Mike Urbancic
@urbancic.bsky.social
teaching professor of economics, faculty unionist at the University of Oregon | pedagogy, astronomy, tabletop gaming, parodies, data visualization, maps, sundry | #TeachEcon #EconSky 📈📉 | alum UArizona & Berkeley Econ | he/him
Pinned
Mike Urbancic
@urbancic.bsky.social
· Aug 11
Anyone on Bluesky a fan of astronomy, LEGO, or general nerdery?
I stumbled on a MIND-BLOWING Easter egg on the pink panel of LEGO set 21340: Tales of the Space Age.
🤯😱🤩
It’s so subtle and so *wonderful*!
Settle in for a tale within a Tale…
🧵
I stumbled on a MIND-BLOWING Easter egg on the pink panel of LEGO set 21340: Tales of the Space Age.
🤯😱🤩
It’s so subtle and so *wonderful*!
Settle in for a tale within a Tale…
🧵
*bottle of wine optional
--area teetotaling YIMBY
--area teetotaling YIMBY
November 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
*bottle of wine optional
--area teetotaling YIMBY
--area teetotaling YIMBY
You've just died.
The 6th photo in your gallery is what kilt you
Between a (potentially exploding) cauldron's brew or lack of sleep due to an addictive tabletop game, the latter seems more plausible for me.
(unsettlingly plausible, tbh)
The 6th photo in your gallery is what kilt you
Between a (potentially exploding) cauldron's brew or lack of sleep due to an addictive tabletop game, the latter seems more plausible for me.
(unsettlingly plausible, tbh)
November 27, 2025 at 12:04 AM
You've just died.
The 6th photo in your gallery is what kilt you
Between a (potentially exploding) cauldron's brew or lack of sleep due to an addictive tabletop game, the latter seems more plausible for me.
(unsettlingly plausible, tbh)
The 6th photo in your gallery is what kilt you
Between a (potentially exploding) cauldron's brew or lack of sleep due to an addictive tabletop game, the latter seems more plausible for me.
(unsettlingly plausible, tbh)
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
Why yes, I would like a 14 hour adaptation of Dune by a mentally unstable surrealist who hasn't read the book
November 26, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Why yes, I would like a 14 hour adaptation of Dune by a mentally unstable surrealist who hasn't read the book
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
do you have any idea how much you have to piss somebody off to make them change their gauge
#Finland will begin to #Russia - proof its rail network, integrate with EU train infrastructure.
The Finnish government has announced the conversion of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to European standard (1,435 mm).
www.trenvista.net/en/news/flas...
The Finnish government has announced the conversion of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to European standard (1,435 mm).
www.trenvista.net/en/news/flas...
November 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
do you have any idea how much you have to piss somebody off to make them change their gauge
Well I was born an original sinner.
I was borne from original sin.
And if I had a dollar bill
For all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money
Piled up to my chin
I was borne from original sin.
And if I had a dollar bill
For all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money
Piled up to my chin
November 23, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Well I was born an original sinner.
I was borne from original sin.
And if I had a dollar bill
For all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money
Piled up to my chin
I was borne from original sin.
And if I had a dollar bill
For all the things I've done
There'd be a mountain of money
Piled up to my chin
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
If nothing else, the LLM revolution is a great opportunity to *choose* to distinguish yourself - schools, governments, authorities of all kinds are telling people to check out, but you really don’t have to.
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 22, 2025 at 11:15 PM
If nothing else, the LLM revolution is a great opportunity to *choose* to distinguish yourself - schools, governments, authorities of all kinds are telling people to check out, but you really don’t have to.
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
There's got to be SOME hypothesis that makes our experiment useless. THINK!
COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/stats-3
PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm...
STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com
COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/stats-3
PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm...
STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:30 PM
There's got to be SOME hypothesis that makes our experiment useless. THINK!
COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/stats-3
PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm...
STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com
COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/stats-3
PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm...
STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com
scrolling up, my sadness for my country was eclipsed by my relief that this post wasn't about bamboo
November 18, 2025 at 3:31 AM
scrolling up, my sadness for my country was eclipsed by my relief that this post wasn't about bamboo
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
I will never get tired of watching meteorites blast new craters on the Moon.
This likely lunar impact flash appeared today. Like a space firefly. 🧪
This likely lunar impact flash appeared today. Like a space firefly. 🧪
Vous assistez, quasiment en direct à la formation d'un cratère sur la Lune, avec un impact filmé ce matin !
November 16, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I will never get tired of watching meteorites blast new craters on the Moon.
This likely lunar impact flash appeared today. Like a space firefly. 🧪
This likely lunar impact flash appeared today. Like a space firefly. 🧪
Today I've done a lot of laundry, washed a lot of dishes, and carameled a lot of popcorn.
Part of me just thought: "Maybe I should do a bit of work before going to bed."
The other part of me thought: "That part of me can go to hell."
Part of me just thought: "Maybe I should do a bit of work before going to bed."
The other part of me thought: "That part of me can go to hell."
November 16, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Today I've done a lot of laundry, washed a lot of dishes, and carameled a lot of popcorn.
Part of me just thought: "Maybe I should do a bit of work before going to bed."
The other part of me thought: "That part of me can go to hell."
Part of me just thought: "Maybe I should do a bit of work before going to bed."
The other part of me thought: "That part of me can go to hell."
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 12:13 AM
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
I, for one, think it's beautiful that the Georgia band plays "Battle Hymn of the Republic" when the Bulldogs score a touchdown. 🥹
November 16, 2025 at 1:11 AM
I, for one, think it's beautiful that the Georgia band plays "Battle Hymn of the Republic" when the Bulldogs score a touchdown. 🥹
50th anniversary celebration at Prince Pückler's this afternoon!
November 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
50th anniversary celebration at Prince Pückler's this afternoon!
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
This is a very early morning way to say:
I think more academic administrators should teach classes, at least a little bit.
I think more academic administrators should teach classes, at least a little bit.
November 15, 2025 at 10:26 AM
This is a very early morning way to say:
I think more academic administrators should teach classes, at least a little bit.
I think more academic administrators should teach classes, at least a little bit.
*Kid 1 starts to tell me a story about an incident in the DoughCo parking lot*
Kid 1: So I was sitting... in silence--but I didn't walk away.
me, weakly: ... 'Cause--because Ian told you not to???
me: *bursts into a bizarre mixture of sharp grief, genuine tears, and peals of HYSTERICAL laughter*
Kid 1: So I was sitting... in silence--but I didn't walk away.
me, weakly: ... 'Cause--because Ian told you not to???
me: *bursts into a bizarre mixture of sharp grief, genuine tears, and peals of HYSTERICAL laughter*
November 15, 2025 at 10:37 AM
*Kid 1 starts to tell me a story about an incident in the DoughCo parking lot*
Kid 1: So I was sitting... in silence--but I didn't walk away.
me, weakly: ... 'Cause--because Ian told you not to???
me: *bursts into a bizarre mixture of sharp grief, genuine tears, and peals of HYSTERICAL laughter*
Kid 1: So I was sitting... in silence--but I didn't walk away.
me, weakly: ... 'Cause--because Ian told you not to???
me: *bursts into a bizarre mixture of sharp grief, genuine tears, and peals of HYSTERICAL laughter*
🎶 Your own... Lucifer... chatbot
Hold up
November 15, 2025 at 10:21 AM
🎶 Your own... Lucifer... chatbot
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
I get why people always quote the ‘careless people’ quote from the great gatsby- it’s a powerful quote that applies to so many moments esp right now. Aaaaaand -
November 15, 2025 at 2:40 AM
I get why people always quote the ‘careless people’ quote from the great gatsby- it’s a powerful quote that applies to so many moments esp right now. Aaaaaand -
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
may life treat you the same way you treat service workers
October 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
may life treat you the same way you treat service workers
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
Special Situationship
Trump Official (Tom Homan) Says UK Not a ‘Friend’ to US www.newsweek.com/trumps-borde...
Trump official says UK not a "friend" to US
Homan says the U.K. is no longer a reliable U.S. ally after reports it stopped sharing intel on Caribbean drug-smuggling boats.
www.newsweek.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Special Situationship
Woe betide the Bluesky user who quotes "Bigmouth Strikes Again" by The Smiths!
This is unbelievable. I got suspended by bluesky just for quoting the lyrics of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and changing “hold your hand” to “stab you with a big knife”
November 15, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Woe betide the Bluesky user who quotes "Bigmouth Strikes Again" by The Smiths!
Reposted by Mike Urbancic
Grad Students: The Larry Summers news should shed any shred of imposter syndrome you've felt in academia. Clearly, academics* can be far from perfect (at everything from spelling to relationships to human decency) and still make it all the way to the top of ivory tower.
November 13, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Grad Students: The Larry Summers news should shed any shred of imposter syndrome you've felt in academia. Clearly, academics* can be far from perfect (at everything from spelling to relationships to human decency) and still make it all the way to the top of ivory tower.