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…
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…
For years I used ScreenFlow, which offers a paid upgrade every couple of years, and doesn’t update the old versions when OS upgrades break them. There was a time when I was making promotional videos almost every week for a nonprofit, and at the time I thought some of the specific features of ScrenFlow were…
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:2001: Stanley Kubrick’s Exasperating MasterpiecePosting this mostly to prove that I can …AestheticsA shooting, the president snatched…
Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos and Kairos Similar:What are 'Judeo-Christian values'? Analyzing a divisive termblock of American society. But for crit…AcademiaCNN Profiles Former White House "Chief Calligrapher"Today was the last day of the manuscript…Aestheticsxkcd: Pathogen ResistanceThis is just an excerpt. Read the whole …AmusingDon't use that "18 school shootings since Jan 1" claim. It's Inaccurate.Don’t use…
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:What would holidays be without Dickens' beloved 'Christmas Carol?'It takes some visits from three scary sp…DramaIn May, 2002, I was blogging about… typefaces…
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…
TThe automatic doors on my fantasy steampunk cruiser do work… kinda. My PC got trapped. Similar:Family, I Hear You. I Love You. Go Away. This Weekend, I'm Marking Papers.No, I don’t want to see the new jacket y…AcademiaBlank template details and a wider view of a 30cm x 30cm grid of brass and glass #neovicto…PersonalCarolyn…
Interesting. I don’t particularly care for the title of this YouTube clip, which seems very self-centered and not at all in tune with the message the speaker (Connor Neill) gives. He focuses on that moment when we realize there’s a difference between what we feel we need to say, and what we know the other…
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…
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. Similar:The Rivals #PPTPlaytimeA great production of a delightful play.CultureDance Nation @barebonesblackboxCultureWhy I Left Academe to Become a Science Communicator: The pursuit of academic research was …From explaining the effectiveness of soc…AcademiaI just looked up the context for the bald…
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. Similar:Security is Sleeping in the Back Seat of the CarFor decades, my mother collected paperba…EmpathyThe first officer's office adjoins the officers' pub, because of course it should. Working… AestheticsI am at that stage of life where I am excited about loading a…
When the kids were little, my wife and I managed their media consumption with the help of reviews from sites like Common Sense Media. (Or maybe a competitor. It was a long time ago… I emailed the webmaster to correct a detail they got wrong in a VeggieTales review.) I’m impressed by the level of…
Attending Religious Perspectives on the War in Gaza. Similar:My Daughter's Synesthesia: "S" Is Always Red, and "T" Is Lime GreenAccording to a color-picking test at syn…AestheticsThe daughter was invited back to perform at this year’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Co… The daughter was invited back to perfo…AwesomeThis time of year I trust the process. Students…
For confessionals or tapdance routines vertical video is fine. When my students do multimedia projects I remind them that the video screen in our classroom is horizontal, so if they do use a vertical video there’s plenty of room for them to add infographics and annotations. Or they can actually edit a vertical video. If…
Far from being “stochastic parrots,” the biggest large language models seem to learn enough skills to understand the words they’re processing. […] A trained and tested LLM, when presented with a new text prompt, will generate the most likely next word, append it to the prompt, generate another next word, and continue in this manner,…
Look what I found on my shelf in a closet. #history #archaeology #media Similar:The Incredible Shrinking Ad [The Future Web Is Mobile]Is higher education ready for the switch…AcademiaCrazy, Kinetic, Acoustic Visit to the Carnegie Science CenterA few days ago, I blogged about visiting…EducationThe spoils.PersonalColorful variations of an upholstered desk chair for my fantasy #steampunk #blender3d…
This was before the printing press, so books were copied by hand on parchment, which made them expensive and rare. Most people didn’t read much, especially for pleasure. Instead, they listened to books at group readings for entertainment. Pero López de Ayala wrote at the end of the 14th century, “It also pleased me to…