Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu Logo

In December 2000, I was blogging about typeface snobbery, freedom in video game spaces, the first email message, and T.S. Eliot’s anti-semitism

In December 2000, I was blogging about Typeface snobbery (The Onion) Videogames as gendered play spaces (Henry Jenkins) Who wouldn’t want to trade in the confinement of your room for the immersion promised by today’s video games? …. Perhaps, my son finds in his video games what I found in the woods behind the school,…

Oh, No. YouTube is Deleting Videos.

Oh no.  First YouTube institutes a “COVID-19 Medical Misinformation Policy” and starts deleting videos that tout fake cures or discourage people from following the medical advice of the WHO; then, YouTube takes a stand against any video that “misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential…

My students were awesome. So many thoughtful final projects. So much growth. A stressful, rewarding, unforgettable term.

Similar:Progress.PersonalMy mother has taught me so much. I'm delighted I get to sit in her living room and te…PersonalMany of these individual steampunk control panel elements are repeated, but I've arranged …AestheticsThe girl performed musical commercials for a fund-raiser in the Laurel Highlands (and she …The girl performed musical commercials f…CultureThe Story of Rolf and…

Motivation Amid Crisis (Autotrophic Bat)

As part of an independent study project, a graduating Seton Hill student wrote a blog about self-publishing her original collection of fairy-tale adaptations. She’s a double-major in creative writing and graphic design, and she freely adapted each story and illustrated each one in a different style. (She’ll be self-publishing her anthology soon, and I’ll certainly…

Final grades are due tomorrow. My Fall 2020 is almost over. I survived.

Final grades are due tomorrow. My only unmarked assignments are just a handful of final projects with some components I couldn’t evaluate, mostly for some technical reason. It’s been a pretty rough semester, but I’m glad I started prepping for it in July, rethinking and reorganizing and rebuilding lesson plans and assignment sequences with a…

“The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster (a reading)

This week for #StorytimeFriday friend of Prime Stage @DennisJerz reads The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, a 1909 short story about a world in which people primarily communicate via video screens. Sound familiar? Enjoy! #PrimeStageShares https://t.co/KaHdCGHVTC — Prime Stage Theatre (@Prime_Stage) December 4, 2020 Similar:Has life in the age of casual magic made moviegoers numb…

The reflection should show what’s about 60 degrees above the shuttle, not what’s in front of it. #startrek #tng jerz.setonhill.edu/the-devils-due

Similar:There are many Star Wars references in Dani Girl, so I made this tribute to Tom Jung's 197…CultureRossum's Universal Robots (Act 1) Artistic ProsperityThe first act of Artistic Prosperity’s v…CultureFacebook Should Pay All of UsThe trick is that most people think they…BusinessUnderstanding Anti-SLAPP laws – The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the PressShort for strategic lawsuits…

Devil’s Due (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 13) Picard vs. sexy devil Ardra

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Picard searches for a legal loophole in peaceful planet’s pact with the devil. Memorable scenes include Data playing Scrooge on the holodeck, courtroom hijinks (“The advocate will refrain from making her opponent disappear”), and Picard padding around on the planet in his jammies (“Just have Mister Data fetch me…

I spent Thanksgiving break building a #trimsheet for steampunk control panels, because why not? #blender3d

Similar:GIFs, memes and liveblogs: The controversial new language of book reviewingSalon has an interesting essay on multim…AestheticsBlender 2.8 Released. Please leave us alone together for a few days.I’ve been using the beta for months, but…CybercultureI apologize for this one. R2-D2 stars in Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical CATS.PersonalSherlock Holmes and The Woman (WAOB Live Virtual Performance)I…

The Wounded (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 12) O’Brien’s Former Captain Goes Rogue

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. This episode introduces the Cardassians, who years ago attacked Picard on the Stargazer when he approached them during a diplomatic mission. Worf grumbles that the Cardassians have no honor. Indeed, during the teaser they attack the Enterprise. Still, Picard listens to Gul Macet’s complaint: a Federation starship has attacked…

Cursor*10

Great free Flash game, emulated at the Internet Archive. Similar:WordPress duplicate images driving me crazy I’m using the Atahualpa Theme with WPT…HomeAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk #neovictorian control panel. Not the end product. Just prac…AestheticsChoose Your Own Buzz LightyearI was on the road (and away from a compu…AestheticsSeton Hill University advertises for “Social &…

The disinformation system that Trump unleashed will outlast him. Here’s what reality-based journalists must do about it.

Highlights from a column by Margaret Sullivan (The Washington Post): President Trump didn’t create the media cesspool that he’ll bequeath to a troubled nation. He just made it exponentially worse — not only with his own constant lies but with his ability to spread the ugliness. Just days ago, he tweeted out a debunked conspiracy theory that…

You’re Doing It for the Exposure!!

The Oatmeal on working for “exposure.”   Similar:Happy ice cream turkey cake day. AestheticsThe ballroom of my #steampunk fantasy space cruiser is now a less lonely place. Thanks to watching many, many YouTub…AestheticsThis weekend… Would YOU trade a Hank Aaron rookie card for Roberto Clemente… for her? …PersonalMeet the 12-year-old boy who makes games instead…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu Logo

In November 2000, I was blogging about the US Presidential election, mirrors, Arts & Letters Daily, and more

In November 2000, I was blogging about Ursula K. Le Guin Why we perceive mirrors reversing things left/right but not up/down Pioneering blog Arts & Letters Daily (just a year older than my own blog) Nick Montfort’s constrained poem “Upper Typewriter Row“ The 2000 US Presidential Election controversy (ballot design, hanging chads, recounts, political cartoons)…

Dr Jerz I think your microphone glitched

  Similar:100 Word ChallengeIt is a weekly creative writing challeng…CultureClassic. So good! #startrek #tosPersonalYep, it's time to read student papers on Flannery O'Connor.AcademiaThis friendly gangster was parked at WalMart in Johnstown yesterday.This friendly gangster was parked at Wal…PersonalPrototypes in Technical Writing: What are They?Many a high school student has muddled t…AcademiaCode is not literatureA literate…

Zooming into the abyss: Black squares don’t contribute much to the learning environment.

Similar:Space Shuttle Challenger (Destroyed 28 Years Ago Today)I was in my final semester of high schoo…EducationAnonymous comment cards from student journalists at the end of the second week. These folks are amazing! It’s such a…AcademiaBlender 2.8 Released. Please leave us alone together for a few days.I’ve been using the beta for months, but…CybercultureWhat About “The…