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Regrade Request

Regrade Request

By Will McBurney and Mark Sherriff

Two college professors take a second look at questions and answers posted around the internet and give their take!

Intro and outro themes provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.
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Episode 19 - Erotic Tachyons from the Future

Regrade RequestOct 22, 2021

00:00
59:40
Episode 34 - More Zippers Makes You More Cooler

Episode 34 - More Zippers Makes You More Cooler

We are still here!  Back from vacation to record an episode!  Road alligators, Roman roads, Kingdom Hearts on billboards, the James Webb Space Telescope, and more!

Jul 29, 202247:28
Episode 33 - Film Noir Sesame Street

Episode 33 - Film Noir Sesame Street

Gravity vs. light, has Google found sentient AI, UVA software engineers are pretty good according to one testing company, and Joker 2 might be a musical.  

Transcript of Google engineer talking to LaMDA AI - https://cajundiscordian.medium.com/is-lamda-sentient-an-interview-ea64d916d917

Programming Note: We will be recording sporadically over the summer... okay, more sporadically than usual... but still.  At least this time we told you :-)

Jun 16, 202251:48
Episode 32 - Sharing is Caring
Jun 02, 202249:35
Episode 31 - All Spocks are Dreamy

Episode 31 - All Spocks are Dreamy

Our long-delayed Graduation Special is here!  We talk about the origin of academic robes and the cool different colors, notable guest speakers at UVA for graduation, and can your degree be revoked.


(And it takes the entire episode for us to realize this is our podcast's one year anniversary!!)

May 28, 202247:09
Office Hours Ep. 12 - Academically Delicious

Office Hours Ep. 12 - Academically Delicious

Let's learn a bit about the history of graduation ceremonies at UVA!  

May 12, 202219:16
Office Hours Ep. 11 - The Food Pyramid for Exam Questions

Office Hours Ep. 11 - The Food Pyramid for Exam Questions

It's exam season, so let's talk about how we come up with "good" assessments for students by examining Bloom's Taxonomy.

May 04, 202229:20
Episode 30 - Geese are Jerks

Episode 30 - Geese are Jerks

What is agile development, can you publish a paper without being at a university, how do live service games work, hidden messages in your money, and geese attacking Will at Notre Dame.

Apr 28, 202243:36
Episode 29 - The Tetris Meta is Hot Right Now

Episode 29 - The Tetris Meta is Hot Right Now

"Let Me Solo Her" is the celebrity of the moment in Elden Ring, a self-driving car gets pulled over in San Francisco, competitive Tetris is a thing, book bannings, and we try to figure out what "web3" is supposed to be.

Sorry for the missed weeks!

Apr 20, 202248:47
Episode 28 - Sony Says We Are Close Friends Now

Episode 28 - Sony Says We Are Close Friends Now

Mark finally scored a PS5, so naturally we have to talk about Sony's new subscription service.  Also, the Ukrainian government is selling NFTs to raise money, why the color in VHS tapes fade, and more "no stupid questions"!

Mar 31, 202250:04
Episode 27 - Working Class Werewolves

Episode 27 - Working Class Werewolves

Apple's got a new desktop, Elden Ring is a great game, there is a suspicious job posting for a professor position at UCLA, and can werewolves eat chocolate?  Gotta say - there's a little bit for everyone in this episode!

Mar 24, 202241:29
Office Hours Ep. 10 - Who Is Your Professor and What Do They Do?

Office Hours Ep. 10 - Who Is Your Professor and What Do They Do?

McBurney takes over Office Hours this week and goes super in-depth on what professors actually do in their job.  Surely all we do is just teach three hours a week and spend the rest of the time playing Elden Ring and other video games, right?

Right?

Mar 17, 202226:22
Episode 26 - Live from Rhode Island!

Episode 26 - Live from Rhode Island!

We took our show on the road last week to the SIGCSE Technical Symposium!  Well... kinda.  It was the "SIGCSE Coffee Break" show, sponsored by Google.  (HEY!  We DID get a sponsor!)  We thought we'd share some clips from the show!  If you want to watch the full video versions, you can go to http://sigcsecoffeebreak.org.

Mar 09, 202217:51
Episode 25 - A Whole New Wordle

Episode 25 - A Whole New Wordle

Has Wordle gotten harder since it move to the New York Times?  Why is gold valuable?  Why did an AI pay more for a guy's car than he paid for it at the dealership over seven years prior?  How would you change the board game Monopoly?  And why you shouldn't tweet about playing Hearthstone during faculty meetings.

Feb 24, 202249:41
Office Hours Ep. 9 - Preserving Games

Office Hours Ep. 9 - Preserving Games

Nintendo has announced they are closing the 3DS and Wii U eShops, which will remove the ability to purchase thousands of titles across the two platforms.  Not to mention the loss of the Virtual Console on both systems!  What is being done to preserve games from previous generations?

Feb 17, 202220:06
Episode 24 - Slightly Less Popular Than Curling

Episode 24 - Slightly Less Popular Than Curling

We're all over the place this week - from the Winter Olympics to Moderna's vaccine getting an official name to what makes up most of the traffic on the internet.  Come join us!

Today's Syllabus - 1. Modern's new name and Pokemon vs. Medication, 2. Building a new computer, 3. What makes up most of the traffic on the internet, 4. Where do videos go if YouTube dies?, 5. Facebook lost a LOT of money this week!, 6. Curling is awesome.

Feb 10, 202247:32
Office Hours Ep. 8 - The ILOVEYOU Virus

Office Hours Ep. 8 - The ILOVEYOU Virus

I know, I know... you've heard all you want to hear about viruses... probably enough to last a lifetime.  But how about computer viruses?  The ILOVEYOU virus hit the internet in May of 2000 and has been rated in the top 10 most impactful computer viruses of all time by the Smithsonian Institute.  Interested in how the virus came to be?

Well, it all starts with a rejected fourth-year thesis proposal from a Computer Science major...

Feb 03, 202220:51
Episode 23 - Attack of the Deadly Shower Curtains

Episode 23 - Attack of the Deadly Shower Curtains

Classes have started back for Will (but not for Mark!) and we are back with some more questions!

Today's Syllabus:

  • Speedrunning for 7-year olds
  • Blue Light Special (Glasses)
  • Why do we sign things?
  • What is the right number of people for a board game?
  • Shower curtains that attack you!
Jan 27, 202235:30
Office Hours Ep. 7 - The Computer Inside

Office Hours Ep. 7 - The Computer Inside

As Will gets ready for classes to start, Mark gets oddly fascinated by his new Instant Pot and starts to think about all the different types of small computers in everyday devices.  (These are called "embedded systems," by the way!)

Jan 20, 202223:18
Episode 22 - Jenny I've Spoofed Your Number

Episode 22 - Jenny I've Spoofed Your Number

We are back after a long winter's nap!  The end of the fall semester took quite a toll and we needed a break, but we're back with a new episode to start off 2022!

Today's Syllabus:

  1. Professor Motivational Mantras
  2. Is Latin a dead language?
  3. Yelling at dumbbells
  4. Stable space orbits
  5. Phone numbers spoofing
Jan 13, 202245:23
Office Hours Ep. 6 - By Listening to this Podcast, You Agree to the Following...

Office Hours Ep. 6 - By Listening to this Podcast, You Agree to the Following...

In this post-shopping frenzy episode of Office Hours, we talk about what you are really buying when you buy a piece of software.  What are you allowed to do with it?  Should you feel bad when you click past all those dialog windows when you are installing?  Can you use iTunes to create nuclear weapons?  Find out here!

Helpful information about interesting EULAs courtesy of https://www.makeuseof.com/.

Dec 02, 202123:43
Episode 21 - The Potential Energy of Goats

Episode 21 - The Potential Energy of Goats

Happy (U.S.) Thanksgiving!  As we come together with friends and family, our thoughts turn to one thing - shopping!  The guys dig into where Cyber Monday came from and how Amazon handles all the traffic.  We also talk about the conservation of energy and thermodynamics, but in a super cool and hip way.

Nov 25, 202151:01
Office Hours Ep. 5 - Shut Down Now To Update!

Office Hours Ep. 5 - Shut Down Now To Update!

The .5 episodes are now a new segment!  We are calling these individual episodes "Office Hours," where one host goes in-depth in a single topic!

Today, Mark talks about why you might get those "do you want to update" messages from your software and why you should pay attention to them.

Nov 19, 202125:37
Episode 20 - We Need an Extension

Episode 20 - We Need an Extension

We missed a week!  We are so sorry!  Life's tough that way... then the world ends... ?!?!?  Yes, this week we talk about how the world is going to end!  Until Mark has had enough and talks about recycling. 

Nov 11, 202148:55
Episode 19.5 - ARM Wrestling

Episode 19.5 - ARM Wrestling

It's a solo show again this week as it's advising season at UVA and things are really crazy!  But Mark just HAD to talk about the new MacBook Pros and what it means for them to be using the M1 (ARM) CPU!  How is it different than an x86 (Intel) CPU?  Listen and find out!

Oct 28, 202117:29
Episode 19 - Erotic Tachyons from the Future

Episode 19 - Erotic Tachyons from the Future

We're back with a full episode, talking about professors slinging burgers at Michigan State, questions from robots, the right to repair, and can you trust research!

Oct 22, 202159:40
Episode 18.5 - Morality in Gaming

Episode 18.5 - Morality in Gaming

After a tough week, McBurney flies solo to talk about morality in gaming, specifically around some ideas in Mass Effect.  

Extra Credits Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Tp8JopdIc

Alternate Episode Title: "Ironic Witcher Quotes"

Oct 15, 202123:46
Episode 18 - Academic Chipotle

Episode 18 - Academic Chipotle

We have our first listener email question!  What is better - passwords with gibberish or passphrases?  We talk about password best practices before a new round of "Excuse Me, What Now?", Will goes into why Microsoft moved on from Times New Roman to Calibri (and we debate how to even say "Calibri"...), before we discuss how Facebook fell off the Internet for a few hours.  Come join us!

Cloudflare's blog post on what they saw during the Facebook outage - https://blog.cloudflare.com/october-2021-facebook-outage/

Oct 07, 202157:07
Episode 17 - Human Thumbs Can't Move That Fast

Episode 17 - Human Thumbs Can't Move That Fast

In this episode of Regrade Request, we take a look at the dangers of being a gamer.  While Mark discusses physical injuries that have happened due to playing Nintendo (such as "Nintenditis" and various blunt force traumas from using a Wii remote), Will goes more into emotional issues, such as cyber bullying.

And, of course, a few questions from No Stupid Questions to round out the show!

Sep 30, 202157:32
Episode 16 - Earl's Tooth Detailing Shop

Episode 16 - Earl's Tooth Detailing Shop

We go back to the future by talking about the next Y2K - Y2K38!  Yes, there's another one on the horizon!  Also, questions about why you don't find OLED computer monitors, whether you should upgrade to Windows 11, and the current state of bananas.  Oh, and why can't barbers pull teeth anymore?  I mean... that was a thing in the Old West... right?

Sep 23, 202153:55
Episode 15 - Why We Play Games

Episode 15 - Why We Play Games

In a more (hopefully) thought-provoking episode, we examine the aesthetics of gaming, as described in the paper "MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research" by Hunicke, LeBlanc, and Zubek from Northwestern University.  It is also discussed in the wonderful Extra Credits YouTube series: https://youtu.be/uepAJ-rqJKA

We discuss games that have affected us in major ways and what aesthetics lend themselves to those experiences.

Bottom line: 1) games are great and 2) Will and Mark will never agree on Breath of the Wild.

Sep 16, 202159:26
Episode 14 - On a Highway in Utah

Episode 14 - On a Highway in Utah

We are back in the swing of things with classes, so we talk about some of our favorite teaching evaluations!  Plus some discussion about VHS vs. Beta was like HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray, some overly-specific questions from Reddit, and more!

Sep 09, 202147:06
Episode 13 - Young, Hip Iowa Poll Workers

Episode 13 - Young, Hip Iowa Poll Workers

We're back to a normal show!  This week, we have our first themed episode: "When Software Goes Wrong!"  We talk about interesting software failures and questions, like why is the "Blue Screen of Death" blue and what happened with the Iowa caucus results reporting in 2020.

Another round of "Excuse me, what now?" as well!

Join us and make sure to review the show on the podcast service of your choice!

Sep 02, 202152:30
Episode 12 - Our First (and maybe last) Live Show!
Aug 26, 202149:33
Episode 11 - Twas the Week Before Classes

Episode 11 - Twas the Week Before Classes

We are neck deep in trying to get our classes ready for students next week, so here is the Q&A lecture that we did at the end of the spring 2021 semester that got us thinking about doing a podcast in the first place.

We left some UVA specific things here, because they might be of interest to folks broadly.  For example, when we talk about "GC" and "CR" as grades for our course, those were COVID-specific grades created just for these semesters.  How employers will look at those on transcripts remains to be seen.

Aug 19, 202137:05
Episode 10 - England Has Been Around For A While [Citation Needed]

Episode 10 - England Has Been Around For A While [Citation Needed]

We look forward to another school year, considering yet another set of ridiculous student excuses in "Excuse me, what now?"  Then a lot more fun with web bots, QR codes, why four digit PINs are okay, and... wearing plate armor to Parliament?

Aug 12, 202152:13
Episode 9 - Quidditch is a Valid Excuse

Episode 9 - Quidditch is a Valid Excuse

We've got a new segment this week!  Want to know just how crazy some excuses we get are?  See if you can guess the fake excuses from the real ones in "Excuse me, what now?"!  Also, questions on best designed games, autonomous cars, and how to not interrupt your friends when playing table top games.

Aug 05, 202148:38
Episode 8 - Toy Story Didn't Have Ray Tracing
Jul 29, 202144:22
Episode 7.5 - Cookie Monster

Episode 7.5 - Cookie Monster

It's another mini-episode as summer scheduling turns out to be a pretty tough obstacle to overcome!

Have you ever wondered why your browser cares so much about whether you enjoy cookies or not?  It doesn't even have the good manners to ask what type of cookie!  Let's talk about what browser cookies actually are, whether they are "dangerous," and how they can be used for good... and EVIL...

Jul 23, 202123:15
Episode 7 - Crocheted Goose Bikini
Jul 15, 202144:59
Episode 6.5 - Only One College Professor
Jul 08, 202124:18
Episode 6 - Crypto Beanie Babies
Jul 01, 202151:19
Episode 5 - Noah and the (GameSh)Ark
Jun 24, 202152:15
Episode 4 - Worst Uber Ever
Jun 17, 202146:13
Episode 3 - Deterministic Epistemology of Angry Birds

Episode 3 - Deterministic Epistemology of Angry Birds

Will blows Mark's mind by discussing Zipf's Law (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCn8zs912OE) in the context of the popularity of certain websites.  Conversely, Mark wants to talk about why we blow into NES cartridges to make them work.


Subscribe through the podcast service of your choice or leave us a question for us to answer on the podcast at http://regraderequest.com!  Find us on Twitter: @MarkSherriff and @ProfMcBurney

Jun 10, 202147:56
Episode 2 - Are You Going to Eat That?

Episode 2 - Are You Going to Eat That?

In this episode of Regrade Request, Will and Mark turn more toward educational questions, explaining what DDOS attacks are, how to algorithmically pair your socks efficiently (we swear - this is more interesting than it sounds), and deliberately trying to sabotage your own Zoom calls.

Oh - and fantasy monster snacking guidance.  That too.

Let us know what you think!  hosts@regraderequest.com / @MarkSherriff / @ProfMcBurney

Or leave a review on iTunes or Google Podcasts!

Jun 03, 202142:11
Episode 1 - A Beautiful Shade of #chucknorris

Episode 1 - A Beautiful Shade of #chucknorris

In the pilot episode of Regrade Request, Will and Mark tackle deep and meaningful questions involving Chuck Norris, video game relationships, and goats.  Does teaching together online translate into podcasting?  Find out!

May 27, 202147:54