ABC is developing the steampunk adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Yes, really.

As gimmicky as “steampunk Huck and Tom” sounds, the characters actually may be quite well suited for steampunk. Twain’s novel Tom Sawyer Abroad was a play on Jules Verne-style adventure stories, and featured a mad professor and his absurd, futuristic airship. And Tom Sawyer had his own mystery story with Tom Sawyer, Detective. However, Twain…

Vote for Carolyn’s Headshot — Round 2

Vote for Carolyn’s Headshot — Round 2. Similar:My English major skills crushed the girl in Bananagrams.Wildcard? You mean quitter tile! Games"Dammit Mom, I'm a daughter, not a theoretician!"”Dammit Mom, I’m a daughter, not a theor…Amusing5 tips for choosing the right typefaceWhen it comes to picking a typeface, you…AestheticsHappy to see a familiar face in a…

Mars Panorama — 10yo with iPad Pretends Her Bed Is NASA Rover

Mars Panorama — My 10yo Pretends Her Bed Is NASAs Curiosi – YouTube. Similar:Here I am sketching spaceships like I’m 12 again. I feel like re-reading the novelization …AestheticsThe Chicago Tribune Has Made the Best Internet Mistake of the DayEvery second is a deadline, every instan…AmusingJournalists Prefer "Said"Journalists prefer the neutral “said” to…EducationFacebook's Mike Hudack…

Choosing Carolyn’s Headshot

Which of these headshots do you like best? Let me know on Facebook. Carolyn Headshots. Similar:Under my academic robes… photographer vest with 3 frozen ice packs. #heatwave #HonorsCon…PersonalGetting ready to run a ChoiceScript workshop for Computers and Writing 2023. #cwcon #cwcon…PersonalOn Night, Darkness & the PastWhen we banish the dark, what do we lose…AestheticsIf you…

Dozens of Plagiarism Incidents Are Reported in Coursera’s Free Online Courses

“If we really are trying to teach the world, including people from other cultures, we have to take a responsibility to educate people about plagiarism, not just vaporize people for it,” said Mr. Severance, who is also a clinical associate professor of information at Michigan, in an interview on Wednesday. —The Chronicle of Higher Education.…

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

If in question, have more GOOD than BAD? University of Georgia Student Journalists Walk Out

My students and colleagues sometimes wonder why I don’t approve the Seton Hill student paper before it’s published, or give students grades on their published work. Student journalists at the University of Georgia resigned en masse rather than relinquish editorial control to an “editorial director” and nonstudent staff. In a draft outlining the “expectations of editorial…

Stage Right Water Sprite

Last week my daughter and I were a little too early to see the Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s new exhibit, so we revisited some of our favorite items in the permanent collection. Similar:The woman and the car: a chatty little handbook for all women who motor or want to motor (…Great piece of history,…

SCUBA Diving at the Pool

Because a beautiful sunny day at the pool apparently by itself isn’t enough, we upped the ante with SCUBA gear. Similar:Martin Luther King event at SHU.Redefining the Dream: Justice, Faith and…AcademiaPoetry Out Loud : Learning RecitationI’m one of the judges in a “Poetry Out L…AcademiaJuly 7, 1936: Get a Grip — Phillips Screws Up the…

Official Rules to Nanofictionary

I was at a youth car wash today, watching my son and the other the kids spray each other (and sometimes the cars). One of the customers happened to be carrying an anthology of dystopian science fiction. We got to chatting, and he told me about this parlor game — which sadly seems to be…

An unreal Mars skyline

That awesome image showing Earth, Venus and Jupiter from Mars? It’s cool, but according to Phil “Bad Astronomy” Plait, it’s from planetarium software. I was about to reblog it myself, but did a quick check first. An unreal Mars skyline | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine. Similar:University disavows chocolate milk, concussions studyThe University of Maryland…

NASA Calls It A Mission As Curiosity Rover Fills Up Whole 2-Gigabyte Memory Card

More great satire from The Onion. PASADENA, CA—Barely 72 hours after the landing of its Mars rover, NASA officials announced Thursday that their mission had ended, as Curiosity’s two-gigabyte memory card was now filled to capacity. “Well, that’s that, folks,” said chief scientist John Grotzinger, explaining that after Curiosity’s Mars Descent Imager took an especially…