Journalism, Fake News, and “Clickbait Defamation”

Sometimes when my social media contacts are complaining about “the media,” they are really responding to headlines, which they cite as examples of “fake news.”   Sometimes the headlines they respond to are creative interpretations supplied by a third party with a dog in a particular fight; but other times I can see very clearly…

Happy Easter 2020

Similar:A crushing backlash to Apple’s new iPad adHave you seen Apple’s “Crush” ad? It fea…Aesthetics"Cool" Rosetta Mission Scientist Matt Taylor Objectifies Women via T-Shirt, LanguageHow very sad that someone with this leve…AestheticsSpent a half hour taming this tangle of cables (left) with a little tiny six-inch-wide car…AestheticsAbove the Forward Ops conference platform we see the chief…

Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting

Thoughtful essay from Julio Vincent Gambuto. Get ready, my friends. What is about to be unleashed on American society will be the greatest campaign ever created to get you to feel normal again. It will come from brands, it will come from government, it will even come from each other, and it will come from…

More details in the powder room of my villain’s lair. #Blender3D

Similar:Russian Grand Ballet Swan Lake.PersonalShort-range #neovictorian excursion craft, now with glowing power orbs! Over the past year…https://youtu.be/-cJp-kelrL8  AestheticsTell Me a Smart Story: On Podcasts, Videos, and Websites as Writing AssignmentsIt does take longer to evaluate student …Academia10 questions to help you write better headlinesI already have some handouts on writing …DesignRehearsing 'Fiddler on the Roof'…

Dog and TP Wall

Similar:January 6th … the board game? About 20 of us are here in Brooklyn to …ArtPeter Sallis: Wallace and Gromit actor dies aged 96 The voice of Wallace has died. The si…CultureDistributing Candy at Holiday ParadeCurrent_EventsCongo nun overcomes blackouts with homemade hydroelectric plantSister Alphonsine Ciza spends most of he…Current_EventsCourage Wolf: Write "Could Of" or "Would Of."…

The Enemy (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 7) — LaForge and a Romulan Cooperate to Survive

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. LaForge is stranded on a hostile planet with a nervous, injured Romulan. The “mutual enemies must learn to cooperate” storyline is by-the-numbers, but I still enjoyed it. I don’t remember ever seeing this episode before, but seeing the frequently reused “planet hell” set (featuring a distinctively stair-stepped sloping wall)…

Fake Graph: The Actual “Dunning-Kruger Effect” Is NOTHING Like I Thought It Was

For years, I’ve been teaching a fake graph. In pretty much every course I teach, on some day when students seem discouraged or distracted, I’ll draw an X axis labeled “Experience” and a Y-axis labeled “Confidence,” and sketch out the “Dunning-Kruger Effect” curve, as preparation for an informal pep talk. (Update, 27 Nov 2021: My…

Latest #blender3d progress on a villain’s lair. Added more carpets and cabinetry, and started on a powder room. Why not?

Similar:Tom Wayman's FAQ on "Did I Miss Anything?"I’ve long been a fan of Tom Wayman’s poe…AcademiaFull Bloom opens tonight.PersonalJohn Dewey: Portrait of a Progressive Thinker: His ideas altered the education of children…“You can concentrate the history of all …AcademiaSuch pictures fill my weekday world at fiveYour pictures fill my weekday world at f…AestheticsSon Doong Cave…

Checkmate. Crushed again.

Similar:Now I can relax a bit. (But just a bit.)PersonalOn set as Betsy and Philip Schulyer in an historical film.PersonalBlind-accessible audio adventure Grail to the Thief seeks crowdfundingGrail to the Thief stars a thief from th…Culture‘WarGames’ and Cybersecurity’s Debt to a Hollywood Hack After finishing his synopsis, Reagan…CybercultureCandyland is a masterpiece of game design (John…

Booby Trap (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three Episode 6) When LaForge gets absurd with a hologram nerd, he’s a-creeper

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. To escape a thousand-year-old booby trap, LaForge interacts with a holodeck simulation of the designer of the Enterprise’s engines… and gets waaay too attached. The teaser shows LaForge on a date — a failure that he later talks over with Guinan. Meanwhile, Picard, thrilled to explore an old warship, is…

A pleasant find: somebody left a painted rock by the side of the road.

Similar:In education, Apple must augment the reality of the cheap notebookIn 2012, Apple tried to position iPads a…CybercultureBooks Come Alive! Catalina Magdalena Cast (Stage Right Greensburg)  The cast for “Catalina Mag…BooksLast night I dreamed I was a stagehand during a metatheatrical number called “Butts in Sea…I saw Seton Hill’s production of The Dro…DramaWinky Winky Drudge…

Lysistrata live.

Similar:APNews.com Photo Still Says Sam Smith "declared his pronouns 'they/them'" a Week LaterThe Associated Press was widely criticiz…CultureSHU Community Lines Up to Honor JoAnne Boyle's Final Trip Up the HillJoAnne Boyle liked talking about traditi…AcademiaThe Staying Power of "A Christmas Carol" — Dennis Jerz, for WAOB Audio Theatrehttps://youtu.be/_US-PnhJ5FU What mak…BooksI Don’t Know Why Everyone’s in…

Introduction to The Cherry Orchard

      Similar:Drinking milk and using the #WaybackMachine to fix broken links in a 10-year-old blog post…PersonalHitting the weekend with just 6 ungraded papers. #partylikeaprof Hitting the weekend with just 6 ungrad…PersonalSo glad to be attending another live theatrical production. @quantumtheatre never disappoi…Projections, live music, sounds, props, …BusinessMost Christians don’t actually care about Starbucks…

xkcd: Pathogen Resistance

This is just an excerpt. Read the whole thing. Similar:Shatoetry iPhone app lets you put… words… in… William Shatner's… mouthWilliam Shatner and technology go way ba…AestheticsOffice Hours in the Pool Hall My favorite story comes from the week …AcademiaThe girl as the Spanish Soloist in @laurelballettheater & @westmorelandsymphony The Nutcra…AestheticsIt’s so heartbreaking seeing the amount…

Disagreement Hierarchy: Arguments, ranked from name-calling to the careful refutation of an opponent’s central point

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…