Michael Ekstrand
@md.ekstrandom.net
Info sci prof @ Drexel, trying to keep the machines (esp. RecSys & IR) from learning bigotry and discrimination. ADHDS9. Usually self-propelled. Opinions those of the Vulcan Science Academy. 🐰x2.
🏡 https://md.ekstrandom.net
🧪 https://inertial.science
🏡 https://md.ekstrandom.net
🧪 https://inertial.science
Read this today by @mattseybold.bsky.social. Aligns with some things I have been thinking about with AI accountability and alternate models of educational technology that are designed and governed by teachers instead of imposed upon them. open.substack.com/pub/theameri...
Against Technofeudal Education
Pillars For Protecting Our "Core Infrastructure" From OpenAI
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Read this today by @mattseybold.bsky.social. Aligns with some things I have been thinking about with AI accountability and alternate models of educational technology that are designed and governed by teachers instead of imposed upon them. open.substack.com/pub/theameri...
possible character if I’m ever invited to join a steampunk D&D campaign: a bard petty criminal and hater of fascism inspired by Jake Blues, but make it steampunk.
November 13, 2025 at 2:06 PM
possible character if I’m ever invited to join a steampunk D&D campaign: a bard petty criminal and hater of fascism inspired by Jake Blues, but make it steampunk.
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
The strike is not about whether or not you approve of Starbucks coffee. It's about the workers, who like all workers deserve equitable treatment and fair pay. That is the issue. Why bring up your personal feelings about the coffee? Nobody in this conversation cares. Start another thread about it.
November 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
The strike is not about whether or not you approve of Starbucks coffee. It's about the workers, who like all workers deserve equitable treatment and fair pay. That is the issue. Why bring up your personal feelings about the coffee? Nobody in this conversation cares. Start another thread about it.
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
Early WIP right now, but starting a new thing: a collection of “Notes on Data Science” to collect various tutorials, software info, and resources for my teaching & research students. Built with @quarto.org. nods.ekstrandom.net
Notes on Data Science
Tutorials, references, and other resources to support practical hands-on data science research and teaching.
nods.ekstrandom.net
November 13, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Early WIP right now, but starting a new thing: a collection of “Notes on Data Science” to collect various tutorials, software info, and resources for my teaching & research students. Built with @quarto.org. nods.ekstrandom.net
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
Seems like we're in a Sandy Hook moment.
We can enforce social taboos against pedophilia by shunning Epstein's friends & hangers-on, stripping them of social & political legitimacy; or we can shrug our collective shoulders, confuse legal and moral standards, and in the process weaken those taboos.
We can enforce social taboos against pedophilia by shunning Epstein's friends & hangers-on, stripping them of social & political legitimacy; or we can shrug our collective shoulders, confuse legal and moral standards, and in the process weaken those taboos.
November 13, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Seems like we're in a Sandy Hook moment.
We can enforce social taboos against pedophilia by shunning Epstein's friends & hangers-on, stripping them of social & political legitimacy; or we can shrug our collective shoulders, confuse legal and moral standards, and in the process weaken those taboos.
We can enforce social taboos against pedophilia by shunning Epstein's friends & hangers-on, stripping them of social & political legitimacy; or we can shrug our collective shoulders, confuse legal and moral standards, and in the process weaken those taboos.
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
Every morning when waking up.
November 13, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Every morning when waking up.
Has Vatican Security been suitably briefed on persistent threats?
November 13, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Has Vatican Security been suitably briefed on persistent threats?
Early WIP right now, but starting a new thing: a collection of “Notes on Data Science” to collect various tutorials, software info, and resources for my teaching & research students. Built with @quarto.org. nods.ekstrandom.net
Notes on Data Science
Tutorials, references, and other resources to support practical hands-on data science research and teaching.
nods.ekstrandom.net
November 13, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Early WIP right now, but starting a new thing: a collection of “Notes on Data Science” to collect various tutorials, software info, and resources for my teaching & research students. Built with @quarto.org. nods.ekstrandom.net
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
I went through a perspective shift lately that if we want to fix the real issues with info, media, and sense-making in the 21st century, we can’t start from the position that we are already doomed to no longer access ground truth or share a consensus reality, but can in fact still know true things
November 12, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I went through a perspective shift lately that if we want to fix the real issues with info, media, and sense-making in the 21st century, we can’t start from the position that we are already doomed to no longer access ground truth or share a consensus reality, but can in fact still know true things
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
saw a thing abt "iPhone Pocket" and briefly got excited, are they making small phones again?!?
and no, it's just a very premium knitted pocket to carry your iPhone.
and no, it's just a very premium knitted pocket to carry your iPhone.
November 11, 2025 at 8:19 PM
saw a thing abt "iPhone Pocket" and briefly got excited, are they making small phones again?!?
and no, it's just a very premium knitted pocket to carry your iPhone.
and no, it's just a very premium knitted pocket to carry your iPhone.
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
If there's one thing I would like everyone over 25 to know, it's that way more of the government is run by the people who just decided to show up to meetings than you realize.
Attend a couple city commission meetings yourself, and they lose a lot of the mystique.
Attend a couple city commission meetings yourself, and they lose a lot of the mystique.
Right, the answer isn't to abandon the party to these weasels.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
Hey, a lot of people are talking about changing affiliation from Democratic to Independent.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
November 11, 2025 at 5:08 PM
If there's one thing I would like everyone over 25 to know, it's that way more of the government is run by the people who just decided to show up to meetings than you realize.
Attend a couple city commission meetings yourself, and they lose a lot of the mystique.
Attend a couple city commission meetings yourself, and they lose a lot of the mystique.
for a hot second I thought this cartoon was about statistics and was confused.
Idiom Origin
“pull yourself up by your bootstraps”
This was originally *sarcasm* & meant to convey that the act was impossible.
A boot strap is a loop used to help put your boot on.
This 1921 cartoon from the “Nonpartisan Leader” showcases that you can’t pull upward on your boots to levitate.
“pull yourself up by your bootstraps”
This was originally *sarcasm* & meant to convey that the act was impossible.
A boot strap is a loop used to help put your boot on.
This 1921 cartoon from the “Nonpartisan Leader” showcases that you can’t pull upward on your boots to levitate.
November 11, 2025 at 1:48 PM
for a hot second I thought this cartoon was about statistics and was confused.
“Per compliance policy, certain AI-generated fields cannot be manually updated and require vendor correction”
wtf compliance policy is this? Some insurance thing? Vendor-imposed bullshit?
You shouldn’t need the vendor involved to correct AI mistakes.
wtf compliance policy is this? Some insurance thing? Vendor-imposed bullshit?
You shouldn’t need the vendor involved to correct AI mistakes.
a few months ago I said "having generative AI handle absolutely anything with regards to healthcare is a nightmare and should be banned" and a bunch of people made fun of me and called me stupid. anyways,
November 11, 2025 at 12:32 PM
“Per compliance policy, certain AI-generated fields cannot be manually updated and require vendor correction”
wtf compliance policy is this? Some insurance thing? Vendor-imposed bullshit?
You shouldn’t need the vendor involved to correct AI mistakes.
wtf compliance policy is this? Some insurance thing? Vendor-imposed bullshit?
You shouldn’t need the vendor involved to correct AI mistakes.
this.
this year at 40yo I finally started playing TTRPGs, one-shots and mini- campaigns while I look for a full campaign to join.
it has been a lot of fun and also cathartic.
Currently playing a professional thief & contract assassin who deeply distrusts all things digital in a cyberpunk setting.
this year at 40yo I finally started playing TTRPGs, one-shots and mini- campaigns while I look for a full campaign to join.
it has been a lot of fun and also cathartic.
Currently playing a professional thief & contract assassin who deeply distrusts all things digital in a cyberpunk setting.
This all the way to the bone marrow. Find things that bring you joy and cling to them like the life preserver they are in the stormy seas of our present moment in history.
I saw someone on my timeline shaming someone else for posting about college football in a time like this.
Folks, if we're going to survive a time like this, we're going to need to avoid burning out from an attitude of 24/7 vigilance and constant outrage.
Let people find joy where they can, please.
Folks, if we're going to survive a time like this, we're going to need to avoid burning out from an attitude of 24/7 vigilance and constant outrage.
Let people find joy where they can, please.
November 9, 2025 at 12:08 AM
this.
this year at 40yo I finally started playing TTRPGs, one-shots and mini- campaigns while I look for a full campaign to join.
it has been a lot of fun and also cathartic.
Currently playing a professional thief & contract assassin who deeply distrusts all things digital in a cyberpunk setting.
this year at 40yo I finally started playing TTRPGs, one-shots and mini- campaigns while I look for a full campaign to join.
it has been a lot of fun and also cathartic.
Currently playing a professional thief & contract assassin who deeply distrusts all things digital in a cyberpunk setting.
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
virtue signalling is good actually
Performative decency is actually *so* important for this reason.
It tricks the 10% of ghouls into thinking that there are only 1% of ghouls.
And it makes the 30% of people that don't care one way or another follow the mostly decent crowd
It tricks the 10% of ghouls into thinking that there are only 1% of ghouls.
And it makes the 30% of people that don't care one way or another follow the mostly decent crowd
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
virtue signalling is good actually
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
"Eat your own dogfood" is actually a credible business strategy.
(Circa 2000 I worked at Cisco, which used its own VoIP phones internally, for just this reason. Which back then weren't very good. So the company struggled to talk to itself... but it probably helped make a better product.)
(Circa 2000 I worked at Cisco, which used its own VoIP phones internally, for just this reason. Which back then weren't very good. So the company struggled to talk to itself... but it probably helped make a better product.)
15 years ago, I said every social media founder should be forced to use and live with the default settings of their platforms. Now I would say that the AI founders should have their tools pointed at their families for a year before they can deploy them elsewhere.
I seem to remember whole congressional hearings about the terrible destructive force that is violence in video games and yet, there is a very strange quiet about an unregulated technology that coaches people to suicide.
November 7, 2025 at 2:41 PM
"Eat your own dogfood" is actually a credible business strategy.
(Circa 2000 I worked at Cisco, which used its own VoIP phones internally, for just this reason. Which back then weren't very good. So the company struggled to talk to itself... but it probably helped make a better product.)
(Circa 2000 I worked at Cisco, which used its own VoIP phones internally, for just this reason. Which back then weren't very good. So the company struggled to talk to itself... but it probably helped make a better product.)
This is absolutely cursed. It’s giving eldritch horror.
I love it, now what would ggplotz look like?
I love it, now what would ggplotz look like?
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
This is absolutely cursed. It’s giving eldritch horror.
I love it, now what would ggplotz look like?
I love it, now what would ggplotz look like?
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
November 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
<taps the sign> it is basically always a category error to use physical attributes to predict socially-contingent or constructed classes of actions.
We should avoid such category errors as a matter of scientific rigor.
We should avoid such category errors as a matter of scientific rigor.
bro are you fucking kidding me
November 7, 2025 at 12:16 PM
<taps the sign> it is basically always a category error to use physical attributes to predict socially-contingent or constructed classes of actions.
We should avoid such category errors as a matter of scientific rigor.
We should avoid such category errors as a matter of scientific rigor.
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
Our School of Information Sciences is running four searches, and we can hire more than four candidates. Here’s the first link, for a job that might appeal to people working in history of information, history of science, or digital humanities. +
Assistant/Associate/Full Professor in Information, Culture & Society - School of Information Science
Duties & Responsibilities
illinois.csod.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Our School of Information Sciences is running four searches, and we can hire more than four candidates. Here’s the first link, for a job that might appeal to people working in history of information, history of science, or digital humanities. +
thread + post reminded me of Candycorn Krispykreme (Kipperlilly Copperkettle) from Fantasy High Junior Year, except the Intrepid Heroes were not nearly so consistent in formulating alternate monikers.
Higgledy piggledy
Timothée Chalamet
Has a name meriting
Endless design
Much like his forerunner
Benedict Cumberbatch:
Hexasyllabically,
Easy to rhyme
Timothée Chalamet
Has a name meriting
Endless design
Much like his forerunner
Benedict Cumberbatch:
Hexasyllabically,
Easy to rhyme
November 6, 2025 at 12:44 PM
thread + post reminded me of Candycorn Krispykreme (Kipperlilly Copperkettle) from Fantasy High Junior Year, except the Intrepid Heroes were not nearly so consistent in formulating alternate monikers.
Reposted by Michael Ekstrand
New favourite example of structural ambiguity
November 5, 2025 at 4:54 AM
New favourite example of structural ambiguity