Physics for Future Presidents

[C]hocolate chip cookies (CCCs) have eight times the energy as the same weight of TNT. How can that be true? Why can’t we blow up a building with CCCs instead of TNT? —Physics for Future Presidents Via Metafilter. My eight-year-old son is a physics junkie. I can’t wait to show him the videotaped lectures and…

Once upon a time

“I’ve been making up bedtime stories for my children and suddenly I’ve had a brainwave. These stories are good! These stories are brilliant! I would be failing in my moral duty to my adoring public if I did not put them down on paper.” If my theory holds true, it is scary, because it suggests…

The Wikipedia and the Death of Archaeology

Given a sufficient amount of server space and the commitment to maintain it, a resource already exists that may not only sound the death knell of archaeology, but also the opportunity to enable a greater depth and sophistication of anthropology than has ever existed before. So radical an innovation would this new anthropological methodology represent…

Seton Hill University Information Technology's Special Comments about Internet Usage and Web Postings

Seton Hill University encourages self-expression and open communication as part of the student experience, in balance with the mission of Seton Hill University and the ideals of sensitivity, dignity and respect for self and for others. —Seton Hill University Information Technology’s Special Comments about Internet Usage and Web Postings (Seton Hill University) More and more students…

Best. Costume. Ever.

—Best. Costume. Ever. If your geek quotient isn’t high enough to recognize it, this is a mock-up of the power loader from Aliens. Similar:"Cool" Rosetta Mission Scientist Matt Taylor Objectifies Women via T-Shirt, LanguageHow very sad that someone with this leve…AestheticsUsing a Typewriter Simulator to Teach Media HistoryWorking on the syllabus for my “Media an…CultureRefreshing my…

Percentage of Chart Which Resembles Pac-Man

—Percentage of Chart Which Resembles Pac-Man (themot.org) Similar:New infographic to help our graduating English majors make sense of their capstone project…AcademiaFranz Joseph and Star Trek’s Blueprint CultureIn 1977, when I was about nine, I saw th…AestheticsWhat is a CRT and Why Don't We Use Them Anymore?I remember when I started seeing politic…AestheticsLatest on Napster(See also: Digital…

Stephen Colbert on Blogs

—Stephen Colbert on Blogs (Youtube) My student Gabby Blanchard posted this on her blog. Hilarious. Similar:ChatGPT took their jobs. Now they walk dogs and fix air conditioners.“In every previous automation threat, th…BusinessTwenty-Six Old Characters, The (1947)Sheaffer Pen celebrates the art of writi…AestheticsI let her tend the rabbits.Great production of a very moving story….BooksMemorizer (Memorization Tool)A Midsummer…

Shaking Things Up

Inkshedding was first developed by writing teachers Russ Hunt and Jim Reither in the 1980s. You can find all kinds of information about it online. Of course, as with any popular teaching technique, many different practices now fall under the name of inkshedding, as instructors have personalized it and made it their own. Dan’s version…

Under Fire, Soldiers Kill Blogs

Milblogs published by authors with “boots on the ground” received little attention from officials in the early days following the Iraq invasion in 2003, when the phenomenon of blogging was less known. But since then, Pentagon scrutiny has increased.–Xeni Jardin —Under Fire, Soldiers Kill Blogs (Wired) Similar:The false link between Amy Coney Barrett and The Handmaid’s…

''Kairotically Speaking'': Kairos and the Power of Identity

I’ll return to my analysis of Kairos as a project identity later. But first I’d like to consider one other aspect of Jerz’s critique–attention to audience. Kairos’s design (referring to Issue 5.1), Jerz says tongue-in-cheek, “has drastically improved,” making it “no longer an easy target.” The only mention of audience in Jerz’s critique is when…

Math vs. vampires: vampires lose

Efthimiou sup­posed that the first vam­pire arose Jan. 1, 1600, around the be­gin­ning of a cen­tu­ry dur­ing which some of the first im­por­tant mod­ern writ­ings on vam­pires ap­peared. The re­search­ers es­ti­mat­ed the glob­al pop­u­la­tion at that time, based on his­tor­i­cal re­c­ords, as 537 mil­lion. As­sum­ing that the vam­pire fed once a month and the vic­tim…