The robots are quickly and surely coming for our jobs, and we’ve comforted ourselves thus far with a palliative that goes something like this: They can’t do our creative work. They won’t do our journalism or make our art or write our poetry. Except that the startup Narrative Science has $6 million to execute its…
Alice in Quantumland: An Allegory of Quantum Physics is absolutely fantastic in its entirety, certain to engage the simultaneous states of entertainment and education with unequaled grace. Complement it with scientists’ answers to little kids’ questions about how the world works, then bend your mind by considering what it’s like to live in a universe…
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast, Can hardly look at God all day, While lifting leafy arms to pray. Where are her eyes, mouth, arms, and head? Perhaps she lifts her legs instead. Read Kilmer’s original, and David L. Hoover’s wonderful spoof at Representative Poetry Online. Similar:Liberal arts…
Similar:Captain’s Holiday (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 19) Picard’s Archeologica…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….AmusingHe Googles for some random memes to connect with weak prose, but what he does next is shoc…BusinessIt Costs So Much to Run ChatGPT That OpenAI Is Losing Money on $200 ChatGPT Pro Subscripti…I’m also thinking of the cost to…
Similar:Henry V Fans: Today is St Crispin's DayKing Henry rallies his troops just befor…CultureMore Evidence that Choosing a Typeface Is ImportantAesthetics"A Mushroom at Last… A Mushroom Forever"I asked my 10yo why she was moping. “…AmusingHow it feels to watch a user test your product for the first time Jonathon Shariat.AmusingAI is better at writing poems…
Similar:Descent, Part 1 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 26) Data experiences disturbing…Rewatching ST:TNG Data plays poker wi…CultureShow, Don’t (Just) Tell (New Example)I wrote down this example on a student p…Humanities'Star Trek': The Story of the Most Daring Cliffhanger in 'Next Generation' HistoryAround 1990, when I was studying for my …HistoryAdded a pilot and cockpit…
Amusing, if cynical, reaction to some of my favorite third-season episodes. (I suggested that my sister name her dog “Gem,” after the name McCoy gives to “The Empath,” and through high school and college I wished for the ability to speed myself up to meet deadlines, so it’s a bit of a challenge for me…
Ever wonder what the PC games of 2012 would be like if they were text adventures? Of course not, no one in their right mind would ever wonder that. In related news: I wondered that! So, rip out your GeForce GTX 680, plug in your dusty 10″ CRT monitor, and stuff your programmable eight-button mouse…
This set of 21 Theory Trading Cards, published by AltaMira Press, is based upon the online trading cards which have been so popular at David Gauntletts website www.theory.org.uk. Being actual cards, these are two-sided and contain more information; and whereas the online cards were only an official set of 12, for the published version, 21 new…
The call had come in on one of the top secret lines inside CONAD that only rang in the case of a crisis. Grabbing the phone, Shoup must have expected the worst. Instead, a tiny voice asked, “Is this Santa Claus?” “Dads pretty annoyed,” said Terri Van Keuren, Shoups daughter, recalling the legend of that…
Stoked from a morning show-choir performance and an afternoon rehearsal, Carolyn is lumbering around the kitchen floor, belting “I WANT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!” Peter, his nose in a book, expresses a stoic disapproval. “Peter, you never ask for anything,” says my wife, raising her voice over Carolyn’s singing. “If you could have anything, regardless…
I love me a good Amazon mock review. Here are several. From scientific miracles to literary criticism, by way of bodily functions and failures of common sense. Many moons ago, I wrote about the art of the humorous Amazon review as a modern masterpiece of parodic genius, embodying Arthur Koestler’s seminal “bisociation” theory of how…
“Goddammit, I don’t know what to do!” Obama said, banging his hands in frustration against a wall of binary as the entire healthcare.gov mainframe suddenly froze, forcing all previously flowing lines of code to come to a complete standstill. “I can’t fix this! Get me out of this place!” “Please! Just get me out of…
The construction is more versatile than “because+noun” suggests. Prepositional because can be yoked to verbs (Can’t talk now because cooking), adjectives (making up examples because lazy), interjections (Because yay!), and maybe adverbs too, though in strings like Because honestly., the adverb is functioning more as an exclamation. The resulting phrases are all similarly succinct and…
Wonderful snark from an indie bookseller unimpressed by a fairly transparent plan by Amazon. “Left Bank Books announces its new program whereby Amazon.com buys its books from us at a fifty percent markup over list price. They will also be charged shipping. We believe this will allow Amazon to be a part of the bricks…
It: nailed. xkcd: Headlines. Similar:A Conversation with Dennis Jerz, Actor — WAOB Audio Theatrehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU6vs0ZB…DramaEnjoying my "Dystopia in American Literature" class.After a kind of prelude in which we look…Academia'Dream' casting a family affairAmong actors in Cabaret Theatre’s upcomi…CultureThe Tempest, According to My 9yo DaughterShe’s 10 now, but here is her response t…CultureThe science of fake news:…
…she’s pretending to be “Spock in a Tree on Omicron Ceti III.” Similar:Stage Right Nation goes Into the Woods at Saint Vincent Summer Theater. Great job Renata, …Stage Right Nation goes Into the Woods a…PersonalI know that look.This was my 9yo today. She doesn’…AmusingVisionary #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 3, Episode 17) Time-jumping O'Brien Must SufferRewatching…
Inside Higher Ed Similar:Bihar Boards: An annual ritual of cheating and chitting!When Board examinations are due in Bihar…AcademiaThomas Jefferson on "newspapers without government" vs "government without newspapers"Those darn founders with their darned re…CultureSpring 2023 Grades: Submitted! (I only had 3 last-minute submissions to mark today.)AcademiaIn September, 2003, I was blogging about the emerging fad of…
Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies poster. Similar:No, Dr. Seuss is not being "banned" or "censored" — but Dr. Seuss Enterprises is voluntar…It’s nothing new that Theodore “Dr. Seus…BooksDetails matter in journalism. Get the brand of the beer, the make, m…EthicsSAT essay section: Problems with grading, instruction, and prompts.In my freshman writing courses I…
Similar:Mr. Chen Goes to WuhanA Chinese media personality with over ha…CultureRecent SHU journo grad, upon the hiring of an even more recent SHU journo grad: "Many time…A couple weeks ago I posted about a rece…AcademiaFree Game Friday: Text-Based Games 2012 Interactive Fiction contest we’ll…AmusingMedia Companies Are Getting Sick of FacebookAll of us with Facebook accounts…