B. David Tyler
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drbdt.bsky.social
B. David Tyler
@drbdt.bsky.social
1.3K followers 180 following 430 posts
UMass faculty. Notre Dame & UMass alum. Studies rivalry, identity, social sport consumption. Has unabated love of data. Causes existential crises through Excel.
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drbdt.bsky.social
@sickoscommittee.org Amherst beats Williams with 14 points: No TDs or safeties.
November 8, 2025 at 7:23 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Presenting right now at #NODES2025!! (really, watching former student Will Steadman present)
neo4j.com/nodes-2025/a...
G-Forces meet graphs screenshots
November 6, 2025 at 9:04 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Outside my office last night, the UMass Performing Arts Center did a sing-along, cOZplay [sic] screening of #Wicked, complete with hot air balloon rides. You can't really tell from the photo, but the building was lit up in pink & green.
Hot air balloon outside of Bromery Center for the Arts at UMass Amherst. Poster for Wicked, an "immersive sign-along film screening and cOZplay event."
October 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
It's hard times down at the old box factory
Screen capture of the Box Factory from The Simpsons episode where the kids tour the facility.
September 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
"Best value"

University textbook companies continue to show the value of companies like Better World Books and Amazon.
RENT BOOK Due back 12/19/2025 $21.56 BUY NEW $26.68 RENT DIGITAL - Best Value $32.34 MARKETPLACE OPTIONS Sarting at $11.08
September 1, 2025 at 5:37 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Ah, I see.

Also, I was reading "Merge Queries" when you wrote "Merge Columns;" sorry for my confusion.
The "Combine" section of the Home Ribbon in Power Query, which shows Merge Queries, Append Queries, and Combine Files. But this is all irrelevant since the OP was talking about something else entirely and I just didn't read closely enough.
August 15, 2025 at 4:24 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
For Gary Larson, hell is being a West Ham United supporter. #WHUFC
Single cell comic showing people sitting in hell. One of them is blowing bubbles through a bubble wand, another is playing the accordion, another is hitting a ball with a paddle, and another doesn't have anything. The caption is the bubble guy talking to the guy without anything: "Oh, they'll find something for you real soon.... Me? I'm forever blowing bubbles."
August 14, 2025 at 1:20 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Oh, and if you're not using Styles yet -- especially for headings -- make the switch!! I was late to the Styles game, and I regret all that time wasted on formatting individual parts of text.

This site is old and "ugly," but the content is beautiful:
www.addbalance.com/usersguide/s...
A screenshot of the Styles gallery in MS Word's Home ribbon
August 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
The best way create Level 4 or 5 headings in @apastyle.bsky.social is with the obscure "style separator" (Ctrl+Alt+Enter). This separates paragraph Styles without creating a line break.
apastyle.apa.org/style-gramma...
A screenshot of fake text showing the style separator, which looks like a paragraph mark with a dotted box around it.
August 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Team valuation between 21.3x - 42.6x!!

(reposting for the alt text)
A snippet from the article. Heading: Valuation explanation Chelsea reported £11.5 million ($15.4 million) in revenue for the 2023-24 season. That number is not quite what it seems and includes significant intercompany transfers — what’s known as “group income” — from the men’s team. Strip that away, and actual revenue falls by at least half to £5.75 million ($7.7 million) or less. At a £245 million valuation, that implies a 42.6x value-to-revenue multiple. Even without adjustment, the deal sits at 21.3x. For comparison, Angel City FC, the NWSL’s most valuable team, last sold for close to seven times its revenue. If the same 42.6x were to be applied to Angel City’s $31 million in organic revenue, their value would be over $1.3 billion. Interestingly, Ohanian is also a member of the original investor group in Angel City.
July 29, 2025 at 6:29 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Financial shenanigans in English women's football (soccer). www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/202...
A snippet from the article. Header: Bottom line To be clear, European women’s teams still hold long-term promise. <emphasis>The current valuations, though, are tethered to assets they don’t control, revenue that isn’t recurring and holding structures that obscure financial exposure.</emphasis> For investors looking to place capital in the space, these shouldn’t just be red flags; they should be bright, flashing warning signs.
July 29, 2025 at 3:10 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
If you're a cigarette company, maybe don't lead with "Philip Morris International recognizes the importance of taking risks...".

(I get what they're saying here, and business risks and product risks are completely different entities, but using that language is a questionable marketing decision.)
LinkedIn post from Philip Morris International. Main photo with text: "Philip Morris International recognizes the importance of taking risks and learning from mistakes--two concepts that are at the heart of innovation." Woman in photo is listed as Moira Gilchrist, Chief Communications Officer, PMI Text of the post: We're embracing change. We're taking risks. We're disrupting an industry we created and leaping into the heart of innovation. So says our Chief Communication Officer, @Moira Gilchrist, who knows that innovation is not without its risks.
July 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
The best license plate I have ever seen
#ArrestedDevelopment
A Chevy Volt car with the license plate "STEVOLT!"
July 25, 2025 at 1:08 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Saw Stranger Things: The First Shadow in NYC last night. It was so good that my wife started looking for tickets to see it again during intermission.

There are critiques that it's not a great "play" (however that's defined), but it's jaw-dropping entertainment and a fantastic viewing experience. 1/
A plush demogorgon (from the Stranger Things TV show) being held by a child's hand. In the background is the entrance to Stranger Things: The First Shadow, at the Marquis Theater in New York.
June 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
I've had Google Fi since it was invite-only Project Fi (2015). Yet, I still get ads to enroll in my GMail and on YouTube, both of which are Google products tied to my same email.

Meanwhile, the administration thinks they can connect an individual's accounts on a Federal systems.
GMail inbox showing an ad from Google Fi Wireless
June 12, 2025 at 4:48 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
Mi amore
Mi amore
Espresso macchiato, macchiato, macchiato
Por favore
Por favore

(I don't even like these much, but the Tommy Cash song has been stuck in my head for weeks now, so I had to give in)
An espresso macchiato from AmCo (Amherst Coffee)
June 5, 2025 at 4:51 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
The UMass mounted police were hit hard by budget cuts, apparently
Picture of a UMass police pickup truck with a hobby horse attached to the back
May 23, 2025 at 4:35 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
These guys agree.
Screenshot from The Departed, showing the scene where characters joke that anyone who ignores them is a cop.
May 8, 2025 at 4:26 AM
drbdt.bsky.social
"Harvard was the most erratic performer of the season, at times showing glimpses of power, but then falling off into raggedness of execution and general demoralization." (p17)

Found why browsing the underutilized NCAA document archives: ncaa.soutronglobal.net/Public/Defau...
Magazine cover for Spalding's Official Foot Ball [sic] Guide for 1904, Edited by Walter Camp, published by American Sports Publishing Co.
April 17, 2025 at 8:21 AM
drbdt.bsky.social
Related:
In Connecticut, the highway signs still say "Tappan Zee." When you cross the NY State line they all say "Cuomo Bridge."

Wikipedia editors aren't going with Cuomo, either.
Screenshot of a Wikipedia page with the title "Tappan Zee Bridge (2017–present)" It also shows "(Redirected from Cuomo Bridge)," indicating that Tappan Zee is the preferred name.
April 14, 2025 at 2:23 AM
drbdt.bsky.social
The Massachusetts RMV (aka, dept of motor vehicles) still refers to it as "Twitter". Normally, I'd say this is just an oversight that hasn't been fixed by the web team yet, but MA govt can be pretty spiteful.
Screenshot with this text: Thank you for using Mass.Gov/RMV . Follow us on Twitter @MassRMV
April 14, 2025 at 2:23 AM
drbdt.bsky.social
Some @nhlbruins.bsky.social fan is going to buy this.
municibid.com/Listing/Deta...

Currently $2,500 with 1 day to go.
Photo of a used Zamboni with the Heineken star and American flag Photo of a used Zamboni with the Bruins logo
April 13, 2025 at 7:01 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
The speechwriter AI just knew that "Greenland" and "land mass" went together.
A quote from The Princess Bride movie, with the terms "land mass" and "Greenland" highlighted: Fezzik: You never said anything about killing anyone. Vizzini: I've hired you to help me start a war. It's a prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition. Fezzik: I just don't think it's right, killing an innocent girl. Vizzini: Am I going MAD, or did the word "think" escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass. Inigo Montoya: I agree with Fezzik. Vizzini: Oh, the sot has spoken. What happens to her is not truly your concern. I will kill her. And remember this, never forget this: when I found you, you were so slobbering drunk, you couldn't buy brandy! [turning to Fezzik] Vizzini: And YOU: friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed, in Greenland?
April 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
drbdt.bsky.social
I had Gemini's Deep Research take a spin with sport rivalry research. Looks like @knowrivalry.com isn't replaced by AI quite yet.
An AI-generated report titled "The Academic Field of Sport Rivalry." Most of it is a list of codes like S_S1, S_S2, S_S7, etc.
April 1, 2025 at 9:12 AM
drbdt.bsky.social
Still image from SNL "First Citywide" commercial: "Our customers often ask how we make money doing this. This answer is simple: volume."
March 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM