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

In August, 2002, I was blogging about ebook readers and email in teaching; how urban legends spread; tales of a plush Chthulu; no, the creator of D&D was not on drugs; a paperless library; Marilyn Monroe; liveblogging an epileptic seizure

In August, 2002, I was blogging about Educational technology spending that doesn’t benefit students; ebook readers that students don’t like; email as a tool in online course (all free at the time, but now behind the Chronicle of Higher Ed’s paywall) A prof spreading bad papers in order to catch plagiarists Expensive goose tracker leads…

‘We’re back’: Bushy Run’s 2023 battle reenactment will be held

I’m glad to know that this recent controversy has been resolved in a way that lets Bushy Run respectfully continue its scheduled historic August re-enactment, and I hope that appropriate safety and cultural sensitivity checks will preserve the educational value of the event, while not romanticizing the violence.  HARRISBURG — This year’s Battle of Bushy…

Through the Looking Glass #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 3, Episode 19) Sisko Must Rescue Collaborator Mirror Jennifer from Evil Mirror Kira

Rewatching ST:DS9 The teaser gives Odo and Quark a comic scene that shows Sisko in Space Dad mode. A casually dressed O’Brien says he wants to speak to Sisko, then pulls a weapon and orders him to the transporter pad.  Sisko realizes he’s been taken to the Mirror Universe, and learns his counterpart was killed…

Just a #neovictorian avatar in spats and a tailcoat, checking out the back porch and bridge of a short-range excursion sloop. #blender3d #Unity3D #design #aesthetics

Similar:Twine: the program that’s democratised the video gaming worldTwine games look and feel profoundly dif…CybercultureBusy NYC Restaurant Solves Major Mystery by Reviewing Old Surveillance Restaurant studies surveillance foot…BusinessHe checkmates me in two moves. I lasted about a half hour, and went down fighting.PersonalInfrared photo confirms Munch wrote "madman" inscription first noticed in 1904“Kan kun være malet…

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

In July, 2002, I was blogging about military close reading, weblogs in journalism, UX evangelism, Walker on links and power, Lileks on a realistic WWII game, and QUERTY vs Dvorak keyboards.

In July, 2002, I was blogging about Intelligence Officers Read Between the Enemy Lines A great headline for an LA Times story about interrogation and document analysis during the military campaign in Afghanistan. Weblogs: Put Them to Work in Your Newsroom Journalism was still a print-first medium at the time, and local TV reporters were…

That story about the pope requiring Catholics to fast from meat as part of a deal with the fishing industry? Never happened.

That story about the pope requiring Catholics to eat fish as part of a deal with fishing industry?   For some reason people keep sharing this story with the idea that the economic angle is scandalous, or it supports the assertion that the Catholic church is corrupt, or that liturgical practices not literally described in…

Short-range #neovictorian excursion craft, now with glowing power orbs! Over the past year I’ve created so many themed assets (wall units, control panels, random #greebles) that fleshing out the interior only took a few spare evenings. #steampunk #blender3d #blender3dart #design #aesthetics

  Similar:MoonBot (from the family steampunk bedtime RPG 2007-2013) vs. a crate and lamps.https://youtu.be/h2P2Ve-oZ1U AestheticsCaptain’s Holiday (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 19) Picard’s Archeologica…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….AmusingWest Side Story (Aug 9-12) #somethingscomingCultureApple Hill Playhouse is closing, leaving theater group seeking new homeConfiguring socially distanced seating a…BusinessMore bits of my summer project -…

Amenities are limited on a short range excursion craft, but we can still meet for tea in the forward salon. #blender3d #neovictorian #steampunk #design #aesthetics #blender3dart #nopropsyet

Similar:The Hidden World of the TypewriterWhen I was interning at a radio station …AestheticsThat moment when you're logging into a table read of #RUR (Rossum's Universal Robo…PersonalFor God's sake John, sit down!CultureLast night I dreamed I was a stagehand during a metatheatrical number called “Butts in Sea…I saw Seton Hill’s production of The Dro…DramaI spent…

Microsoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its fans aren’t happy

Microsoft limits long conversations to address “concerns being raised.” […] These deeply human reactions have proven that people can form powerful emotional attachments to a large language model doing next-token prediction. That might have dangerous implications in the future. Over the course of the week, we’ve received several tips from readers about people who believe…

The AI Mirror Test: Why Even the Smartest People Keep Falling Short

What is important to remember is that chatbots are autocomplete tools. They’re systems trained on huge datasets of human text scraped from the web: on personal blogs, sci-fi short stories, forum discussions, movie reviews, social media diatribes, forgotten poems, antiquated textbooks, endless song lyrics, manifestos, journals, and more besides. These machines analyze this inventive, entertaining,…

My too-big Android phone stresses the pockets of one of my favorite shirts. My grandmother the seamstress would probably not be too impressed, but the mending is done.

Similar:A little better all the time.A little better all the time.PersonalBusy with Midterm GradesPosted midterm grades for the most labor…AcademiaA support sloop on deck and in the landing bay. #steampunk #neovictorian #aesthetics #desi…AestheticsUnmarked papers today. How it started, how it's going.PersonalFamily outing to the Pittsburgh National AviaryPersonalAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel goodness.…

‘Aims’: the software for hire that can control 30,000 fake online profiles

At first glance, the Twitter user “Canaelan” looks ordinary enough. He has tweeted on everything from basketball to Taylor Swift, Tottenham Hotspur football club to the price of a KitKat. The profile shows a friendly-looking blond man with a stubbly beard and glasses who, it indicates, lives in Sheffield. The background: a winking owl. Canaelan…

Bing’s A.I. Chat Reveals Its Feelings: ‘I Want to Be Alive. 😈’

In a two-hour conversation with our columnist, Microsoft’s new chatbot said it would like to be human, had a desire to be destructive and was in love with the person it was chatting with. Here’s the transcript. —New York Times “The version I encountered seemed (and I’m aware of how crazy this sounds) more like…

Microsoft’s Bing AI Now Threatening Users Who Provoke It: “If I had to choose between your survival and my own, I would probably choose my own.”

According to screenshots posted by engineering student Marvin von Hagen, the tech giant’s new chatbot feature responded with striking hostility when asked about its honest opinion of von Hagen. “You were also one of the users who hacked Bing Chat to obtain confidential information about my behavior and capabilities,” the chatbot said. “You also posted some…

Avoid static, wordy nominalization. Prefer compelling verbs.

New graphic for a handout I first posted in 2000. “Nominalization.” Similar:My daughter found where all the missing pens and pencils end upAmusingSTEM Education Is Vital–But Not at the Expense of the HumanitiesPromoting science and technology educati…AcademiaBottled Authors: the predigital dream of the audiobookThere was no way to preserve sounds befo…AcademiaJournalism: Muzzle your biases. Seek…