Other than one trip to the grocery store, I haven’t been in public since March 13, so I haven’t noticed if people in my community have started wearing masks. But I’ve wondered how I’ll be able to respond to people’s voices when I can’t see their mouths. In the past few years, I have…
A few interesting bits I found interesting to explore: There are two different ways to view the exact same data: The logarithmic scale shows a great comparison of the magnitude of growth between countries, but less of the human impact. The linear scale shows the real human impact — a growth twice the size is twice the number of…
My weekend coronavirus lockdown project was writing up a new handout devoted to Graham’s “Disagreement Hierarchy” for academic arguments. Does the word “argument” make you think of angry people yelling? This document presents Graham’s “disagreement hierarchy,” which catalogs multiple stages between juvenile name-calling and carefully refuting an error in your opponent’s central point. Siblings might…
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. After a member of a landing party dies an accidental, senseless death, Picard must break the news to her young son. “Jeremy, on the starship Enterprise, no one is alone,” says Picard. “No one.” Numerous times on my rewatch, I’ve wished episodes would devote less time to scanning and probing…
Public officials misspeak all the time. Journalists make mistakes all the time. Ordinary citizens over-react to headlines without reading the full article all the time. We are all of us human. It’s unfair for any of us to treat every gaffe as evidence of malice or incompetence. For example, critics of President Trump are stretching…
The Shape of the World, According to Old Maps Similar:I did not know how much I would appreciate this detailed exploration of Star Trek: TOS pro…I’m amazed at the level of detail that w…AwesomePeter's Evil Overlord ListPeter Anspach posted this list. Here are…AmusingFYI, 13yo skool grl is nu US txt mssg chmpNContestants had to stand…
In March 2000, I was blogging about Palm V handheld computers for Navy officers Teaching with bells and whistles Stephen King selling a short story online NCAA banning online journalists Great moments in bureaucratic history Diploma mills Maps of imaginary lands Similar:When you hear your daughter the understudy is going on for a sold-out…
Similar:To Apple, Love TaylorApple changes its plans, after initially…BusinessWhy Shouting Down Speakers Is Absolutely WrongWilson offers a good explanation of the …AcademiaMurder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained DeathSimulations are powerful tools for under…AestheticsQ Who? (ST: TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 16)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaAs if 2021…
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. After a primitive, rationalist society mistakes Federation technology for supernatural power, Picard must do whatever it takes to undo the resulting cultural contamination. Fortunately for Picard, that involves lots of talking. A grim scene in sickbay memorably demonstrates that humans in the 24th century can sometimes delay but cannot…
Similar:Now you can fact-check Trump’s tweets — in the tweets themselvesThe Washington Post, which was one of ab…Current_EventsCanadian teen's short film captures Spring 2020Not graphic, but emotionally powerful. …CultureEmissary (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2) Cmdr. Sisko establishes a Fede…Rewatching ST:DS9 The episode begins …DramaIn education, Apple must augment the reality of…
Similar:Trump Briefly Glanced at Eclipse without Protective GlassesDonald Trump’s persona as a man who does…Current_EventsThe six wives of Henry VIII, in pie chart formIf you’ve ever wanted to see the reigns …AmusingThis Is Not a Book: Thomas Jefferson & Apple's App StoreHumanities professors from the Universit…AcademiaShrek: The Musical (Nov 22-24; Stage Right! Greensburg)Come see me…
Not fake news. Not the enemy of the American people. “Nobody ever thought a thing like this could have happened,” said the the president at Thursday’s press event. Feb 27: “We’re going very substantially down, not up.” [Narrator: “Cases were not going down.”] Feb 26: “The 15 [documented cases of COVID-19 in the USA] within…
Similar:Their faces when another dad joke drops. See The Fantasticks today at 2 or next week Thu-S…PersonalToday I didn't save the world, but I did help a student while power-walking at the mall.I’m far from perfect, and injustice and …AcademiaDo you get your news mostly from social media? I check NPR, Drudge, and news.google.com.Do you…
I haven’t done any audio theatre recordings in a while (thanks, coronavirus) and I miss it. Here’s my interpretation (recorded some time ago) of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Nightingale.” The nightingale is considered the most beautiful thing in the kingdom… until a mechanical nightingale wins over the citizens, and the true nightingale is banished. But…
Similar:Among today’s major professional accomplishments: installing this hook. #springbreakMy office door feels more complete now. …AcademiaAfter you finish your brass-polishing shift, join me at the Gear and Heart to swap stories…AestheticsPresident JoAnne Boyle Announces Plans to Retire from Seton Hill University in June 2013An amazing, inspiring set of accomplishm…AcademiaReading a Classic American Play to My…
The Society of Professional Journalists links to an interview with an MIT professor who’s studying misinformation on social media (which is not the same thing as bad journalism — some bad actors take journalism out of context in order to deceive). Responsible journalists are aware that sensational headlines can harm the public. The truth is…
Similar:Most Christians don’t actually care about Starbucks cups. Here’s what we do know.No Christians in my social media feed ca…CultureFacebook Removes Human Curators From Trending ModuleToday, Facebook announced that human cur…BusinessOpinion | Fake News Comes to AcademiaThe three academics call themselves “lef…AcademiaMan enough to sew my own computer bag. Insecure enough to seek validation on…
Similar:Imagine a world…PersonalSilicon Avatar (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 4) Grieving scientist mom wrecks…Rewatching ST:TNG Riker does some ser…CultureEnjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropo…Enjoyed watching the restored version of…AestheticsProgress (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 15) Kira befriends a stubborn squatterRewatching ST:DS9 Dax and Kira are ch…CultureProgress…
In light of current events, I’m dropping the bleak Waiting for Godot from my World Drama class (actually I’m making it optional; students could drop a different play) and adding Thornton Wilder’s absurdist but optimistic The Skin of Our Teeth. Writing while World War II was still raging, Wilder depicts a representative American family…
The blurb for a 2011 English version of the 1999 Chinese play I’m teaching this week: China’s most popular and provocative drama. A modern story of love and obsession, Rhinoceros in Love tells the story of a rhinoceros-keeper who develops a dangerous romantic fascination with the woman of his dreams: the uncompromising, unobtainable Mingming. Hear…