Computers and Writing Conference 2013

Where a nerd can be a nerd. (Thanks for sharing the photo, Jill Morris.) Similar:Sources tell Seton Hill University's Dennis Jerz that TV news websites emphasize self-prom…Sources tell Seton Hill University’s Den…BusinessVerizon Forced Me to Remove Parentheses, Quotation Marks, and Apostrophes from a Customer …When I finally found a way to contact Ve…HomeYour Brain Does…

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:Google’s broken link to the webI guess now we know why for the past dec…BusinessCrossfire #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 13) Odo's feelings for Kira complicate…Rewatching ST:DS9 Odo meticulously ar…EthicsPreschoolers Outsmart College Students In Figuring Out GadgetsThis is…

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:Bryan A. Louiselle, 1966-2022 (musician, composer, orchestrator, musical director)I was Mayor Shinn to Bryan’s Harold Hill…CultureLife Support (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 13) Bashir keeps the gravely injur…Rewatching ST:DS9 An accident aboard …CultureJournalists prefer plain language.AestheticsAnother…

Jerz Family Tin Can Robot Wars

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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…

One Author Breaks Down the Reality of Violent Games in the Media

Chris Person posts a link to this very clear critique of news reporting that blames violent video games and movies for real-world violence. One Author Breaks Down the Reality of Violent Games in the Media. Similar:Filmmakers fighting “Happy Birthday” copyright find their “smoking gun”Who owns the copyright to the “Happy Bir…BusinessLife Support (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch,…

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:Hacking the WordPress Social Plugin to Include Pages in Addition to PostsI love the WordPress Social plugin, whic…HomeSHU Commemoration of September 11 Terrorism Attacks — Looking Back After 10 YearsCome to listen. Come to share. Come toge…CultureThe…

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…