Van Vleck. (Rather dry reading, but offers an opposing view to The First E-Mail Message) —The History of Electronic Mail Similar:F-16 pilot was ready to give her life on Sept. 11She was a rookie in the autumn of 2001, …CultureTechnical and Literary Writing: What’s the difference? « DekonztruktschonIn an advanced new media class, I’m…

You are in BRITNEY SPEARS

A reporter drops in on a Britney Spears chat room and talks about politics. Sort of. —You are in BRITNEY SPEARS Similar:If you like bloody, singing, punning demons you will love this show.If you like bloody, singing, punning dem…AmusingThe 3 Scariest Words A Boy Can Hear ("Be a Man")Former NFL player and current pastor Joe…CultureIn…

E-Books Are Now on the Shelf

“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:They Smiled Too!Victorians had to stay still for 3 secon…AestheticsBrother Stuck in the BathroomThe girl posted…

Noise and progress

go hand in hand; and nobody really wants to slow down progress. Jennifer Kahn —Noise and progress Similar:Never trust a corporation to do a library’s jobThe Internet Archive is mostly known for…BooksOn this date in 1999 I first added a date to the list of web links I had been curating. (T…On this date in 1999, I…

Behold the "Automatic Professor Machine"

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:A professor examines why her students seem to act so helpless (essay)This essay on college students…

Typing of the Dead

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:Happy Father’s Day One of my favorite pictures of my fa…Current_EventsNew Facebook Notifications Alert Users When They Not Currently Looking At Facebook “We…

Latest on Napster

(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:Minneapolis protest cleanup: Did you share this meme without fact-checking it?…

Digital Copyright Reading List

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:In Changing News Landscape, Even Television is VulnerableThe transformation of the nation’s news …CultureRefreshing my memory of working with reel-to-reel tape as a radio news intern (c.…