Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. Best case scenario? A virtual reality game that is either based around Portal or Half-Life, or unites the franchises into one experience. Valve has invested heavily in VR and clearly values the technology as an entertainment phenomenon – the Portal demo for Vive is one of the…
Similar:Unnatural Selection (ST:TNG Rewatch Season 2, Episode 7)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaAs a student journo, naturally I covered the visit from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry…I recall just sort of telling the editor…AcademiaAirlock for a #steampunk #blender3d project featuring #neovictorian #greebles. #blender3da… AestheticsAbove the ready-room desk is the captain's power-napping loft, because self-care…
Similar:Youth Can Check Out Briefcases, Neckties via NYPL Grow Up Work AccessoriesThe New York Public Library has a progra…BusinessRubric for the Rubric Concerning Students’ Core Educational Competency In Reading Things I…Sadly, this only barely counts as satire…AcademiaHow to interact with the introverted…My daughter spends a lot of time with he…DesignEnjoying live theater.The Illustrious Invalid. @kinetictheatre_pghPersonalThe…
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:Pulitzer Alert: Local TV Reporter Throws Cookies to Dramatize Destructive Walmart Flash…
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:Renata, Carolyn and Alex in a scene from this weekend's Pippin.CulturePics from Thursday's…
Similar:I asked my geekling whether she was ready for bed…I asked my #geekling whether she was rea…AmusingIn September 1999 I was blogging about Tom Stoppard, techno-utopianism, voice-recognition …In September 1999, I was blogging about …CybercultureCrabby 10yo Ties Self to Pole to Protest InjusticeMy wife confiscated my preteen daughter’…CulturePolice, citizens and technology factor into Boston…
Similar:Mechanical innards for a Steampunk set piece. #Blender3D #greebleshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oChXOu8C…AestheticsWeb Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers: Four MovesThe confirmation bias describes the very…AcademiaI regularly teach Uncle Tom's Cabin, but have never seen it before. BooksCarolyn Jerz featured on Tap Titans TodayI love watching my daughter perform. Her…AestheticsMaking a case for a singular ‘they’ I am definitely on team…
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:"I might be putting a little too much effort into designing the cravat for the captai…AestheticsSnow White: The Musical Opens Fridayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiIRCoHoN…AestheticsCarolyn Jerz (Viola): Meet the cast of Twelfth Night! #PSTTwelfthNightMeet the cast of Twelfth Night! (May 2-1…CultureJoyful white guys finish ahead of struggling woman and black man in this university’s cata…Looks like the quality control…
Similar:Among today’s major professional accomplishments: installing this hook. #springbreakMy office door feels more complete now. …AcademiaMore #blender3d #steampunk #design. #blender3dart #aesthetics The officers’ conference roo…AestheticsYork Corpus Christi Pageant, Toronto, June 7I’ll be in Toronto next week to observe …AcademiaPeople with autism spectrum disorder avoid eye contact because it causes anxietyMy culture has taught me…
Could the absurd examples of bizarre public discourse please stop happening so I can investifart some of them? Similar:Fact check: Trump lies about CNN at Mississippi rallyI tell my journalism students they won’t…Current_EventsCrash site and Tower of Voices. Well worth the side trip on the way back from a weekend gi…Flight 93 crash site and…
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…