I’m nerdy enough to give my 15yo a used copy of “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.”

I’m nerdy enough to give my 15yo a used copy of “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” He’s halfway through it now. (Nerd kids are awesome kids.) Similar:Flannery O'Connor reading "A Good Man is Hard to Find"It’s striking to hear her audience erupt…AestheticsStanford to offer new undergraduate majors integrating humanities, computer scienceTraining humanists who can…

Modern Masterpieces of Comedic Genius: The Art of the Humorous Amazon Review, Part Deux

I love me a good Amazon mock review. Here are several. From scientific miracles to literary criticism, by way of bodily functions and failures of common sense. Many moons ago, I wrote about the art of the humorous Amazon review as a modern masterpiece of parodic genius, embodying Arthur Koestler’s seminal “bisociation” theory of how…

I would never have chosen to watch “Cowboys and Al…

I would never have chosen to watch “Cowboys and Aliens” but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Similar:And the girl has succeeded in getting me to wear t…And the girl has succeeded in getting me…TweetsClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessHow hate and misinformation go viral: A case study of a Trump retweetOn Sunday…

RT @dloehr: 12yr: “Those Muppets are lip-synching….

RT @dloehr: 12yr: “Those Muppets are lip-synching.” Similar:Hello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesParallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesFormer student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last…

RT @mkirschenbaum: Can’t see them well enough to r…

RT @mkirschenbaum: Can’t see them well enough to read, but guy sitting next to me is typing out short, broken lines of text. Tempted to ask… Similar:Parallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …Humanities10 Rules of Internet – Anil DashA very useful, concise summary of web-en…BusinessOverheard at Quora: "Why after…

Gettysburg Address event marks 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s historic speech

On the Civil War battlefield where President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech that symbolized his presidency and the sacrifices made by Union and Confederate forces, thousands gathered Tuesday, historians and everyday Americans alike, to ponder what the Gettysburg Address has meant to the nation. —The Washington Post. Similar:Florida Woman Bites CamelIdentifying her as a “Florida…

Grr! That “15 Xs who did Y” link looked interestin…

Grr! That “15 Xs who did Y” link looked interesting, but on the first page I saw it was broken up into 63 parts. Bad meme. No link for you. Similar:Classroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessIn Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…Culture10 Rules of…

‘Because’ has become a preposition, because grammar

The construction is more versatile than “because+noun” suggests. Prepositional because can be yoked to verbs (Can’t talk now because cooking), adjectives (making up examples because lazy), interjections (Because yay!), and maybe adverbs too, though in strings like Because honestly., the adverb is functioning more as an exclamation. The resulting phrases are all similarly succinct and…

Do television and electronic games predict children’s psychosocial adjustment?

Wow… what a drab, unquoteworthy, unsoundbiteable, graphics-free presentation of findings that will be of tremendous interest to the general public. TV but not electronic games predicted a small increase in conduct problems. Screen time did not predict other aspects of psychosocial adjustment. Further work is required to establish causal mechanisms.. Similar:Omaha schoolgirl dresses as a…

RT @avantgame: 11,000 kids tracked for A DECADE to…

RT @avantgame: 11,000 kids tracked for A DECADE to see if videogames lead to negative attention, behavioral, mood impact. Result: NO http:/… Similar:RT @PhilKomarny: A floppy disc… In #context htt…RT @PhilKomarny: A floppy disc… In #co…TweetsOverheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaParallel Structure…

@JustJoshReardon Excellent work from the whole cas…

@JustJoshReardon Excellent work from the whole cast & crew. A great night of theater @setonhill #biglove Similar:Proto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureMaybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A MILLION spam comments.Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in …CybercultureFormer student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all…

Setting out to take my teen to see #biglove at #se…

Setting out to take my teen to see #biglove at #setonhill Similar:Parallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsTweet: Came around the corner and saw my kids huddled on…Came around the corner and saw…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu

Nerd siblings are awesome siblings

My 15yo wanted to show me Terminator 4, but he opted to watch T3 w/ his little sister (her first time). Nerd siblings are awesome siblings. Similar:I can probably remove that link to LycosOn a web page that I posted in Nov 2000 …BusinessHacking the WordPress Social Plugin to Include Pages in Addition to PostsI…

Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun, Godfather Of Free Online Education, Changes Course

Suddenly, something that had been unthinkable–that the Internet might put a free, Ivy League–caliber education within reach of the world’s poor–seems tantalizingly close. “Imagine,” an investor in the Professor’s company says, “you can hand a kid in Africa a tablet and give him Harvard on a piece of glass!” The wonky term for the Professor’s…