There is an interesting Xbox plexiglass modification , which turns an unassuming black plastic cuboid into a horrid of light and sound.
In a move sure to bedazzle the American public and reinforce the image of political , President Bush - being the good-willed citizen that he is - Baghdad (yes, Baghdad) for thanksgiving.
It has all the elements of a - except the part where an unidentified group of masked gunmen hijack Air Force One and Jack Ryan sneaks aboard to save the... Oh, wait. Nevermind.
Back to the digital domain, Taiwanese manufacturer of optical drives, Lite-On, is estimated to ship next quarter. Given that their technology ranks among the cheapest, quietest, and most reliable equipment I've come across, I can't say I'm surprised. My $60 Lite-On 40/12/48 CD-R/-RW is serving me rather well, actually. Now, where did I put that 'backup' copy of ...
His structuralist analysis of hypertext systems is also very interesting, if you have the time to absorb it in full, though a little laboured in parts. Note especially his rejection of radical deconstructionist interpretative theories, and adoption of a pseudo- 'three-dimensional' interpretative framework. In the context of the internet (a collaborative 'work' shaped by a large interpretive community) such a model seems very accurate.
Eco's argument that the electronic medium will (owing to its non-linear mode of information retrieval), replace traditional vegetal reference materials is rather ironic, as his example to contrast the two mediums demonstrates:
While true (after all, I can't remember the last time I've in a paper dictionary), these same properties of electronic information access may be used to highlight Eco's own unoriginality (note that this was first discovered by an observant ).
Namely, a quick Google reveals that Eco's aforementioned article is little more than a repeat of a lecture given by him in , and again in , , and , at various academic conferences. He must be getting rather good at delivering it by now!
Going back a little further (and already onto the of search results), we find that the Napolean example itself was by Bertrand Russell in 1935. Of course, the ease with which this information was all accessed just goes to show how correct Eco actually is!
