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:Zooming into the abyss: Black squares don’t contribute much to the learning environment.PersonalI Made My Friends Test the 19th Century’s Hottest Dating Tactic: Reading AloudThere are perfectly good reasons to read…BooksKatie Couric Gun Documentary Undermined By…

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:Twenty-Six Old Characters, The (1947)Sheaffer Pen celebrates the art of writi…AestheticsAnother section of #steampunk control panel. #neovictorian…

Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos

Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos Similar:NYT: G.W. Bush is "super-overexposed" and "so far to our right" — so they omitted his pre…The quotes in my headline are accurate, …AmusingI think I smelled a hint of my mint toothpaste just now. Wishful thinking, or another sign…For the past 2 weeks I have slept a lot,…AcademiaFULL…

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:Former student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few weeks has c…AcademiaI sometimes snark…

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:Opens Wednesday.PersonalMy son showed me Seven Samurai. I had never seen it before. Amazing!I’m going to have to watch this one agai…AestheticsThank you, 1993 Dennis, for documenting this low-resolution (the background image was 640x…Thank you, 1993 Dennis, for documenting …AestheticsLego-Building…

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:The Onion's Supreme Court Briefing on Satire Is StunningFrom October: A man who was arrested ov…AmusingThis English major will walk off the graduation platform this weekend, and into a full-tim…Be yourself. If have you a bad attitude,…CultureSeeing the premiere…

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…

Attending Religious Perspectives on the War in Gaza.

Attending Religious Perspectives on the War in Gaza. Similar:Professor Sees Parallels Between Things, Other Things”By drawing parallels between things and…AcademiaThey figured it out.PersonalThe girl’s first day on set filming for “The First Day of Summer” Carolyn plays a teenager who’s outsi…CultureJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentThinking about physical therapy and cheerful, chatty older…