Monthly Archives: January 2008

Now That I Like

Eddie Izzard, apparently, will be voicing Reepicheep in the upcoming film version of Prince Caspian.

Posted in Popular Culture | 1 Comment

Process, Evidence, Closure

There’s an interesting, complicated discussion of sexual assaults at Swarthmore in this week’s student paper, stemming partly from the case of a student last semester who was accused of having committed assaults and has not returned to campus this semester. … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Swarthmore | 2 Comments

One-A-Day: David Weinberger, Everything is Miscellaneous

Cory Doctorow makes a lot of sales to me through his recommendations on Boing Boing. He tends to have an eye for things that I at least think I’m interested in. Sometimes, though, I feel a bit let down, feeling … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Miscellany, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 6 Comments

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Independent

In American politics, independent voters are magical creatures. They are invoked, summoned, conjured with. Ritual sacrifices are made in their name. Candidates rub the fictive head of the Independent Voter for good luck. Never so much during primary season that … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 17 Comments

Grubeus Shagrid, At Your Service

Low-energy day today: I spent a good part of yesterday playing the part of Shagrid, distant cousin to Hagrid of Harry Potter fame, convening an American expansion of the famous Hogwarts School. This was the consequence of my daughter’s request … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life | 3 Comments

One-A-Day, David Birmingham and Phyllis Martin, eds., History of Central Africa Volume 1

Students looking at the piles of books strewn over my desk, my windowsill, my bookshelves and my floor sometimes understate things a bit and say, “You have a lot of books”. (One reason I don’t really want to move again, … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | Comments Off on One-A-Day, David Birmingham and Phyllis Martin, eds., History of Central Africa Volume 1

Now You Know, and Knowing Is Half the Battle

Geeky Mom gets two things right about the recent Frontline special about children’s use of the Internet. First, that some of the parents shown in the show have no one to blame but themselves for not knowing what their kids … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 14 Comments

One-A-Day: Alexander Galloway, Gaming: Essays in Algorithimic Culture

Remember: these aren’t reviews. If I were reviewing Galloway’s Gaming, I’d spend a long while talking about why I like much of it, and think it works very well alongside similar works of critical theory applied to games and digital … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Games and Gaming, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 7 Comments

Liberal Arts Poster Children

I was thinking last week, after another discussion of assessment, about what I would regard as a successful product of a liberal arts education. If I don’t want to have a test of a fixed body of knowledge, but I … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Popular Culture, Swarthmore | 6 Comments

Strategic Admissions Limitations Talks?

I’m seeing and hearing some interesting discussions in a number of places about recent changes to the price structure of tuition at highly selective colleges and universities. In today’s New York Times, Roger Lehecka and Andrew Delbanco criticize the Harvard-led … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Swarthmore | 9 Comments