Very interesting adaptation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. #pptlaytime @thepublicpgh

Similar:Support the arts in your community!PersonalShe feels pretty at the dress rehearsal (opens Thursday)On the ride home, in the middle of a spi…AmusingWhat’s Lost as Handwriting FadesWhen I used a Windows XP Tablet computer…CultureSaint Crispin's Day Speech from "Henry V"Dennis Jerz performs the famous speech p…CultureAnother chess tournament with the boy.GamesWhat Khan Academy's Fun, Free…

Write instructions for busy grouches.

Updating the graphic for a writing handout on how to write instructions, which I created in 2000. Similar:More #steampunk #neovictorian goodness. Bring the wood polish. #design #aesthetics #blende… AestheticsVerify or Duck! Journalists should confirm all details they didn't witness.New instructional web page — Verify or …Academia5 tips for choosing the right typefaceWhen it comes to…

In a literature class, the author’s words matter more than the author’s life and times, or our own feelings and values.

Updating the graphic for a resource I created in 2012. Similar:PHD Comics: It's in the syllabus  PHD Comics: It’s in the syllab…AcademiaI had to act like I knew something about golf. There I am on the right at about :15.PersonalSocrates envisaged a time when we would forget how to remember.From Daisy Dunn’s review of Puchner’s…

Trump, Obama seem equally disinterested in portrait unveiling — but journalism takes hits from both sides

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…

Déjà Q (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 13) Amusing, insightful study of human nature

(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 an abandoned blog draft, dated 2011, on economics in early computer games. Published!

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:A former student contacted…

Slow flyby of a scout shop. Starfield backdrop; particle-based engine exhaust; hull uses a Boolean modifier to cut out portholes; cockpit frame and text labels use shrinkwrap. #Blender3D

More progress as I continue to level up my #blender3d skills. Similar:35% of my site visitors right now are using mobile devicesThis year I have seen an uptick in the p…CybercultureCameras and Masks: Sustaining Emotional Connections with Your Students in an Age of COVID1…There are some sound pedagogical reasons…AcademiaFall 2025 Grades Submitted!Personal“I don’t know how…

Synchronous Online Classes: 10 Tips for Engaging Students

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…

Carolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is a Campaign Against Twitter Refusing to Delete Trump’s Tweets Accusing Joe Scarborough of Murdering Lori Klausutis

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…

New York Times runs just 1000 names of the nearly 100,000 Americans who have already died from COVID-19

Similar:Adding random objects to the bookshelves for a fantasy #steampunk project. #blender3dAestheticsThe Myth of North America, in One PaintingFascinating art history — a thoughtful …AestheticsSports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated WritersThe AI authors’ writing often sounds lik…CybercultureAstronaut Luca Parmitano describes near-drowning experience in spaceWith water already obscuring his vision,…Current_EventsMonument Valley: Minimal story, but an…

Looking forward to Part 2 of #PPTPlaytime’s production “The Rivals” (live… now!)

Similar:Great Twitter thread on Aaron Burr, from the Internet ArchiveFunny what you find in books. When digit…AwesomeStudy confirms that ending your texts with a period is terrible.Language evolves, so oldsters like me sh…CybercultureHow to Deal With 2016 DespairDon’t let a TV screen make you live a li…CultureKhan Academy Gets Rare Partnership To Close Wealth Gap…

Dogmeat and I may yet win this game.

Yes, this was the decisive moment. I ended up cleaning my son out when he landed here later in the game. Similar:As CRT Supplies Vanish the Classic Arcade Machine is Virtually DeadIf you understand the environment in whi…CultureThe girl's modern dance choreography workshopAestheticsYahoo, You Nagged Me Too Many Times; Bye!I have a Yahoo account that…

Leveling up my skills in #blender3D.

Using invisible shapes to cut holes in the hull, and a shrinkwrap modifier to align the cockpit frame and the glass. Similar:POV: You are coding the automatic doors on your fantasy neovictorian cruiser personal proj…  POV: You are coding th…AestheticsTerms of ServiceFascinating example of new media journal…AestheticsMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at…

I just bought Diamond City.

Similar:Set design for a virtual production of R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Post-apocalypti… AestheticsHappy ice cream turkey cake day. AestheticsWe're enjoying the intensity and also the (surprisingly appropriate) humor.PersonalFor the record, if I should happen to be murdered by someone with a gun… For the record, if I should happen to …Current_EventsWho left these on my…

The Rivals #PPTPlaytime

A great production of a delightful play. Similar:Close Reading of Sonnet 130: Form, Theme, and Cultural Context (and a Rage Comic)I’m preparing to teach Shakespeare again…AcademiaPlaying with depth of field (blurring details that are closer than and farther from the fo…AestheticsI saw this Friday night. Great fight choreography, lighting & staging, adaptation of t…PersonalGreat moments from…

The High Ground (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 12) Sensitive, Artistic Terrorist Is Also a Terrorist

(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.…

On a little afternoon walk with my son.

Similar:Two classes will turn in final revisions at midnight Sunday, and final multimedia project…Still plenty of work to do before I fini…AcademiaHow Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing ConsensusFrom the Wall Street Journal: At a Marc…CultureMy wife Leigh will direct the small-cast drama "Full Bloom" Aug 30-Sep 2My wife Leigh received a…