“It’s a couple of things that work beautifully in concert. First: no music. Audiences are so sophisticated, but what they’re not accustomed to is not being told how to feel,” Wyle says. “You take all that out and it forces a level of engagement where you’re now looking for clues within the frame of the screen, which forces you to look up from your phone. And I think that is extremely engaging, especially to young viewers who aren’t accustomed to being asked to participate in a nonpassive way in the viewing experience.

“Second point, shooting it with almost exclusively 50-millimeter or 65-millimeter lenses, which is the most comparable to the human eye—and only shooting from the point of view of a human being that’s present in this space. There are no cameras on gurney wheels going in the hallway. There’s no cameras on the ceiling looking down from a God point of view. You are limited to the perspective of a participant. You can look away, but you can’t leave, and it becomes an endurance test for you to stay on your feet as long as we’re on our feet. Which [brings me to my] third point: real time. Real time has an aggregate sense of tension that you don’t get in any other form of storytelling. What happened before is happening now, and these two things are going to add up to the next thing. And if we throw more ingredients into this cooker and keep ratcheting it up, it’s going to pop.”

Wyle makes eye contact for his next point, delivering it with a Robby-esque matter-of-factness. “Fourth point: The election went the other way,” he says with a shrug. “We could have been a really good show with a lot of nice things to say in a perfectly normal Kamala Harris universe. And instead we became almost a beacon of hope and humanity in an alternative universe. But in the midst of that, fifth point—this is essentially competence porn. You’re watching really smart, dedicated people do what only they know how to do at a level that you don’t know how to do it, and you’re so fucking glad that they’re there doing it, and compartmentalizing their own stuff to put your broken pieces back together. You’re so reassured by knowing that there are people out there that laugh and joke and have the ability to lock in like that.”

this is fucking unreal stuff from Noah Wyle on the magic of The Pitt. www.gq.com/story/noah-w...

Sláinte A return to the land of scotch.

Sláinte

A return to the land of scotch.

Season 21, Episode 1 - 'Cube is good.' | Full Episode YouTube video by Taskmaster

Look it’s me in my favorite show. And again I must stress: I am NOT doing this show because of Jason. I was a fan before him.

Thrilled to be on my favorite show with people I genuinely love. Alex is there as well.

youtu.be/oRfHA2d3DhM?...

10/10. No notes.

A screen shot showing my image and tag for the Gander social platform.

If you’ve joined Gander - you can find me at @drdanielgillis.gander.social :)

It's very sad.

A student has sent me a request to supervise their MSc - citing a paper of mine they found particularly fascinating. Except the paper doesn't exist. It sounds like a paper I might have written, but it does not exist.

Is this the next phase in AI we have to deal with? Sigh.

This was not on my bingo card, but I love to see it. More of this, please. #GoMathNerds

"please consider options for students to participate remotely like we did in the early pandemic because we don't know if secret police are operating on campus and students may be scared to come in" is a hell of an email to have land in your inbox

A close up of a tabby cat wearing a wig.

This is important.
This is not AI.
This *is* Freddie in a wig.

And
She
Is
Glorious.

You are welcome.

#CatsInWigs

Ontario Voted: The SEED Wins $50,000 for Community Food Access! YouTube video by Meridian

Huge congrats to #TheSEED in Guelph - winners of the $50k grand prize from Meridian to grow their impact!

Learn more about The SEED here: theseedguelph.ca

youtube.com/shorts/DYzC9...

A red t-shirt that reads “Ah! The element of surprise”

A black t-shirt with a ball at the bottom of a hill that reads “I had potential”

A t-shirt with the periodic table that reads “I wear this shirt periodically”

I loved Project Hail Mary (book and movie). Also loved the nerdy science T’s that Ryan Gosling’s Dr. Grace wore.

Can't wait!

If anyone has any sway with the plumbing gods, could you perhaps suggest to them that 2 burst pipes, a super clogged kitchen drain, a toilet with a venting problem, and a different toilet with a leak - is more than enough for one wee household to have to deal with in a 2 month span. Thx.

Adventure Time A grand adventure is about to begin.

Adventure Time

A grand adventure is about to begin.

That was supposed to read “strolling”, but I don’t think what I wrote is actually wrong. 🤷‍♂️

a man running in a field with the words " i 'm going on an adventure " Alt: a hobbit running in a field with the words "I’m going on an adventure "

Yes, I recently booked a trip to NZ for a conference (and a bit of vacation).

Yes, I explicitly planned my flights to avoid the US.

With news that ICE might be trolling airports soon, feeling even better about my decision.

a pie with pi written on it is on a wooden table Alt: a pie with pi written on it is on a wooden table

Happy Pi Day to all those who celebrate ;)

Dear #Ontario,
The Ford Government is trying to push a bill through that would exclude the Premier and Cabinet Members from Freedom of Information Requests.

Please call to express your disagreement👇

Absolute bullshit.

Ontario to introduce bill exempting Premier, cabinet from FOI requests Government’s proposed changes follow its loss of court battle over call logs for Ford’s personal cellphone

The road to failed societies is paved with legislation like this 👇

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

This seems fair.

For the record, I named her Mrs. Frisby. She was safely captured and released beneath a bush in the field next to the house in the event she was on a mission to save her boy, Timothy. ;)

A tabby cat stares at a field mouse inside the house.

My valiant little warrior - living up to the letter (if not the spirit) of subsection 2.2 of their employment contract (“discourage the presence of rodents, insects, and other unauthorized creatures”)

Why do we need better ethics and social sciences education in STEM - and in particular, tech?

This. This is exactly why.

The arrogance is astounding.

What would the future look like if technology replaced the services ecosystems provide?

The climate crisis makes this question less hypothetical

MSc student Hannah Hiemstra from @integrativebiology.bsky.social explored this scenario through her art

www.manufacturedecosystems.com/wetland-ecos...

When @shoshanahjacobs.ca, @danielgillis.ca & more not on bluesky wrote about our experiences & concerns about "AI & the arms race in teaching & learning" we asked #Perplexity 2 complete student assignment in D2L.

#highered

@caut.bsky.social

www.caut.ca/bulletin/cre...

youtu.be/3msiurIRBE8?...

“Despite paying among the highest tuition fees in Canada, Ontario students are learning in a system where faculty, particularly contract faculty, are being asked to do more with less.”

#HighEd #Ontario

ocufa.on.ca/ontarios-uni...

Recruiting UofG Undergrads For Summer 2026 I'm recruiting senior University of Guelph undergraduate students to support a variety of research projects this summer.

Recruiting UofG Undergrads For Summer 2026

I'm recruiting senior University of Guelph undergraduate students to support a variety of research projects this summer.

A cartoon slice of pepperoni pizza against an orange background.

Thanks to a discount from Pizza Hut, we should be able to feed 300 hungry undergrad UofG comp sci students tomorrow (in exchange for answering a short survey on health and wellness).