I'm not one to advertise my birthday, but if you were an early-shopping type, you can never go wrong with these rockin' Space Invaders (set of 4 rocks glasses). I'm just saying...
Despite celebrating its fourth year a few months ago, this blog has been quiet of late, partly due to technical problems (MovableType and spam...) and mostly due to time constraints. Unfortunately for the blog, but terrific for me, my writing time is dedicated entirely to the dissertation. At some point I'd like to continue sharing my research here (especially since in the past it led to some very fruitful conversations like this and this), but for now overcoming the technical issues plaguing the blog requires more energy than I'm willing to invest.
And all my other time is dedicated to my family (I won't link to the entirely neglected family blog, which hasn't been updated since I posted pictures of Claire the day she was born... 8 months ago) and to work, where I have the fortunate opportunity to work on a new initiative while continuing my work on an old one. I recently attended a few conferences and summits, including the MITH/NEH-hosted "Digital Humanities Summit" (blogged by Dan Cohen) and a swing-through at the Internet2 conference in DC. So, that's where I've been.
Where am I going?
This Thursday I will be at the ELO: Future of Electronic Literature at MITH. Early June I will be presenting some personal work--and representing work--at Digital Humanities 2007 in Illinois.
If you plan to be at either of these events and want to chat about e-lit, games, or digital humanities, feel free to drop me an email (jasonrhody [at] gmail [dot] com). Don't try to leave a comment here... spam has driven me back to the "old tech" of email.
Tagged by KF in the midst of holiday madness, I just now had a chance to participate. So with all the caveats KF outlined in her opening foray assumed here as well, on to five things you quite possibly don't know about me:
[more pics here]
I strung a lot of cable (and by a lot, I mean miles and miles. And miles.) This was significantly better than many of my previous jobs, which included greenskeeper (lower pay, though 4 seasons of free play was awesome for my golf game) and puppeteer (crap pay, and hot as the dickens, though plenty of free time in between shows to lounge around the pools at Water Country USA - pretty great for a teenager).
So, that's it. Five totally useless bits of information about me. You'll be happy to know that my arm healed nicely (and got me out of 7th-grade gym class, so it was a wash really). I love roller coasters now, though I need to take a deep breath to get through the first run, after which I'm golden for the day. My radiation report always came back with a big "0," so all my weirdness (and that of my children) is either honestly learned or honestly genetic. My wrestling career lived a short and pinned life. And I probably won't remember this post, so if you run into me one day, and good naturedly say "So, been wrastlin' lately?" with a light jab to the shoulder, don't be surprised if I look alarmed.
With that, I remind Chuck, Matt, George, and Jason J. of their obligation to KF's tag (see bottom of her post), and tag in turn the remainder of the Herders. That's right - Dave, Natalie, Marc, Calamity Jane, Ryan, Kari, Birdcage, and all the rest of you - this means you.
A little while ago I mentioned the I am 8-bit store, which carried t-shirts and such based on the intriguing collection, including a limited edition t-shirt based on Sean Clarity's Excitebike painting. My wife, sweet person that she is, ordered one of the shirts as a surprise for February 13th (our engagement anniversary).
The shirt never arrived.
I emailed the store email address (store@iam8bit.net) to follow up, but never received a reply. With a little digging on the website, I found another email address for jon (also @iam8bit.net) and sent him a note that was even in tone, but expressed some frustration from the lack of response. When he heard that we had been charged for the shirt over a month ago, but the item never arrived, he kindly wrote the following:
Well, I feel your frustration -- and I'm not quite sure what happened. So here's what we'll do. We'll ship the shirt off immediately, complete with a bonus for your patience. And I'd also be happy to refund your payment. Does that work for you?My sincere apologies. We're a small operation that is, well, somewhat overwhelmed with the popularity, so things seem to have fallen through the cracks.
Cheers,
// jon
A nice note, I thought, I wrote back, stated that we were happy to pay for the shirt and support a project that's probably not exactly swimming in funds, and that we were looking forward to receiving the package. I thought the matter was nicely resolved, a simple mistake rectified, no harm no foul. That email exchange happened on February 8th.
It is now March 10th. And still no shirt. No email response to my follow-up inquiries for a tracking number. No refund of the purchase price *instead* of the shirt. Nothing.
So, a simple warning to those out there who might consider doing business with this group. Don't. I hate having to write a rant about bad business, especially when it probably stems from simple incompetence rather than maliciousness, but I would hate to have what appears to be an endorsement in the previous post lead to others losing their cash.
UPDATE: Jon replied swiftly to my latest email, refunding me my money and offering to overnight a shirt. Perhaps more importantly, he said that they had instituted an electronic package tracking system, which we can all hope will prevent these sorts of headaches in the future.
So, we'll see. Hopefully they've fixed their issues. Assuming the shirt actually arrives, I'd say that at least their customer support is fair.
On our way over to Scott's talk today, Marc was telling me about his VIAO, which came with (correct me if I'm wrong Marc) a TV tuner card and some software that allowed him to play his GameCube on his screen. The software also allowed him to record his play sessions. My understanding had always been that there was significant lag with a setup like this, making console game play all but impossible on such a rig. This is why I've avoided buying another video card, and why the Adaptec GameBridge was potentially a big deal (and, at under $100, still seems like a possible solution). Marc says, not so - it works just fine (Marc, have you tried it with the PS2?).
I'm curious about other's experiences - how do you "do" game scholarship? What tools do you use? What tools do we need? Do you record play sessions or, like me, just have a LOT of notes and a LOT of saved game files?
This is at least indirectly related to Scott's talk, in which he gave a nice overview of the ELO, its history and purpose, some of its future goals, and the challenges implicit in the study of new media objects that question, resist, or even outright defy genre. Scott shared several examples from the forthcoming Electronic Literature Collection and generated some nice discussion about genre and the "literature question" (as in, "Is this even literature?"), as well as about general e-lit teaching strategies and preservation and archiving challenges. Though I've followed Scott's blogging (both his personal one and Grand Text Auto), I was pleased to hear about his work in person, which was intriguing enough to run the program well past its normal stopping time.
If you are in the DC area, MITH's Digital Dialogues has a great line-up this semester, including scholars like Scott (today), Jerome McGann and Johanna Drucker (March 14) and Alan Liu (April 28) as well as writer Shelley Jackson, author of Patchwork Girl, Skin, Doll Diaries (April 17) and comic guru Scott McCloud of _Understanding Comics_ fame (May 2). There are many others, so look at the full schedule here (PDF).
Tom Wolfe will be giving the 2006 Jefferson Lecture, an honor sponsored by the NEH. The lecture will be held at the Warner Theatre on Wednesday, May 10, 2006, at 7 p.m. If you want (free) tickets, see the bottom of the press release for the contact information.
I didn't go last year, but two years ago Helen Vendler gave a nice talk at the DC Convention Center, followed by some tasty vittles.
For those interested, I'm planning a Wordherder outing to the Ballet mécanique (see details here) and Dada exhibit at the National Gallery on March 18. If you are interested in participating (friends of the Herd are always welcome, which includes out-of-town bloggers who might be in town), please leave a comment below or send me an email. There are two options here, which I'll outline below the jump:
Option 1: We meet at 12:30 so that we can catch the 1 pm cacophony, then go see the Dadaist exhibit for a certain length of time (which we would agree upon beforehand - probably no more than an hour, maybe two), with a late lunch / early dinner at a restaurant of our choice.
Option 2: People go through the Dada exhibit on their own before we all meet at 1pm, at which point we watch the show and then go get lunch at a restaurant of our choice. This adds flexibility for those who might want to see the show, but have little interest in the Dada exhibit.
For food, we'll probably do something in either Adam's Morgan or Chinatown, since the area around National Gallery is pretty devoid of restaurants unless we want to go somewhere like the Capitol Grille (I sure don't). A best bet would include a good place for a group-feast (Ethiopian, Chinese, Indian, etc.) and/or something relatively inexpensive (hopefully, both). I haven't checked prices at
Fasika's lately, but that might be a good option. I'm open to others, however.
Include your preference of either option 1 or 2 in your comment please.
There are times when phrases that our daughter uses pop into my head when writing. All to frequently recently, the phrase is "I stuck!," as in "I stuck Daddy!" when she's trying to get out of her high chair, or when she can't quite get her shirt over her head.
And it's always useful, when I'm staring at a screen full of broken prose (quite literally broken, as I tend to write sentences, break them up, and scatter them across the screen waiting reassembly) and I'm not quite sure how to clarify an important point, and I keep hearing that voice repeating "I stuck, I stuck" in my head, to remember that in every single instance, our daughter has, in fact, managed to become "unstuck" and continued merrily on her way.
Sometimes, it just takes a little effort, or a few seconds breather, or a friendly hand. Or for me, occasionally, a quiet jot of writing in another forum, before turning back to the task at hand.
For the curious-minded who happen to be strolling by the Reagan building at 12th and Penn, the movie trucks around are for the film Breach. If you see Laura Linney, tell her my daugher loves her work on the Philadelphia Chickens CD.
I'm a follower. A sheep. All the cool kids are doing Johari Windows.
Notice how "weak," "miser," "selfish," "cruel," "bad speller," and "hateful" don't make it in the list of adjectives? I wonder how different these things would be if they did...
How many people describe themselves as "ingenious"? Combine that with "relaxed," "observant," "intelligent," "complex," and "adaptable" and you've probably got a good profile for a serial killer.
The infamous Ballet mécanique is coming to Washington, DC, but not in any way it's been heard before. And it's not going to be for just one performance...it's going to be played over 30 times.
George Antheil's 1925 masterwork, which was never heard in its original version (for 10 percussionists, two pianists, three airplane propellers, electric bells, siren, and 16 player pianos) until 75 years after its composition, will be presented on the mezzanine of the National Gallery of Art's East Wing every day for over two weeks, starting on March 12. Performing it will be 16 computer-controlled player grand pianos and an orchestra played entirely by robots. This means it will be the fastest, most maniacal, and--thanks to the cavernous acoustics of the giant building--the loudest Ballet mécanique ever performed.In conjunction with a huge exhibit on Dadaist art, which runs from now through May, the Music department of the National Gallery has commissioned a Ballet mécanique installation, which will be on display and performing from March 12 through March 29. The all-mechanical orchestra will be located on the mezzanine, next to the entrance to the Dada exhibit hall. At 1:00 pm (every day) and 4:00 pm (weekdays only), the orchestra will roar into action and play a 10-minute version of the piece.
Sounds like a field trip is in order. Maybe even a wordherder gathering, if enough people are interested.
[via Jerz]
UPDATE: There are three weekends in the time frame. According to the above, the orchestra plays at 1pm during the weekends (no 4pm show), so assuming that we go on a Saturday or Sunday, we could meet at around 12:30, see the orchestra, spend an hour or so at the exhibit, and then grab a late lunch/early dinner (or just drinks).
So, if you are interested, include in your comment which date(s) would be good for you:
Sunday, 12 March
Saturday, 18 March
Sunday, 19 March
Saturday, 25 March
Sunday, 26 March
We can also talk weekdays (maybe the 4 pm orchestra, an hour at the exhibit, and an early dinner) if that is better for those interested. I can take a few hours off from work early if that's the case. Try to include what's best for you in the comments.
Washington Post hosted a chat with Ted Castronova, author of Synthetic Worlds.
Steven Johnson talked about Everything Bad is Good for You on Charlie Rose (jump to the 41 minute mark or so). [via SJ's blog]
And some advice for PhD students on Inside HigherEd, including:
"Don’t feel that you need to create the greatest work that Western Civilization has ever seen. Five years from now the only thing that will matter is whether you finished."
[via Anne of PLSJ, thanks!]
At MLA, Chuck told me about the following article at Inside Higher Ed :: What the Press Editors Want:
"We're looking for interdisciplinary work that will go beyond the MLA/cultural studies audience," Armato said. That means hot areas include media studies, research on video games, and analysis of graphic novels.
Emphasis mine. In both senses.
The trend towards theory-informed, but not theory-heavy (putting aside, for the moment, the problems that might come with such a distinction) certainly appeared prevalent:
Using language that in various forms was suggested by editors from numerous presses, Catapano said that she was looking for books that were “informed with theory,” but “not the heavy theory of a decade ago.”Others talked about the theory issue in different ways, but many spoke of a renewed sense of caring whether people outside a narrow theory specialty could understand a work. “We want work that is as accessible as possible,” said John Easterly, executive editor of Louisiana State University Press. “We want literary theory with less jargon, that is comprehensible,” said Charlotte Wright, managing editor of the University of Iowa Press.
I'm sure I'll have future thoughts on this, but for now I'm mostly posting a ninja-link and heading back to writing. You know, my manuscript on video games (to all those editors out there).
[Thanks Chuck for the article reference.]
Excitebike t-shirt, limited edition, based on Sean Clarity's art in the I am 8-bit collection. So cool.
An email recommendation from Amazon:
Dear Amazon.com Customer, We've noticed that customers who have purchased Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Revised Edition : Birth to Age 5 by Richard Trubo also purchased books by Nancy Wiseman. For this reason, you might like to know that Nancy Wiseman's Could It Be Autism? : A Parent's Guide to the First Signs and Next Steps will be released on January 10, 2006. You can pre-order your copy at a savings of 32% by following the link below.
Isn't it a touch odd that my purchase of a very generalized book on child development and medical care (several months ago) would generate a recommendation sent to my email account for a book asking, could your child have this specific and frightening medical condition? Buy now, at a savings of 32%, to make sure!
It makes me wonder how certain kinds of recommendations are generated, especially those that show up in your inbox. I can handle the "pull" technology of Amazon's website recommendations just fine. I like seeing what others buy and consider when I'm looking at a particular item on the website. I tend to ignore the recommendations tab when I visit. But by using the "push" email advertisement, I would think Amazon would want to hit the mark more often than not, simply because of its invasive nature. They're stopping by my door now, and if they do, I want to see something useful rather than just a shot in the dark possibility that has no small measure of fear in the title (Could something be wrong with YOUR child?).
It makes me wonder how much of the recommendation is Amazon's, and how much of it is the publishers. Does Amazon ever get paid for this kind of "recommendation"? As in, Publisher A saying "here's some $$$, Amazon, please send this book out, with a generous discount from us, to all people who order books from other authors in our portfolio with similar themes." Whereas I used to feel like I received the kind of recommendations I would expect in the corner bookstore, I now feel like the target in "targeted marketing." There's a subtle but important difference there.
Maybe I'm just grumpy about all the spam that I've been getting, in my email accounts (especially school accounts, and usually through university- and department-run listservs) and in my blogs. I don't need sites that I use often to start sending me titles that sound too much like the friendly spambots in my comment queue that act nice enough as they try to pass a number of explicit links through the system - "Hey buddy! Great site and topic! Maybe you'd like to enhance your pleasure???"
Indeed I would. Give me better recommendations.
The list of NEH 2006 Seminars and Institutes is online. Apply for two to six weeks (depending on the seminar or institute) of study. The first link is for university faculty potential participants; the second is for K-12 teachers.
University Faculty
School Teachers
Deadline for application is March 1, 2006. And to clarify: this is to participate *in* the seminar or institute (not to run it). So if a subject catches your fancy, apply.
The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities has a few exciting opportunities for UMD graduate students interested in the developing field of digital humanities, including travel grants and semester-long fellowships. Details available in the PDF links below. Information will also be provided at this coming week's "Coffehouse Conversations," held on Tuesday, November 8th, and Wednesday, November 9th, at 4pm.
http://www.mith.umd.edu/fellowship_announce.pdf
http://www.mith.umd.edu/travel_grant.pdf
It's been a busy few weeks. Matt K announced Digital Humanities Quarterly, a new online journal on the topic of (you guessed it) digital humanities. I hear it will be published quarterly. Jess set up an Implementation extravaganza, a performance of Montfort and Rettberg's sticker novel in the streets of DC, scheduled for this Saturday (see link for details). Scott Rettberg, meanwhile, posted some exciting news about the Electronic Literature Organization and its publishing ambitions.
Yesterday, I attended the Summit on Educational Games sponsored by the Federation of American Scientists and the Entertainment Software Association. I'll post some notes on that later, but you can read this Inside Higher Ed article about the meeting.
This coming Sunday, some Herders are doing a meet-up - details here. Unfortunately, we already have weekend plans, but I look forward to reports.
In personal news... Last Tuesday evening, I missed the MITH monthly movie screening (Tron, yesyesyes) because the auto shop handed me an estimate for ... a lot of money ... after I took my car in for an oil change prior to our adventure to Ohio this past weekend. My first thought was: Oil prices really have taken a jump. My second thought, after realizing that there were many, many things wrong: my car is not worth what it would cost to repair the brakes.
So we bought a minivan. I know. A minivan. But it's a stylish minivan. And to put it in perspective, the car we put to sleep was a 94 Ford Taurus, in powder blue, with three AAA stickers and one Golden Eagle retirement sticker on the rear bumper. Now, I am eternally grateful for the car, which served me well for many years, but the point here is this: upgrading to the minivan should put hair back on my head, it's so boss in comparison. You see where I'm coming from? And we got such a good deal on it, the minivan actually *appreciated in value* as I drove it off the lot. I missed my calling as a negotiator (my wife would be quick to point out that it turned out to be a no-haggle dealership very eager to get rid of old models, but I think they were just intimidated by my Consumer Reports-informed spreadsheet).
So, what do you do with a new minivan? You drive it very, very far. Like, Ohio far, for a college reunion this past weekend, where we got to catch up with some old friends and marvel at the low housing prices in suburban Columbus. Driving far is great, especially in a new van, unless you hadn't slept for two days straight because you had researched non-stop on an alternative vehicle to the one you began describing as the "powder blue death-trap-mobile." Despite the lack of sleep, we had a good time, except for the few hours my wife made fun of my sly Southern way of saying "vehicle," which she added to the catalogue of "Words Jason Says Funny" (to include: cement and wolf, among others).
Sadly, Wayne Booth [New York Times - link will expire; requires registration] died earlier this week.
The National Endowment for the Humanities turns 40 today. L and I will be attending the celebration held at the National Gallery of Art tonight. Happy Anniversary, and here's hoping that our budget stays secure.
Honestly, what were they thinking with this campaign? He's ... everywhere.
Plus, he's in a suit, with white Mickey-Mouse gloves, and a nervous grin. Are you really going to poke your PIN into his face? I don't think so. Not for a maximum withdraw of $300.
Does everyone just use Endnote nowadays?
I have an old version of Procite (on floppies, how quaint!) that I've been using, but the feature that allows me to just import stuff from my library database doesn't seem functional. And I sure would like that (data entry isn't the best way to spend my time). And I don't think Procite is even really getting support or development anymore?
Anyone in the know?
[aka: open invitation for mockery]
I Am A: Lawful Good Elf Ranger
Alignment:
Lawful Good characters are the epitome of all that is just and good. They believe in order and governments that work for the benefit of all, and generally do not mind doing direct work to further their beliefs.
Race:
Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently concern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.
Primary Class:
Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.
Secondary Class:
Monks are strange and generally not understood by the world at large. They live apart from people, and follow strict codes that restrain their behavior and lifestyle. They have an exceptionally calm outlook on life, and generally do not resort to violence unless absolutely necessary. Even when they do, their code of conduct forbids the use of all weapons - except their hands. As such, monks are extremely skilled at hand-to-hand combat, and no other style.
Deity:
Mielikki is the Neutral Good goddess of the forest and autumn. She is also known as the Lady of the Forest, and is the Patron of Rangers. Her followers are devoted to nature, and believe in the positive and outreaching elements of it. They use light armor, and a variety of weapons suitable for hunting, which they are quite skilled at. Mielikki's symbol is a unicorn head.
Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy ofNeppyMan
David is an old friend working on an important project. I believe several herders participated in this event last year.
The September Project ( http://www.theseptemberproject.org )is a grassroots effort to encourage public events on freedom, democracy, and citizenship in libraries on or around September 11. September Project events are activities of reflection, discussion, and dialogue about the meaning of freedom, the role of information in promoting active citizenship, and the importance of literacy in making sense of the world around us. Events take place on September 11, on the weekend of September 11, or throughout the month of September. In other words, whenever it works best for your library and community.Libraries around the world are collaborating with organizations to host public and campus events, such as: displays about human rights and historical documents; talks and performances about freedom and cultural difference; and film screenings about issues that matter. Over 100 examples of events can be found at: http://www.theseptemberproject.org/pastevents.htm For events tailored to a more academic audience, please visit:
http://www.lib.washington.edu/about/events/theseptemberprojectCurrently, over 160 public, academic, school, and institute libraries in 13 countries are participating. Participating countries include: Bangladesh, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Nepal, Serbia and Montenegro, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, the US, and Venezuela. You can view a map of all participating venues here:
http://www.drizzle.com/%7Eklockner/cgi-bin/tsp/2005/map.cgiIf you plan to offer programs that explore these ideas, please sign up. Signing up takes a moment and places your library on the map of participants. Please visit: http://www.drizzle.com/~klockner/cgi-bin/tsp/2005/venue.cgi
I hope you and your colleagues will consider participating in this project, and please let me know if you have any questions and suggestions. Respectfully,
david silver
www.theseptemberproject.org
11:15 pm. July 31. Where did the month go? Or as marc puts it, "Jason? Is that you?" If you check the few posts I left here, you'd think I spent most of my month troubleshooting server problems for the Wordherders, reposting KF's cfp (which I wish I could afford to submit to), and reading Harry Potter.
Not too far off, actually. At least as far as personal digital time goes.
See, June was a long month. Action-packed, one might say. Conferences, deadlines ... just busy all 'round. The "July Retreat," as we'll call it, wasn't so much a retreat from anything but a screen. I tended to surf less (Internet and TV) and read more, plowing through some Atwood, some Coupland, some Powers. And, yes, some J.K. Rowling (though that took just under 24 hours, so it hardly counts). I go through these bursts of technical hibernation at times, where my game play drops to near nil, and my reading picks up to 2-3 novels a week. Old school immersion. Screenless (except for a full viewing of the partial-season DVD of Joss Whedon's Firefly. How I wish that show was still on).
The other half of the story is that since my wonderful wife clocked overtime helping me through June, I tried to do a bit more to give her time in July (I never quite feel as though I measure as much time for her, and remain amazed how she's able to give so much up for me). The critter, meanwhile, is growing like a weed and constantly wants to go to the pool so she can kick her legs and say "I swimming, I swimming!" Seriously. She wakes up and says "pool?" By mid-afternoon, she hunts down everyone's bathing suit and drags over the beach bag. The kid loves the water. Blog, or swim? Pretty easy decision.
So, I have a bunch of overdue blog posts. On Tribble-gate. On Guild Wars (Decent enough game so far, if you have a friend or two to play with. They have capes. The writing, however, is ... unimpressive). On Atwood and narrative communication. On >Getting Things Done (almost done with the book, and about to begin my reorganization ... my question: PDA or paper notebook ala Franklin-Covey? I'm leaning towards the Zire 31). I have pictures to upload to Flickr from our trip to Nags Head last week ("I swimming!").
But mostly, friends, I'll be dissertating and reading, when I'm not at work (or, if my daughter gets her way, at the pool). So no promises on too many blog posts.
Stuff to read after work:
What Every Game Developer Needs to Know about Story
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050727/sutherland_01.shtml
Civilization Watch by Orson Scott Card
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2005-06-26-1.html
GamerDad
http://www.gamerdad.com/
More background on this later when I have more time, but - um - does anyone have a good suggestion as to what to do with a mouse after his little feet get stuck in those glue traps?
I know. Use snap-traps and get it over quick. Unfortunately, the location did not afford the space necessary for the snapping action...
Meanwhile... I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men, but the noise steadily increased. O God! what COULD I do? I foamed -- I raved -- I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder -- louder -- louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly , and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! -- no, no? They heard! -- they suspected! -- they KNEW! -- they were making a mockery of my horror! -- this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! -- and now -- again -- hark! louder! louder! louder! LOUDER! --
*squeak*
"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -- tear up the planks! move aside this table -- here, here! -- it is the beating SQUEAK of his hideous heart plea!"
[Poe courtesy of Literature.org]
The Guardian reports that a paralyzed man has been fitted with a brain implant "that allows him to control everyday objects by thought alone."
During the three-hour operation, electrodes were attached to the surface of Mr Nagle's brain. They were positioned just above the sensory motor cortex, where the neural signals for controlling arm and hand movement are produced. ... In the most recent tests, performed earlier this year, Mr Nagle was able to use thought to open and close an artificial prosthetic hand and move a robotic arm to grab sweets from one person's hand and drop them in another. He has also sharpened his skills at computer games by playing the old arcade game Pong.
How cool is that? Answer: pretty cool.
Various links gathered while cleaning out old emails.
DigiPlay 4: Teaching with, Learning from Computer Games
International Association for Game Education and Research
 I am a Gauntlet Adventurer.I strive to improve my living conditions by hoarding gold, food, and sometimes keys and potions. I love adventure, fighting, and particularly winning - especially when there's a prize at stake. I occasionally get lost inside buildings and can't find the exit. I need food badly. What Video Game Character Are You? |
The Kaiser Family Foundation just released their report Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds:
A national Kaiser Family Foundation survey found children and teens are spending an increasing amount of time using “new media” like computers, the Internet and video games, without cutting back on the time they spend with “old” media like TV, print and music. Instead, because of the amount of time they spend using more than one medium at a time (for example, going online while watching TV), they’re managing to pack increasing amounts of media content into the same amount of time each day.
The Executive Summary describes the influence of console and hand-held gaming:
More than eight in ten (83%) young people have a video game console at home, and a majority (56%) have two or more. About half (49%) have one in their bedroom, and just over half (55%) have a handheld video game player. (Executive Summary, pp. 36)
In light of NEA's recent Reading at Risk report, I found the following really fascinating:
In a typical day, nearly three out of four (73%) young people report reading for pleasure. On average, 8- to 18-year-olds spend about three-quarters of an hour a day reading (0:43). Interestingly, those young people who spend the most time watching TV (the 20% who watch more than five hours a day) don’t report spending any less time reading than other young people do; and those who spend the most time playing console video games (the 13% who play for more than one hour a day) spend more time reading than those who play fewer video games (0:55 vs. 0:41 for those who don’t play video games at all, and 0:40 for those who play one hour or less). On the other hand, some kids do read less than others. For example, those with TVs in their rooms, those in homes where the TV is left on all the time, and those whose parents don’t have rules about TV watching all tend to spend less time reading than others do. (Executive Summary, pp. 35, emphasis mine)
This isn't to say that I think people read enough, but I think it does begin to address what seemed like a scapegoat-ish emphasis in the Reading at Risk report that videogames might be a major reason for their findings of a decline in reading.
Ynetnews - News - Army frowns on Dungeons and Dragons
Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for elite units? Ynet has learned that 18-year-olds who tell recruiters they play the popular fantasy game are automatically given low security clearance.“They're detached from reality and suscepitble to influence,” the army says.
[via TerraNova]
Cool visualization tool (and baby name finder) -- The Baby Name Wizard's NameVoyager [via Jerz].
Flannery O'Connor, towards the end of her life, wrote the following:
The novelist with Christian concerns will find in modern life distortions which are repugnant to him, and his problem will be to make them appear as distortions to an audience which is used to seeing them as natural; and he may be forced to take ever more violent means to get his vision across to this hostile audience. When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock ~ to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the blind you draw large and startling figures [from The Fiction Writer and His Country, 1957; emphasis mine].
I suppose shouting might help with the hard of hearing... but drawing bigger pictures for the blind?
Whatever your politics, check out the style.org State of the Union Parsing Tool, which allows you to search for key terms within different texts over time.
Passed along by a work colleague in hopes that some laughter might stave off the chill.
For the past two days, our office has been around 55 degrees due to "technical problems." Amazing that it seems to be correcting itself... just before the building hosts one of the inaugural balls. Fortunately, no signs yet of a giant "W" hanging from the ceiling, although the Reagan building across the street seems to have already failed to avoid that fate.
You can't just walk into the Reagan building.Yes you can. You totally can.
[it makes sense once you watch the little clip above. i'm not saying it'll be funny, but it will make sense.]
A brief aside from the cleaning, wrapping, and putting together of baby toys to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. This is Evie's first, so we're quite excited -- and fully aware that the boxes will get far more attention than the gifts themselves.
I hope your holidays are equally rich and full of love.
(And good luck to all of you going to MLA this year - I hope the interviews and/or presentations go well!)
Get the sense that Google needs to do a little better job with their ads? Read past the first one...
That's right. Sexy Faulkner singles.
The line wasn't too bad - in total it took us just over an hour or so to cast our ballots. Maryland is using the new electronic voting machines, which were simple to use, though I stand by my desire for a paper record.
Since I can't put my "I Voted" sticker on the blog, I thought I would photoshop a simple one - feel free to use it on yours, although I ask that you upload it to your server rather than feed off of mine (except wordherders, of course, who are using the same server).
There are four different options (two sizes, border or no border) for this voter blicker (a "blog sticker," see...) below the fold.
Speaking of stickers, after you vote, go download Scott and Nick's sticker narrative, Implementation - but not before you vote!
UPDATE!: Be sure to add your voting narrative to Chuck's collection, either through trackbacks or comments.
[w: 96, h: 115, no border]
[w: 96, h: 115, with border]
A slightly smaller version:
[w: 63, h: 75, no border]
[w: 63, h: 75, with border]
Lots of great stuff happening in the month of October. October 18th and 19th, I am attending the Serious Games Summit at the Loews in L'Enfant Plaza (not too far from my office). As part of my day job, we're always working on providing 'interactive' learning experiences for K-12 students, so I hope to pick up some good tips from the conference. I plan to blog as much as possible, assuming they have wifi.
If anyone is coming into town for the Summit and wants to get together for drinks, drop me a note at jcrhody -at- umd -dot- edu (or post here). Hopefully a few of the local bloggers / wordherders interested in technology and humanities would be willing come out for drinks as well. The Summit promises to be crowded, if nothing else, as it was recently reported to be sold out with over 500 attendees. Not too shabby.
Prior to that, I will be joining my dad in the Shenandoah mountains for a few days of camping. We've camped there since I was a little kid, often so my mother could have some peace and quiet to work on her dissertation. I'm looking forward to the changing leaves and the hikes. And, of course, the camp food - nothing quite smells as good wafting through the cool October air or tastes as good after several miles of hiking.
And then there's the Green Valley Bookfair - a nice diversion while camping. If you haven't been to the GV Bookfair, it's worth the drive. From DC, it's about 2 or 3 hours, depending on your route, but with a ton of remaindered books available on the cheap, what's not to like? A quick stop in Harrisonburg for Luigi's pizza (where the waiters promise to be higher than the pizza dough tosses!) and you can't go wrong (it's just great pizza, even if they take a long. time. to. make. it. duuuuude.).
Unfortunately, the trip to the mountains does mean that I will miss the Library of Congress Book Festival, where they have - I believe for the first time - a science fiction/fantasy booth. With Neal Stephenson and Neil Gaiman. Stephenson is also reading from the 3rd of the Baroque Cycle at Olsson's in Arlington, Friday at 7 p.m. Although, according the the WashPost Express, the Stephenson at the Festival is the "author of the behemoth best-seller 'Necronomicon'," so he might be a different fellow from the author of the best-selling Cryptonomicon. One might imagine the proper title of a "behemoth best-seller" might be one of the easier fact-checks for an editor. *shrug*
And, of course, in October, our daughter Evie hits the nine-month mark, the Claycomb twins turn one, and dave and Natalie run the Marine Corps Marathon!
I looked out my window this afternoon and saw the new Security Blimp. Acknowledging that Goodyear's proficiency for picking out cheerleaders at NFL games might be good for homeland security, the Department of Defense reverts to Civil War tactics in its new high-tech espionage-meets-BladeRunner floating device. Not reported: apparently they also received tech support from the Klingons - I turned around to read this article only to look again out my window: the blimp was gone. Engage the cloaking device!
Soon the Security Blimps can float by and encourage off-world colonization. With SpaceShipOne successfully making the first of two space flights required for the X Prize, the Virgin Group's Richard Branson said that they plan to offer commercial space flights available by 2007, based off of SpaceShipOne technology:
Branson believes he will fly some 3,000 people into space in the first five years that his "Virgin Galactic" space line is operating.
Not reported: Branson reportedly decided on the name "Virgin Galactic" because it nicely mixed the excitement of Apollo on Battlestar Galactica and the alien seduction powers of Captain Kirk from Star Trek.
Meanwhile, beware travel to Norway, where apparently they don't believe in security at all (they need more blimps!). A man attacked two pilots with an axe:
Just minutes before the plane, a small Dornier 228, was scheduled to land in the northern Norwegian town of Bodoe at 10:50 a.m. (0850 GMT), one of the seven passengers onboard walked towards the cockpit, and suddenly attacked both the pilot and the co-pilot with an axe in an apparent bid to crash the aircraft.
Not reported: the attacker wore a helmet with spiked horns, bellowing "Give me wenches and mead!" while waving his axe in the air.
And in further news: Diebold Machines Cruise Fells Point! After hearing what a blast they could have in the dive bars around Baltimore, several Diebold voting machines were found, apparently passed out, in a bar and next to the sidewalk. One was turned into the police. The others reportedly sobered up enough to escape, screaming "You'll never find us - we have no paper trail!" as they fled.
While I support the rights of those who wish to own a firearm, I do not believe such a right extends to the point where public safety is at risk. So, I support bans on assault weapons; I believe in background checks and waiting periods. I do not support laws such as Virginia's recent "Open Carry" law, or any other laws that allows folks to pack heat just because they are concerned about their safety. See, because them having guns makes me worry about my safety.
In any case, I'm entirely disappointed (though not surprised) that the Federal ban on assault weapons (what exactly does one hunt with an uzi? - lots of squirrels at one time?) expires midnight Monday.
What really pissed me off (if true), was the following tidbit from the San Fran Chronicle article Expired ban on assault weapons will leave us vulnerable:
With NRA support, Attorney General John Ashcroft (a longtime NRA member) has refused to allow law enforcement officials to check the federal list of firearm purchasers for suspected terrorists, purportedly because to do so would violate the privacy rights of gun owners.
Wait a second. You can search my library records, but the AG is unwilling "to allow law enforcement officials to check the federal list of firearm purchasers for suspected terrorists." Ashcroft might just believe that the pen is mightier than the sword, but someone should slip him a memo that an Uzi with a 100 bullet clip sort of trumps both.
GOP Prism Distorts Some Kerry Positions (washingtonpost.com)
Setting Kerry's record right—again. By Fred Kaplan (Slate)
And a nice bipartisan org that examines fast and loose rhetoric on both sides of the aisle:
Factcheck.org
Since I moved recently, I needed to update my voter registration, which I just did through George's link to a "Get Out the Vote" website that helps people fill out the forms so they can just drop it in the mail for easy registration.
Regardless of who you choose to support (not that I don't have my biases), register and vote. Following George's example, I have posted a link to Rock the Vote, which will remain in the right column. Remember that in most states you have to register at least 21 or so days before the election.
If I had the time, and the money, and the computer, I'd be all about City of Heroes.
Misc. is back from a sorta longish non-vacation. Details may or may not follow, depending.
Meanwhile: an abridged and edited recap of recent life. Baby near-crawling (need to update the family blog with cute pictures), eating solid food, and being super-cute (when she isn't fussy). L is teaching a class starting tomorrow, so lots of
