mieum's recent activity
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Comment on What are your goto cocktails? in ~food
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Comment on I used to teach students. Now I catch ChatGPT cheats. in ~tech
mieum Link ParentIn my courses, the assignments a designed in a way that would make it hard to outright delegate all or most of the work to AI. In my philosophy of education course, for example, students write a...In my courses, the assignments a designed in a way that would make it hard to outright delegate all or most of the work to AI. In my philosophy of education course, for example, students write a “manifesto” about their views on education. It begins with a simple, brief statement or outline of their thoughts at the beginning of the course. Then I engage each of them in a regular, asynchronous dialog throughout the semester in which I try to get them to reflect on their views in the context of things discussed in class. They then revise this twice, during midterms and finals.
It isn’t bulletproof, and not applicable to all subjects, but I have had a lot of success with it. And it is easy to catch cheaters with this assignment.
The other thing I recommend is having students evaluate themselves. I find that giving them this power reduces the incentive to delegate their thinking to AI. Having to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate themselves also makes evaluation a part of their experience in the class, rather than just a fateful judgement the professor makes.
Edit: Furthermore, adding an oral evaluation to a written assignment is another barrier to AI-based cheating. That way they will have to discuss their paper with you even if AI wrote it or provided them with all of the ideas. Finally, making them “show their work” when researching and writing may also help.
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Comment on What works do you think should be added to the literary canon? in ~books
mieum LinkZhuangzi, at least the “Inner Chapters.” I was just telling my students today that Zhuangzi, whoever they were, could have been a time traveller. His ideas and way of expressing them were so...Zhuangzi, at least the “Inner Chapters.” I was just telling my students today that Zhuangzi, whoever they were, could have been a time traveller. His ideas and way of expressing them were so unlike those of his contemporaries. Sometimes this book feels like it is ahead of its time even today! The problem is translating it in a way that preserves its personality. Most translations are fairly conventional. Kind of how The Bible is always archaic sounding (sayeth, doeth, etc.)
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
mieum LinkI recently watched Twin Peaks for the first time, and really fell in love with it. There is so much there to fall in love with actually. I am curious if anyone else has seen it and has an opinion...I recently watched Twin Peaks for the first time, and really fell in love with it. There is so much there to fall in love with actually. I am curious if anyone else has seen it and has an opinion about what exactly happens. I'll jot down a few notes about it that are fresh in my mind.
Beware, there are spoilers in here!
I read a few interpretations online after watching the show, and it made me look at the plot, especially the ending of the third season, as a demonstration that good and evil are relative. Cooper is a paragon of good all throughout the show, yet in the end, his good intentions end up damning himself and Laura/Carrie to an alternate reality that he inadvertently breaks. It is as if Judy punishes him for meddling too much in the balance of good and evil, and puts him in a position where he ends up being the one who is causing the trauma and pain. Carrie was not Laura in the end, but she is reminded of Laura's trauma somehow at the very end. So now he is in an impossible situation. He didn't fix it, but broke it even more in an even more complicated way. The relativity of good and evil, or at least there being a fine line between them, is also suggested by the way so many characters transform in the show, or how good people do bad things/bad people do good things. The rich casino owners who are probably total scumbags are capable of generosity and kindness, Mr. Horne was basically a complete piece of shit but totally changed his ways, etc.
However, I think there is still so much more going on here. I recall from the original seasons when they first learned of the Black Lodge, they also learned about the White Lodge. I may be misremembering, but one character, Garland Briggs or Hawk probably, told them that the Black Lodge is a place of pure evil on the way to the White Lodge. They describe entering it as a kind of spiritual journey that you have to face with "perfect courage." Perfect courage is perhaps the best way to describe Agent Cooper. Perhaps season three ends at a point where he is deeper into his journey through the Black Lodge; another trial against evil. His character always represented such pure good, and I sometimes get the impression that his presence in the world is almost the equivalent of Bob's, as if he is an Agent of the White Lodge or something like that. Maybe he is trying to return. His story has always been one of trying to reconcile his past with a better future, of enduring and overcoming the evil he inevitably encounters in his job not just to solve the crime, but to extinguish the evil somehow (in the world, but in himself and his past perhaps). I don't know what the White Lodge actually is or what arriving there would do. It could be that the White Lodge and Black Lodge are actually the same thing, and perfect courage is required for that journey because you end up having to face the fact that good and evil are intertwined?
Anyway, there is a lot to be said about all of the aspects of the show. There are so many mysteries too. There are some scenes that still have me totally puzzled. I'm looking forward to watching it again someday with my wife who didn't have a chance to see it this time around.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentThe committee for my dissertation told me to follow a vaguely APA-like style that was double-spaced, so I pointed to the graduate school handbook that said to pick a style and stick to it. So I...Now that you mention it, my own dissertation was double-spaced! I remember hating the required style at the time (it looked so typographically ugly to me), but that's what the thesis editor demanded, so that's what they got. I think I'd blocked that from my memory. :-)
The committee for my dissertation told me to follow a vaguely APA-like style that was double-spaced, so I pointed to the graduate school handbook that said to pick a style and stick to it. So I asserted my right to follow the CMOS, which also gave me a lot more options for typesetting it.
I can certainly see how mixing East Asian scripts with Latin ones can be problematic, though fortunately, that's not a problem that I've ever had to deal with.
Looks like we are on opposite sides of the spectrum! Pretty much everything I write is multilingual, and the only time typesetting math comes up is when I am doing editing jobs for a monograph or something.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentInteresting! I would be curious to hear more about your rationale.Interesting! I would be curious to hear more about your rationale.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentThis is another peeve of mine, actually: that journals will say to strictly adhere to some style guide, but in reality they don't necessarily follow it beyond things like citation formatting. The...I used APA like they requested, and again lost points because they wanted some differences from real APA and didn’t tell us what those were.
This is another peeve of mine, actually: that journals will say to strictly adhere to some style guide, but in reality they don't necessarily follow it beyond things like citation formatting. The cherrypicking is frustrating because it just makes for more editing later on down the pipeline.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentWow, I am not sure I will be able to sleep at night, thank you! haha I have never encountered that exactly, but I can appreciate the horror. For a long time my university used to send out all of...Wow, I am not sure I will be able to sleep at night, thank you! haha
I have never encountered that exactly, but I can appreciate the horror. For a long time my university used to send out all of its official emails as a jpeg of a document in Word. Why? My only guess is so that it would preserve the formatting and have the university letterhead and everything. But still, what about a pdf or just making an html template for everyone to use? It seems like they just defaulted to the simplest approach that everyone could follow. I brought it up for years that this effectively excludes all faculty and students who have vision problems. Thankfully, some laws were passed that require us to take accessibility seriously.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentSome style guides officially require it (I want to say MLA does). It isn't as common as it used to be, but it is still alive and well, apparently. I notice it a lot in theses and dissertations. In...I can't remember the last time I saw a manuscript in that style.
Some style guides officially require it (I want to say MLA does). It isn't as common as it used to be, but it is still alive and well, apparently. I notice it a lot in theses and dissertations. In my mind, the extra space is for proofreading. Especially when left-justified, double-spacing makes it harder to read.
I think a good compromise might be to treat it like an abbreviation - emphasize it once to call attention when you introduce the term
This is sensible! And I believe some style guides take this approach.
We refer the reader to the work of Foo [2020].
That's a good one! A minor difference, but it makes the text so much more legible. Lately, I have been trying to convert all of my papers to html to serve on my blog, and I have found that the "note" style of citation is the least intrusive when it comes to legibility. It does add a lot of footnotes, but especially in a digital format where you can easily navigate back and forth, it seems like a nice approach.
Do treat math as part of the text
Does this also mean that the equations should be in-line with the text rather than being treated kind of like a blockquote (on their own paragraph with narrower margins etc.)? The only problem with that is that depending on what symbols the equation contains, you may end up in a scenario where your manuscript has varying line heights. This happens when intermixing East Asian scripts with Latin ones, too. Anyway, I am curious what you envision, because typesetting math involves some important design choices. I'm always looking for new ways to approach formatting my own papers (on my blog, or preprints, etc.).
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentIt is pretty rare, but I have come across it enough to be annoyed by it. I wish I had some examples saved, but one that comes to mind was a paper that had some special jargon in the title, and for...It is pretty rare, but I have come across it enough to be annoyed by it. I wish I had some examples saved, but one that comes to mind was a paper that had some special jargon in the title, and for some reason they felt the need to cite the occurrence of that word right then and there.
I can somewhat understand the urge to do this sort of thing, but it seems crazy for any editor or publisher to allow such a thing to exist in the wild. It messes up the bibliographic metadata, but that is also just a whole other can of worms.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentSome languages use 《these kinds of things as quotes》, which feels less awkward with the punctuation on the inside or outside.Some languages use 《these kinds of things as quotes》, which feels less awkward with the punctuation on the inside or outside.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentThat's a nice explanation, and would explain the needless elaboration in an abstract that peeves me so much. Also the tendency to define terms, etc. I remembered that instead of summary, I was...That's a nice explanation, and would explain the needless elaboration in an abstract that peeves me so much. Also the tendency to define terms, etc.
I remembered that instead of summary, I was trying to say "pitch," kind of like the back cover of a book of fiction. I sometimes encounter papers that have abstracts that seem to almost... advertize the paper. In their defense, it does work apparently, because in order to see what the paper is about I have to download and skim it!
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentWhat really gets me about pull quotes on the web is that if you are using reader view or a screen reader, you can see that the pull quotes are often repeated in the document. So rather than...What really gets me about pull quotes on the web is that if you are using reader view or a screen reader, you can see that the pull quotes are often repeated in the document. So rather than including them as an aside that can be conditionally omitted from the main text, they are just repeated within the actual text of the page. It can be pretty jarring depending on the length of the quote and how far away from its original occurrence the pull quote is placed.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentI have never encountered that, but it makes me cringe a little to think about it.when they use the pull quote in lieu of the words in the text.
I have never encountered that, but it makes me cringe a little to think about it.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentAs someone who writes this way, I fully understand. It is especially awkward when you have conflicting punctuation, such as when you are asking a question that contains an exclamatory quote. For...The American-style of placing punctuation inside feels like it's modifying the quote
As someone who writes this way, I fully understand. It is especially awkward when you have conflicting punctuation, such as when you are asking a question that contains an exclamatory quote. For example:
What did Patrick Henry mean when he said, "Give me liberty or give me death?"
This also feels crazy to me:
What did Patrick Henry mean when he said, "Give me liberty or give me death!"?
I am surprised that there have never been (to my knowledge) any ligatures invented to address this. Not that I am suggesting that's a good idea. This is a tricky one. I feel like I will always be on the fence about it.
I'm also one of the dozen people that still enters two spaces between sentences in all writing.
I typed this way when I first learned in the 90s. Then at some point, probably in school, I learned that it was unnecessary. It is interesting that your extra spaces get censored automatically. I sometimes edit manuscripts of authors who type that way and I usually do not change it.
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Comment on Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style in ~humanities.languages
mieum Link ParentYou are right that it is a summary. I couldn't think of a better word for what I meant. An abstract is sometimes distinguished from a generic summary because it is supposed to be an almost literal...You are right that it is a summary. I couldn't think of a better word for what I meant. An abstract is sometimes distinguished from a generic summary because it is supposed to be an almost literal overview not just of the content, but the structure of the paper. I always describe it as the contour or silhouette of the paper. It is meant to give you the gist of the paper, specifically, its thesis, methods, findings/conclusion, etc. My peeve is when the abstract doesn't just state or describe these, but instead gives too much detail or attempts to justify conclusions, rationale behind the methods, etc. To explain it with an analogy: say your name is John Smith, and instead of abstracting your name into the initials JS, you add other "details" such as JHSIT. It is not necessarily wrong, but it is not as clear. Kind of a weird example, but maybe it makes sense?
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Peeves, opinions, and hot takes about style
The recent topic on grammar errors that actually matter got me interested in all of your opinions about style. Working in academia, I have developed a surprising number of strong opinions about...
The recent topic on grammar errors that actually matter got me interested in all of your opinions about style. Working in academia, I have developed a surprising number of strong opinions about style and formatting over the years. I'm curious to hear what you all care about. I am also curious to see if I can be persuaded to cool down some of my own hot takes based on your responses. I'll share a few to get us started.
- For the love of all that is holy, do not put a footnote in a title or in an abstract.
- Similarly, do not put a citation in a title or an abstract!
- An abstract should be... an abstract, not your life story or even a summary of the paper. It most certainly should not develop and defend arguments.
- Does a published manuscript really need to be double spaced?
- I'm in the punctuation-inside-quotations camp, but I am open to the alternative. I am somewhat of a weirdo in believing that individual authors should be free to use either style (so long as they remain consistent in their usage).
- Bibliographies should prioritize the language of the original source; meaning, it is ridiculous to transliterate the titles of non-Latin works in a bibliography. What are you going to do with that information? If you don't know that language, then it is utterly meaningless, and even more so because you can't even do anything with that transliterated text. Plus, good luck getting a standard transliteration out of anyone. All this does is just obscure the fact that these sources were cited, at least as far as indexers are concerned. It would make more sense to just include translated titles next to the original, but eliminating the non-Latin text altogether is so absurd (looking at you APA).
- On a similar note, foreign words should not be italicized or emphasized any other way just because they appear in a text. All this does is fill up the text with needless emphasis that distracts from the things you do mean to emphasize.
Okay, I will stop here before I cross the threshold where I won't be able to get anymore work done today! :b
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Comment on Kids at-home science experiments (of the less tame variety) in ~science
mieum LinkNot sure if this is the kind of thing you are looking for, but in that vein: fill a plastic water bottle with rice, insert chopstick, lift and the whole bottle comes with it! make a basic lego car...Not sure if this is the kind of thing you are looking for, but in that vein:
- fill a plastic water bottle with rice, insert chopstick, lift and the whole bottle comes with it!
- make a basic lego car (something flat with wheels), tape a straw to the top, put a balloon around one end of straw and attach with a small rubber band, blow the balloon up from the other side of the straw, and let it go!
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Comment on Proton CEO tweets support for Donald Trump's Department of Justice pick and the US Republican Party in ~society
mieum Link ParentPerhaps not an exact replacement, but a reasonable alternative might be mailbox.org. You can have all you incoming emails encrypted with your public gpg key if that is something you require. I...Perhaps not an exact replacement, but a reasonable alternative might be mailbox.org. You can have all you incoming emails encrypted with your public gpg key if that is something you require. I have used them for a few years with zero issues.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tv
mieum LinkMany of my favorites have been mentioned already, but here are a few more good ones: What We Do in the Shadows: Such a great cast! Just an overall enjoyable show, I think. Mister Rogers'...Many of my favorites have been mentioned already, but here are a few more good ones:
- What We Do in the Shadows: Such a great cast! Just an overall enjoyable show, I think.
- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: It is for preschoolers, but really, when I am on my deathbed, I am sure this is all I would care to watch. A rare example of something that is both wholesome and exceptional in quality on every point.
- Tim and Eric's Awesome Show Great Job: It is ridiculous and awkward, and a treasure for those reasons exactly.
- Check it Out with Dr. Steve Brule: A spinoff of Tim and Eric. John C. Reily is incredible in this role. So cringey in the most satisfying way.
- The Eric Andre Show: Also ridiculous, awkward, and kind of surreal. Definitely over the top, but it is also kind of fascinating too. It strikes me as a very fun experiment––like having multiple musical guests play at once or while being subjected to absurd methods of torture.
- Wilfred: Has a lot of great comical moments, but is also pretty surreal and dramatic at other points. Very fun!
- Flight of the Conchords: Nicely dry humor, silly, awkward. Haven't seen this in a while... probably time for a rewatch!
- IT Crowd: Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet. Another classic for me. Rewatched many times.
- The Mighty Boosh: Haven't seen this in forever, but another example of a great dynamic among the cast/creators.
- The Ali G Show: I haven't seen this in a long long time. This was probably the first I ever saw of Sacha Baron Cohen, probably when I was in high school.
- Two last honorable mentions: Bob Ross' painting show and Mark Kistler's Imagination Station. Both are enjoyable to watch, but I cherish them because they so enthusiastically encourage people to explore their creativity.
- One last one, a cartoon based on the graphic novels of Luke Pearsson: Hilda! It is a really neat fantasy world, and the main character, Hilda, is so cool and adventurous!
I don’t drink much hard alcohol, and when I do it is usually neat or in something simple like gin & tonic, whiskey ginger, etc. Some years ago I stumbled across the vodka sidecar which is lovely:
Very tangy and satisfying. Also easy to make stronger without distorting the flavor.