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:100 Careers for English MajorsAnyone with an English degree will tell …AcademiaIn September, 2001 I was blogging about… With…

Senior Tech #1: How To Master Texting

It’s funny because it’s true. Senior Tech #1: How To Master Texting Similar:MS Paint AdventuresWonderfully silly take on old-school poi…AmusingFor some reason, I saw a bump in traffic to a page that linked to a "make-your-own-Trump-e… This sort of thing was funnier back …AestheticsThinkGeek :: Star Trek Enterprise PlushSet phasers to “Squeee!” ThinkGee…AestheticsGame Design Program…

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGh6MasSUVc The Search for IT Relevence – YouTube. Similar:College Professors Hate Sharing These Mind-Blowing Study Tips (#3 Made Me Cry) Read the syllabus. Read the syllabu…AcademiaWe Are Hopelessly Hooked [on our Gadgets]We check our phones 221 times a day—an a…CultureEx-Pope Benedict says the Selfish Gene is science fiction. He's half rightThe Selfish Gene is a brilliant…

I’d Pay to See This

Fan Video Win Similar:New Video Game's Second-Person Shooter Mode Features Someone Just Describing Game To YouI’m introducing text adventure games to …AmusingMariah Carey meets William Carlos Williams AmusingAdam Savage’s 10 Commandments Of MakingAdam Savage took a few minutes today at …AestheticsFrozen (Greensburg Civic Theatre, Greasepaint Players)DramaThe Coronavirus Is Rewriting Our ImaginationsPossibly, in a few months,…

Distributing Candy at Holiday Parade

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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. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKxPi3L6aDs This is what a 21st-century English major can do,…

Popcorn Maker

I’ll have to look into this. Popcorn Maker. https://popcorn.webmaker.org Similar:The ballroom of my #steampunk fantasy space cruiser is now a less lonely place. Thanks to watching many, many YouTub…AestheticsAlmost all the traffic to fake news sites is from Facebook, new data show I think and post about fake news a lot…CultureAdded an overhead minimap to…

One Man, One Computer, 10 Million Students: How Khan Academy Is Reinventing Education

  It’s a prototypical Silicon Valley ethos, with one exception: The Khan Academy, which features 3,400 short instructional videos along with interactive quizzes and tools for teachers to chart student progress, is a nonprofit, boasting a mission of “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.” There is no employee equity; there will be no IPO;…