5 Intriguing Things
1. On Judy Malloy and the forgotten female e-literature pioneers.
"When Robert Coover anointed Michael Joyce the ‘granddaddy’ of hypertext literature in a 1992 New York Times article, it could scarcely have been imagined that this pronouncement would come to define the origin of electronic literature. This short article examines the human and machinic operations obscuring Judy Malloy's Uncle Roger, a hypertext that predatesafternoon. Malloy's reputation was stunted because Uncle Roger was algorithmically invisible, a factor that became increasingly important as the Web's commercial capacities matured. afternoon's endurance can be traced to its ISBN, which made afternoon easy for readers to find and united disparate stewards in preserving access to this work. Malloy's programming expertise and the goodwill among hypertext authors were insufficient to protect her against sexist exclusions that, in aggregate, fostered enduring disequilibria."
2. On the (fascinating) design and creation of Chewbacca's speech.
"In the year I spent recording preliminary sounds for Star Wars, I collected lots of bear sounds, as well as walruses, lions, and badgers and sick animals, and domestic animals. All sorts of things. And out of all these recordings you could extract little bits of sound, little grunts, moans, and ughs and arghs and purring sounds, whatever it might be. I collected and put all on one tape all these sounds that had emotional feelings associated with them. You play this sound and it sounded affectionate. You play this other sound and it sounded angry. In that manner, I had these categories of little sounds that each had an emotional tone associated with it. I began cutting those together to get a sense of speech out of Chewy... It's a voice which is manufactured completely out of animal sounds, principally bears."
3. Pope Francis wants the youth to stop Snapchatting.
"'Our life is made up of time, and time is a gift from God, so it is important that it be used in good and fruitful actions.' Activities cited by Francis as futile were: 'chatting on the Internet or with smartphones, watching TV soap operas, and (using) the products of technological progress, which should simplify and improve the quality of life, but distract attention away from what is really important.'"
4. The first issue of the Human Genome Quarterly, the publication of the Human Genome Project.
"The ordered chromosome-specific DNA fragments currently being produced will someday be decoded into a reference human genome sequence of 3.5 billion base pair subunits. Such sequence information will greatly advance our understanding of gene function, especially in the area of genetic diseases and as a basis for determining individual sensitivity to radiation and environmental chemicals."
5. ROBOBIRDS.
"Enter the 3D-printed robotic bird of prey. Designed by the Dutch company Clear Flight Solutions, the convincing imposters flap their wings and fly just like live avian predators. The “robirds” work like airborne, remote-controlled scarecrows, deterring live birds from venturing close to decidedly hazardous sites. Robirds indicate a definite shift from some of the more common methods of control—like culling wild birds near airports, placing chemicals on crops, or using loud noises to frighten flocks away"
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
chauvinism. The French parallel to jingoism.
Manufactured Completely Out of Animal Sounds, Principally Bears