Fake Graph: The Actual “Dunning-Kruger Effect” Is NOTHING Like I Thought It Was
For years, I’ve been teaching a fake graph. In pretty much every course I teach, on some day when students seem discouraged or distracted, I’ll draw an X axis labeled “Experience” and a Y-axis labeled “Confidence,” and sketch out the “Dunning-Kruger Effect” curve, as preparation for an informal pep talk. (Update, 27 Nov 2021: My…
MoonBot is back. This time he fights a new adversary. #Blender3D physics practice.
I submitted midterm grades at about 11 last night, quickly modeled a new object, and let the animation render overnight.
Copper Destroys Viruses and Bacteria. Why Isn’t It Everywhere?
Copper is antimicrobial. It kills bacteria and viruses, sometimes within minutes. In the 19th century, exposure to copper would have been an early version of constantly sanitizing one’s hands. Since then, studies have shown that copper is able to destroy the microbes that most threaten our lives. It has been shown to kill a long list…
Coronavirus Tribute to Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” (1942)
I found this image on Facebook (where it was being shared without attribution).
Toasty Warm Bed (designed by drunk AI neural net)
Musician uses computer algorithm to compose every melody possible in C, releases them for free online to fight copyright trolls
A lawyer and hobbyist musician collaborated with a computer programmer to generate every possible 12-note melody in the key of C. The final compilation includes 68.7 billion melodic combinations, which the pair uploaded to the Internet Archive through a Create Commons Zero license, meaning they reserve no rights of ownership to any of them.…
Computers and Writing 2020 Funding Request: Submitted
My contributions this year are a workshop on #Inform7 and “Fixed It For You: Modding Memes, Maps and Minds”.
The Hidden Signs That Can Reveal a Fake Photo
Farid emphasises that forensic techniques do not guarantee fake photos can be spotted. They are, however, creating an arms race between hoaxers and those working in the forensic community. “They raise the bar for the level of difficulty and skill required to create a compelling fake,” says Farid. “My hope is that when you run…
Over time, Google has made paid ads harder to spot
In 2007, Google changed the long-standing shaded background indicating the ads section of the page from blue to yellow. In 2008, it then briefly tried a green background before reverting back to yellow. Google continued to test variations of background colors including bright blue and a light violet. In 2010, violet officially replaced the…
As Twinkle Twinkle is to Suzuki musicians, so is a wooden shipping crate to CGI modelers. #Blender3D #design #practice
I have certainly made more complex scenes, but this time, I modeled each board, getting the grain of the wood at least plausibly right on each face, and placing each nail realistically. Following the workflow for creating game assets, I converted the completely realistic 3D simulation with 3D boards and nails into flat images. The…
Opinion: A deceptively edited video of Joe Biden signals what’s coming (Washington Post)
Critical thinking skills and basic textual analysis are increasingly important in a cultural landscape where the powerful are counting on the average person not caring about such things as the truth. Biden opened by talking about how English common law in the 1300s allowed for husbands to beat their wives, and then said that we…
Man enough to sew my own computer bag. Insecure enough to seek validation on social media for doing so.
The dress we ordered for the “girl next door” role in The Fantasticks… vs the dress that we received!
Overwhelmed? Start a new to-do list with “1) Breathe; 2) Make ‘to-do’ list”
Felt momentarily overwhelmed by the day’s tasks. Made the following list: 1) Breathe. 2) Make “to do” list. 3) Post blog entry about “to do” list. 4) Go to lunch. 5) Prioritize to-do list. (Break up the intimidating tasks into smaller steps.) 6) Do first important item on list. (Repeat as necessary.) I’m…
Elementary, Dear Data (TNG Rewatch: Season 2, Episode 3) When a holodeck bet spawns a fictional threat, that’s a-cosplay
Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation after a 20-year break. LaForge works on his model ship in main engineering (?) and invites Data to enjoy a Sherlock Holmes holodeck adventure. Sounds fun, but a slow start, with low stakes. We can forgive the director for spending a lot of time showing the characters reacting to…
A day after using an apparently altered hurricane map, Trump defends his Alabama claim
It was Mr. Trump who used a black Sharpie to mark up an official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map, which he displayed during an Oval Office briefing on Wednesday, according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “No one else writes like that on a…
The history of Tetris randomizers
A pleasantly detailed analysis of how the various editions of Tetris chose what piece was next. In 1985, Alexey Pajitnov and Vadim Gerasimov released Tetris to the public. This fun and highly addictive game challenged players to fit pieces together that were dealt in a random order. Since then, over 150 licensed versions of Tetris games have…
Your Brain on Shakespeare
