ThinkGeek :: Star Trek Enterprise Plush

Set phasers to “Squeee!” ThinkGeek. Similar:Emily Short's advice on writing great game protagonistsAt GDC 2015, noted interactive fiction g…CybercultureSnarky Error Message Comments on "the transience of linked information in the internet age…Arent you glad you didnt cite to this we…AmusingHow Americans DieFantastic data visualization. How Ameri…CultureRivals (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 11) A charming…

The 7 key components of a perfect elevator pitch

Whether you are trying to raise money for your business or just want to perfect your business strategy, a solid elevator pitch is an essential tool for achieving your goals. An elevator pitch can be delivered either verbally, ideally in 60 seconds or less, or as a one-page overview of your business. Think of the…

Hemingway: The First Draft of Anything…

Facebook. Similar:What TV journalists did wrong — and the New York Times did right — in meeting with TrumpThe Times played it right…. Off-the-re…CultureBREAKING: British Burn Washington … 2 Centuries AgoTwo hundred years ago this week, during …Amusing#PPTPlaytime Tartuffe @thepublicpgh (Looking forward to Part 2 of this live videoconferenc…CultureNew York fails Common Core testsJust 23…

Making the Important Beautiful — and Newsworthy

One of the charges of the journalist is to make the important interesting. Advertisers and celebrities are already so good at packaging what is fundamentally trivial that journalists have to work very hard to compete. Infographics are a useful tool for the news industry, but like all tools, they require skill. Similar:What my classroom looks…

Annie: A Study in Contrast and Complement

I enjoyed using clips of Renata with the little girls in her life, to contextualize her role as the child-hating Miss Hannigan. Showing the kids singing “Happy Birthday” not one but three times amplifies her comments about patience and growing up. This video was the most fun to edit. http://youtu.be/WEQQoAta8Uo Similar:A gangway, flanked by still…

The Tempest, According to My 9yo Daughter

She’s 10 now, but here is her response to seeing The Tempest at Seton Hill University last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcxnHUQf5rk&sns=em Similar:Prime Stage presents ‘Twelfth Night’ as season-ending productionLooking forward to seeing this! Set in …CultureIn August, 2001 I was blogging about… Broken Links and Poor Information Ar…AestheticsSquirrel noisily enjoying a nut alongside the Grotto drive at…

Peter’s Evil Overlord List

Peter Anspach posted this list. Here are some of my favorites. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my…

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

When the Reporter Becomes Part of the Story (Aggressive Reporter Covering Pittsburgh Zoo Death)

Students who are new to journalism often introduce a quote like this: When asked about a habit he’d most like his journalism students to break, Dennis Jerz said, “Usually when I see the phrase ‘when asked about,’ I look for things to throw.” We only encounter that phrase in reporting, so when students start writing…

Seton Hill Student Journalists Launch Local Election Coverage

Students in my journalism class are publishing short articles on the U.S. election, starting with advance stories today, then continuing with live updates on Election Day and afterwards. This year, students have already started publishing articles online as soon as they are ready, rather than waiting until after the print edition has been sent to…

Why ‘Gangnam Style’ Is Actually a Study in Mind Control

I’m not sure “thank you” is the right way to acknowledge this painful link from Paul Crossman. “Oh, come on,” you’re probably saying. “It’s not the music that’s addictive. It’s the dance, from the goofy video. That’s what went viral.” (There’s that word again.) Well, it turns out that this programming effect could be embedded…

Shatoetry iPhone app lets you put… words… in… William Shatner’s… mouth

William Shatner and technology go way back, but it’s taken him until today to get his own smartphone app. Then again, he is a man known to take long pauses. Dubbed Shatoetry, the new app (iPhone-only, for the moment) lets you string together a variety of pre-recorded words — each with three different versions —…

Canada’s Stratford Festival losing ‘Shakespeare’ from its name

Attending this was one of the handful of cultural treats my wife and I splurged on during our grad student days. LA Times – Canada's Stratford Festival losing 'Shakespeare' from its name. Similar:Is AI making us less intelligent?This morning, after students submitted a…CybercultureJournalists prefer plain language.AestheticsBefore and after making a meme of myself as Oberon,…