My wife reports: “There was one smart aleck walking along the street who exclaimed: “Look, it’s the Ghost of Plastic-Waste Past!” and his friend said worriedly “Are we gonna get… milk?”

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The Mind’s Eye (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 25) LaForge Abducted by Romulans

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I’m not really a royal watcher but I’m fascinated that the UK has de-royalized the king’s brother over his misbehavior

Prince Andrew has lost all of his royal titles, including “Prince,” in an unprecedented move by King Charles He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and has been ordered to surrender his lease at Royal Lodge The move comes amid renewed scrutiny of Prince Andrew’s ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein…

Everyone thinks AI is replacing factory workers, but Amazon’s layoffs show it’s coming for middle management first

Amazon announced Tuesday that it will cut roughly 14,000 corporate jobs, or about 4% of its white-collar workforce, as part of a restructuring meant to “reduce bureaucracy” and “remove organizational layers,” according to a memo. In the memo, Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience at Amazon, said the cuts are designed to make the…

Wood pile stacking animation (Blender 3D)

For a medieval project, I wanted a wood pile, but I didn’t want to have to stack the individual wedges manually. I’m experienced enough with Blender 3D that it only took me a few minutes to get this simulation running — but as this video clip attests, I need to adjust a few parameters.   …

Let’s talk about AI art (long, scrollworthy post from The Oatmeal)

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Maybe it wasn’t a sensible idea to hold 5 hours of student consultations on the day midterm grades were due, but I really enjoyed it.

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Surprised by Mama Cass Elliott’s “Different” — powerful folk-pop ballad in trippy 60’s “H.R. Pufnstuf” TV show

I miss the convention in movies and TV shows in which the main characters visit a music hall or club, and we watch them watching an entire number. Maybe they exchange a few lines during a musical bridge, but mostly they’re just in character, sitting through a performance. I have only fragmentary memories of H.R.…

Folger Shakespeare Library on “The Fate of Ophelia”

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When backwards newbie poets write…

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Empok Nor #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 24) Horror-themed visit to derelict Cardassian station

Rewatching ST:DS9 Dax, Worf and Kira arrive at an otherwise empty bar. Before Quark can take their order, a mechanical noise drives them away. In a service tunnel (the source of the noise), Nog is expertly assisting O’Brien, but something goes boom, critically flabbergasting all the station’s jimberjams. The only way to unflabbergast them is…

Where are Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, etc. in your “American Literature” syllabus?

The following comment appeared recently on one of my YouTube lectures, “Historical Context for American Literature.” American???? So where are: CANADA, MEXICO, GUATEMALA, CUBA, COSTA RICA, BRAZIL, CHILE ARGENTINA, PERÚ, COLOMBIA, PANAMÁ, URUGUAY, PARAGUAY, EL SALVADOR, HONDURAS, VENEZUELA… ETC ETC ETC. STOP SAYING THE UNITED STATES IS AMERICA! Here’s how I responded: Geography and names…

The dawn of the post-literate society

The world of print is orderly, logical and rational. In books, knowledge is classified, comprehended, connected and put in its place. Books make arguments, propose theses, develop ideas. “To engage with the written word”, the media theorist Neil Postman wrote, “means to follow a line of thought, which requires considerable powers of classifying, inference-making and…

Is it okay to say clanker?

Clanker is a derogatory term used to insult AI and its products and services such as delivery robots, therapist chatbots and automated customer service. Why try to hurt the feelings of something that, oh wait, has no feelings? Like most slurs, it has more to do with the speaker using it than the object of…