Party Like a Jerz

 My dad just made us root beer floats. Similar:#Blender3D rendition of the bridge of the æthership that featured in the musical #steampun…PersonalAt the airport, sending the daughter off to Ireland.At the airport, sending the daughter off…PersonalWhen you see a show alone often you can get really good seats. Idaspe @quantumtheatreCultureMy daughter found where all the…

Rest assured, there will soon be enough Rey toys to monetize the imaginations of the little girls who grew out of princess worship

The problems of female characters being under-represented in geek merchandise is real. But when it’s a secondary character like Gamora or Black Widow, at least toy companies have an excuse. When the girl is not just the star of the movie, but of the whole franchise, that’s another story. That character, of course, is Rey,…

When Asking the Question is Part of the News Story (New Example: Clinton Supporters)

I ask my journalism students to avoid using the phrase “When asked about…” as a default transition in news stories. While they are taught in freshman comp classes to introduce their quotes and then explain the significance of the quotes, to a journalist that’s just filler. This story from the Daily Mail (a UK publication…

The Chronicle of Higher Education Announces Plan to Limit, Curate Comments

By 2016, the terrain has shifted. Publications of all stripes are re-examining what it means to engage with their audiences and to encourage productive conversations. Quite a few of those conversations — including ones about our work — have already moved to social media. Many publications have played down comments or eliminated them altogether; others…

What Khan Academy’s Fun, Free Learning Empire Has to Do with Dystopian Social Control

Over the Christmas break, I’ve been churning through Khan Academy math drills, so that I can be a more effective homeschool parent. It’s actually kind of fun watching my score go up, and earning badges. In the way that birds who are trained to peck buttons for food think it’s fun to peck their little beaks bloody. As a grad student ploughing through…

A Thursday throwback to end 2015.

Similar:Nerd-buddies”He likes Lord of the Rings, Star Wars *…BooksBlank template details and a wider view of a 30cm x 30cm grid of brass and glass #neovicto…PersonalLate night set construction for The Miracle Worker.ArtSeeing the premiere of a play based on the life of a Holocaust survivor who ended up as a …PersonalI just thought of…

Daughter made a Rainbow Loom Marty McFly. Note vest jacket and hover board.

Similar:Crabby 10yo Ties Self to Pole to Protest InjusticeMy wife confiscated my preteen daughter’…CultureAdded an overhead minimap to my #medievalyork #unity3d simulation. #mysteryplayAdded an overhead minimap to my #medieva…DesignUnfinished pine and not so ornamented, for the workshops and service areas of my fantasy #…PersonalSurprised and delighted to find that Scratch 3.0 runs on an iPad.PersonalA…

And so it begins.

Similar:For years, I’ve tried to work my way back into the middle classWell-meaning people tried to encourage m…CultureThe chief engineer of a fantasy #steampunk flagship needs a small booth for shift change r…AestheticsThe Geekling Worked a Shatner/Nimoy Tribute into GodspellMy geekling daughter, who in Willy Wonka…AmusingIn 2019, I have a college student who annotates readings…

Is There a Santa Claus?

Update, Dec 2020:   We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun: Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If…

NASA Releases New Earthrise Image

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft’s vantage point in orbit around the moon. “The image is simply stunning,” said Noah Petro, Deputy Project Scientist for LRO at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The image of the Earth evokes the famous ‘Blue Marble’ image taken by Astronaut Harrison Schmitt during Apollo…