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:Who cares about hyphens, commas and capital letters? You should.You’re a busy editor, fighting a deadlin…Books"We Need to Be More Vigilant With What…
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:Greebles make me happy.Before CGI, filming a science-fiction st…AestheticsI spent Thanksgiving break building a #trimsheet for steampunk control panels, because why…AestheticsToday's Google Doodle is…
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’s December issue features Seton Hill’s New Media Journalism major in a cover story by Kelli Robinson. Similar:Really, WCCC? Academia“Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand. That I might touch that cheek!” #pptplaytime Rome…CultureJane Catherine Lotter's Self-written ObituaryI don’t know her, other than as the auth…EssaysThe Digital-Humanities BustDinosaurs evolved into birds.…
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…
If I were to say to a teacher: “Hey, you should try out this great IF game with your class”, it would generate a response ranging from “Fantastic, what’s it about and how do I play it” – from a teacher familiar with the principles digital game-based learning, to “I have adult students, they don’t…
“We take pictures of the clothes on a doll that stands in the shop, and then create the human appearance with a program on [a] computer,” he said. —Clothing Giant H&M Defends ‘Perfect’ Virtual Models – ABC News. Similar:Empty InboxMy to-do do list and my “Follow Up” fold…CybercultureI'm happy with today's #steampunk control panel. To…
I hope my student journos never have to face something like this, but I sent this link on to the editor, just to keep her informed. Many a journalist’s career has been made by being professional, while happening to be in the right place at the right time — Dan Rather was a little-known local…
Researchers have found a bright vein of gypsum, a mineral that could only have been deposited by water. The finding suggests that billions of years ago warm water flowed through underground fractures in the rocks. —NASA Rover Spots Unambiguous Evidence for Water on Ancient Mars | Wired Science | Wired.com. Similar:Ground-nesting Yellowjacket WaspsWhile my 16yo…
Apple just released an update of its very nice iBooks. The Kindle still is my preferred ereader for personal reasons, but I prefer to teach with iBooks. Last year when I taught a literature survey, I experimented with asking students to use out-of-copyright free etexts, and to annotate them in iBooks. The fact that iBooks…
Kodak Brownie and Instamatic cameras were once staples of family vacations and holidays — remember the “open me first” Christmas ad campaigns? But it may not be long before a generation of Americans grows up without ever having laid hands on a Kodak product. That’s a huge comedown for a brand that was once as…
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:AI researchers find AI models learning their safety techniques, actively resisting trainin…Researchers had programmed the various l…CybercultureOn teaching coding to English studies studentsBecause this is a practical, hands-on, i…AcademiaScientists Trace Society's…
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…
Facebook has revolutionized the way we communicate — and class reunions have changed because of it. Some people keep in close touch electronically with almost daily updates online, so they don’t feel compelled to buy a ticket and travel across town — or across the country — to see former classmates. For others, enthusiasm for…
When our firstborn was little, my wife carefully avoided saying “no” to him, saying “no thank you” instead. When he melted down in public, he would scream, “No thank you! Noooo thaaaank YOOU!” The key to a new theory of tantrums lies in a detailed analysis of the sounds that toddlers make during tantrums. In…
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:Carolyn made it to the next round…
Before settling down to finish reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins, my daughter made this Lego reindeer. Similar:FBI launches flurry of arrests over attacks on journalists during Capitol riotImagine that. Nearly six months after t…Current_EventsA masked, socially distant museum visit. So nice to get away from syllabuses and email for… Ford built about a half dozen of…
Ferrell’s wife, Karen, buys groceries and not all her clothes come from the dumpster, and some of their furnishings did not come from the trash. But Ferrell says he never buys clothes for himself. Scrounging is his word for what he does. When he moved to Texas 10 years ago from Arizona, Ferrell decided to…
We have one more day of classes Monday, but in honor of the end of classes and the start of finals, here’s a handout designed to help students make the most of timed writing situations. If you are, at this moment, frantically cramming for tomorrow morning’s exam, that first tip may not sound all that…
In fact, while Lamarr qualified as an inventive genius for her artistic flair, she fell somewhat short on her scientific acumen. She certainly fizzed with creative ideas throughout her life. My favorites include sugary “bouillon” cubes to plop into water for an instant Coke, and a “skin-tautening technique based on the principles of the accordion.”…