Google conspiring for regime change in Syria through maps? Hardly.

For autocratic regimes, naming landmarks is both a perk and a tool — a cheap stab at immortality and a means to cement authority: In Syria, examples abound: The main highway through Damascus is named after the late despot Hafez … Continue reading

By: two & a half cheers for the Lunaticks « Bethany Nowviskie

[...] of professional societies – all of which certainly felt to me like academic employment. So, a couple of years ago, I began to see a clear need for a banner (a temporary one, I’ll emphasize) under which to [...]

two & a half cheers for the Lunaticks


The 2012 convention of the Modern Language Association saw two deeply thoughtful #alt-ac roundtables — one on jobs in the digital humanities and another on systemic, corporate, and institutional responses to a broader “future of alternative academic careers.” I moderated the second panel and participated in the first. Both, in their ways, spoke to a [...]

When I’m Sixty-four

Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in 1967.  I was nineteen years old, a junior in college.  Like many of that time, place and age, I listened to the album hundreds of times, in various states of consciousness, some of them more conscious than others.  If asked to produce the entire album from [...]

Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings

Dr Janina Ramirez in the British Library. Photo courtesy of Oxford Film and Television Dozens of medieval manuscripts from the Royal and other British Library collections will be featured in a television series to air on BBC Four, beginning next week. Presented by art historian Dr Janina Ramirez, Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings is a three-part series examining in detail what these manuscript treasures can reveal about the hidden lives of England’s monarchs. The series was produced as part of The British Library’s ongoing collaboration with the BBC, and in conjunction with our exhibition of manuscripts from the…

History’s Hottest Holiday Toys 1903-2010 (Black Friday)

What It Shows This timeline infographic indicates which toys created Christmas crazes over the last century, from yo-yos to the Microsoft Kinect. Why It’s Good As much they’re not exactly brimming with creativity, I do find I get a lot out …

Google adds new Satellite Overlay Control

I’ve just noticed a new feature on Google Maps. To help with discoverability and understanding of the satellite imagery (as opposed to the basic map) they have introduced an overlay window in the top right hand corner which exposes the…

Bing Has The Answer

Initially, web search engines were restricted to returning results which were simple pointers to web pages. Modern search engines often include an ‘answer’ on the first page. This might be a block of information about movies (if you searched for…

Aeon Quest is published!

Alright, I FINALLY finished Aeon Quest.
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Tweet and Retweet: 1.5.12 MLA 2012

Rather than list all my tweets from day one of the conference, I’ve let the crowd choose and have listed only the retweets.
Scholars
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New Approach to Defending the Value of the Humanities

In a recent piece in Inside Higher Ed, professors Paul Jay and Gerald Graff review some of the most recent contributions to the conventional wisdom on the current crisis in the humanities, outlining the divide between “traditionalists” and …

NEW SCHOLARS FORUM on Academic Publishing

You are invited to join us in the latest HASTAC Scholars forum!Pixels and Print: Redefining Academic Publishing & Scholarly Communication

Phrases as play objects: Reflections on Vivian Paley and the Story Pirates

(This blog post originally appeared on my home blog, teething on tech.)
PART ONE
Who am I?  And what is this “I” capable of?
Who are WE?  And what is this “WE” capable of?
Scholar Class 2012
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MLA is Here! Video Game Panels

Coming up this weekend at the Modern Language Association annual convention held this year in Seattle, I am on two panels:
332. Digital Narratives and Gaming for Teaching Language and Literature
Friday, 6 January, 3:30–4:45 p.m., Aspen, Sheraton
Pro…

Mozilla Seeks Designers to Supercharge Learning in Digital Badges Competition

By Matt ThompsonBadges for Lifelong Learning
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