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:Enjoying more live theater.CultureEssay on meaning of a life grounded in the liberal arts @insidehigheredFor David N. DeVries, the critical think…AcademiaWaiting for a talk on preserving artifacts from NASA’s Apollo program So much to see at the Heinz History Ce…CultureImaginary vs Real Office SpaceHere’s a fantasy workspace, that I built…AcademiaPeople Thought an AI Was Brilliantly…

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:Take my feedback if you want to pass.As my students in a compressed online co…AcademiaMy mother-in-law invited me to try out the 60- year-old tape machine that belonged to my f…My mother-in-law invited me to try out t…AwesomeThe Nightingale (WAOB Audio Theatre)I haven’t done any audio theatre recordi…AestheticsLotteries: America's $70 Billion ShameCan this be true?…

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:Facebook paid Teen Vogue to run a fake article praising Facebook for "helping ensure the i… After FB crowed about this sup…BusinessCEO’s brutalist office, for a Zoom-based production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots)….AestheticsMy Memories of "Joseph…" [an original cast member reflects on Rice/Webber/Waring's amazi…My high school Drama coach and freshman …DramaI’ll be seeing the final…

Enjoying a soul food dinner in honor of #blackhistorymonth

Similar:In August 1999 I was blogging about Poohsticks Bridge, penmanship, Archimedes, and ebooksIn August 1999, I was blogging about …BooksI'm honestly not sure where that came from.For my summer project, teaching myself t…AestheticsGround-nesting Yellowjacket WaspsWhile my 16yo son was mowing the lawn wi…CultureAdding details to a clip-art silhouette, for a project that will be released…

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:Advice for My Conservative StudentsA professor who had been a conservative …AcademiaBye Facebook, hello Instagram: Users make beeline for Facebook-owned social networkInstagram dialed in early to the power o…BusinessHere's some good writing from The New…