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

For New Acquisitions, UMD Libraries Choose Ebooks by Default

Increasingly book vendors provide options that allow us to purchase e-books instead of print when both are available. We’ve now formally committed to purchasing e-books when given that choice. —UMD Libraries Similar:Positive Feedback on a Blogging AssignmentA former student who is now excelling in…AcademiaReading should not carry a health warningThis is probably the first time…

A Message from Hester Prynne (Student Video)

Have I mentioned lately that I have awesome students? For a “Creative Critical Presentation” in my online American Literature survey, English major Tyler Carter created A Message from Hester Prynne,  a 9-minute video that explores Hester’s psychology and spirituality, through music, dance, poetry, and cinematography. All the technology Seton Hill offers to its students would…

Scrooge Is My Brother

My daughter delivered the opening “Marley was as dead as a doornail” speech as the narrator in the Stage Right! homeschool production of A Lyrical Christmas Carol. My son played Scrooge. The show was great. During the bows, I was already pretty misty-eyed when my daughter threw her arms around Scrooge and proudly announced, “He’s…

“What irrational person would argue against your claim that hoe is a Gothic punk?”

Dictating student feedback, I said “Would a rational person argue against your claim that Poe is a Gothic poet?” My Mac typed: “What irrational person would argue against your claim that hoe is a Gothic punk?” Similar:Beam me up, Chewie!AwesomeMeet octobot, a soft-bodied robot that looks like the futureOur future robot overlords never looked …AestheticsA…

Senior Tech #1: How To Master Texting

It’s funny because it’s true. Senior Tech #1: How To Master Texting Similar:My Parents (aged 72 and 78) Demonstrate a Ballroom Dance PoseThis is how my parents finish their Arge…AestheticsBetween static hand-coded HTML pages and modern content-management systems, there used to …When I started my blog in 1999 (by addin…CybercultureWhat Khan Academy's Fun, Free Learning…

What kinds of local stories drive engagement? The results of an NPR Facebook experiment

  We looked at every story we geotargeted during the months of July, August, and September 2012, focusing on the ones that the localized NPR Facebook following liked, shared, and commented on at a high rate. From this group of successful stories, we identified similarities which allowed us to create nine distinct content categories. We…

What Could Have Been Entering the Public Domain on January 1, 2012?

Current US law extends copyright protection for 70 years after the date of the author’s death. (Corporate “works-for-hire” are copyrighted for 95 years after publication.) But prior to the 1976 Copyright Act (which became effective in 1978), the maximum copyright term was 56 years (an initial term of 28 years, renewable for another 28 years). Under those…

The Search for IT Relevence — Featuring Seton Hill IT Guru Phil Komarny

The Search for IT Relevence – YouTube. Similar:Deadline seems to have briefly published, then taken down, story that says Pence has teste…Deadline seems to have briefly published…Current_EventsI Set A Trap To Catch Students Cheating With AI. The Result Was DeflatingMy classes are generally small enough th…AcademiaMuseum of Endangered SoundsImagine a world where we never again…

I’d Pay to See This

Fan Video Win Similar:Updated a post about Sarah Rush — the "launch when ready" crew member from 1979 Battlesta…I recently noticed that a blog post I cr…AmusingAll three shows have been sold out for over a month. Opens tomorrow.DramaWhy won't the University of Maryland talk about the chocolate milk/concussion study it was…I took note of…

Distributing Candy at Holiday Parade

Similar:People who caught Covid in first wave get ‘no immune boost’ from OmicronScience deniers who expect medical resea…CultureYou Can Smell Trump's FearLike all successful demagogues, Trump ha…CultureBefore and after making a meme of myself as Oberon, King of the FaeriesCultureGreensburg Holiday ParadePersonalCaroll "Big Bird" Spinney was originally to be on NASA's doomed Challenger flight And…

Results of the 18th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition

 The 18th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition has ended. Congratulations to Marco Innocenti, whose “Andromeda Apocalypse” took first place! The top three games were: Andromeda Apocalypse, by Marco Innocenti Eurydice, by Anonymous Guilded Youth, by Jim Munroe The winners of the Miss Congeniality contest were: Guilded Youth, by Jim Munroe Escape From Summerland, by Joey Jones…

At Age 11, I Named the Curiosity Rover

Wonderful story! I still remember that chilly December day, sitting in science class. I’d finished a worksheet early and decided to get a TIME for Kids magazine off of Mrs. Estevez’s bookshelf. It was the 2008 Invention Issue, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught my eye. In the magazine, there was an article…

What a 21st-Century English Major Can Do: Screencast Demo of an Inform 7 Text-Adventure Journalism Game

Have I mentioned lately that I have some really awesome students? Here’s a narrated screencast, presenting a progress report on a term project that involves programming in Inform 7 to create a text-adventure game designed to teach student journalists how to cover a campus event. This is what a 21st-century English major can do, given…