Brain… What We Learn from Watson 23 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 My interest in IBM's Jeopardy-winning Watson was initially syntactical. It has taken decades to teach computers to understand and speak a human language almost as well as your average three-year-old.…
Brain… Writing into the Darkness 22 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 Author and herb farmer Tom DeBaggio died yesterday. He put us on notice over a decade ago, describing his early onset Alzheimer's as "the closest thing to being eaten alive." …
Change the World… Glow in the Dark 21 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 After spending our holiday immersed in a science center, absorbing sights and sounds, marveling at the microscopic and the telescopic, I'm not ready to write. Images and ideas are swirling,…
Blogging… Topic Poll 19 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 Feel free to elaborate in a comment or question. Text © Gwyn Nichols 2011
Animation… Friday Flick: Animator vs. Animation 18 Feb 201117 Feb 2011 Alan Becker's stick figure fights back.
Change the World… Are You Present? 17 Feb 201117 Feb 2011 My tag cloud records that I write with surprising frequency about "Being Present." It makes me laugh. Zen master, I am not. Obviously that's a message I crave. But today…
Academic Writing… Dialogue Skills 15 Feb 201116 Feb 2011 Can you write believable and interesting dialogue? It's a skill we all need. In fiction, it's a given. Drama, more so; poetry, maybe. And nonfiction? You'd be surprised. The most…
Inspiration… Poll: What Inspires You to Write? 12 Feb 201116 Feb 2011 If you're an Other, please share yours. We're curious!
Books… Friday Flick: Book Pusher 11 Feb 201113 Feb 2011 Nancy Pearl is my new book pusher. Every library and every writer needs a Nancy. This inspires me to check out all 1,800 of her favorite picks. It might take…
Academic Writing… Why Do I Have to Take this Class Anyway? 10 Feb 201112 Feb 2011 I haven't studied math since high school. I excelled in it. I took all four years of accelerated classes, keeping college majoring options open. Then I tested out of college…
Baby Boomers… How to Stop Time 9 Feb 20119 Feb 2011 A student who's juggling unemployment stress and family crises (while still getting his schoolwork done) asked, "Can you just tell me how to stop time?" The same day, my son…
Fact-Checking… Carbon Dating for Books 8 Feb 20118 Feb 2011 You could always date a movie by the women's hair and make-up. You can date a book by the technology. Recently I've been teaching with a fifth edition textbook. That's…