Michael S. Kirkpatrick
@kirkpams.bsky.social
CS prof@JMU (OpenCSF.org, privacy/ethics, CSed). Author (Computer Systems Fundamentals - Franklin & Beedle). Chair, ACM Ethics&Plagiarism Committee. Father. AuDHD. Skiing and Kung Fu fanatic. Signal @kirkpams.13
WHAT WAS THAT PASS AND CATCH, CALEB WILLIAMS?!? Wow! 🤯
January 19, 2026 at 2:36 AM
WHAT WAS THAT PASS AND CATCH, CALEB WILLIAMS?!? Wow! 🤯
Reposted by Michael S. Kirkpatrick
I can’t stop laughing at this
January 17, 2026 at 12:03 AM
I can’t stop laughing at this
I came in every day, saw the only projects available required 10 years of COBOL (I had none), then did nothing for 8 hours. I was in a new hire program that protected me from layoffs for 1 yr. I saw others billing 40+ hours weekly laid off. I saw offers rescinded before starting. It was awful.
With that in mind: if you were working in the tech industry during the dot com bubble bursting, how…was it? How bad?
Yeah, I was right in the middle of it. And yeah, the whole “dark fiber” thing was a wonder to behold. Now we have “dark GPUs” that will be obsolete by the time the data centers are built, which are waiting for the power and water infra. Yeah lots of companies are going to die.
January 16, 2026 at 3:49 PM
I came in every day, saw the only projects available required 10 years of COBOL (I had none), then did nothing for 8 hours. I was in a new hire program that protected me from layoffs for 1 yr. I saw others billing 40+ hours weekly laid off. I saw offers rescinded before starting. It was awful.
How long until the CEO of Kaiser becomes a Senator from Florida? 🙄
Kaiser Permanente, DOJ reach $556 million Medicare Advantage fraud settlement, the largest of its kind www.statnews.com/2026/01/14/k...
Kaiser Permanente, DOJ reach $556 million Medicare Advantage fraud settlement, the largest of its kind
Kaiser Permanente and the DOJ reached a $556 million Medicare Advantage fraud settlement, the largest of its kind.
www.statnews.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:27 PM
How long until the CEO of Kaiser becomes a Senator from Florida? 🙄
This thread is…a lot.
Yes, we are the baddies.
Yes, we are the baddies.
January 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM
This thread is…a lot.
Yes, we are the baddies.
Yes, we are the baddies.
I wish I remembered who recommended Dept. Q as a follow-up to Down Cemetery Road, because I’d love to thank them! It’s such a great show.
January 12, 2026 at 5:06 AM
I wish I remembered who recommended Dept. Q as a follow-up to Down Cemetery Road, because I’d love to thank them! It’s such a great show.
As an alum of both, if you told me that I’d be watching IU play for a NCAA championship in football less than two years after Purdue doing the same in basketball, I’d think you were delusional.
January 11, 2026 at 10:00 PM
As an alum of both, if you told me that I’d be watching IU play for a NCAA championship in football less than two years after Purdue doing the same in basketball, I’d think you were delusional.
Completely a conspiracy theory but my first reaction was: what if Waymo is protecting this info because the number on the road is far fewer than what they’re telling investors?
January 11, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Completely a conspiracy theory but my first reaction was: what if Waymo is protecting this info because the number on the road is far fewer than what they’re telling investors?
Reposted by Michael S. Kirkpatrick
A ream of norms are being shattered daily, but as a tech expert this one really shocks me. For a generation CSAM has been *THE* flaming red line for a tech platform. If they spent money on ANYTHING, it was moderating it miles away. To even have the whiff of it was a Federal kiss of death. Now? 🤷♂️
I want to highlight this important story by my friends @nbcnews.com - www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne... "The Internet Watch Foundation said it found topless images of girls that dark web forum users attributed to xAI’s Grok Imagine." <-- the AI generated CSAM / NCII immediately escapes containment
Dark web users cite Grok as tool for making 'criminal imagery' of kids, U.K. watchdog says
The Internet Watch Foundation said it found topless images of girls that dark web forum users attributed to xAI’s Grok Imagine.
www.nbcnews.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:11 PM
A ream of norms are being shattered daily, but as a tech expert this one really shocks me. For a generation CSAM has been *THE* flaming red line for a tech platform. If they spent money on ANYTHING, it was moderating it miles away. To even have the whiff of it was a Federal kiss of death. Now? 🤷♂️
Truth. And going from there to dealing with ethics & plagiarism doesn’t really help.
The problem with working in computer security is you learn never to trust anyone. The problem with never trusting anyone is that often you’re right!
January 10, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Truth. And going from there to dealing with ethics & plagiarism doesn’t really help.
They’re intentionally aiming for faces. 🤬
Every single one of them, cowards wearing plate carriers when facing people holding nothing more than snowballs.
Minneapolis, after the murder of Renee Nicole Good.
January 10, 2026 at 12:52 AM
They’re intentionally aiming for faces. 🤬
This is the way.
"Have you at any time in the past worked for ICE, or engaged in or supported immigration enforcement operations through DHS in any way?" is going to be a better screening question on employment applications than any other I can think of.
January 9, 2026 at 8:49 PM
This is the way.
Remember that time when $600M changed hands because information was released *milliseconds* early? Now Trump's just tossing out a 12-hour head start to his social media followers. Wow.
January 9, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Remember that time when $600M changed hands because information was released *milliseconds* early? Now Trump's just tossing out a 12-hour head start to his social media followers. Wow.
Become ungovernable.
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
January 9, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Become ungovernable.
So, at what point do priests start denying Communion to him, just like they've done to pro-choice politicians? I'm not holding my breath...
Editorial in the National Catholic Reporter: "The vice president's comments justifying the death of Renee Good are a moral stain on the collective witness of our Catholic faith. His repeated attempts to blame Good for her own death are fundamentally incompatible with the Gospel."
Catholic Vice President Vance takes to social media to justify killing of Renee Good
After the tragic shooting of Renee Good at the hands of ICE, the Catholic vice president of the United States took to social media to justify the killing.
www.ncronline.org
January 8, 2026 at 11:50 PM
So, at what point do priests start denying Communion to him, just like they've done to pro-choice politicians? I'm not holding my breath...
To counter yesterday's horror, I needed this timeline cleanse: a picture of an otter hugging a cat. I think I'm just going to sit and stare at this for a while to reset my brain.
A new office cat joined this week. Steve is doing the onboarding. Steve loves cats.
January 8, 2026 at 3:36 PM
To counter yesterday's horror, I needed this timeline cleanse: a picture of an otter hugging a cat. I think I'm just going to sit and stare at this for a while to reset my brain.
Reposted by Michael S. Kirkpatrick
this is your mission. roll up to this daycare in full tactical gear to harass some kids and teachers. when you get spooked by your own shadow like a panicked horse and start shooting your gun, our pedophile president will call the person you shot a terrorist. good luck soldier
January 8, 2026 at 2:33 PM
this is your mission. roll up to this daycare in full tactical gear to harass some kids and teachers. when you get spooked by your own shadow like a panicked horse and start shooting your gun, our pedophile president will call the person you shot a terrorist. good luck soldier
Abolish and prosecute.
Noticing the stark absence of agents of ICE, CBP, or any U.S. law enforcement agency standing up right now to say shooting people exercising their rights is unacceptable.
January 8, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Abolish and prosecute.
Reposted by Michael S. Kirkpatrick
I've said it a lot lately: the problem with nonconsensual deepfake porn of adults isn't the "porn" part, it's the "nonconsensual" part. That HAS to be accounted for when regulating, otherwise you're just banning legal porn, which is (1) unconstitutional but (2) what the Heritage Foundation wants.
January 5, 2026 at 10:34 PM
I've said it a lot lately: the problem with nonconsensual deepfake porn of adults isn't the "porn" part, it's the "nonconsensual" part. That HAS to be accounted for when regulating, otherwise you're just banning legal porn, which is (1) unconstitutional but (2) what the Heritage Foundation wants.
Reposted by Michael S. Kirkpatrick
Me, about 2 months ago: “The Colts are 7-1. This is going to be a great season!”
Me, now: “Yeah, I just give up on this whole sportsball stuff.” 🤦♂️
Me, now: “Yeah, I just give up on this whole sportsball stuff.” 🤦♂️
January 6, 2026 at 3:49 AM
Me, about 2 months ago: “The Colts are 7-1. This is going to be a great season!”
Me, now: “Yeah, I just give up on this whole sportsball stuff.” 🤦♂️
Me, now: “Yeah, I just give up on this whole sportsball stuff.” 🤦♂️
Just logged into Twitter for the first time in months to check out the dumpster fire and...whew... Nick Fuentes was pretty close to the top of the "For You" feed. Um, no thanks, do not recommend. Yeesh.
January 5, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Just logged into Twitter for the first time in months to check out the dumpster fire and...whew... Nick Fuentes was pretty close to the top of the "For You" feed. Um, no thanks, do not recommend. Yeesh.
Reposted by Michael S. Kirkpatrick
It’s so interesting to see how years of algorithmically boosted CSAM on X still hasn’t interested the protect-the-kids crowd — I don’t know if it’s denial or ignorance or malice or what but it’s striking, considering our cultural politics.
"The proposed legislation would require parental approval to override the limits on strangers interacting with minors. It would also impose new restrictions on minors connecting with A.I. chatbots after tragedies like the suicide of a Florida teenager who fell in love with a chatbot."
Hochul to Press for New Safeguards to Protect Children Online
www.nytimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:29 PM
It’s so interesting to see how years of algorithmically boosted CSAM on X still hasn’t interested the protect-the-kids crowd — I don’t know if it’s denial or ignorance or malice or what but it’s striking, considering our cultural politics.
This seems to be nearly a universal experience. I’m leading a workshop on it at a CS Ed conference. It filled up before early registration even closed. I’m increasingly of the view that LLMs are actively detrimental to the desirable difficulties that make for a good education beyond job training.
Exactly. I think if you are curious and already have experience or expertise in a domain there are really enormous opportunities for using this to learn in productive ways. I also think LLM’s are actively undermining that curiosity and domain expertise for our students.
January 5, 2026 at 2:03 PM
This seems to be nearly a universal experience. I’m leading a workshop on it at a CS Ed conference. It filled up before early registration even closed. I’m increasingly of the view that LLMs are actively detrimental to the desirable difficulties that make for a good education beyond job training.
This is just insane. Are AI companies deliberately trying to get Congress to kill Section 230 and destroy the Internet as we know it?
Unless I'm missing something, and I'm pretty sure I'm not, Twitter's AI is cranking out CSAM deepfakes, Elon Musk is making jokes about it, and nobody is doing anything to stop it or hold anyone at Twitter accountable for its creation and distribution.
Is that right?
Is that right?
January 3, 2026 at 4:20 AM
This is just insane. Are AI companies deliberately trying to get Congress to kill Section 230 and destroy the Internet as we know it?