Classroom Project: Students Get 1 Hour to Propose, Shoot, Edit, Publish Documentary

Students created this in 60 minutes. Other student projects (see links at bottom of page): http://blogs.setonhill.edu/el200/2012/09/18/videography-ex-2/ Similar:When a Blogger Shares a Too-good-to-be-true Meme Featuring Hilarious Handwritten Notes fro…Or something like that.HomeNerd siblings are awesome siblingsMy 15yo wanted to show me Terminator 4, …HomeMore split-screen actinghttp://youtu.be/EGgeZWskEs8DesignWriting That Demonstrates Thinking Ability While reflecting on my semester for…

Obama vs. Romney D&D Smack-Down at NYC Gallery

This week, if you head to the Allegra LaViola Gallery in New York City to see Fiend in the Void, a solo exhibition of works on paper and sculpture by Casey Jex Smith, you’ll get a chance to see a Dungeons & Dragons clash of the titans between President Obama and Mitt Romney. The winner…

DNA has a 521-year half-life

By comparing the specimens’ ages and degrees of DNA degradation, the researchers calculated that DNA has a half-life of 521 years. That means that after 521 years, half of the bonds between nucleotides in the backbone of a sample would have broken; after another 521 years half of the remaining bonds would have gone; and…

Rocky Horror Show Live 2012 — Stage Right Greensburg

Throw toast at the actors and get spaced out on sensation at the Stage Right Theatre Company’s Halloween show, The Rocky Horror Show — Live. I put this promo together from video I took at the yesterday’s first rehearsal. Clips include Science Fiction Double Feature, The Time Warp, Dammit Janet, and more. Similar:Bilbo's party sociological…

The Tale of Two Cetis

An intelligent, thoughtful, well-written review of the best of the Star Trek movies. And kudos to the headline writer — amazingly nerdy and appropriate for this story. We know that “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982) is the best of all of the “Star Trek” movies. I am not stating anything new here.…

Fire Chief Grants Fireman 3-Day Extension On Difficult Fire

Shortly before leaving work Monday, local fire chief Pete Wilkes reportedly approved firefighter Joseph Ainslie’s request to take an extra three days on a particularly tough fire, advising him to “take [his] time” with the two-story blaze. “What matters most is doing the job right, not rushing through it and getting it done fast,” Wilkes…

Free Game Friday: Text-Based Games

2012 Interactive Fiction contest we’ll be featuring text-based games in this week’s Free Game Friday roundup. Not all of this week’s games come from the competition, but they all feature the written word as their main gameplay mechanic. We also didn’t have space to feature all the great games in the competition, so here’s a…

“Chores” — Clip from Snow White: The Musical (Stage Right Greensburg, Sept 2012)

Here’s what it sounded like at our first rehearsal, after learning the parts for about 40 minutes: Here’s how it looked opening night, two weeks later (I’m the surly guy in the white hat): Similar:Flannery O'Connor reading "A Good Man is Hard to Find"It’s striking to hear her audience erupt…AestheticsHow the Midwest went from the…

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

Text, Speech, Machine: Metaphors for Computer Code in the Law : Computational Culture

On my to-read list once I post midterm grades. As computer software has become increasingly central to commerce and creativity, lawmakers have retrofitted it into preexisting legal regimes to regulate its production and distribution. Currently in the United States, software is eligible for protection under patent law, copyright law, trade secret law and the First…

In Which I Ask a Hard-working Journalism Student to Consider Undeadlines

A student recorded this interaction on her Facebook wall: Me: I think I’m going to die after elections. Dr. Jerz: Well how soon after elections? We all die eventually, you know. Me: I’m going to wait til after Wednesday so I finish the online election issue. Dr. Jerz: As long as you finish. Wait… can…

While searching my bag for a cable, I found an unexpected wealth of food-substitute items.

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Sumerians Look On In Confusion As God Creates World | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

I love the Onion. “I do not understand,” reads an ancient line of pictographs depicting the sun, the moon, water, and a Sumerian who appears to be scratching his head. “A booming voice is saying, ‘Let there be light,’ but there is already light. It is saying, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass,’ but I…

Banned Books Week | Celebrating the Freedom to Read: Sept. 30 – Oct. 6, 2012

What, you haven’t honored your freedom by reading a banned book this week? Banned Books Week | Celebrating the Freedom to Read Similar:The Best Way to Start an Academic PaperBoth of the following writing samples de…AcademiaI'm not a big fan of Disney's corporate greed.I’m not a huge fan of Disney, largely be…AcademiaThe annual patriotic showing…

I think that should be "typefaces," but then I'm a pedantic bore.

Showcase of 60 Free Horror Fonts For Graphic Designers

I think that should be “typefaces,” but I’m a pedantic bore. Showcase of 60 Free Horror Fonts For Graphic Designers. Similar:Panic, confusion aboard sinking cruise chip – CNN.com Nobody’s perfect, but this proofread…Current_EventsShould the AP Really Have Fired This Pulitzer-Prize War Photographer?The original shot caught a Syrian rebel …AestheticsAuthor of 80s classic The Hobbit didn't…

Angry 10yo Edits the Paper Heart She Gave Her Mother

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Yes, it’s happening here at Seton Hill. Quidditch.

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Journalism Warning Labels

Stick these on a copy of your future birdcage liner if you spot any of the many sins of journalism. Be on the lookout for bias, plagiarism, poor sourcing, and hype. Journalism Warning Labels « Tom Scott. Similar:Aquiel (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 13) LaForge adopts a murder victim's dog…Rewatching ST:TNG LaForge gets a…

Kids Play the Way Scientists Work

Toddlers, multiple experiments have shown, can test hypotheses about how machines work—for example, they can figure out which blocks made a machine play when some but not all blocks trigger the toy. We have to be careful, though. This exploratory, quasi-scientific approach to the world doesn’t last if adults teach kids to do something else: Kids will let adult…

The Amanda Palmer Kickstarter Scandal : The New Yorker

Palmer’s Kickstarter page shows her proffering a Dylanesque hand-lettered sign proclaiming, “THIS IS THE FUTURE OF MUSIC.” She may be an authority on this topic—having asked for two hundred thousand, she got $1.2 million. That is not a particularly folksy sum, but not yet the stuff of ignominy. Album in hand, Palmer prepared to tour.…

Technical and Literary Writing: What’s the difference? « Dekonztruktschon

In an advanced new media class, I’m introducing technical writing to some excellent students. When I asked for a technical report, I got a lot of very well-written essays. It’s a media production studio, not a writing class, so I haven’t made the specifications of the technical report genre very central to the instruction, but…