Police chief and writer Cliff Couch knows his audience. In a paragraph from an article advising LEOs how to deal with reporters, Couch begins with context he assumes his readers already accept, and carefully moves from there to the new ideas he wants them to consider. The horror tales you may have heard about reporters…
In September, 2002, I was blogging about “The Science of Scientific Writing” (1990) from ‘pong’ to ‘pac man’ Michigan Police fall for The Onion satire about terrorist telemarketers “Ebonics” (ebony + phonics) Silly alarmist story about recessive blonde genes A scientist undone by plagiarism Google News (when it was new) Mel Gibson’s plan to film…
From October: A man who was arrested over a Facebook parody aimed at his local police department is trying to take his case to the Supreme Court. He has sought help from an unlikely source, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Monday. –The New York Times,Area Man Is Arrested for Parody. The Onion Files a…
What will we use our phones for next? Image Source The online casino world is consistently evolving. New technologies are transforming the way these platforms operate and how people use them. The biggest evolution occurred when smartphone popularity reached mainstream consumers. People were able to play online casino games no matter where they were.…
Similar:Random gauge design, for background details in a fantasy #steampunk project. #blender3d #b… AestheticsLetter of Recommendation: Fanny PacksWhat other accessory ensures the safety …CultureHealing the WebThe lessons I learned in just over an ho…BusinessIs this why oldsters love nostalgia? I’m 50. I’m in my office casually sharp…CultureChoiceScript tutorial for making casual, phone-friendly, stats-driven storygames. Choice…
Similar:In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. @thepublicpghIn a hole in the ground there lived a ho…BooksCrabby 9yo Constructs a Head-mounted Frump-amplification Isolation CubeMy 9yo was ordered not to leave the kitc…DesignPeople with autism spectrum disorder avoid eye contact because it causes anxietyMy culture has taught me that eye contac…CultureOne strategic twist-tie,…
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…
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…
When I was a kid watching the reruns after school in the mid 70s, Scotty was always my favorite. I even worked a reference to him into my dissertation. Similar:#PPTPlaytime Tartuffe @thepublicpgh (Looking forward to Part 2 of this live videoconferenc…CultureHabits for happiness: tips for looking on the bright side of lifeHabits for happiness: tips…
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…
Similar:I spent Thanksgiving break building a #trimsheet for steampunk control panels, because why…AestheticsMedea at Seton Hill University.Culture@shu.pippin was great. Four more chances to see it!PersonalFamily catch and eat octopus with six tentacles during Greek vacationI keep a silly personal blog devoted to …Personal"Why are you throwing out all the books?!"The short answer is because we’re…
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 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…
Similar:Long Live the LARPers — My daughter plays the antagonist in this award-winning 48 Hour Fi…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7wzUtO…Aesthetics25% of the people have a 4th cone and see colors as they areYou see less than 20 color nuances: you …Aesthetics"What Teachers Make" Sequence of AssignmentsEvery year I rewatch Taylor Mali’s passi…AcademiaTin Man (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three,…
American law protects the free speech and press rights of all citizens, including journalists; and the courts are open for all citizens, including the subjects of new stories. Democracy has flourishes where the press is free. Despotism rises where it is not. DeSantis is framing this as a defense of the average citizen, but we…
Similar:Greensburg Holiday ParadePersonalThe daughter introduced me to this wonderful Martin Freeman comedy. Kind of like School of…PersonalIn September, 2000, I was blogging about PICK UP AX, Bellamy's Looking Backward, WB Yeats,…In September 2000, I was blogging about …BusinessChristmas 1970. I was feverish and it was unseasonably warm outside. One of my favorite pi…PersonalShatoetry iPhone app…
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…
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,…
Similar:Fanciful Fun in Theatre Factory’s “The Fantasticks”A great review from Pittsburgh in the Ro…CultureThe Outrageous Okona (TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 4)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…PersonalNational Dance DayIn the restaurant parking lot after dinn…CultureHide and Q (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 9) Riker, buffed up by Q, grants desires of the…Rewatching Star Trek: The…
Over the past few years I have created lots of assets, including control panels, furniture, and textures, for an ongoing neovictorian/steampunk personal project that began as bedtime stories that I told my kids from about 2008-2013. Around 2012, the story I was telling required a mid-range support craft larger than a shuttle, so I roughed…