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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle
@pzriddle.bsky.social
150 followers 170 following 300 posts
Aprendiz de tudo, mestre de nada. #Porto #Portugal, previously #AustinTX #caminoDeSantiago #eurorack #generativeAmbient #jazz #linguaphile #modularSynth #moog #MPB #synth #deutsch #español #português
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jul 28
You'd like to think that universities would be the sort of institution through which society resists fascism. Sadly, #UTAustin has been falling all over itself to "comply in advance".

To anybody who's been thinking of studying or working at my alma mater: if you have a choice, go elsewhere.
Right-Wing Crackdowns Drive Academics Away From UT and the U.S.
Staff morale, federal funds, and state confidence dry up
www.austinchronicle.com
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jul 26
NYTimes "best movies of the 21st century": this is of course a gimmick, but it was illuminating anyway. I thought I was out of touch but turns out I've seen 66 of the 100.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century (Gift Article)
More than 500 influential directors, actors and other notable names in Hollywood and around the world voted on the best films released since Jan. 1, 2000. See how their ballots stacked up.
www.nytimes.com
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jun 16
Yes, I've wondered where AltNPS got its estimate.

I've looked for better numbers. The news media seem to either report no numbers or use wildly underestimated ones. The most credible source I've found, which at least *has* a methodology, estimates 4-6 million: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/no-kings-d...
"No Kings Day" protests turn out millions, rebuking Trump
Our unofficial estimate is that around 4-6 million people attended a protest event yesterday. Anti-Trump resistance is outpacing 2017.
www.gelliottmorris.com
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jun 15
Hooray! One of my favorite events returns June 28-29: the Feira da Alegria at FBAUP.

Over 150 artists selling prints - mostly young, with few cliches about sardines or roosters...

It's Pride weekend, so we will be busy!

www.instagram.com/feiradalegria/

#FeiraDaAlegria #porto #art #arte #FBAUP
Colorful poster in bright shades or red, yellow, blue, green, and pink. The text reads: FEIRA DA ALEGRIA Jardim da Faculdade de Belas Artes 28-29 Jun '25 The illustration features a stylized garden under a blue sky with a cheerful sun and clouds. In the garden is a building representing the U.Porto art school and several statues found in the actual PBAUP garden.
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jun 14
Great turnout of a few hundred for #NoKings in Porto today!

I'm not posting crowd photos out of concern for people's privacy, but I'm grateful that in Portugal it is safe for us to exercise our freedom of speech.

Thinking of our friends and loved ones taking the risk to speak out in the US today.
Hand-painted sign on cardboard that reads: DUE PROCESS LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL RULE OF LAW Below, a drawing of a crown struck out by a circle and slash.
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jun 13
Ready for tomorrow. #NoKings
Signs hand-lettered on corrugated cardboard, spread out on a wooden table. The signs include the following: NO KINGS (in the USA) NO DICTATORS DEMOCRACIA SIM DITADURA NÃO NO KINGS NO CZARS NO DICTATORS NEM REI NEM CZAR NEM DITADOR
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jun 11
No kings today, no billionaries tomorrow. #NoKings
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jun 11
PS for countries that still have kings:

Although I agree that the central issue is authoritarianism and the reference to kings is rhetorical not literal, I also think that any country which didn't abolish its monarchy by the end of the 19th century failed to understand the assignment...
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · Jun 11
Worldwide No Kings protest on you-know-who's birthday this Saturday. A bit of solidarity for our compatriots getting teargassed in the States.

If you're in Porto, meet us at 2 PM at Leões.

www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

#NoKings #porto
NO KINGS: Porto, Portugal · No Kings
**NO KINGS: Porto, Portugal Fonte dos Leões (Lion Fountain) In front of Universidade do Porto Praça de Gomes Teixeira, 4050-526 Porto, Portugal Saturday June 14, 2-5pm WET Nearest Metro: Aliados When ...
www.mobilize.us
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Reposted by Prentiss Riddle
samhalpert.bsky.social
Sam Halpert @samhalpert.bsky.social · Apr 15
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 28
It's very unusual for a Texas river to have boiling rapids.
pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 28
And intriguingly some of the groups who are very, very good at immigration (I'm thinking for example of the South Asian migrant community I used to have ties to) use their skills to engage in serial migration - they quickly dig in deep but are also ready to move on if the opportunity arises. 2/2
pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 28
Very interesting and no doubt a fruitful thing for policy makers to think about.

But I'm troubled by what the "aptitude for Immigration" concept might turn into in the hands of the right. Could it be a way to sanitize discrimination against less-assimilated working-class migrants? 1/2
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 28
Today I googled a simple question (it happened to be about Portuguese).

Google's AI intruded with an answer and included a link to what it said was the source.

Clicking through, I see that the source gave the EXACT OPPOSITE answer to what the AI so authoritatively told me.

AI still sux, folks.
pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 28
If you're in #Porto and want to participate in the #NoKings protest on June 14, join the WhatsApp group for details:

chat.whatsapp.com/CbHnWZMJ2dw5...
NO KINGS! Protest in Porto June 14
WhatsApp Group Invite
chat.whatsapp.com
pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 28
I'm happy to see that the worldwide NO KINGS protest on you-know-who's birthday will have a presence here in Porto.

indivisible.org/statements/i...

#NoKings
The text NO KINGS in white on a deep blue background, next to a roughly painted symbol of a crown marked out with a red X
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 18
I dreamt that they removed the capitalized nouns from the German language and my reading comprehension went all to hell.

#deutsch #rechtschreibung
Reposted by Prentiss Riddle
adamcsharp.bsky.social
Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · Mar 10
There’s an Urdu name for a “Jack of all trades” that translates to “every talent Lord.” A Korean version is “eight direction beauty.” But my favourite name for someone who tries their hand at lots of different things is the Lithuanian Barbė devyndarbė. It means “Barbie nine jobs”
87 950 4.1K
pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 16
Today I learned that our neighborhood superhero has an Instagram. Super Faria Guimarães!

www.instagram.com/super.fariag...

#porto #superhero #superFariaGuimarães
Composite of thumbnails. Each shows a street scene in Porto, Portugal. In each scene is a man wearing a dress suit with a cape, mask, and hat in bright colors. Im some thumbnails he is carrying flowers. The color scheme varies: hot pink, canary yellow, bright or light blue, traffic orange.
Reposted by Prentiss Riddle
depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social
depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · May 13
devastated to discover Cheddar Man was lactose intolerant
Analysis of Cheddar Man's nuclear DNA indicates that he was a typical member of the Western European hunter-gatherer population at the time, with a most likely phenotype of blue-green eyes, dark brown or black hair, and dark or dark-to-black skin, with no genetic adaption for lactase persistence into adulthood
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 13
At first I thought this was the bottom of a phone or microwave, which gives me ideas for creating an artistic time capsule the next time I'm in a hotel
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 9
I love how the video shows the house with realistic clutter. So much architectural media, especially about modernist houses, has a completely sterile and unrealistic absence of "stuff".

It did horrify me to learn that they run heating and cooling in the open-roofed courtyard, though.
pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 9
I love how the video shows the house with realistic clutter. So much architectural media, especially about modernist houses, has a completely sterile and unrealistic absence of "stuff".

It did horrify me to learn that they run heating and cooling in the open-roofed courtyard, though.
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 5
When I worked for the UT Austin|Portugal program, research funding was contingent on collaborative applications by both UT and PT researchers.

I wonder whether giving carrots to EU researchers who work with US emigrant scientists could ease integration of US researchers into European networks?
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pzriddle.bsky.social
Prentiss Riddle @pzriddle.bsky.social · May 4
I just finished "The Twilight Zone" by Nona Fernández. What a great, if horrifying, book, and a reminder of the path we are on ourselves.

www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/b...
When a Nation’s Torturous Past Resembles ‘The Twilight Zone’ (Gift Article)
Named after the classic TV series, a new novel by Nona Fernández mines Chile’s dark history and shifts restlessly between genres.
www.nytimes.com
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