Similar:Is Babylon 5 secretly the most influential TV show of the past 25 years?When my wife and I were grad students in…CultureWhy the King’s Quest demo reignited my love for adventure gamesI would give this King’s Quest reboot a …CultureThe Printed Word in Peril: The age of Homo virtualis is upon usWho, I thought, besides…
MTV recently ditched the “Best Actor/Actress” awards in favor of “Best Actor,” which suggests the gender-specific term “actress” is less popular among MTV’s target audience. I added that detail, fixed some broken links, and updated the graphic. See Writing Tips: Gender Neutral Language. Similar:Actually, this post really *is* about ethics in journalism.People – journalists and…
With the money I saved by working on the car (watching a lot of YouTube tutorials) I bought a new midrange zoom, in the hopes I won’t miss shots by swapping lenses. And now my camera bag won’t quite zip shut. #ConspicuousConsumption Similar:The third Google hit for " #steampunk control panel" is a #blender3d image…
Similar:ChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth PreservingMany are wailing that this technology sp…AcademiaThis time of year I trust the process. Students are learning why a "yes/no" rese…PersonalIn June 2021 I roughed out the proportions and deck heights for the flagship of the #steam…AestheticsEssay on the flaws of distance educationThe web also creates the illusion that…
Similar:Love Online”The exchange of love letters was centra…CultureThe world's population is lopsided.AwesomeAP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its jou…A federal judge ordered the White House …Current_EventsFlannery O'Connor reading "A Good Man is Hard to Find"It’s striking to hear her audience erupt…AestheticsOperation War DiaryOne hundred years ago today, Britain…
While doing some spring cleaning around my computer desk at home, I noticed that there are scores of old PC games that are still stacked up within arm’s reach, even though I no longer even use a computer with an optical drive at that workstation. But these are games that have sentimental value for my…
Oppressors deny their own agency and dehumanize their victims by using the passive voice. I want my students to recognize this deliberate strategy, and to look for hidden actors and dehumanized recpients of injustice. (I try to teach about active and passive verbs in a more lighthearted way, but I only bothered to photograph and…
The voice of Wallace has died. The silly, plummy, character-driven steampunk/sitcom hybrid Wallace & Gromit films were a big influence on the tone of the “Captain Gearhart and the Magnificent Blimpship” steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell the kids. Peter Sallis has died at the age of 96, his agents have announced.The actor…
The First Amendment of the constitution protects the incoming students’ right to say whatever they like, even if Harvard doesn’t like it. And, as a private institution that is not regulated by the First Amendment, Harvard has the right to kick out incoming students unwise enough to exercise their rights in this manner. (The government…
Just as comedians generally don’t laugh at their own jokes, Shakespeare doesn’t call too much attention to his own linguistic cleverness, which is one reason his work rewards close scrutiny. It’s not that he was being deliberately obscure or flowery — though some of his obsequious characters definitely exhibit such speech patterns. One line of…
Similar:A brief respite from grading. A brief respite from grading. PersonalAfter decades lost, Star Trek’s original Enterprise model may have been foundLong before sci-fi shows created their v…DesignBoy, this sort of thing sure makes some racist people very angry.https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1305…CultureI Felt a Great Disturbance in the Font. And the Margins.You don’t want to use Courier New…
Similar:Dance of "the awkward nerd trying to act really cool" Carolyn (doing a really cool dance m…AestheticsMasked up, so I don't infect you, in case you are in a vulnerable group. Feeling healthy. …CultureHappy to see a familiar face in a slide during today’s Academic Affairs Workshop. Classes …Happy to see a familiar face…
Could the absurd examples of bizarre public discourse please stop happening so I can investifart some of them? Similar:When Asking the Question is Part of the News Story (New Example: Clinton Supporters)I ask my journalism students to avoid us…Current_EventsOne Author Breaks Down the Reality of Violent Games in the MediaChris Person posts a link to…
Most research subjects, when offered the chance to win $10 and read essays that opposed their views, or $7 and read essays that confirmed their views, chose comfort over the higher potential prize. Liberals and conservatives reacted basically the same–with liberals slightly less willing to read conservative views. (I changed the click-baity headline, which sensationalized the issue…
I remember being fascinated with and challenged by The Waste Land in high school, though it wasn’t until I read some of Eliot’s essays in college that it all sunk in. The same man who could write such clear, sensible prose when he wanted to explain could also construct densely packed, layered, gnostic verse. What…
Fake news is frustrating. Nothing new there. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Students in my freshman writing class often want to write their first college research paper on the topic of unrealistic images of women in advertising. Their first thesis is often something like “Advertisers should not damage women’s self-esteem by promoting…
I didn’t use Newsweek’s clickbaity headline: “Trump and JFK Are More Alike Than We Like To Think.” They are different in many ways, but JFK was remembered for mastering the new medium of television (people who listened to the Nixon/Kennedy debates on radio were more likely to believe Nixon won, but those who watched the…
To believe Donald Trump, you must believe two largely contradictory things. | You must believe that there are a slew of leakers in the executive branch who are providing damning details to the press illegally, and who must be rooted out and punished. punished….You must also believe that the press makes up imaginary leakers simply…
The girl was singing lyrics she learned from a friend. They were so bad I had to Google them. But the animation and tune were better than I expected. Wocka-chicka makes everything better, including this cheesy-but-catchy orc song from the 1980s animated Return of the King. Saving this for the next time I need motivation. Similar:WATCH…
While Pittsburgh has become more metropolitan in the last generation, the culture here one county to the east still bears witness to its rust belt past. This may sound dull as ditch water to those who believe that the “flyover” states are inhabited largely by clodhoppers, fundamentalist zealots and loudmouthed Babbitts. In fact, Lauck’s aim…