Some days are slogs. Some weeks are slogs. Some weeks are slogs that end with a wonderfully heartening comment from a student. I will not deny that I was a little worried about reading Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet as I know that they are two of Shakespeare’s most famous plays and I feared that…
Yesterday, an artist on Twitter named Nana ran an experiment to test a theory. Their suspicion was that bots were actively looking on Twitter for phrases like “I want this on a shirt” or “This needs to be a t-shirt,” automatically scraping the quoted images, and instantly selling them without permission as print-on-demand t-shirts. Dozens of…
Most of my students use MS-Word, but maybe a third use Google Docs (that’s a big increase lately) and a handful (but a bigger handful) use Pages. Today during a writing conference, a freshman comp student blinked in confusion when I asked her to “take me to your word processor.” I tried again. “Open up…
On LinkedIn each year author Dan Schawbel writes a list of workplace trends to watch for in the coming year. This time around Schawbel makes this prediction about degrees in subjects like literature, philosophy and history: “AI will automate technical skills and drive the demand for soft skills like creativity, communication and empathy. While there’s been such a…
Similar:My students were awesome. So many thoughtful final projects. So much growth. A stressful, …PersonalNew utility chair and appliances from the service areas of my fantasy #steampunk #blender3…AestheticsThe Tribune-Review published a nice preview of Dani Girl.My daughter Carolyn, Matthew Hommel, Vin…DramaGeometry and color maps for wooden desk tray. #Blender3D #practiceThe blue image is a “normal map,”…
A pretty 16yo destined to bring peace to a war-torn planet falls for Wesley, but 1) her governess disapproves and 2) well… Wesley. The puppy-love story is cringe-worthily wholesome (influenced by the long dark adorable shadow of “The Wonder Years”), but still enjoyable.
Similar:Snow White: The Musical Opens Fridayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiIRCoHoN…AestheticsThe girl got picked for an audience participation bit as the muse of comedy in Xanadu. Gre…CulturePractice, practice, practice. Making many things in #Blender3D. Arranging them to make a t… AestheticsThe daughter is doing another thing, this time in Galway, Ireland. AestheticsConfessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling DadAre you unexpectedly…
Professional disinformation isn’t spread by the account you disagree with — quite the opposite. Effective disinformation is embedded in an account you agree with.
My math education predated the widespread use of graphing calculators. I remember writing my own BASIC programs to graph simple functions, but that was in a summer school programming class during middle school, not part of my high school curriculum. I’m amazed these old calculators cost this much. Bulky and black, with large, colorful push…
Similar:Those shoggoths hacked from lungs unspeakable1) Last night, I’m fairly certain some …AmusingGoodby big Android… hello little budget iPhone SE 3rd.I just removed from my syllabus template…AcademiaRespect the Text: Teaching Textual Primacy to Non-English MajorsIn the past, I have used the first day o…AcademiaCompleted uniforms for the officers and crew from the #neovictorian #steampunk bedtime…
Similar:Family outing to the Pittsburgh National AviaryPersonalThe daughter is doing another thing, this time in Galway, Ireland. AestheticsMy college writing students are out making short videos responding to a prompt.While my students are out of the room ma…AcademiaThey both reached for the gun.PersonalI'm happy with today's #steampunk control panel. To fill out the master plan…
Similar:A full minute standing ovation after that rousing final “Alleluia.” Thrilling!PersonalI just discovered what will grind up a significant portion of my free time over the break.So Khan Academy now has a grammar unit. …PersonalA performance, two auditions and a cast party. #busyweekendPersonalThe girl as Mrs Lovett with Ben Federico as Sweeney Todd.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITqwfTCk…CultureDrawing of Once…
Citing student objections to offensive content, Point Park University canceled its production of The Adding Machine: The Musical, which was scheduled to run Dec 6-15. The PPU Globe reports that during an emotional “town hall” meeting that included the cast and crew and more than enough members of the public to fill the Highmark Theater,…
Similar:Seize the Day!Personal@shu.pippin was great. Four more chances to see it!PersonalMy meme about the distracted boyfriend memeAmusingSeton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabeth Burns, Jake Carnahan-Curcio and Carolyn Jerz in …Seton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabet…AcademiaOnly a Dad (Edgar Guest poem, read by Carolyn and Peter Jerz for WAOB Audio Theatre)Carolyn and Peter Jerz recite “Only…
Similar:Rehearsing for Little Women Tuesday (Carolyn plays Amy)PersonalThree different sized buildings. Still working on variations for the biggest one. #blender…Three different sized buildings. Still w…AestheticsStar Trek: "Wink Of An Eye"/"The Empath"Amusing, if cynical, reaction to some of…AmusingMy journalism students just gave me this wristband: "What would Jerz do? / Verify or duck…. AestheticsThe daughter is…
Similar:The Inner Light (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 25) When a probe-zapped Picard …Rewatching ST:TNG When a space probe …CultureHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday night, President Donald Trump …AcademiaPope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are right and God isn't 'a magician wi…The theories…
Similar:Seeing A Wrinkle in Time. @prime_stagePersonalNarrating "A Christmas Carol" for WAOB Audio Theatre. (The four episodes will be released …DramaChapbooks — the latest assignment in my “History and Future of the Book” class.Students have already done a 400-word sp…AcademiaMy Shakespeare students are off peer reviewing their term paper rough drafts. I’m official…AcademiaMy English major skills…
Sitting in a downtown sub shop. A half dozen 40yo dudes — boots & jeans & beards & tattoos — pile in, trash-talking each other. “I don’t wanna sit next to *that* retard!” says a guy in a knit cap. “You gotta pick your ‘tards!” I take a deep breath. Almost immediately, the dude with…
In November 1999, I was blogging about John’s Book Pages (by a CS grad student who had recently read Gene Wolfe and Anthony Bourdain, among many others) What camomile tea has in common with the attack squadron over Skylon 4 (rec.humor newsgroup reference to a disastrous “tandem story” assignment) “Nimoy is, to say the least,…
Corridors in science-fiction movies. I love them. I wasted too much of my childhood and youth imitating and developing the superb production sketches of Ron Cobb, Syd Mead, Ralph McQuarrie and many others. I walked round Elstree studios collecting precious vacuum-formed sections of cloud-city corridor from The Empire Strikes Back, some months after principal photography stopped.…