Don’t trust the scary bad interweb. Do trust us, your local TV talking heads, who will do all the scary thinking for you! Seeing local TV devote air time to discuss fairness and accuracy in journalism is a good thing. But when scores of newscasters read word-for-word the exact same statement, which blames social…
Similar:My colleague Dr. Cusick bakes Irish soda bread every year to honor Saint Patrick's Day.AcademiaThe Physics Behind Traffic JamsIn between today’s various events, I das…CultureUnnatural Selection (ST:TNG Rewatch Season 2, Episode 7)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaNo more braces!PersonalStar Trek: The MenagerieJust finished watching a two-part episod…PersonalI am at that stage of life where I…
I don’t know the provenance of this quote attributed to Gus Speth, which affirms the role of the humanities in a STEM-obsessed world, but I did find this interview, conducted by Steve Curwood. “You know, what’s an environmental issue?” And if the answer is air pollution, water pollution, climate change…then we’re really right where we’ve…
Historian Niall Ferguson notes that Silicon Valley is not that interested in history, which is one reason why technological gurus keep making the same mistakes. Technology that decentralizes power brings its own problems. According to Ferguson: “The idea that witches live amongst us and should be burned went as viral as anything that Martin Luther…
In 2012, Apple tried to position iPads as replacing textbooks. Last year, Microsoft tried to position laptops as replacing Chromebooks. Now, Apple needs to hook educators on the power of future-looking tech such as coding and augmented reality.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is drawing attention to malicious data thieves and brokers. But every Facebook app—even the dumb, innocent ones—collected users’ personal data without even trying.
Instagram dialed in early to the power of building community through visual communication. From the start, Instagram was a mobile app that revolved around snapshots, not snippets of text. This visualization of social media was propelled by young people who, bombarded by text messages, status updates and blog posts, gravitated to a simpler, faster and more expressive medium…
Misspelled tweets and typos in press releases are becoming the norm under President Trump, but critics say it points to a pervasive carelessness in the White House.
I still miss Notepad++, a Windows tool on which I coded many an Inform 6 puzzle. When Seton Hill started handing out iPads and MacBooks, I switched to MacOS. I really don’t miss Windows at all, but I did miss my Notepad++ text editor. TextWrangler was a decent substitute, though over the years I have…
Wired, obviously having worked on a thinkpiece about Zuckerberg’s silence, manages to repurpose it in light of this afternoon’s statement. The Irreversible Damage of Mark Zuckerberg’s SilenceWhat has happened in the last five days has been the biggest crisis of Facebook’s existence. But Zuckerberg’s five-day silent treatment may prove more damning for Facebook than any…
Facebook does not care what Hobbit you are, whether your name is on the list of people who deserve a nap, which side of the controversy your temporary profile supports, or whether the news you shared is fake. Or, to be more precise, Facebook cares only to the extent that it can control our behavior,…
This is a welcome step, but we cannot trust big corporations to solve the fake news problem for us. (Slow down and think before you share that infuriating or inspiring detail you see in your feed.) In a move to combat the epidemic of false and unreliable information on the internet, Google is pledging to…
This NYT story on the effects of race on the economic future of American citizens offers chilling findings. Come for the data visualization; stay for the thoughtful analysis. Another example of why journalism matters. Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods, still earn…
Similar:When it comes to the truth, point of view really does matter.You may have seen a version of this meme…DesignThe daughter is in “Very Berry Dead,” a new play which opens this Friday and runs for two …The daughter is in “Very Berry Dead,” a …AmusingVery impressive mural has been installed in Admin for SHU’s…
Similar:Beam me up, Chewie!AwesomeAssembling wall units to bake into a texture atlas. Teacup is a freebie from polyhaven.co… AestheticsLittle Women (Thurs-Sun)PersonalStage Right's Alice in WonderlandMy daughter shared the role of Alice thi…CultureAmong today’s major professional accomplishments: installing this hook. #springbreakMy office door feels more complete now. …AcademiaCarolyn appears as homeschooled teenager "Carolyn." Free holiday show…
Similar:What, exactly, am I looking at here? I’m so confused.What, exactly, am I looking at here? I’m…PersonalI'm having scads of fun designing #steampunk control panels. #blender3d #blender3dart…AestheticsShe’s wearing a shirt with a frog. We are in town to see the Frog and Toad musical. This s…She’s wearing a shirt with a frog. We ar…AmusingThe girl…
Already met a lot of good people and found opportunities for following up. I’m here through Saturday morning. For now, though, I’m eating a sandwich. Similar:Books Come Alive! Catalina Magdalena Cast (Stage Right Greensburg) The cast for “Catalina Mag…BooksMLA Citations: Your attention to detail establishes your credibilityAfter marking a set of bibliography exer…AcademiaAllegiance (#StarTrek #TNG…
Putting speaker notes on an iPad is always more fun when using a typeface that invokes TNG Okudagrams. Similar:Here’s What Happens in the Hour After You Drink a Can of Coke (and What Happened to Me Whe…As a kid, I remember liking the famous “…Ethics15 more sites that forbid you from linking to them »…
My wife says she bought the pies intending to use them for a math lesson, but she just ended up letting the kids start eating them. Similar:Crazy, Kinetic, Acoustic Visit to the Carnegie Science CenterA few days ago, I blogged about visiting…EducationFamily outing to the Pittsburgh National AviaryPersonalCollege Professors Hate Sharing These Mind-Blowing Study Tips…
Similar:To DoTo Do (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) 5: …AcademiaMy journalism students just gave me this wristband: "What would Jerz do? / Verify or duck…. AestheticsMore delightful #steampunk control panels. These are computationally efficient bitmap rect…PersonalStupid Puns For the WinMy daughter just trounced me in a pun wa…AmusingTop deck of a #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser needs an airlock at…