Fascinating contemplation of color perception, as mediated by language. The tints of a rough sea range from ‘whitish’ (polios) and ‘blue-grey’ (glaukos) to deep blue and almost black (kuaneos, melas). The sea in its calm expanse is said to be ‘pansy-like’ (ioeides), ‘wine-like’ (oinops), or purple (porphureos). But whether sea or sky, it is never just…
I don’t ban technology in my classroom, even though I know some students can’t manage the potential distraction. (An early assignment in my freshman writing class demonstrates that multitasking is a lie — we can only pay attention to one thing at a time,,and though we can do something routine like fold laundry while also…
Similar:Who's ready for some free outdoor Hamlet?PersonalLooking forward to this! @thepublicpghLooking forward to this! @thepublicpghDramaWho left these on my office door? *fake cough sounds like “Betsy”*PersonalSunny but cool. Great day for a long walk with my son.PersonalIt was Mrs. White with the revolver in the ballroom. #winning GamesCelebration of Writing — a big presentation day…
Similar:The daughter opens another show. This weekend only.The daughter opens another show. This we…PersonalThe choreographer daughter is doing a thing.The choreographer daughter is doing a th…PersonalTwo More Chances to See Prime Stage's Twelfth NightThe show runs tonight at 8 and Sunday at…BooksMy college writing students are out making short videos responding to a prompt.While…
The ability to serve content faster than where it originated is the privilege of the platform on which people find it. Facebook, Google, and Apple have all been exploiting this privilege, which, while it does lower load times, is not conducive to a single, standardized web. And it deepens content providers’ dependence on those platforms…
The last book I read to her was Wuthering Heights; next on the docket had been The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer, and I had chosen it specifically because it features a daughter who benefits unknowingly from, and then grows beyond the need for, her father’s storytelling endeavors. (Alas, that reading was not to be.)
Similar:Unless Buzzfeed-style Clickbait Replaces all Forms of Human Communication, or Republicans …I love some good meta. I wrote a dialogu…AmusingEmpok Nor #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 24) Horror-themed visit to derelict Ca…Rewatching ST:DS9 Dax, Worf and Kira ar…EthicsProgress on a customizable "[E] to Activate" system (Visual Scripting, Unity3D)https://youtube.com/shorts/-X8eBT5QoPY …CybercultureIn Pittsburgh, science gets playfulImagine:…
I’ve been contacted by editors who would just love for me to publish in international relations journals (I’m trained as an American literature specialist), or write a textbook on pretty much any topic I suggest. I’ve also seen my own web pages reproduced word-for-word, except for the removal of my name, in books other people…
We caught a gent last Christmas with £400-worth of stolen books in his trousers and elsewhere. We grabbed all of the bags back, but he returned about half an hour later to reclaim a half-bottle of whisky and his dream journal, which had been at the bottom of one of the bags of stolen books.…
Similar:Half of my students have never read Hamlet. (I told them not to get too attached to any of…We focused just on Act I today — the ope…PersonalStill More FaceTime FunI realize that video-chatting teenagers …MediaAlas for You (Godspell, Stage Right)Three weeks ago tonight, I got an email …DramaYes, I spent the last hour designing…
The dean sends me an email at 9:07pm. Instead of answering, I post about it on social media. Oh yeah, #partylikeaprofessor Similar:It's probably safe to throw these out.PersonalThe lesson of Rolling Stone and UVA: protecting victims means checking their stories It is a depressing certainty that th…Current_EventsThe Woman in BlackLast night’s preview was a layered…
Similar:The Pope's Prayer for Countering "Fake News"Today is the feast of St. Francis de Sal…CultureKids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class. Twelfth-grade reading scores are a…BooksFalse equivalency in a copspeak guide to dealing with the mediaPolice chief and writer Cliff Couch know…CultureThe Toulmin model for analyzing arguments came up at a…
The Onion reminds us not to normalize Spicer’s behavior. Similar:Letter to the editor: Setting record straight on Seton Hill newspaperHere’s my letter responding to an recent…AcademiaWhy do journalists use "allegedly" when they report on obvious crimes captured on video?Look at this picture. A guy in a uniform…Ethics"We Need to Be More Vigilant With What We…
The only reason Facebook is paying attention to fake news is because it wants to monetize real news. (Monetize = control.) After initially dismissing the idea that Facebook plays a role in disseminating fake news, the company and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been working to remedy the problem. Facebook partnered with third-party fact-checkers such as…
Impatiently scanning store shelves while tersely repeating requests for an inventory of clothing and other items that would be taken along, local mother Susan Vernon, 51, channeled her escalating fears regarding her daughter leaving for college later this month into a fight about storage bins, sources reported Saturday. —The Onion Similar:That's my daughter in the…
The pressures on local news outlets have been building for years, driven by the twin devils of recession and the disruption caused by the shift to digital media. The impact was noted in a federal study in 2011. It concluded, “A shortage of reporting manifests itself in invisible ways: stories not written, scandals not exposed,…
To master a topic, pretend you are teaching it to someone. Use simple language and analogies. If you stumble, study the topic some more, then try again. Richard Feynman was a physicist who received a nobel prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics. He was notorious for asking his mathematicians to explain concepts in simple…
We’re culturally programmed to admire people who stick to their principles. We want strong leaders, not wishy-washy ones. It’s funny to think of scientists marching in a rally shouting, “What do we want? Evidence-based change! When do we want it? After peer review!” This comic carefully walks through the way the brain accepts or rejects…
Catherine Palmer was already a seasoned student journalist at The Johns Hopkins News-Letter when Freddie Gray, a Baltimore native and black man, died in police custody, provoking protests across the city that swelled into what would be called the Baltimore Uprising. Even so, she was only 19 when she found herself one of the first reporters on…
I fixed the NY Mag’s clickbaity title, “This is what happens to your brain when you read poetry.” In fact the original study was about what happens when you listen to a recitation, not what happens when you read. While people “get chills” when they listen to music or watch movies, their brains seem to…