Infocult: Information, Culture, Policy, EducationInformation: its culture, history, and role in teaching and learning.The scary Google search phrase- June 30, 2008 Google search terms can be scary things, at least if you attach them to a murder case. Consider this AFP lede: A Briton accused of murdering his American wife and baby daughter made an Internet search on 'how to kill...http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/the-scary-google-search-phrase.html Internet addiction: moving towards the next DSM- June 30, 2008 At least one person has proposed adding internet addiction to the DSM, ye large tome of mental disorders. In the March issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, Jerald Block proposed that Web abuse be added to his field's bible,...http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/internet-addiction-moving-towards-the-next-ds... Death by mobile phone! Or maybe not.- June 30, 2008 Mobile phones could be triggering suicides! Or perhaps they don't. In another twist in mobile device fear, a British paper publishes claims that a group of Welsh suicides occurred suspiciously close to mobile phone masts ("cell phone towes" in Americanese)....http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/death-by-mobile-phone-or-maybe-not.html Gordon Brown's "The Raven"- June 29, 2008 The Now Show did a great routine, inserting Gordon Brown into Poe's "The Raven." Still looking for a public archive version...http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/gordon-browns-the-raven.html Another hoax producing more stories: I, Libertine- June 29, 2008 I, Libertine is one of those productive hoaxes, an idea which gives rise to stories. WFMU's blog lays out the background: Overnight WOR-AM radio show host Jean Shepherd asked his listeners ("the Night People") to go into bookstores and ask...http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/another-hoax-producing-more-stories-i-liberti... Social nodalities: Engestrom on social objects, peripheral vision, and the mobile- June 29, 2008 Jyri Engestrom speaks to social objects and social nodalities: David Weinberger's account. It's a fascinating set of notes, with some typically great points: Verbs for social objects: we need to think about the verbs that people perform on objects. E.g.,...http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/social-nodalities-engestrom-on-social-objects... Fire-wielding lunar biped beavers: the triumph of hoax as storytelling- June 28, 2008 Another great hoax literature story is the 1835 Moon Hoax. This consisted of a series of articles in the New York Sun (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), purporting to describe discoveries made by the great astronomer Sir John Herschel....http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/fire-wielding-lunar-biped-beavers-the-triumph... Is that fifth major or minor- June 28, 2008 Best topical, severed-body-part-themed name for a band this month: Severed Fifth. (thanks to shambling Steven B)http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/06/is-that-fifth-major-or-minor.html |