BlogSchmog

Chapter Twelve: Dave’s Plan

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:49:33 +0000

After about a minute of adjusting to the dim light, I looked up to see what an amazing thing could possibly be in this cavern. What I saw before me was the most stupendous thing I had seen upon reaching this planet. It was a humongous starship.

Chapter Eleven: Dave

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:27:03 +0000

I started slinking backwards to the mouth of the cave. I was going to climb down the ladder and make an escape across the desert when I realized something: this cave didn't have a ladder. I was ready just to accept my fate and be devoured by a giant monster when out of the darkness came. . . . a Goostopus?

How the Web Sees You

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:42:35 +0000

The value of data mining is dependent on the people wielding the algorithm. Personas, an art installation by MIT’s Sociable Media Group, wants to create awareness about the capricious nature of results.

Chapter Ten: Weasel the Waysel

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:58:14 +0000

In fact, fireflies weren't the only animals in this room- there were huge cages with rainbow-toothed saber-toothed tigers and elephants with wings.

Chapter Nine: Plittereeg

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:22:15 +0000

"Boo," we heard from behind us, with a thick Irish accent. The alabaster lion roared, I jumped, and Plittereeg EEPED. We turned around and standing before us was a measly, furry little creature with two arms on each side of its body and close in appearance to a weasel.

Chapter Eight: We’re not alone.

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:17:02 +0000

I sat up with a jolt. Whatever was patting me emitted a screech and ran away. The last sight I caught was a two-toed foot fleeting from my range of vision in the cave.

Chapter Seven: The Landing

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:33:09 +0000

The lion looked confused but then made an "oh, I get it" sort of face and went back into the ship and for the first time stood up on two legs and picked up a whole squadron of paper planes and threw them at me. When I unfolded them I said, "this is a really bad way to communicate. Take off your spacesuit. The atmosphere may be thin, but it's safe."

Chapter Six: The Lion’s Story

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:00:22 +0000

"Well, the real point of this story doesn't come for a while, so why don't I tell you something interesting in the meantime. Right before you were tossed into the pit, there was another boy that I let out. His name was Ruth."

Chapter Five: The Alabaster Lion

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:12:18 +0000

The room was a large, rust encrusted iron room with gears and cogs whirring up on the wall. As I stepped backwards even farther in amazement, I touched something. Instinctively I reached backwards to feel what it was and I landed my hand on something soft and furry. I felt it more and realized it was long hair. As I turned around I found myself staring face to face with the Alabaster Lion.

Chapter Four: The Inner Workings of the Deathbird

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:56:53 +0000

It was hard to see through the goggles but it got easier to see as we approached the volcano of blue light. We approached the edge. I was about to ask what we were doing here when they tossed me in.

Chapter Three: The Ship

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:52:28 +0000

The ductopi led me across a catwalk above the center of the floor and I saw the source of the blue glow. There was a large hole in the floor with an intense volcano of blue light flowing out of it. I tried to ask, "what's that?" but with a gag on it came out more, "Mmphf, pmphf."

Chapter Two: The Military Exus Leader

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:39:26 +0000

When I came to, it took me a while to adjust to the conditions. For one thing, it was freezing everywhere. The metal slab I was sitting on was cold as ice and the air around me was even colder. The light was dim, but it was bright compared to what I had experienced inside the burlap sack and it took my eyes a while to adjust.

Nanowrimo again: Aliens

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:09:45 +0000

When I came to, a couple of hours later, I was in a dimly lit cave with two hulking shadows standing above me. Then all of a sudden, like you see in cheesy alien movies, the lights came on really really bright, as if they were about to examine me. The two hulking beasts were. . . ducks?

Real-Time is a Collaboration

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:05:39 +0000

The real-time web is an emergent phenomenon dependent on many individuals sharing what is happening in moments of personal interest.

The Expectation Gap

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:55:19 +0000

Old blog posts about Twitter by Tom Smith and Louis Gray prompt discussion about the gap between user expectation and practice.

Shared Sounds

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:06:42 +0000

In his recent TED talk, Julian Treasure treats sound as a material for businesses, an insight that changes the way designers should approach common spaces.

The Impact of Twitter Lists

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:17:59 +0000

While official support of Twitter lists will initially produce a bunch of happy campers, lists may also change behavior in unexpected ways.

Testing Ambiguity

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:55:20 +0000

In between precision and art, data can be presented in an ambiguous way, so as to force the observer to become a co-creator of its meaning. This is one key insight that informed the Kazomi project, now in Alpha testing.

Crowdsourcing Fiction

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:45:25 +0000

BBC Audiobooks America sponsored a Twitter event that featured popular novelist Neil Gaiman and hundreds of short-form writers. The outcome will be a free audiobook produced from the collaboration.

NFL Receiver Catches On to Twitter Power

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:36:12 +0000

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald asked a simple question Sunday night and got 1000 simple answers from fans.

Who Are Your 140?

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:38:58 +0000

Jeremy Epstein says he limits the number of people he follows on Twitter to 140. This kind of constraint can free more resources to build relationships, but it's difficult to get there from 800.

The Internet Gives Us Better Process

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:30:51 +0000

A concern about of Web 2.0 content is that it may not be true. It may be better for our ability to understand truth if it isn't.

The Local Social

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:30:01 +0000

The City of Bloomington officially announced its participation in social media, reminding us that network value is as much relational as it is structural.

Keep It Simple, Twitter

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:53:55 +0000

If there is any cause for concern in the news of Twitter's feature changes, it may be in a feature creep that moves the service further away from simple.

Fears of Disney and Marvel

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:54:07 +0000

What if there's Wizards of Xavierly Place?

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