What Was the TED Talk?

The title borders on clickbait, but the self-aware irony of the catch-phrase “Thank you for attending my TED talk” does suggest the concept has long ago escaped the lab. “We live in an era where the best way to make a dent on the world… may be simply to stand up and say something.” And yet,…

Seeing a different cast. Break all the legs!

Similar:Happy Easter 2022PersonalCoined by Shakespeare? Think againFor years, Shakespeare has been thought …AcademiaIn September 1999 I was blogging about Tom Stoppard, techno-utopianism, voice-recognition …In September 1999, I was blogging about …CybercultureArsenic and Old Lace. I haven't seen this show since I played the lead as a high school ju…Culture"Know that I glory in this nose…

Homeward (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 13) Worf’s foster brother interferes with a primitive, dying culture

Rewatching ST:TNG The Enterprise-D answers a distress call from Worf’s foster brother, a civilian observing a primitive civilization on a planet with an atmosphere that’s spontaneously dissipating because reasons. The dissipation is also creating a plot contrivance field that periodically jams key systems so that we can watch characters react to dramatic in-person discoveries of…

This makes a lot of sense.

Similar:If You're Getting Walled in a Cellar I Feel Bad for You SonAmusingThere Is A Difference Between Middle Grade and Young Adult Lit, and It Does Matter Adolescence took a long time to be inven…BooksDo you really keep a diary?ALGERNON Do you really keep a diary? I’d…AmusingQuantity leads to quality – Austin KleonAnecdote: [A] ceramics teacher…

Parallels (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 11) Worf gets technobabbled into a timeline where he married Troi

Rewatching ST:TNG After returning victorious from a bat’leth tournament, Worf is ambushed by a surprise birthday party, where a chocolate cake turns yellow, his big pointy first place trophy turns into a ninth place blob, and things continue diverging from the recent past he remembers. A great comic scene features a terrified Worf reacting when…

Settling in for a jukebox show (not my favorite genre but the Go-Gos are fun).

Similar:Beam me up, Chewie!Awesome"The Nightmare of Prince Prezelsky"Leigh, Peter, Carolyn and I had fun reco…AmusingCarolyn as Hodel and Peter as Lazar in the Stage Right homeschool Fiddler on the Roof.PersonalOutsiders. Four sold out matinees this coming week. — Prime StageFour sold out matinees this coming week….BooksThank you, anonymous person who left a container of Oreo…

Enjoying a soul food dinner in honor of #blackhistorymonth

Similar:This is the first time during the pandemic that we’ve brought this game out. Very topical.PersonalToday's workload included requesting a "less-depressing used chair" #lowexp…PersonalEaster collage 2018.PersonalLeveling up my skills in #blender3D. Using invisible shapes to cut holes …DesignA question I find myself thinking all the time.PersonalThe Missing Will, by Agatha Christie (WAOB Audio Theatre)I had…

War via TikTok: Russia’s new tool for propaganda machine

“This is the way they go to war; it’s a central part of Russian doctrine,” said Jim Ludes, a former U.S. defense analyst who now directs the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University. Ludes said Russian disinformation campaigns are intended to galvanize Russian support while confusing and dividing the…

Inheritance (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 10) Data’s mom talks a lot, young Soong says she’s a bot, that’s a life-lie

Rewatching ST:TNG Within minutes of hearing about a problem with a planet’s molten core, LaForge comes up with a solution that Data and the visiting scientists from Atrea are convinced will work.  One of the visitors, Dr. Juliana Tainer, introduces herself to Data as a colleague of his creator Dr. Soong. In fact, because she…

Force of Nature (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 9) A Space Thing leads to an environmental mystery that implicates warp drive technology

Rewatching ST:TNG In which a comic teaser features LaForge’s misadventures with Data’s cat; we join the search for a missing medical transport; and we meet environmentalists with dire warnings about a ubiquitous Federation technology. LaForge is tinkering with the engines, trying to beat the performance stats of an academy frenemy. He and his nerd buddy…

An overnight traffic spike on an older online handout prompted me to touch it up. #techwriting #process

Those are the stats for my entire site. The spike is driven almost completely by visits to this one handout. Similar:What Could Have Been Entering the Public Domain on January 1, 2012?Current US law extends copyright protect…BooksA Classicist Goes to Work in Silicon ValleyKristina Chew writes about what her frie…AcademiaSouthwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, who testified unmasked…