Someone seems to have slipped this over my transom. Thank you, #foodsubstitutefairy whoever you are!

Similar:Brand new chairs for PICT draw applause.PersonalAmazing birthday cake, created by Jane Eyre herself, Karen Baum. (Thank you @kaboom1250!)PersonalAn Unexpecting MinorityTruthfully, I expected my new department…AcademiaDress rehearsal of The NutcrackerPersonalDragging Myself to a New Skill Level with Blender 3DWorking on some very complex stuff in Bl…AestheticsMy project starts to get clunky while managing 1000 NPCs…

Air miles be damned. I say the best way to find out about the joy and complexity of our world is through novels

Essays like this remind me why I picked my English major. There are other ways to get facts. Newspapers are full of them, as are podcasts and documentaries. Travel shows proliferate, take your pick. But even then, there is nothing like the view of the world via a novel. Novels can go beyond merely being…

Overflow seating for the 50th anniversary of the canonization of #elizabethannseton @setonhilluniversity

Similar:Did you see that guy’s license plate?Did you see that guy’s license plate? …AmusingSpot of sunlight seems to be sliding down an escalator.   View t…AestheticsSam Shepard Giggles, Doesn't GoogleI wrote my undergraduate honors thesis o…CybercultureCarolyn and Alex in “The King and I”PersonalKitchen utensils for my steampunk villain's hideout. #Blender3D. There’s nothing particularly steampu…AestheticsFaces the…

Children of Time #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 22) Defiant crew meets happy colony of their own descendants (it’s complicated)

Rewatching ST:DS9 In the Defiant mess hall, Kira and Dax chat about Kira being single again, and don’t notice Odo’s reaction. Sisko reluctantly lets Dax talk him into a detour to study a random planet’s plot contrivance particle field, and of course things Go Wrong. Instead of staying on the ship to unflabbergast the Defiant’s…

Soldiers of the Empire #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 21) Worf joins General Martok as first officer on a Klingon bird-of-prey

Rewatching ST:DS9 Bashir scolds Martok for injuring himself (again) during a holosuite training program. (He’s being reckless and self-destructive, even for a Klingon.) On the Defiant, Nog stealthily pantomimes strangling Worf for ordering him to download an operating system “one file at a time.” (The intended comedy in this scene is a bit awkward; Nog’s…

Wired and Business Insider remove articles by AI-generated ‘freelancer’

Journalists who can’t verify their sources, or their own humanity, face consequences. Multiple news organisations have taken down articles written by an alleged freelance journalist that now appear to have been generated by AI. On Thursday, Press Gazette reported that at least six publications, including Wired and Business Insider, have removed articles from their websites…

Blessing the “American sweet gum tree” that grew from a seed that Artemis I carried around the moon in 2022

Similar:Coronavirus: advice from the Middle Ages for how to cope with self-isolationLike many people, I curate my social med…CultureGoogle, AI Announcements, and the Future of LearningGlenda Morgan does not sound that impres…AcademiaWe don’t need more STEM majors. We need more STEM majors with liberal arts training.A chemist celebrates the liberal arts. …AcademiaMy colleague @crissycp offers…

Students Are Using ChatGPT to Write Their Personal Essays Now: AI can replicate the shape of a narrative, but not the struggle that makes it meaningful

Students say they appreciate AI’s ability to organize ideas and improve flow, but many also recognize that what comes out often feels “robotic,” emotionally flat, or uncanny in tone. Still, convenience almost always wins. Reflection is hard, and AI makes things easy. I don’t fault students for wanting help. Writing about your life, especially the…

Google’s healthcare AI made up a body part — what happens when doctors don’t notice?

Though not in a hospital setting, the “basilar ganglia” is a real error that was served up by Google’s healthcare AI model, Med-Gemini. A 2024 research paper introducing Med-Gemini included the hallucination in a section on head CT scans, and nobody at Google caught it, in either that paper or a blog post announcing it. When Bryan…

Ties of Blood and Water #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 19) Kira re-evaluates a Cardassian father figure

Rewatching ST:DS9 Kira is excited to welcome Tekeny Ghemor, the sympathetic Cardassian who was tricked into believing a surgically-altered Kira was his daughter (s3e5 “Second Skin”). Now that Dukat and the Dominion have displaced the legitimate government on Cardassia, Kira has high hopes that Ghemor will inspire a resistance, but before the opening credits roll,…

I may have mentioned that I have a daughter who does things. Her next is “To Battle: A Fight Play.” August 1-10.

Tickets for To Battle: A Fight Play Similar:Things that have made me start singing "Tradition!" in my head so far todayAfter last night’s first rehearsal for “…AmusingAnonymous comment cards from student journalists at the end of the second week. These folks are amazing! It’s such a…AcademiaI'd like to speak to the manager. Yes, I'll wait…