Brandon Hacha
@brandonhacha.bsky.social
(HACK-uh)
Posts are my thoughts, which means at least half of them are about The Boss.
Ph.D. Candidate at UW-Madison studying topological photonics
I’m essentially a physicist with the fun and charisma of a chemist. And an ego obviously of a physicist.
Posts are my thoughts, which means at least half of them are about The Boss.
Ph.D. Candidate at UW-Madison studying topological photonics
I’m essentially a physicist with the fun and charisma of a chemist. And an ego obviously of a physicist.
I like that Thorlabs doesn’t mess around with Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales. Edmund Optics always has something going on and it seems kinda silly
December 2, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I like that Thorlabs doesn’t mess around with Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales. Edmund Optics always has something going on and it seems kinda silly
Scots is my absolute favorite language. It’s been treated like a dialect of English but it’s really more like a cousin; it’s derived from Germanic but often in different ways than English is.
From today, Gaelic and Scots are recognised as official languages.
A significant moment on St Andrew’s Day. 🏴
www.bbc.com/news/article...
A significant moment on St Andrew’s Day. 🏴
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Gaelic and Scots now recognised as official languages
The milestone is one of a number of new measures taking effect on St Andrew's Day from the Scottish Languages Act.
www.bbc.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Scots is my absolute favorite language. It’s been treated like a dialect of English but it’s really more like a cousin; it’s derived from Germanic but often in different ways than English is.
Re: “chatbots can teach you how to build a nuke”
This is a good point and “how to build a nuke” is a stupid litmus test for anything. The only information that exists is either public or so confidential that Wired would never be able to report on it. It’s a silly example!
This is a good point and “how to build a nuke” is a stupid litmus test for anything. The only information that exists is either public or so confidential that Wired would never be able to report on it. It’s a silly example!
What is frustrating about this story is that it implies that the information that a chatbot can give you about making a nuclear weapon is separate from what you can just find online anyway. While I appreciate that the point is that "guardrails" are flawed, it is still a silly example.
November 29, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Re: “chatbots can teach you how to build a nuke”
This is a good point and “how to build a nuke” is a stupid litmus test for anything. The only information that exists is either public or so confidential that Wired would never be able to report on it. It’s a silly example!
This is a good point and “how to build a nuke” is a stupid litmus test for anything. The only information that exists is either public or so confidential that Wired would never be able to report on it. It’s a silly example!
Tony Romo calling Chiefs-Cowboys is the perfect excuse to take a nap
November 27, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Tony Romo calling Chiefs-Cowboys is the perfect excuse to take a nap
TeSlaa is just unable to catch a ball normally. Everything he does is flashy, whether or not it’s necessary.
November 27, 2025 at 8:52 PM
TeSlaa is just unable to catch a ball normally. Everything he does is flashy, whether or not it’s necessary.
I think the “you gotta respect it” era of Dan Campbell trying on 4th downs has come to an end.
November 27, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I think the “you gotta respect it” era of Dan Campbell trying on 4th downs has come to an end.
Matt Lafleur is letting Jordan Love cook and this is what I’ve been wanting all season. The rust is finally coming off.
November 27, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Matt Lafleur is letting Jordan Love cook and this is what I’ve been wanting all season. The rust is finally coming off.
I’m still holding out hope that eventually someone is going to find a way to use THz radiation as some kind of neat therapeutic
November 25, 2025 at 10:51 PM
I’m still holding out hope that eventually someone is going to find a way to use THz radiation as some kind of neat therapeutic
I watched Pluribus last night and let me say: Vince Gilligan has done it again. You can feel the X-Files vibes (sci-fi, not-quite-absurdist humor, a permeating feeling of “what is happening?”) as well as the Better Call Saul or Breaking Bad tension (much less violence than the latter so far)
November 24, 2025 at 6:52 PM
I watched Pluribus last night and let me say: Vince Gilligan has done it again. You can feel the X-Files vibes (sci-fi, not-quite-absurdist humor, a permeating feeling of “what is happening?”) as well as the Better Call Saul or Breaking Bad tension (much less violence than the latter so far)
I love how pudgy the birds are this time of year
November 24, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I love how pudgy the birds are this time of year
Reposted by Brandon Hacha
The Boss song of the moment is “Trapped”, which was originally written and recorded as a reggae song by Jimmy Cliff (produced by Cat Stevens)
Springsteen re-produced it as a rock song and it made its way onto the We Are The World album
open.spotify.com/track/5xYCSE...
Springsteen re-produced it as a rock song and it made its way onto the We Are The World album
open.spotify.com/track/5xYCSE...
Trapped - Live at Meadowlands Arena, E. Rutherford, NJ - August 1984
Bruce Springsteen · The Essential Bruce Springsteen (Bonus Tracks) · Song · 2003
open.spotify.com
December 3, 2024 at 1:08 AM
The Boss song of the moment is “Trapped”, which was originally written and recorded as a reggae song by Jimmy Cliff (produced by Cat Stevens)
Springsteen re-produced it as a rock song and it made its way onto the We Are The World album
open.spotify.com/track/5xYCSE...
Springsteen re-produced it as a rock song and it made its way onto the We Are The World album
open.spotify.com/track/5xYCSE...
Jameis Winston should be playing every week
November 23, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Jameis Winston should be playing every week
I think the Mamdani-Trump meeting is a good sign because it unequivocally confirms that Mamdani can “play the game” as required to succeed in politics. It’s a low bar with Trump, but it’s good nonetheless.
November 22, 2025 at 12:37 AM
I think the Mamdani-Trump meeting is a good sign because it unequivocally confirms that Mamdani can “play the game” as required to succeed in politics. It’s a low bar with Trump, but it’s good nonetheless.
Happy birthday to Springsteen’s ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’, released on this day in 1995
November 21, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Happy birthday to Springsteen’s ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’, released on this day in 1995
This is big for Joe Buck’s ratings
November 18, 2025 at 1:45 AM
This is big for Joe Buck’s ratings
It annoys me to no end that Jordan Love can throw a beautiful deep ball but Matt LaFleur keeps it bottled up until the game is on the line in the 4th quarter
November 16, 2025 at 8:41 PM
It annoys me to no end that Jordan Love can throw a beautiful deep ball but Matt LaFleur keeps it bottled up until the game is on the line in the 4th quarter
Todd Snider died???
November 16, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Todd Snider died???
The other quote sounds a lot better:
“We don’t need to water down our commitment to racial and economic justice as a party […] We need to remember that all this ties into what it’s like to be an American […] we’re a country that developed based on this commitment to democratic equality.”
“We don’t need to water down our commitment to racial and economic justice as a party […] We need to remember that all this ties into what it’s like to be an American […] we’re a country that developed based on this commitment to democratic equality.”
Speaking at a Texas Tribune Festival on Friday, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg criticized the Democratic Party for failing to reach everyday Americans, arguing that it “got sucked in” to a conversation about identity. #TribFest25
Pete Buttigieg critiques Democrats for focus on identity
The former U.S. transportation secretary said the Democratic Party should focus more on issues gripping the country, such as health care and housing affordability.
www.texastribune.org
November 15, 2025 at 4:38 PM
The other quote sounds a lot better:
“We don’t need to water down our commitment to racial and economic justice as a party […] We need to remember that all this ties into what it’s like to be an American […] we’re a country that developed based on this commitment to democratic equality.”
“We don’t need to water down our commitment to racial and economic justice as a party […] We need to remember that all this ties into what it’s like to be an American […] we’re a country that developed based on this commitment to democratic equality.”
Oh. It turns out that the Petticoat Affair is one of those things you have to see in real-time to get.
November 15, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Oh. It turns out that the Petticoat Affair is one of those things you have to see in real-time to get.
Yeah people like this now, but I suspect that many of these people also hate things like solar panels
NEW from me: a new report found that national resistance to data centers skyrocketed between March and June of this year—especially in red states like Georgia and Indiana:
The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived
A new report finds that local opposition to data centers skyrocketed in the second quarter of this year.
www.wired.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Yeah people like this now, but I suspect that many of these people also hate things like solar panels
This is so, so cool.
Nature research paper: A molecularly impermeable polymer from two-dimensional polyaramids
go.nature.com/4i6yaif
go.nature.com/4i6yaif
A molecularly impermeable polymer from two-dimensional polyaramids - Nature
Two-dimensional polyaramid polymers are synthesized to form nanofilms that exhibit the lowest gas permeability of any polymer by orders of magnitude, despite lacking crystallinity, enabling molecular-scale nanomechanical resonators and barrier materials.
go.nature.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:11 PM
This is so, so cool.
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein seemed to have dinner together at Eva and Glenn Durbin’s place in Palm Beach, Florida… IN 2017
November 12, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein seemed to have dinner together at Eva and Glenn Durbin’s place in Palm Beach, Florida… IN 2017
It seems like Al Seckel was trying to help Epstein suppress bad search results on google using SEO in 2010. It’s hard to not feel like a conspiracy theorist looking at these emails.
November 12, 2025 at 11:10 PM
It seems like Al Seckel was trying to help Epstein suppress bad search results on google using SEO in 2010. It’s hard to not feel like a conspiracy theorist looking at these emails.
Every part of me feels like the Epstein stuff is not nearly as “evil cabal” as it’s portrayed but then there are emails like “hey jeff, look at this picture of a 5 year old who had a child” and I don’t know what else to think
November 12, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Every part of me feels like the Epstein stuff is not nearly as “evil cabal” as it’s portrayed but then there are emails like “hey jeff, look at this picture of a 5 year old who had a child” and I don’t know what else to think
Oh, that Michael Wolff email is already more damning than anything I ever expected to see
🚨BREAKING: Oversight Dems have received new emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein’s horrific crimes.
Read them for yourself. It’s time to end this cover-up and RELEASE THE FILES.
Read them for yourself. It’s time to end this cover-up and RELEASE THE FILES.
November 12, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Oh, that Michael Wolff email is already more damning than anything I ever expected to see