The Oatmeal on working for “exposure.” Similar:After you finish your brass-polishing shift, join me at the Gear and Heart to swap stories…AestheticsStudents present their research for the Celebration of Writing @setonhilluniversityPersonalAmazing High School Yearbook Politics SpreadI’m gobsmacked by the creativity that we…AestheticsThe Terrible Things I Have Said and Done My Entire Life, and Right…
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)…
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Data investigates Romulan intrigue, mediates a spat between O’Brien and his bride-to-be Keiko, and gets a lesson from “the dancing doctor.” A clever storytelling device has Data narrate a letter to Commander Maddox, the cybernetics expert who initially wanted to dissect him in s2e9 “The Measure of a Man.”…
Similar:SAT essay section: Problems with grading, instruction, and prompts.In my freshman writing courses I work ha…AcademiaI was 'raped' in VR – the effects can 'mirror' real sex assaultsThis is offensive, deeply troubling, and…CultureHanging with the rude mechanicals @setonhilluniversityA Midsummer Night’s Dream.CultureThe Left has a post-truth problem too. It's called comedy.As I gear up to…
Similar:I am slightly ahead of the boy. Rare.PersonalLittle green owl, if your emotions depend this much on how often I practice, that’s defin…Little green owl, if your emotions depe…PersonalThere are many Star Wars references in Dani Girl, so I made this tribute to Tom Jung's 197…CulturePlaying with depth of field (blurring details that are closer…
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. After losing her Betazed empathic sense, Counsellor Troi dramatically ignores her own advice about grieving. As the scriptwriters hustle her through shock, denial, anger, bargaining and depression, a Space Thing of the Week threatens the Enterprise. Scenes where Troi counsels a recently widowed ensign offer an intimate view of…
First Dancer of the New York Ballet in the 60’s. One of the most impressive moments that we have experienced since Music to Wake up. Being able to listen to this immense work of art with a person who danced it and was a fundamental part of its history. The power of Music is immeasurable.…
I’m stunned by the writing. Here’s just a sample: Outside the Clark County Election Center in Las Vegas, a news conference was interrupted by a hysterical man in a sleeveless tank that read “BEER BBQ FREEDOM.” “The Biden crime family is stealing this election!” he screamed over and over again, as if repetition would make…
Similar:Just reminding myself that these moments do and will exits. I’ve evaluated every student s…PersonalMemory of Wrestler Yukon Eric”The year is around 1952, the dead of wi…HistoryDon’t patronize older adults by calling them ‘the elderly’In English grammar, we use the definite …CultureVibing to a park saxophonist as I code for an upcoming conference presentation, and…
Here’s more evidence of just how crucial it is to the Trumpiverse to sustain the narrative that “the media” are the enemy. Earlier today, Trump’s Director of Communications Tim Murtaugh tweeted a picture of a Washington Times banner headline announcing the victory of “PRESIDENT GORE,” as “a reminder that the media doesn’t select the Present.”…
Earlier today Trump tweeted that his campaign would hold a “Lawyers Press Conference at Four Seasons, Philadelphia.” He later specified that he didn’t mean the prestigious Four Seasons hotel, but rather an unrelated business “Four Seasons Landscaping,” which happens to be located next to an adult bookstore and near a cremation company. One imagines that…
Similar:Yes, Duolingo is free and I’ve learned a lot. No, I don’t like the psychological manipulat…Yes, Duolingo is free and I’ve learned a…EthicsVolunteering at our local food bankEthicsPeople with autism spectrum disorder avoid eye contact because it causes anxietyMy culture has taught me that eye contac…CultureMy son teaching chess to a young pupilCultureThe Drowsy Chaperone…
That moment during McCain’s concession speech in 2008, when he mentions Obama, and a ripple of boos begin. McCain, his face showing disapproval, holds up his hands palms down — a controlling gesture, but a calming one. He says the simple word, “Please,” and patiently waits until his audience settles down. He says he just…
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC, CBS and NBC all cut away from President Donald Trump on Thursday as he spoke from the White House to make an unfounded accusation that the presidential election was being stolen from him. Trump had tried to commandeer the nation’s airwaves at a time when the evening newscasts are shown…
I was thrilled as a middle-schooler to stay up late watching PBS coverage of science types poring over printouts of the images arriving from Voyager 1 and 2’s visits to Jupiter and Saturn in 79-81, and visits to Uranus and Neptune in the late 80s. The Star Wars and Star Trek movie franchises were in…
For more than 150 years, scientists have considered bird song to be an exclusively male trait, but female scientists have changed that. Americans often idealize scientists as unbiased, objective observers. But scientists are affected by conscious and unconscious biases, just as people in other fields are. Studies of birds’ vocal behavior clearly show how research approaches…
All 3 acts and the epilogue to R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) are now available on YouTube. I’ve loved this quirky play for almost 30 years. I’m thrilled that I got the chance to play Alquist, a humble builder who witnesses the Robot rebellion and its surprising aftermath. (I also designed the set backdrops in Blender…
Similar:There’s Something Off About LED BulbsWhen I’m stressed, or I feel life is spi…AestheticsThe Blood and the BlameMoments after Donald Trump was…CultureThe false link between Amy Coney Barrett and The Handmaid’s Tale, explainedOne of the weirder ways this debate has …BooksThe daughter looks stunning in pink. AestheticsNarnia board game — enjoyable family activity (but it's weird that…
A new graphic for an existing handout, which I touched up a bit. When is the phrase “when asked about…” part of good news writing? Rarely. A journalist who uses the phrase “when asked about” (or a similar phrase) is carefully telling the reader, “I’m bending over backwards to make sure you don’t think I’m…
Similar:Is AI making us less intelligent?This morning, after students submitted a…CybercultureSummer project: learning the Unity gaming engine.One bedtime about 11 years ago, my 5yo d…PersonalClose Reading of Sonnet 130: Form, Theme, and Cultural Context (and a Rage Comic)I’m preparing to teach Shakespeare again…AcademiaThe right — and surprisingly wrong — ways to get kids to sit still…