Not sure whether I should be proud or embarrassed…

As part of a journalism lesson about brand names, I just wrote this sentence: The term “Winnebago Vista” is a rollicking road trip for the ear, and no oath was ever minced with more tangy intensity than we find in the fricative phonemes of “Cheez-It.” I’ll probably murder that darling tomorrow, but right now I’m…

Frisbee is a brand name, but how newsworthy is that?

What would you do? Today I wrote 192 lines of ChoiceScript code to address this journalism lesson. Similar:This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m…My crowd simulation handles 2000 capsule NPCs at 130fps. I’m really pushing my coding skil…Midterm Grades Spring 2025: Posted!The Dog and the…

Making a journalism game to teach myself ChoiceScript

Me: (Making a journalism game to teach myself ChoiceScript.)
Nobody:
Me: Maybe I should add a “current time” display.
Nobody:
Me: And I should code up all the special cases for a.m., p.m., noon and midnight, to match AP Style.
Nobody:
Me: How long could it take?
(Six hours later….)

ChatGPT took their jobs. Now they walk dogs and fix air conditioners.

“In every previous automation threat, the automation was about automating the hard, dirty, repetitive jobs,” said Ethan Mollick, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. “This time, the automation threat is aimed squarely at the highest-earning, most creative jobs that … require the most educational background.” In March, Goldman Sachs…

Inside Voices — A Weekend Musical

Carolyn was in this short movie, conceived and produced in 48 hours, executed in a single unbroken take (with mesmerizing camera motion). If you can spare about 8 minutes, I think you’ll enjoy what you see! Similar:By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 15) Dominion / Cardassian edg…In Purgatory's Shadow #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch…

A #neovictorian #steampunk ship-of-the-line needs a dramatic flag and a conveniently located central ballroom. #Blender3D #Unity3D #design #aesthetics #blender3dart

Similar:By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 15) Dominion / Cardassian edg…In Purgatory's Shadow #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 14) Garak's answers a code…This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m…My crowd simulation handles 2000 capsule NPCs at 130fps. I’m really pushing my…

Media Bias Chart version 11 — Journalism sorted by bias (Left / Center / Right), reliability (Fact vs Fabrication) and medium (Web/Text, Video/TV, and Audio/Podcast/Radio) (Ad Fontes Media)

The very useful “media bias chart” is one of several useful ways to classify sources of journalism. While individual items published by any of these sources can vary considerably from the general location depicted in this chart, the takeaway message is that journalism can still be valid and useful even if it has a slant,…

After you finish your brass-polishing shift, join me at the Gear and Heart to swap stories about the good old days. #neovictorian #Blender3D #Unity3D #design #aesthetics #blender3dart

I’d love to do a shift at these gorgeous #neovictorian workstations, created in #Blender3D and rendered in the #Unity3D engine for a personal #steampunk project. #blender3dart #aesthetics

Congrats to all the winners at the Pittsburgh 48 Hour Film Project! Bit-Sized Productions was nominated for something like 12 awards for “Long Live the LARPers!”

Bit-Sized Productions was nominated for something like 12 awards for “Long Live the LARPers” and won the audience choice, best acting ensemble, best song, tied for best choreography… I lost track of the rest. What a fun night! I’ll post a link to the film as soon as I can! Similar:By Inferno's Light #StarTrek #DS9…

Some new locations for my #neovictorian #steampunk personal project. Created in #blender3d and rendered in the #unity3d gaming engine. #aesthetics #design #blender3dart

The film Carolyn was in is a finalist. The screening will start soon. #48hrfilmproject Support the arts in your community!

Similar:This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m…My crowd simulation handles 2000 capsule NPCs at 130fps. I’m really pushing my coding skil…Jesus Christ SuperstarMidterm Grades Spring 2025: Posted!Hey there, chaotic world in academia and beyond, could you settle down just a bit so I can…I have…

Public service announcement! If you are feeling awkward at a social event and you see me there…

Similar:This morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m…My crowd simulation handles 2000 capsule NPCs at 130fps. I’m really pushing my coding skil…Jesus Christ SuperstarMidterm Grades Spring 2025: Posted!The Dog and the Oyster (Aesop Fable)The Begotten #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 12) Kira and Odo face…

An English professor tries to help ChatGPT write and revise a sonnet

Shortly after my online AmLit survey began, I received two obviously AI-generated submissions. The responses did not address the prompt, there was no textual annotation and brainstorming assignment that was supposed to lead up to the written response, and the student did not take me up on my offer to meet to discuss how the…

ChatBot Helps Crack the Case of the Missing 45GB

The other day I got a last-minute request to video a show. I usually like to watch a dress rehearsal first, which gives me the chance to check out my equipment and get a sense of where the important action will take place. But yesterday I had to go in cold, and I felt a…

The internet’s memory is fading in front of us. Preserve what you can.

Long, self-indulgent essays from a writer I idolized, a gorgeous online portfolio of photos taken by a photographer in Japan, a repository of old State Department language learning resources, all gone. Link rot is real, folks, and with it comes a slow, steady sloughing off things on the internet we once loved — or still love,…

Fancy a game of whist with your nemesis? The prospect of ruin adds piquancy to the pleasure. #indiefilm

Had a blast watching all the amazing entries in Pittsburgh's 48 Hour Film Festival, but I do have a favorite!

Students must learn how to get things wrong. Only one subject does that. [English.]

I invest a lot of energy asking my college students to unlearn the pattern of summary and personal reflection that was enough to to earn a good grade in high school. I emphasize repeatedly that their high school teachers didn’t do anything wrong by teaching them what they needed to do in order to get…

In October, 2002, I was blogging about stupid space explosions, the superiority complex, why whitespace matters, usability testing, and Krispy Kreme

In October, 2002, I was blogging about The stupidity of explosions in space movies The Chronicle of Higher Education rescues the briefly defunct Arts & Letters Daily The superiority complex An anti-telemarketing script An “I Love Lucy: bible study Why whitespace matters when creating a sign The coming air age of 1955 (as envisioned in…