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:Meme alleging Trump said “Africans Are Lazy, Good at Sex, Theft” is a hoax I’ve seen this meme shared by severa…EthicsA Classicist Goes to Work in Silicon ValleyKristina Chew writes about what her frie…AcademiaFancy iPad Holder with Compartment For Storing Your BabyFisher-Price enters the Apple aftermarke…AestheticsLeonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83Leonard…
Similar:At the chess club holiday party. Peter looks forward to his Wednesday…GamesNo I didn’t exactly *plan* to spend my Sunday evening tweaking the pedestrian access to th…AestheticsA professor examines why her students seem to act so helpless (essay)This essay on college students acting he…AcademiaStunning picture of my daughterAestheticsOn this date in 1999 I first added…
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:Tapdance / jazz music outing with the girl. Tapdance / jazz music outing with …AcademiaIn January, 2002 I was blogging about… A 20-something former CEO takes a fa…BooksProgress.PersonalKittenwar”May the cutest kitten win…” –Kittenw…AestheticsJournalism Tips: Newsworthy vs SnoozeworthyA newsworthy story is recent (rather tha…CultureSpent the morning in a socially distanced recording studio.Personal
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:Hello, I’m Dr. Jerz, I’ll be your server tonight for Christmas on the Hill. Hello, I’m Dr. Jerz, I’ll be your serv…PersonalAnd if my point of view is somewhat misty-eyed…And if my point of view is somewhat mist…AestheticsI asked my geekling whether she was ready for bed…I asked my #geekling whether she was rea…AmusingThey're coming…
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:How Bill Gates pulled off the swift Common Core revolutionWhile I appreciate the efficiency of uni…CultureRandom gauge design, for background details in a fantasy #steampunk project. #blender3d #b… AestheticsMy big acting moment in this scene is declining a drink. #indie #filmAmusingUnmarked assignments in my queue: 0This app, which sports a little red noti…AcademiaAnother delightful section…
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:Reading fiction early in life is associated with a more complex worldview, study findsThis study relied in part on the reponde…AcademiaMore modeling in #blender3d. Very happy with reflections and lighting. (The teacup is a po…DesignComing up for the girl is another classic show: The Fantasticks.So looking forward to seeing her in this…CultureNASA reconnects with Voyager…
Early in my teaching career, I noticed some students silently body-shaming another. I’m sure the target, who had a minor wardrobe malfunction, didn’t even notice. Later that day I asked a more experienced mentor for advice, awkwardly mentioning that the target of the body-shaming was not slim. My mentor interrupted me. “Ignore your students from…