One of my students is demonstrating the perceived value of brand-name vs no-name products. The Oreos are gone. She can't give away all the off- brand.

  Similar:Looking forward towards the wardroom (center) and the officers' pub, the Gear and Hea…AestheticsDear 11yo DaughterYou are growing up smart, talented, dete…PersonalFinished Reading The Chronicles of PrydainWe could hardly stop reading just before…BooksSome problems bringing #Blender3D models into the #Unity3D game engine. The pink represent…AestheticsTrack and field fundraiser:photo by Carolyn. FIRST ONE!!!PersonalJohn Speed’s 1611…

Celebration of Writing — a big presentation day for freshman writing classes.

Similar:Family catch and eat octopus with six tentacles during Greek vacationI keep a silly personal blog devoted to …PersonalBeautifying the exterior of the fantasy cruiser from the bedtime stories I used to tell my…PersonalThe Defector (ST:TNG Rewatch; Season Three, Episode 10) Cold War Brinksmanship, via Shakes…(Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break…CultureFirst page of a student’s…

Audisee Presents: The War of the Worlds

As new age synthesizer music, a rich baritone narrates: “Audisee presents: The War of the Worlds. The year is 2015 A.D. From the first launching into space, in 1961, to the establishment of a base on Jupiter this year, man has not encountered extraterrestrial life forms.” When I was about 10 or 11, I loved…

Amazing show. Young lovers, a witty (but often stupid) servant, speeches, rants, exaggerated "takes," and no villain at all, just misunderstanding upon misunderstanding.

  Similar:Backstage opening night.PersonalIn Which I Bow Before the Mistress of Teen SnarkThe Girl: I’m sorry I’m being so… Me:…CultureI am very happy for these folks, who spent 20 or so years tweaking an insanely complex, co… AwesomeSibling Affection and Paternal Abstraction as Drawn By a Six-Year-Old; or, Aren't My Daugh…My six-year-old daughter is a…

Where is the tipping point?

What if universities stopped buying academic journals, and put the money towards hiring editors who helped their faculty publish their scholarship in their own free, open-source journals? I don’t know how much labour goes into running a prestigious journal, but let’s say all the universities that really need those specialised mathematics journals sat down and…

Most Christians don’t actually care about Starbucks cups. Here’s what we do know.

No Christians in my social media feed care about the design of that cup. Lots of people in my social media feed have reposted stories critical of the silly Christians who get all worked up about the design of the cup. Full disclosure: I don’t drink coffee. [C]ontrary to a few breathless media reports, most Christians…

Reading should not carry a health warning

Similar:80 Days review80 Days was my go-to game over the summe…CultureRare find discovered amid town's Old West kitschInstead of dispensing a card like Zoltar…AestheticsMy Son Plays Mozart Too Fasthttps://youtu.be/gXAtRI1NLxs He says “M…AmusingSeton Hill's Latest Interactive Multimodal Communications Technology The other day, a worker was pushing …AcademiaI've Stopped Creating Syllabi. Now I Create Syllabuses.At some point,…

Hanging with the rude mechanicals @setonhilluniversity

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Similar:ALL ABOUT 'ARCHIE' – Jason Robert BrownA few years ago, my daughter got to perf…CultureNo girl wins: three ways women unlearn their love of video games – OffworldSeveral times I assigned Brenda Laurel’s…BusinessThe Left has a post-truth problem too. It's called comedy.As I gear up to teach about memes and fa…CultureDCNF,…

Surprise: Humanities Degrees Provide Great Return On Investment

The conventional wisdom is that humanities majors are wasting all that tuition money and dooming themselves to lives of underemployment. The conventional wisdom is wrong. Humanities degrees are actually worth well more than the cost of college. […] The present value of the extra earnings that graduates in humanities majors can expect over their lifetime…

Seton Hill takes on Shakespeare’s ‘Dream’

Students in my Shakespeare class will be attending this play. Student actors at Seton Hill University are off on a journey through one of William Shakespeare’s most popular romantic comedies, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Not even the writing style of the Bard — sometimes difficult to master for those new to the playwright’s poetic verse…

Editors and editorial board quit top linguistics journal to protest subscription fees

When I publish as a scholar, my goal is not to make money, but to share my intellectual creation. That’s part of my job description, so my university writes my paycheck with the expectation that I will publish. My publications will have more impact if more people read them. Hiding them behind subscription paywalls will…

‘Star Trek’ TV Series in the Works

I am not sure what I think of this. I’m guessing it will feature new characters in the rebooted universe, but I don’t see any info on that. Who exactly was the audience for this vague announcement? The new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic…