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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 17h

There are nationwide protests planned for this Saturday and I plan to go, but I'm puzzled by the strategy of having many little protests that are easy for media to ignore, instead of centralizing

I dont mean everyone flies to DC or anything. But there are 6 (!) in the Madison area alone!

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 20h

I think this is some sort of cultural thing for organizations that use shared calendars as a matter of course, and then people block off chunks of time when they don't want to be disturbed

But I like to keep my own separate calendar =(

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 20h

I have a strong aversion to people sending me calendar invites with no explanation, and an even stronger aversion to people unilaterally changing the invite and expecting me to make it to the meeting

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1d

"A computer cannot be held accountable for the contents of the email you just sent me, but you can and should be"

Hmm, I think that will need to be workshopped a bit

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1d

Kind-of related:

(from simonwillison.net/2025/Feb/3/a...)

"A computer can never be held accountable, therefore a computer must never make a management decision"

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1d

I am wondering if we should teach this as a core principle

Not "here is when you can use AI and when you can't" or "you must disclose AI use" (which no one does anyway), but that the responsibility is on you for whatever you produce and share, no matter what tools you used

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · Sep 13

We need very strong norms for people taking responsibility for what they generate + share, with or without AI tools

It should be considered rude to ask for someone's attention or effort if you yourself outsourced your thinking to an AI tool and did not critically evaluate the output

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1d

It's mid October in Wisconsin and I just got tomatoes from our yard for our salad

That is ... interesting

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Or low-hanging seeds, as it were

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Got a robot lawn mower and it's pretty sweet, but it would be much, much better if it I could pour some seeds onto the top and it would aerate / re-seed the grass

Seems like a lot of low-hanging fruit in this space. Kinda wish I worked in robotics

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

bsky.app/profile/mick...

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · Nov 13

Oof, JPL keeps taking hits

"The NASA laboratory has now cut about one-eighth of its workforce this year."

arstechnica.com/space/2024/1...

For the second time this year, NASA’s JPL center cuts its workforce

“If we hold strong together, we will come through this.”…

arstechnica.com

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Ugh this is, I think, the third big cut to JPL in two years

CNBC @cnbc.com · 3d

NASA unit JPL to lay off about 550 workers, citing restructure

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a research and development lab funded by NASA — the federal space agency — and managed by the Caltech.

cnb.cx

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

The post was good, I just felt the (usually unfortunate) internet urge to chime in

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

Sort of.

An electric heat pump can have "efficiency" of up to ~400%

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Reposted by Mikhail Kats

Worf Email @worfemail.bsky.social · Aug 27

All crew,

Do not click on links in emails. They pose a major security risk. For more information: http://bit.ly/1MUISmu

Worf

16 140 690

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

It's a bit weird to watch a TV show or movie with a major pandemic plot, if it was made pre 2019

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

Ah, yep bsky.app/profile/norv...

norvid_studies @norvid-studies.bsky.social · 3d

screenshot quote tweet... even name obscuring if so desired

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

I can imagine it having a similar effect, but I much prefer replying vs quoting when I want to disagree while inviting the person to reply

If I don't want to invite the person to reply, I feel like their name should not be visible (so, redacted screenshot?)

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

It's annoying that I can't buy a tick preventative for humans like I can for my dog

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 4d

Editing a manuscript in preparation for submission to a journal of molecular ecology

Interesting where life takes you

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 4d

The repeated firing and rehiring of critical federal employees is comical incompetence www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

Trump Administration Is Bringing Back Scores of C.D.C. Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 6d

I don't have the expertise to do it, but I really want to make a feed that ingests all posts, looks for a bunch of keywords of interest to me from follows, all of my lists, and follows of follows (or similar), and then uses an LLM to read through each one and determine whether it fits my interests..

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 6d

Metric
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I1p...

Metric - Days Of Oblivion (Official Video)

YouTube video by MetricVEVO

www.youtube.com

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 7d

Sometimes DARPA calls for proposals sound like something out of a scifi TV show

DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office (BTO) - Smart-RBC: Smart Red Blood Cells Proposers Day on Monday, October 20, 2025!

About the Event
This event is an opportunity for potential proposers to engage directly with DARPA’s BTO to learn about Smart-RBC—a cutting-edge new program aiming to revolutionize how we support warfighter performance in extreme and dangerous environments. Recognizing the limitations of current solutions and the time required for natural acclimation, Smart-RBC is exploring innovative ways to enhance physiological resilience.

This program focuses on engineering red blood cells (RBCs) to temporarily enhance the body's natural capabilities, improving performance and survivability in challenging conditions. Safety is paramount; Smart-RBC specifically utilizes enucleated RBCs, which cannot transfer genetic material, mitigating potential risks to recipients.

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 7d

I figured during the government shutdown all of my interactions with the federal government would cease, but surprisingly that has mostly not been the case

More agencies (or parts of agencies) are open than I would have expected

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 8d

I think the ambiguity is actually useful

If there is an explicit public signal of "I endorse this person by following them", people will probably try to police follow lists

Plus there are already lists and feeds for "private-ish" follows if desired

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