On social media recently I saw people mocking Trump for “refusing” to unveil the traditional presidential portrait of Obama, and I saw people attacking “the fake news media” for pushing a narrative designed to make Trump look bad. The original NBC story that broke this item accurately states that neither Trump nor Obama is interested…
(Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break) The meddlesome entity Q, stripped of his powers, throws himself at the mercy of Captain Picard: “in all the universe you’re the closest thing I have to a friend, Jean-Luc.” Lots of well-done banter and self-absorbed patter from actor John De Lancie. While Worf and Crusher have memorable reactions to…
I just found a post on economics in early computer games, tucked away as a “Draft” in my WordPress database, dated Jan 2011. I’m not sure why I never published it. The web page I was responding to has disappeared from the Internet, so I’ve linked to the Wayback Archive instead. Similar:Microsoft Publishes Garbled AI…
More progress as I continue to level up my #blender3d skills. Similar:Make America Meme Again! Create your own Trump executive order.Now all the powerful visual rhetoric of …AmusingLast event of a busy day downtown. #AgathieChristie #murderontheorientexpressAestheticsOn the upside, no fake news is currently being shared on Facebook. Can't think of a do…PersonalOn Her One Free…
Every time I have taught an online class, I have made it asynchronous. I’m blogging these synchronous teaching tips so I can find them again when I’m prepping my fall classes (which will likely be HyFlex). The tips offered here won’t miraculously eliminate the initial awkwardness of virtual class sessions, but they’ll help. And over…
About a dozen local TV news stations aired a video segment produced by Amazon. Some identified the source, but most just let TV viewers assume the video was a news story, rather than a PR piece hosted by an Amazon employee. Journalism matters. See Forbes for details on the story. Similar:The hidden billion-dollar cost of…
Fascinating use of social media. To be clear, this story about “Carolyn Gombell” is a fabrication, intended to spark Twitter to take action against people (such as Donald Trump) who use Twitter to publicize unfounded accusations. Will that matter to people who share it? It’s parody accounts, not journalists, who are retweeting this story as…
Similar:Stack of wooden desk trays with metal supports. #Blender3D. Normal map, glossy map; mahoga…My goal in trying to do an object each d…AestheticsDestroying trust in the media, science, and government has left America vulnerable to disa…From The Brookings Institution (non-prof…CulturePrototypes in Technical Writing: What are They?Many a high school student has muddled t…AcademiaNarrow ParsersCreating n00b-friendly…
Powerful writing, by Matthew Schneier. Most of the essay is on the power of poetry as an oral art form. (See also Poetry is for the Ear and Poetry Writing Hacks: Top 10 Tips.) But I blogged it because of the paragraphs about the author’s father. Right now, a machine is breathing for my father,…
Yet in a circle pallid as it flow by this bright sun, that with his light display, roll’d from the sands, and half the buds of snow, and calmly on him shall infold away Deep-speare’s creation is nonsensical when you read it closely, but it certainly “scans well,” as an English teacher would say—its…
Similar:Journalism: Muzzle your biases. Seek out diverse but credible sources. You’ll be criticize…AcademiaT. S. Eliot and his Jellicle CatsLike Caryn Thurman, I came to Cats (the …CultureA surprising detail in bank records helped a historian bust a longstanding myth about Iris…A scholar uses bank records to track the…BusinessI'm not a big fan of Disney's corporate…
Yes, this was the decisive moment. I ended up cleaning my son out when he landed here later in the game. Similar:Visiting Ft Ligonier #sevenyearswar #history #localhistoryPersonalOverwhelmed? Start a new to-do list with "1) Breathe; 2) Make 'to-do' list" Felt momentarily overwhelmed by the da…CultureTwittering The MachineI’ve never been a phone guy. My vo…AcademiaThe Girl's…
Using invisible shapes to cut holes in the hull, and a shrinkwrap modifier to align the cockpit frame and the glass. Similar:Verify or Duck! Journalists should confirm all details they didn't witness.New instructional web page — Verify or …AcademiaUnion siege cannon, printing press, and "From Slavery to Freedom" were the highl…PersonalIf you care about things…
Similar:Nature walks 2012 and 2018.AestheticsNo girl wins: three ways women unlearn their love of video games – OffworldSeveral times I assigned Brenda Laurel’s…BusinessVery interesting adaptation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. #pptlaytime @thepublicpghCultureThe neglected history of videogames for the blindWhat kind of a “videogame” has no video?…CybercultureFriday night board game therapy. #startrek #monopolyPersonalSo peaceful and majestic.…
A great production of a delightful play. Similar:Talked too much during a meeting today.Talked too much during a meeting today. …AcademiaAnonymous comment cards from student journalists at the end of the second week. These folks are amazing! It’s such a…AcademiaPerchance to Dream: LARPing Hamlet at Castle ElsinoreThis is the concept of Inside Hamlet, an…CultureMultiple Choice…
(Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break) Crusher finds herself sympathizing with the charming terrorist who kidnapped her. After last week’s “The Hunted” and the week before’s “The Defector,” it seems the writers are very interested in humanizing perceived enemies. An unusually exposition-heavy captain’s log establishes the Enterprise is visiting a non-aligned world shaken by terrorists.…
Similar:More rehearsing. More dancing. PersonalMore split-screen actinghttp://youtu.be/EGgeZWskEs8DesignSet design for a virtual production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Post-apocalypti… AestheticsMostly German, sometimes refreshing my high school Latin.PersonalSpring 2022 Midterm Grades: SubmittedPersonalMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…Aesthetics
Similar:My son (black) has captured better pieces, but my brother (white) has a better position. C… PersonalPAC-MAN: The Untold Story of How We Really Played the GameA fascinating study of the thinginess of…AestheticsScratch 3.0 beta is available. Try out the text-to-speech blocks!PersonalHow The Ballpoint Pen Killed CursiveIn Death of a Salesman, Biff impulsively…BusinessPlaying with depth of…
Similar:Lonely Among Us (TNG Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 6) Crew-posessing spark roams and a droid …Conflict between two species who petitio…AestheticsKitchen utensils for my steampunk villain's hideout. #Blender3D. There’s nothing particularly steampu…AestheticsAnother visit to downtown Pittsburgh with my history-loving son.CultureEvery family has one.PersonalTricking the eye to see 3D details in geometrically flat surfaces for my…
Researchers identified more than 100 false narratives about COVID-19 that are proliferating on Twitter by accounts controlled by bots. Among the misinformation disseminated by bot accounts were tweets that conspiracy theories about hospitals being filled with mannequins, or tweets connected the spread of the coronavirus to 5G wireless towers, a notion that is patently untrue.…