Computers and Writing Conference 2013

Where a nerd can be a nerd. (Thanks for sharing the photo, Jill Morris.) Similar:Hacking the WordPress Social Plugin to Include Pages in Addition to PostsI love the WordPress Social plugin, whic…HomeWhen a Blogger Shares a Too-good-to-be-true Meme Featuring Hilarious Handwritten Notes fro…Or something like that.HomeSchadendrücke: Click-shameHomeSuch deep roots you have: How Little Red Riding…

Does Math Exist?

Millions of high-school students might wish math did not exist, but, alas, it does, at least as a human creation. The question, however, of whether math exists independent of humans is a much deeper one, and PBS’s Mike Rugnetta gives a fun, brief overview of the age-old philosophical debate in the video above. via Does…

LGN Launches Quandary to Develop Ethical Thinking through Play

The Learning Games Network, a non-profit spin-off of the MIT Education Arcade and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Games+Learning+Society Program, today launched Quandary, a unique game that encourages players to think ethically as they lead a human colony struggling for survival on fictional planet Braxos. The game’s goal is to provide an engaging experience for players aged 8-14…

Press X to Teach

Ready to mash up gaming and teaching at Computers and Writing 2013. Press X to Teach. Similar:The Best Way to Start an Academic PaperBoth of the following writing samples de…AcademiaFinished the female officers for my neovictorian steampunk personal project. #blender3d, #…   Female officers, from the le…AestheticsWe are in a golden age for journalismMost handwringing…

Preparing for some serious nerd time with the family this summer

Set phasers to “nerd”! This summer I’ll be schooling the kids on classic Star Trek and Babylon 5. Similar:Star Trek Graphic Design: Six journalists and surprising discoveries about their agency lo…After an intense 2 weeks prepping for fa…AestheticsThe dangers of 'character education' in universitiesAs the authors depressingly note, “the U…AcademiaA Video Game About Changing What…

Jerz Family Tin Can Robot Wars

Similar:Making sidewalks to go with the buildings. Tedious but will save time later. #blender3d #m…PersonalGoodbye, Google Search. I've switched to search.brave.com …for now. I can’t stand Pinterest. I hate when G…BusinessOkay, a lot of the world is pretty awful right now, but here's an uplifting video about th…https://youtu.be/umW4koJU3e0AmusingI’m fairly satisfied with this version of a…

The Milestones That Matter Most

[W]hen Japanese and American fourth and fifth grade children were asked why they shouldn’t hit, gossip or fight with other kids, 92 percent of the American kids answered “because they’d get caught or get in trouble.” Ninety percent of the Japanese kids asked the same question responded, “because it would be hurtful to someone else.”…

Kairos: Open Since 1996

As a plucky new faculty member I wrote a critique of an early design for the online journal Kairos. My article was snarky in form (I invoked Mystery Science Theater 3000) but serious in intent (“The overdesigned Kairos site perpetuates the myth that online rhetoric is necessarily complex and arcane,” with the earnest bold text in the original). They hypertext…

Why You Should Blog to Get Your Next Job

It’s your resume, only better: Everyone has a resume. But a blog allows you to highlight the skills on your resume, times ten. For example, if you’re a writer, you can flex your writing muscles and post examples of your creative writing. Even if you’re a tax accountant, you can write your thought-provoking opinions on…

I Canna Give Ye Any More Screens, Cap’n!

The iPad Mini and the ChromeBook are just loaners, but it was fun to arrange them this way. Similar:The Rule of Capek's Robots: A public lecture, in which the word “robot” is traced, precurs…   HomeMaybe Star Wars 7 won't suck, but I'm not holding my breath.I was burned in 1999 when I saw The…

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

Texty Cloak of Darkness in Prose

Below is a snippet from “Texty Cloak of Darkness,” which aims to use prose conventions to emulate game-state changes and alternate endings (in a medium designed to be linear). Since our encounter, such as it is, has already begun, it may as well happen in a place. The foyer of the opera house is where…