Ryan Comes
rbcomes.bsky.social
Ryan Comes
@rbcomes.bsky.social
Delaware MSE faculty leading FINCH Lab growing oxide & chalcogenide films; formerly Auburn & PNNL; Carnegie Mellon & UVA alum/sports fan. Opinions here are mine, not my employer's. There will be a lot of politics. He/him.
http://sites.udel.edu/finch-lab
I did recorded presentations last spring. It was...ok. Part of a larger project and the viewers had to submit questions to a forum. I'm keeping it but will make some changes.

Does your big class have recitation sections? Could run the group presentations there.
November 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
You can also do recorded presentations through Canvas and devise a peer review system for the big class.
November 24, 2025 at 6:32 PM
No idea on online.

I did oral quizzes in my office for my small grad class this semester as a pilot. Lot of work but also valuable to see what they understand and what they don't. I may scale it up for my upper-level undergrad in the spring, which is twice as big (15 vs. 7).
November 24, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Anybody longing for yesteryear just needs to actually listen to the lyrics of We Didn't Start the Fire. The 50s through the 70s were incredibly turbulent.
November 24, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Every grandkid wants a turbo pump under the tree and a scroll pump in their stocking!
November 21, 2025 at 8:37 PM
I'm thinking a Bluesky holiday t-shirt contest is in order for best troll of Sean Duffy.
November 20, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Agreed. We ran one when I was at Auburn and it was a blast.

I'd wager it's related to universities feeling heat on DEI from DOJ/DOE. This takes the organizing and hosting duties off the schools, but there's no way APS can pull off regional events without using school facilities and staffing.
November 10, 2025 at 11:36 PM
I have a few theories on why and they're all because of politics.
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Deny time waivers and keep fighting this week. There are more cloture votes to come.
November 10, 2025 at 1:32 AM
To really make this count, you should oppose time waivers. Draw this out and keep the pressure on your colleagues. Get amendment votes.
November 10, 2025 at 1:13 AM
He got the retiring ones to do the dirty work instead.
November 10, 2025 at 12:45 AM
To be clear, @coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov , the shutdown hurts me professionally through my work at UD. It hurts friends who work for the government. But it's the only tool available to rein in Trump's lawlessness. Capitulating now is not the answer.
November 9, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I actually think there's something to be said for just voting for the clean House CR and nothing else right now since it expires on the 21st. Open the government long enough for them to get a paycheck, fix ATC and SNAP for November, and make the House vote again on a new CR right away.
November 9, 2025 at 10:44 PM
While I agree that's the best outcome for competitiveness, I think the viable route to legislate this federally is compactness as the metric with districts drawn by computer. Compactness plays well with voters. You'll get some D+60 seats, but Dems would narrowly control the House now with this rule.
November 6, 2025 at 1:33 PM
That wasn't my strategy, but it sort of worked out that way with my fall 2024 move. My startup gives me more flexibility than my colleagues and even I'm pinching pennies and anxious about money now.
November 3, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I have more followers and generate more engagement when I tag the science feeds. But I can also attest that many of the people in my field I used to interact with on Twitter either haven't moved or use Bluesky a lot less. It's less useful for me as a result even if I get more likes.
November 3, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Agreed. There was a healthy Twitter group for our generation (roughly grad students and postdocs when Twitter was taking off) who moved, but we're not drawing many current students or postdocs here on Bluesky. Very few of the senior folks made the move over here either.
November 2, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I deleted Twitter earlier this year after leaving a goodbye post pinned for a few months in case anyone wanted to find me. Do like that idea for LinkedIn though.
November 2, 2025 at 9:13 PM
I'm certainly guilty of being pretty political, while some of the others who moved here but aren't as active stay out of that arena. The algorithm does seem to be a common complaint. I don't find that sharing our papers here has any value because nobody notices.
November 2, 2025 at 8:37 PM