David Williamson Shaffer
@dwshaffer.bsky.social
Professor of leaning analytics, quantitative ethnographer, husband, father, sailor
Referring to AI here👇
Agree bigly
Agree bigly
It is very good at the things it’s good at. Everyone (especially tech bros) are obsessed with using it for the things it’s BAD at.
November 25, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Referring to AI here👇
Agree bigly
Agree bigly
Reposted by David Williamson Shaffer
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 16, 2025 at 11:43 PM
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
This 👇💯
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
November 10, 2025 at 1:27 AM
This 👇💯
Wait. Am I the only one who wears a spotted suit and checked tights to class?
Consider yourself an academic? But where is your hat with tassel, the hair worn in a plait, the spotted suit and checked tights, like this fella from 1773 - called: the Academic Mac - is wearing? #academicchatter
November 2, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Wait. Am I the only one who wears a spotted suit and checked tights to class?
Me too, friend. Me too
We mock the things we are to be; we are the things we used to mock
We mock the things we are to be; we are the things we used to mock
I have become my former supervisor. Late to all meetings, distractable, perpetually annoyed by bureaucracy. Hopefully half as creative?? 😶🌫️
#AcademicChatter
#AcademicChatter
November 2, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Me too, friend. Me too
We mock the things we are to be; we are the things we used to mock
We mock the things we are to be; we are the things we used to mock
Reposted by David Williamson Shaffer
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
October 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
Are they still married?
My boss told me he wrote his wife's birthday card with chat gpt
September 19, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Are they still married?
My god, they’re not even talking about the game. It’s the second quarter and they’re talking like it’s the last 2 minutes of a blowout game. Can we get rid of this guy?
Every week I forget that Kirk Herbstreit is on the Thursday Night Football broadcast.
September 12, 2025 at 1:37 AM
My god, they’re not even talking about the game. It’s the second quarter and they’re talking like it’s the last 2 minutes of a blowout game. Can we get rid of this guy?
90s kid
September 11, 2025 at 7:51 PM
90s kid
Too soon
PSA: If there is an academic you hate, toady is a great time to inquire how much of their summer research and writing plans they've accomplished.
September 1, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Too soon
Those are nice jobs reports you got there. Shame if something happened to ‘em… statisticians can be so careless, ya know…
monthly jobs reports were nice when we had them
Trump’s pick to lead labor stats agency could pause monthly jobs report over accuracy concerns
Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni, tapped to lead Bureau of Labor Statistics, calls monthly jobs data unreliable after recent job downward revision.
www.foxbusiness.com
August 12, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Those are nice jobs reports you got there. Shame if something happened to ‘em… statisticians can be so careless, ya know…
“I can’t figure out how to do what millions of other people do every day: live in a city safely.”
Not “I don’t enjoy living in a city” — which is fair, since not everyone does — but “I *can’t* do it, so clearly *no one can*”(1)
(1) even with all my money and privilege
Not “I don’t enjoy living in a city” — which is fair, since not everyone does — but “I *can’t* do it, so clearly *no one can*”(1)
(1) even with all my money and privilege
Tim Burchett says he lives in his office in DC because he's scared of crime in the city
August 12, 2025 at 3:19 PM
“I can’t figure out how to do what millions of other people do every day: live in a city safely.”
Not “I don’t enjoy living in a city” — which is fair, since not everyone does — but “I *can’t* do it, so clearly *no one can*”(1)
(1) even with all my money and privilege
Not “I don’t enjoy living in a city” — which is fair, since not everyone does — but “I *can’t* do it, so clearly *no one can*”(1)
(1) even with all my money and privilege
Hi, Tom, here and in some the other post you’ve put up on the topic. You’re ignoring the structural impacts of technology.
On the internet there are more free news sources, that come in small soundbites.
The internet affords a different pattern of news consumption Old rules don’t really apply.
On the internet there are more free news sources, that come in small soundbites.
The internet affords a different pattern of news consumption Old rules don’t really apply.
Yes, it's totally the fault of the internet that people stopped giving a shit about local news, and not at all about people demanding non-stop entertainment. (I grant you that the internet was the source; the gorging on it was a choice.)
Thanks for the lesson pops. If the Internet didn’t exist, we still have a vibrant local news, which would’ve killed MAGA in the crib.
July 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Hi, Tom, here and in some the other post you’ve put up on the topic. You’re ignoring the structural impacts of technology.
On the internet there are more free news sources, that come in small soundbites.
The internet affords a different pattern of news consumption Old rules don’t really apply.
On the internet there are more free news sources, that come in small soundbites.
The internet affords a different pattern of news consumption Old rules don’t really apply.
Awesome. The US Government now has terms of service:
"This computer system and data therein are property of the U.S. Government and provided for official U.S. Government information and use. There is no expectation of privacy when you use this computer system."
Data ripe for the selling...
"This computer system and data therein are property of the U.S. Government and provided for official U.S. Government information and use. There is no expectation of privacy when you use this computer system."
Data ripe for the selling...
July 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Awesome. The US Government now has terms of service:
"This computer system and data therein are property of the U.S. Government and provided for official U.S. Government information and use. There is no expectation of privacy when you use this computer system."
Data ripe for the selling...
"This computer system and data therein are property of the U.S. Government and provided for official U.S. Government information and use. There is no expectation of privacy when you use this computer system."
Data ripe for the selling...
Sadly, precisely right
The academic’s mid-summer crisis is a mid-life crisis in miniature:
You realize summer is half gone, & not only that: you see that the longest & least burdened days came early, & they are well past. You compare all you thought you’d do against the days remaining & grieve for what never will be
You realize summer is half gone, & not only that: you see that the longest & least burdened days came early, & they are well past. You compare all you thought you’d do against the days remaining & grieve for what never will be
July 7, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Sadly, precisely right
This is the same thing that happened on The Apprentice. No matter what Trump said or did, the show’s producers edited the film to make it look like what Trump did made sense.
He’s so used to having complete enablers that he’s lost all sense of a reality that isn’t a projection of himself
He’s so used to having complete enablers that he’s lost all sense of a reality that isn’t a projection of himself
I understand that there are media figures obsessed over an elderly president’s clear cognitive decline but they’re talking about a *different* president than Sundowny McMumbles here?
Trump: "If you look at the end of the Civil War -- the 1800s, it was a very turbulent time. If you take the end day -- was it 1869? Or whatever."
June 28, 2025 at 4:43 PM
This is the same thing that happened on The Apprentice. No matter what Trump said or did, the show’s producers edited the film to make it look like what Trump did made sense.
He’s so used to having complete enablers that he’s lost all sense of a reality that isn’t a projection of himself
He’s so used to having complete enablers that he’s lost all sense of a reality that isn’t a projection of himself
Nice country you got there. Shame if something happened to it…
June 28, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Nice country you got there. Shame if something happened to it…
@baldwin.senate.gov
*please* *please* pay attention to this 👇👇👇
With great respect,
one of your constituents and campaign contributors
*please* *please* pay attention to this 👇👇👇
With great respect,
one of your constituents and campaign contributors
Even though they’re in the minority, Congressional Democrats have a lot of tools they can use here.
In addition to showing up at detention centers etc, Dems can grind the Senate to a halt, push impeachment articles against Noem in the House, and more.
Flood the zone.
In addition to showing up at detention centers etc, Dems can grind the Senate to a halt, push impeachment articles against Noem in the House, and more.
Flood the zone.
We still have no idea who the ICE agents are. They could be insurrectionists, extremist militiamen or criminals themselves, chasing law-abiding citizens down the street for recording their kidnappings. The odds they aren't are low. Congress must raise hell about this. A masked gang runs our country.
June 22, 2025 at 12:48 AM
@baldwin.senate.gov
*please* *please* pay attention to this 👇👇👇
With great respect,
one of your constituents and campaign contributors
*please* *please* pay attention to this 👇👇👇
With great respect,
one of your constituents and campaign contributors
Yes yes yes
I’m sure they liked the gift card or class present or whatever, but writing a teacher and telling them they made a specific concrete difference in your kid’s life — a lesson, a skill, a value, whatever — will absolutely make their day.
June 10, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Yes yes yes
Former teacher here. Yup, absolutely
both my folks were teachers. my dad for 30 years.
It does matter. Just make it sincere, that's what counts.
It does matter. Just make it sincere, that's what counts.
It’s the end of the school year and, yes, you’re exhausted but I guarantee your kids’ teachers are even more exhausted.
If you have someone you want to thank, shoot them a quick note. I did it for several of ours and they appreciated it even more than I’d hoped.
If you have someone you want to thank, shoot them a quick note. I did it for several of ours and they appreciated it even more than I’d hoped.
June 10, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Former teacher here. Yup, absolutely
I have a slightly different take on what to trust from an LLM — but the proof is too large to fit in one post 😉
Seriously, though, I agree 100% about the value of deterministic, transparent, rule-based coding.
Seriously, though, I agree 100% about the value of deterministic, transparent, rule-based coding.
This is absolutely right. Do not trust anything you get from an LLM, they are machines for filling in gaps. One of the reasons the regex++ use case is so compelling is that it's really easy to verify at the input/output level.
Serious reply here as this is what I study (quantitative ethnography)
Two things to remember when doing LLM coding:
1. There has to be a process for validating any automated classifier
2. This is challenging with LLMs because they are a black box
Not saying it’s impossible, just use caution
Two things to remember when doing LLM coding:
1. There has to be a process for validating any automated classifier
2. This is challenging with LLMs because they are a black box
Not saying it’s impossible, just use caution
June 10, 2025 at 10:55 PM
I have a slightly different take on what to trust from an LLM — but the proof is too large to fit in one post 😉
Seriously, though, I agree 100% about the value of deterministic, transparent, rule-based coding.
Seriously, though, I agree 100% about the value of deterministic, transparent, rule-based coding.
Reposted by David Williamson Shaffer
Bellingcat CEO @eliothiggins.bsky.social:
June 9, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Bellingcat CEO @eliothiggins.bsky.social:
Reposted by David Williamson Shaffer
Even if he meant to say they are 1/4th as expensive as they were, they are nowhere near that cheap! Not sure about anyone else, but I am not paying $2 per dozen right now. Still in the $5-$7 range depending on exactly what kind you get. So either he made it up again, or eggs were $20+ 4 months ago.
June 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Even if he meant to say they are 1/4th as expensive as they were, they are nowhere near that cheap! Not sure about anyone else, but I am not paying $2 per dozen right now. Still in the $5-$7 range depending on exactly what kind you get. So either he made it up again, or eggs were $20+ 4 months ago.
Reading today’s news about Trump and Musk setting each other on fire kind of makes me think the Third Reich would have ended much sooner if Hitler and Goebels had access to Twitter
June 6, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Reading today’s news about Trump and Musk setting each other on fire kind of makes me think the Third Reich would have ended much sooner if Hitler and Goebels had access to Twitter
Also, last time I checked, there is no such thing as an “LGBTQ graduate major,” at Harvard or anywhere else.
Maybe she thinks that an LGBTQ graduate major is someone who outranks an LGBTQ graduate lieutenant?
Maybe she thinks that an LGBTQ graduate major is someone who outranks an LGBTQ graduate lieutenant?
“She means ‘fewer.’”
- a Harvard graduate
- a Harvard graduate
Leavitt: "Electricians, plumbers -- we need more of those in our country, and less LGBTQ graduate majors from Harvard University. And that's what this administration's position is."
May 29, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Also, last time I checked, there is no such thing as an “LGBTQ graduate major,” at Harvard or anywhere else.
Maybe she thinks that an LGBTQ graduate major is someone who outranks an LGBTQ graduate lieutenant?
Maybe she thinks that an LGBTQ graduate major is someone who outranks an LGBTQ graduate lieutenant?