media are plural - nerdy musings on arts and culture

Final Fantasy games are tied together in weird ways

Final Fantasy is a weird series. The mainline games often feel extremely different from one another, and little seems to tie them together as a series. That’s especially…

Post date June 9, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

Internet Explorer's downfall is memorialized on a pixel-art tombstone

Internet Explorer’s downfall was drawn-out and painful

Welcome back to my obituary for a terrible program. Last week, I walked you through early internet history and the rise of Microsoft’s browser, but this week is…

Post date June 2, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

How Internet Explorer exploded in the 90s

It finally happened. Microsoft announced it will be ending support for Internet Explorer (IE) in 2022. It’s the death knell for one of the most infamous pieces of…

Post date May 26, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

a letter, pen and paper sit on a desk. the letter contains lines from Alexander Pope's poem Eloisa to Abelard

Let’s bring back pen pals and keep in touch offline

Okay hear me out: we should bring back pen pals. And not necessarily email pen pals, where we just write long messages to one another. I’m calling for…

Post date May 19, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

a person holds a phone in front of a computer, both visiting defunct social media sites

Social media isn’t fun, and that might be okay

Lately several of my friends have left social media. I wish I could join them. Unfortunately, running a blog or any other creative pursuit makes social media obligatory.…

Post date May 5, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

me thinking about the mandela effect with a photo negative image of the Berenstain Bears floating

The Mandela Effect is mostly nonsense but a little cool

I’ve been on a mystery YouTube kick lately, and a topic that keeps coming up is the Mandela Effect. It’s a much-discussed phenomenon, first described by paranormal researcher…

Post date April 28, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

a flower sits on a book whose pages are folded into a heart, probably after it read my love letter to print

Love letter to print: Why I still simp for paper

Print media still rules, I don’t care what the haters say. I will always enjoy sitting down with a physical newspaper, magazine, or a book, even when I…

Post date April 21, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

me reading by force, the book is Sadness by Donald Barthelme

Reading by force: How I rekindled my love of books

Something wasn’t sitting right with me after I wrote that article about reading during the pandemic. The post ended on a bittersweet note in which I hoped I…

Post date April 7, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick

eggs and a whisk are placed near recipes on paper

Recipes on paper are more practical than videos

Call me old school, but I think the most practical medium for recipes is print. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching recipe videos and seeing the techniques…

Post date March 31, 2021
Post author By Pat Reddick