What's All This Brouhaha? » Nonfiction http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com random rantings Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:43:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 The suboptimal way to read a book http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com/2007/06/13/the-suboptimal-way-to-read-a-book/ http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com/2007/06/13/the-suboptimal-way-to-read-a-book/#comments Thu, 14 Jun 2007 02:32:49 +0000 Eric http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com/?p=529 I’m about halfway through reading Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education by David F. Noble, a book recommended to me by a fellow student. It is a scathing critique of the trend of universities viewing education as a commodity product rather than a service.

I went out to a fast food joint for lunch, and took along the book and a newspaper. I read the newspaper with my meal, and when I finished, I threw the newspaper away. Unfortunately the book had apparently wound up somewhere in the pile of newspaper sections.

I don’t feel like going back and asking to dig through their garbage, so I just ordered another copy of the book. Sigh.

]]> http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com/2007/06/13/the-suboptimal-way-to-read-a-book/feed/ 0 Sir Apropos of Nothing; Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com/2004/05/03/sir-apropos-of-nothing-twisty-little-passages-an-approach-to-interactive-fiction/ http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com/2004/05/03/sir-apropos-of-nothing-twisty-little-passages-an-approach-to-interactive-fiction/#comments Mon, 03 May 2004 09:45:27 +0000 Eric http://whats.all.this.brouhaha.com/?p=87 I just read Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter David, a comedic fantasy. It was quite entertaining. There are a few puns, but not a non-stop stream of them like a Xanth novel. The paperback includes a teaser for the sequel, which I’d have to describe as a bawdy parody of Fellowship of the Ring. I’m not a prude, but this didn’t particularly inspire me to want to read the second book, the reviews of which are fairly mixed anyhow.

I’d previously read some of Peter David’s Legions of Fire Babylon 5 novels, which were extremely good. If you’re a B5 fan, you shouldn’t miss these, as JMS actually provided the storyline which details what happens on Centauri Prime after the series.

I just started reading Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction by Nick Montfort (MIT Press, 2003). This is a great history and survey of interactive fiction from its origins the Crowther and Woods ADVENTURE and MIT/Infocom Zork to the present-day interactive fiction community using the Inform, TADS, and other compilers.

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