A student in my “American Literature: 1915-Present” class used the medium of a 2D graphic adventure game to deliver her multimodal final project. (Students also wrote a traditional term paper.) You are the cameraman of a new TV show based on Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth.” But things quickly go downhill when a…
Reagan recognized that as leader of the free world, his words carried enormous weight, and he used them to inspire the unprecedented spread of democracy around the world. | President Trump does not seem to understand that his rhetoric and actions reverberate in the same way. He has threatened to continue his attempt to discredit…
A mechanism description analyzes (that is, subdivides into components for further scrutiny) an object in space. When you try to organize your major subsections, if no other obvious pattern seems appropriate, you can always fall back on the more-important-to-less-important strategy. Don’t sell the object. A technical writer is not required to persuade the reader that the object is wonderful,…
Don’t spend three pages establishing that some people burn to death, some people freeze to death, and some people drown. Start by saying what we need to do now that the iceberg we are stranded on has caught fire. Similar:Good example of ‘do NOT remove things from photos.’Hat tip to my former student Kiley…
The car shop wanted to charge over $300. I found the part online for under $40. With the help of a YouTube video, the job took about 45 minutes. (Much of that time I spent wandering around my house looking for tools. Grateful that my father-in-law gave me a ratchet set as a wedding present.)…
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That’s a prop knife in my right hand. Similar:Thank you, 1993 Dennis, for documenting this low-resolution (the background image was 640x…Thank you, 1993 Dennis, for documenting …AestheticsNow I can relax a bit. (But just a bit.)PersonalI really enjoyed powering through Wilson’s Century Cycle during winter term.AwesomeElderly woman who botched religious fresco demands royalties – TelegraphThe…
I have no reason to trust Facebook to filter my news for me. However, so many people get their news by social media, maybe this will be an easy way for people to check whether a viral meme is a hoax. Maybe an option marked “Look up vetted news reports related to this post.” Yes,…
In general, I avoid clicking on any headline with the weasel words “can” or “might.” However, I did enjoy this reflection on the positive impact of literary reading. I’m teaching a compressed online literature course, so that involves re-reading the literary works I assigned, as well as engaging with what my students write about those…
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Working on the syllabus for my “Media and Culture” class on the history and future of the book. Similar:Facebook’s Instant Articles restore subscription options they previously strippedThe ability to serve content faster than…BusinessGirlhood 2014They don’t even seem to want to watch Fr…CultureFriend I hadn't seen for about 20 years delivers a vintage nerdy gift.During the…
I’m spending a few days visiting my parents in Northern Virginia. Similar:When we play Star Trek Monopoly, I am the Captain’s chair. GamesAnother student matinee. So many excited kids for Frankenstein. @prime_stage Books#PPTPlaytime Tartuffe @thepublicpgh (Looking forward to Part 2 of this live videoconferenc…CultureShe feels pretty at the dress rehearsal (opens Thursday)On the ride home, in…
Words, words, words. With the advent of the stream of consciousness in twentieth-century literature, it has come to seem that the self is very much a thing made of words, a verbal construction forever narrating itself and reconstituting itself in language. In line with the dominant, internalist view of consciousness, it is assumed that this…
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A Google self-study found that its own most successful employees had soft skills, such as mentoring ability, empathy, and critical thinking and problem-solving. “Those traits sound more like what one gains as an English or theater major than as a programmer,” according to the Washington Post. [A]mong the eight most important qualities of Google’s top…
Instead of flagging links to questionable news items, Facebook will instead hide them. Which is nice, but it still means we have to trust the algorithm Facebook uses. (Don’t trust Facebook to filter your news for you.) False news undermines the unique value that Facebook offers: the ability for you to connect with family and…
“Dammit Mom, I’m a daughter, not a theoretician!” — the girl, responding to a pointed rhetorical question. Know Your Meme Similar:More #steampunk control panel bits for a #neovictorian #blender3D project. I have a master…AestheticsMy meeting was cancelled, so I spent the morning assembling a cabinet for a Little Free Li…AcademiaThe phrase "debate begins" in the…
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