Dogma Schmogma!
My son is a Physics major because they say that Biology is too messy and doesn't follow rules. And my response to that is "Yes, exactly! That's why Biology is amaaaaaazing!"
I'm going to see @chanda.blacksky.app talk about her new book at the Harvard Science Center in a week and a half! I'll be getting a copy of the book, of course, and might be up for joining the book club (though I'm already in several😅)
I’m sure I’m not the first to say something about this here, but did anyone else on science Bluesky snort laugh at the egregiously unbalanced centrifuge in Project Hail Mary?
Clearly they're not driving in Boston.
I don’t read forwards until after I’ve read the book because that’s what I was taught and because they frequently contain spoilers and/or give me preconceptions about themes I neither want nor need. But prologues and epilogues are part of the effing story.
My 13yo's April Fool's joke this morning was surprising us by getting up when she was actually supposed to without us harassing her every 5 minutes for 45 minutes, as we usually do.
Hilarious! Please play this joke on us EVERY DAY. Now we just need the 16yo to prank us by doing her homework.
Also, it's Anjimile, not Anjimale. Also also, I realized after I posted this that I'd seen all of these artists live except for him. Figuring he was touring with his excellent new album, I checked and got tix for the Boston show. Soon I'll have seen all of them!
Hot tip on Trans Day of Visibility: trans people make some of the best music! Check out, in no particular order of awesomeness:
Laura Jane Grace
Anjimale
jasmine.4.t
Grumpster
Ezra Furman
Noahfinnce
Rainbow Kitten Surprise
…and many more, but these are some of my favorites!
I miss Carrboro Day! Always a good time.
One of my favorite songs of '22. She's got another album dropping this May!
At no point in my texting history have I typed something that should train my predictive text to replace the word “Yup” with “Tupac” 🤔
The Brainstorming Test I have used AI many times as a brainstorming mechanism, a sounding board for early-stage ideas. And here is what I’ve found: every time I had an idea that was genuinely outside the box, AI discouraged me from pursuing it. When I persisted, it didn’t just push back, it practically begged me to stop. To not continue. To not insist. Think about what that means. The tool that everyone tells you is “creative” and “revolutionary” is architecturally incapable of doing anything other than averaging what already exists. It is a statistical summary of the past masquerading as a window into the future. When it tells you your unconventional idea is bad, it’s not evaluating your idea. It’s telling you that your idea doesn’t resemble the data it was trained on. That’s not intelligence. That’s pattern-matching with a confidence problem.
This piece by David William Silva sums up a lot of my thoughts about AI much better than I ever could have. substack.com/home/post/p-...
This section in particular articulates my biggest fear when people tell me they used AI for "creative thinking". It's not brainstorming. It's pattern recognition.
I think I *might* have a few science communication followers on here, so you should know that Addgene is hiring for an experienced Senior Science Communications Manager. Spread the word!
addgene.applytojob.com/apply/6q7Pr6...
I think about think about Wonko the Sane a lot...
“It seemed to me,” said Wonko the Sane, “that any civilization that had so far lost its head as to need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a package of toothpicks, was no longer a civilization in which I could live and stay sane.”
All my life’s a circle
My fresh new IT hell...
Me: This app on my computer says it needs to be updated, but I need an admin to do it.
IT: Okay, I've given you admin privileges to update, but first you have to uninstall the app and reinstall.
Me: Now it's telling me I need admin privileges to uninstall the app. 😒
A pink and blue hued lunch bag featuring two howling wolves on a star field
I left my lunch bag in the lunch room and a co-worker brought it to me, saying “I figured you were the only person here who wouldn’t be too embarrassed to bring this to work.” Hell yeah—I’m hungry like the wolf.
Let’s take your awful and really dig deep into the awfulness😅
No, I'm pretty sure my little PSA here is going to change the course of how Bostonians have been driving for the past 80+ years.
Dear Boston suburbanites: It’s a “Stop” sign, not a “Lightly tap your brakes for a fraction of a second just for show” sign.
It might be my imagination, but I feel like my phone's predictive text has gotten way, WAY worse since the last iOS update. It is taking me substantially longer to text because the suggestions are so wacky.
The (excellent) book I'm reading right now was written 48 years ago. Thank goodness it made the cut🙄
My 16yo and I went on tours of two New England public universities over the past two days. One school mentioned all the support systems for neurodiversity, students of color, and queer students. The other school mentioned NONE of these things. Guess which one my daughter is still considering?
A sparkly sticker with roses that says “Thou may ingest a satchel of richards”
My sister dropped a bunch of stickers in my Xmas stocking and I confess I had not looked at all of them very closely until now. Anyway, my sister is the best😂
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES OF SCULPTURE, MICHELAN-gelo said, "It is easy. You just chip away all the stone that isn't David." It's simple to cut things out of a life. You break up with a shitty partner, quit eating bread, delete the Twitter app. You cut it out, and the shape of what's actually killing you clarifies a little. The whole Abrahamic world invests itself in this promise: Don't lie, don't cheat, don't fuck or steal or kill, and you'll be a good person. Eight of the ten commandments are about what thou shalt not. But you can live a whole life not doing any of that stuff and still avoid doing any good. That's the whole crisis. The rot at the root of everything. The belief that goodness is built on a constructed absence, not-doing. That belief corrupts everything, has everyone with any power sitting on their hands. A rich man goes a whole day without killing a single homeless person and so goes to sleep content in his goodness. In another world, he's buying crates of socks and Clif bars and tents, distributing them in city centers. But for him, abstinence reigns.
I can’t stop thinking about this paragraph from Kaveh Akbar’s “Martyr!”, and saddened by the fact that the government can’t even get the “don’t be shitty” part right.
My latest GenX column in the local paper (I provided multiple titles for this column--this was not one of them😅). Who else will confess to a love-hate relationship with their wearable tech?
belmontvoice.org/generations-...
Screen shot of a text that reads “A library we're working on has a little room off the children's section called "Wiggle Room". I presume for the nuggets who can't sit still through story time.” Followed by a blue print of a library with the designated Wiggle Room.
My sister works in HVAC and just sent me this text. I’d be a big proponent of any and all public buildings having a Wiggle Room. Or, for the oldsters like me, a Nap Room.
R4E is hosting a webinar for all, no cost. Learn how to design an effective poster webinar
www.repro4everyone.org/blog/r4e-web...
Thank-you to @addgene.bsky.social for sponsorship! #AcademicSky #EduSky #neuroskyence
