Nyan Cat Rock

My daughter saw the Nyan Cat video, and then opened a rock-painting gift from a secret Santa. The result was inevitable. Similar:Blender 3D Flyover of Fantasy Steampunk Spacecraft When my kids were small, at bedtime …AestheticsPoetry Writing: 10 Tips for Writing PoemsIf you are writing a poem because you wa…AestheticsApparently I’m using boolean modifiers to…

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:Friday night. What am I doing? #partylikeaprofAcademiaMusician uses computer algorithm to compose every melody possible in C, releases them for …  A lawyer and hobbyist musician…AmusingThe Unstoppable Rise of the Digital Content CreatorThis is why I have been encouraging blog…BusinessBoston marathon bombing: All the mistakes journalists make during a crisis…

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:15 Times "Filler Text" Became a Journalist's Worst EnemyIt doesn’t happen often but when filler …AmusingDennis Jerz, R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots), Karel Capek's…

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:The Penance of Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, by Edwin Austin Abbey.This painting was inspired by the scene …AestheticsYellow Journalism Did Not Cause the Spanish-American…

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:This history of video game graphics is a walk down memory laneBlogging this so I can assign it to my “…AcademiaYounger friends, can you write or read cursive? I’m curious.CultureJJ Abrams announces fourth rebooted Star Trek…

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:Is There a Santa Claus?Update, Dec 2020: https://www.youtube.c…CultureThe girl sank her brother's last ship with the homophonous cry "I-1."AmusingHow 'Fiddler On The Roof' (And Writing Its Sequel) Helped An Actress Find…

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…