Blender Griffin, Part 3

Okay, that’s enough work for one evening. I added a skeleton I had already created for another project, and I added new rigging for his wings and tail. I still need to add the fancy stuff, like having the eyes follow a target, having the limbs move automatically to follow the placement of the feet…

Blender Griffin, Part 2

After another couple of hours of work, I’ve added the Griffin logo and a tail (trust me — it’s there). I’ve improved the lighting, and added some very subtle ambient occlusion (the inside of his beak and the inside of his eyes are shaded more realistically). I could probably do a better job differentiating such…

Correlation or Causation? – Businessweek

Correlation or Causation? – Businessweek. Similar:Help! I may be running out of excuses for not wearing…Help! I may be running out of excuses fo…CultureThe Outcast (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 17) Genderless civilization oppress…Rewatching ST:TNG Members of a ge…CultureAmusing Ourselves to Depth: Is The Onion our most intelligent newspaper?Greg Beato, from Reason Magazine Online…BusinessPassage:…

Blender 3D Update

Holy ray-tracing, Batman, it’s a Blender 3D update! I have not had the chance to try out Blender 2.61, which features an ocean simulator, motion-tracking, and real-time ray-tracing. blender.org – Blender 2.61. Similar:Top: flat, monochrome rectangles. Middle: rectangles with a flat bitmapped texture of butt…AestheticsOne Child, One Laptop … And Mixed Results In PeruBecause you…

Blender Griffin

To celebrate yesterday’s on-time submission of final grades, I spent part of last night and much of today working on this Blender 3D model of our school mascot, the Griffin.   Similar:Ultimate Infographic Design Guide + Design Tricks – VenngageThis website is selling something. You c…AestheticsI played hooky from work to see Wild Robot with…

Narnia Lesson Plans: Activities Related to the Musical (based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) — Jerz’s Literacy Weblog

I just posted the latest musical theater education packet, written by my wife, as she aims to make the most of our home-schooled children’s participation in Stage Right Greensburg’s student theater production. 1.10) Narnia, once a utopia or paradise, has become a sad, cold dystopia under the Witch’s rule. Read & discuss other examples of…

Pittsburgh Parent Magazine: Future-oriented College Majors

Pittsburgh Parent Magazine’s December issue features Seton Hill’s New Media Journalism major in a cover story by Kelli Robinson. Similar:Ian Bogost Has Won a HuffPo Badge for his Anti-Gamification Comment on HuffPo Daniel Donahoo: Gamification in Educ…AmusingSports writing: Once a passion, now merely a jobOnce, working for an online sports secti…BusinessWhy Teachers, Parents, and Society at…

Losing Face

This story features my Seton Hill colleague, Lee McClain. “It’s kind of like if you are looking at a bunch of leaves on a tree, you could study them, but you’d have to work really hard to tell them apart,” said McClain. That is how she sees faces. “That part of my brain that most…

On the Spot: Campus Diversity

One of my journalism students posted this insightful and well-edited documentary. (She also posted a brief introduction.) HTML5 HTML5 480p FLV360p FLV360p MP4240p FLVFlash Similar:World Trade Center Literary and Cultural Reflections (first posted September 11, 2001) Not knowing what else to do, in the nu…AestheticsStephen Greenblatt's The Swerve racked up prizes — and completely misled…

National study: Youth ‘sexting’ is downplayed

A national study released Monday suggests there is a smaller percentage of young people involved in “sexting” — sending or receiving explicit or sexually suggestive images via cell phone or Internet — than previous studies found. via National study: Youth ‘sexting’ is downplayed – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Wait a minute… who or what is doing the…

And With Your Spirit

My daughter was amused that, even with a cheat sheet in my hand, I automatically responded to “Peace be with you” with the traditional “And also with you,” every time this Sunday, instead of the new translation “And with your spirit.” Not once did I get it right. Similar:An Hour of Monastic Silence in Media…

Lego Rudolph

Before settling down to finish reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins, my daughter made this Lego reindeer. Similar:Controlling behavior of HQ CEO hijacks what should have been a puff piece about popular HQ…A few minutes ago I heard about HQ for t…BusinessHas life in the age of casual magic made moviegoers numb to the amazing?This is one…