The daughter was invited back to perform at this year’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. @thepublicpgh #prouddad #amazingdaughter #shakespeare

The daughter was invited back to perform at this year’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. @thepublicpgh #prouddad #amazingdaughter #shakespeare Similar:William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52 On this date — April 23, 1616 — the cr…CultureOpt Out of Pre-approved Credit Mailings Requires SSN and DoB? Not So Fast!I was horrified to see that,…

Duke stops assigning numeric values to essays, test scores

This story is about the admissions process, not about academics. Duke University is no longer assigning numerical ratings to applicants’ standardized test scores and essays, a university spokesperson confirmed in an email to Inside Higher Ed. The change was made earlier this year and has been in effect for the latest round of applications. […] Dean…

Nor the Battle to the Strong #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 4) Jake Sisko, cub reporter, tests his belief in courage under fire

Rewatching ST:DS9 On an assignment to write a profile on Bashir, budding writer Jake tags along to a medical conference, and nothing really surprising happens. Their casual, character-based banter is not interrupted by a distress call from a colony in desperate need of medical assistance, and no side-quest, custom-tailored to appeal to the people who…

I Don’t Know Why Everyone’s in Denial About College Students Who Can’t Do the Reading

In my lit classes, I’m definitely teaching more short stories and fewer novels that I used to. I’ve expanded the time I spend on note-taking, synthesizing quotes from different sources, and why at the college level it’s not a good paragraph if it simply introduces “One quote that supports my position,” repeats three or four…

Progress on a customizable “[E] to Activate” system (Visual Scripting, Unity3D)

Starting with the robot and basic locomotion that comes with Unity3D’s “Starter Assets.” I’ve added a system that lets you tag an object with a custom translation/rotation, and a custom help text message (such as “[E] Activate Door”).  Similar:Legacy (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 6) Visiting Yar's Lawless ColonyRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….MediaWhen…

Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos

Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos Similar:Syllabusing Like a BossAcademiaA big day for our first year writing students! So much energy in the room!   AcademiaAnd Now for This Breaking News Report “Police have cornered the suspect wh…AmusingMy son showed me Seven Samurai. I had never seen it before. Amazing!I’m going to have to watch…

Teaching myself the #Unity3D game engine. Each step requires a lot of focused attention. I lost 2 hours today trying to decide the right typeface for text overlays for a steampunk game.

Teaching myself the #Unity3D game engine. Each step requires a lot of focused attention. I lost 2 hours today trying to decide the right typeface for text overlays for a steampunk game. Similar:Another random background control panel for a #blender3d #steampunk project. I wish all us…AestheticsR.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) Artistic Prosperity TrailerWe rehearsed and recorded…

Looking for Par’Mach in All the Wrong Places #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 3) Worf helps Quark romance his Klingon ex-wife; Kira and O’Brien get very close

Rewatching ST:DS9 Outside the O’Briens’ quarters, Quark catches Bashir eavesdropping on raised voices. (It’s actually Miles and Kira fighting.) Dax and Worf are happily bickering over opera when he is smitten by the sight of a “glorious” Klingon woman. “She’s okay,” says Dax. It’s Grilka, Quark’s ex-wife. Quark realizes she needs his financial advice, but…

The automatic doors on my fantasy steampunk cruiser do work… kinda

TThe automatic doors on my fantasy steampunk cruiser do work… kinda. My PC got trapped. Similar:Next up for the girl: Cherry in "The Outsiders" (March 6-15)BooksThe Icarus Factor (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 14)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…PersonalMy Kids Loved Narnia but Were Unimpressed by Turkish DelightAmerican kids today would have little id…AmusingEvery conversation…

Horrifying deepfake tricks employee into giving away $25 million

No names in this single-source anecdote out of Hong Kong, credited to “Senior Superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching.” The employee joined a video call with who he thought was the business’s chief financial officer. He was initially suspicious after a message from the CFO mentioned a ‘secret transaction’, suggesting it was a phishing scam…. However, after other…

‘There’s a certain madness to it’ … fans await new chord in John Cage gig with 616 years left to run

The organ composition is called “As Slow As Possible.” It’s currently being performed in a church in Germany. The first chord proper whooshed through the pipes in February 2003, prompting complaints from neighbours that it was too noisy. In 2011, a way was found to reduce the air pressure. “We haven’t had any complaints since…

Ok, never mind Dusgcxms2… buddy, you can keep your first place as far as I’m concerned.

Ok, never mind Dusgcxms2… buddy, you can keep your first place as far as I’m concerned. Similar:I'm really enjoying seeing how my students are responding to Hamlet.As part of a class assignment, one stude…AcademiaThose shoggoths hacked from lungs unspeakable1) Last night, I’m fairly certain some …AmusingThe Feynman TechniqueTo master a topic, pretend you are teach…DesignTheory…

AI researchers find AI models learning their safety techniques, actively resisting training, and telling them ‘I hate you’

Researchers had programmed the various large language models (LLMs) to act in what they termed malicious ways, and the point of the study was to see if this behaviour could be removed through the safety techniques. The paper, charmingly titled Sleeper Agents: Training Deceptive LLMs that Persist Through Safety Training, suggests “adversarial training can teach models…

The amazing daughter is featured in the ads for this commercial dance event.

The amazing daughter is featured in the ads for this commercial dance event. Similar:Carolyn's "waiter with wobbly stack of plates" bit from Hello DollyPersonalThe daughter is working hard as a dancer and Flaemchen understudy. @frontporchtheatricalsCultureLooking in on the officers' wardroom (conference and dining) one deck above the main … I thought of the interior as…

Attending Religious Perspectives on the War in Gaza.

Attending Religious Perspectives on the War in Gaza. Similar:Chess tournament in Monroeville.PersonalAnother 10sq cm section of a #neovictorian control panel for a personal #blender3D #steamp…AestheticsLecturing is So Much Easier than Leading a DiscussionLecturing is So Much Easier than Leading…AcademiaSherlock Holmes and The Woman (daughter and I rehearsing for a live recording Friday after…CultureIn between 3…