Objective news reporting is an ideal. Wherever humans are involved, there will be bias. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with journalism that reports with a particular slant, but informed consumers of news who want to understand a complex issue aren’t served by one-sided media coverage that flatters and amplifies their world view. This chart sorts popular…
If you said hello to me recently and I didn’t seem interested in smalltalk, but just raised my eyebrows, made friendly sounds, and drifted on, I hope I didn’t seem indifferent. I really was glad to see so many familiar upper halves of faces at the Lamp Theatre last night, but it was also kind…
The role of mainstream journalists is significant, and, overall, their record has been far less than stellar. Too many, whether in a one-on-one interview or at larger sessions with a number of reporters, have failed to push back in a way that matters. Trump is such a facile talker — one who specializes in dazzling…
Rewatching ST:TNG The Enterprise-D visits Deep Space Nine, so that the producers can take advantage of the beautiful promenade set and jam in a guest appearance from DS9’s Dr. Bashir. O’Brien doesn’t appear in this episode, but he’s mentioned in a brief and completely unnecessary scene where LaForge complains the pasta on DS9 “tastes like…
Similar:You're Doing It for the Exposure!! The Oatmeal on working for “exposure…Business"I don't view Shakespeare's work as intimidating anymore." — midterm reflection from coll… “It has made me more confident in my…AcademiaI think I’ve mentioned I have a daughter who sometimes does things.I think I’ve mentioned I have a daughter…PersonalUntil next term, I have zero…
For decades, champions of the video game industry have touted gaming’s cultural impact as the equal of literature, film and music. Traditionally, the classic works from those mediums have been preserved for study by future generations, and amid gaming’s global rise in relevance, a group of video game scholars and advocates is pushing to preserve…
Similar:We love us some Sherlock any way we can get it.PersonalQ Who? (ST: TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 16)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaReally enjoyed watching Your Name with the family. Visuals hooked me, but the story kept m…AestheticsThose emails can wait.PersonalBlank template details and a wider view of a 30cm x 30cm grid of…
Similar:The daughter was invited back to perform at this year’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Co… The daughter was invited back to perfo…AwesomeAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk #neovictorian control panel. Not the end product. Just prac…AestheticsBehind the bar in the officers' pub, from the #steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my…AestheticsYou may move your…
Rewatching ST:TNG Picard is in sickbay with a gaping hole in his chest. Crusher can’t save him. In a white void, Picard meets a familiar figure, Q, who claims to be God, and conjures up a vision of Picard’s father (who is *so* disappointed), and voices from Picard’s past — people he says have died…
Similar:More split-screen actinghttp://youtu.be/EGgeZWskEs8DesignPassage: a Gamma256 video game by Jason RohrerGrand Text Auto introduced me to the exc…AestheticsThis Is What Summer Vacation Is For: Designing a Steampunk Airsloop with Blender 3DSummer vacation means if I am telling my…AestheticsClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessModular support craft from the #neovictorian #steampunk bedtime stories…
Similar:Google Stops Scanning Student Gmail Accounts for Ads Google said Wednesday that it stoppe…AcademiaMy mom’s Lionel train set (a gift from her father in 1948) had been in storage for 35 year… My mother wants me to thank John at …AestheticsSame photo, two different interpretations.This is why I spend time teaching my jou…PersonalLearning How to…
My friend from high school passed away a few days ago. What an amazing preacher. So intelligent, so approachable, so passionate. What a loss to the Diocese of Lansing and everyone who knew and loved him. I am laughing through my tears at his aside, “I want to smack ’em!” (I knew him…
Rewatching ST:TNG Troi wakes up, looking like a Romulan. When Subcommander N’Vek tells her she’s impersonating the imperial intelligence officer Major Rakal, and that she’ll be killed if she doesn’t play along, he invites her to use her empathic powers to see whether he’s lying. He’s not. He’s using the assumed authority of “Rakal” to…
A conspiracy theory featuring a news story that NPR posted early on Jan 6 2021 and then updated after the pro-Trump demonstration turned into an anti-democracy riot was shared widely last year. My meme explaining the concepts of time-stamps and updating a breaking news story didn’t get shared nearly as much. People who already believe…
Rewatching ST:TNG LaForge gets a little too involved when investigating the disappearance of a lieutenant posted on a remote relay station. On a routine supply mission near the Klingon border, the Enterprise-D finds only a friendly dog and a mystery. The plot requires the details of the mystery to remain fuzzy so that LaForge has…
Similar:The secret history of “Y’all”: The murky origins of a legendary Southern slang wordThe Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is u…CulturePlaywright #AugustWilson Takes Center Stage on U.S. Postal Service Commemorative Forever …https://twitter.com/USPS/status/13548292…CultureLittle Women (the daughter plays Amy, the youngest sister)PersonalThat Class Where Stanford Profs Projected Hundreds of Zoom Students on a Video WallOf course, not all…
Some of my amazing colleagues have collaborated on an amazing NEH-funded summer institute that provides teachers in grades 6-12 with resources for teaching about genocide. The event, scheduled for summer 2022, includes units on the erasure of Native Americans, an empathy-building Narrative 4 storytelling workshop, and more. There’s a stipend for participating in this event,…
Similar:One of the benefits of teaching at a small college, with small classes…In a final reflection video for a freshm…AcademiaBaltimore Residents Urged To Stay Indoors Until Social Progress Naturally Takes Its Course…“As we continue to incrementally evolve …AmusingYes I do own a copy of the 1975 Star Trek Enterprise blueprints, but this guy annotated hi…PersonalSupport…
Similar:Track and field fundraiser:photo by Carolyn. FIRST ONE!!!PersonalPinkalicious — "Buzz Off"My daughter plays the Bumblebee in “Buzz…AestheticsThe Icarus Factor (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 14)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…PersonalDo you get your news mostly from social media? I check NPR, Drudge, and news.google.com.Do you have a regular news-consumption r…CultureApple Watch is ugly and boring…
Rewatching ST:TNG Picard plays cat-and-mouse with thugs when the Enterprise is evacuated for routine maintenance. During a long tracking shot, Picard bumps into senior staff members who just happen to be standing in the corridor with administrative problems for him to solve. In the turbolift, Data tries out his new “small talk during awkward moments”…