My employer is soliciting guidance from the rank and file as to their response to the OMB's proposed rules regarding research funding (www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...) Have they considered necromancy?

"911, what's your emergency?" "Hello, Police? Yeah, our highest award recipient is at our meeting handing out copies of an article that we published. And uh....we....well....shit, nevermind." (gift link)

Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

How old do you have to be until it’s socially acceptable to tell the woman sitting behind you on public transport that her boyfriend is a complete dickbag and she deserves better as a human being.

While I appreciate apple puts a limit on high volume levels in headphones I need an override for “I am in an enclosed space with an impatient toddler and need to listen to Motorhead at very high volumes”. Please and thank you and why is this not a thing already.

Taking a flight for the first time in nearly a decade. Rate of masking is less than 1% but I’m doing so as my 79 year old mother gets all the exposure to horrible diseases she could hope for from the grandkids and I would prefer to not bring something new to the inter family biome.

*sobs in software developer* It’s the impossible dream.

"AI boosters see human beings as almost purely idealized, creative engines: prime movers in an increasingly technologized process. In reality, creativity is revealed in work and the toil of figuring things out... It is where creativity itself emerges."

I attempted to make an appointment with a nutritionist for a fairly specific set of questions. It seems they flagged me as someone who identifies as a heterosexual male of a certain age which means they are now requiring me to take a class first.

www.wired.com/story/cobol-... I was wondering why I got an advertisement for learning Cobol... I learned to program on Fortran '77 so I understand some of the... ah... quirks of older languages which had to work under very limited resources and with peculiarities of the hardware.

Good. There's still too many people who seem enamored with the idea that being the product of a certified creampie from a posh twit is sufficient qualification for leadership.

That was, after all, the whole "move fast and break things" ethos. It's not really engineering.

I keep reading articles claiming that “the cost of code is approaching zero” due to AI code generators. Which as someone who works on a 15 year old app sounds like bullshit. You can spit out code quickly but does it work, will it continue to work and most importantly, can you change it later?

As I spent all of last night shivering in my bed with Adam Ant running on repeat through my head due to a robust immune response from my second shingles vaccination I’m wondering how much of vaccine hesitation is not understanding that feeling like shit for 20-30 hours is just part of the process

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Been doing some updates to my decade old Fuji X-T2 while I wait for the X-T6 to come out (maybe later this year, maybe I can afford it then, maybe not).

And by using GenAI we don't mean spreading a bit of butter on your toast in the morning, we mean unwrapping an entire pound of butter, slapping that on the bread and unhinging your jaw. Three times a day.

I respect that the Fed has gone out of its way to be as boring as possible… and this is how a boring person screams.

As my sleep patterns have been haphazard at best lately I did spend half the day thinking that I must have hallucinated reading news headlines for the Venezuela strikes as I was half awake at 5:00 in the morning. It’s been very disappointing to discover that it was not a hallucination.

One of the more annoying aspects of getting treated for ADHD is that you constantly need to remind yourself that as you’re not taking your medication on the weekends, it’s normal to feel like a complete unfocused shit show.

Given that one of the companies in the article is Palantir at least we have the comfort of knowing they're handing out a highly addictive drug that increases risk of stroke and heart attacks to some of the worst people in our society.

I probably shouldn't say this out loud, but given the administration's tendencies and their "wartime" messaging I wouldn't be surprised if they tried starting to draft people into ICE. Yes, that's not how the draft is supposed to work but when did that stop anyone?

This year sucked shit. My now late wife decided to end her struggle with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis with the help of the Final Exit Network. In short, she killed herself. I also work in research administration for a large university and you know what they've done to the sciences.

Makes sense. What have humans been using cats for? Killing shit. They haven't been selectively bred because they're already really, really good at it. Being orange and having one brain cell doesn't get in the way of murder so why bother trying to improve on Bhaal's bestest little buddy?

One of the more annoying things about type 2 diabetes is travel. At least for people who manage it using diet and exercise. Exercise is easy. Diet is not.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2... One of the more curious traits of certain Christians is their lack of interest in doctrine. Or at least their seeming lack of understanding that differences in doctrine exist between denominations.

I never could afford a Widelux but I had a Horizon Perfekt which is the Holga version of the camera. Absolutely loved shooting with it. So excited about the revival of this panoramic format camera. wideluxx.com But to be honest, I'm excited for other people. I'm done with film.

Nah, get an old laptop, point the camera at it and play Richard Simmons workout videos on a loop. Share and enjoy every time they ask for footage

Shit. Most adults don't need a protein supplement but I have to do strength training to avoid going on medication for type 2 diabetes so I've been drinking a shake most days. I've been getting one that wasn't tested but looks like I'll have to switch to a more expensive brand now.

If you ever feel stupid for any personal finance decisions you might have made, you didn't make this kind of decision. And you also have the excuse that a bunch of folks in accounting didn't stare at you in horror when you brushed aside their excel sheets which indicated CERTAIN DOOM.

Given that AI was sold with a ROI of investors holding literally all the money there is to be had, it’s not going to end well.

Recent still life work. Ive been focusing on planning shoots rather than winging it like I have for the past 20 years.

I noticed that my preferred Spanish wine was on deep discount at the grocery store. While initially delightful I suspect they’re trying to sell out their stock.

Looks like a piece of Iron Maiden merch that didn’t get rejected as much as it was encased in lead and dropped into the sea along with its creator as a warning for all others

This for an article claiming 1/3 of Americans have a romantic relationship with a chatbot. So repeatedly asking Siri or Grok if they’re fucking your partner is not necessary at the current time.

I’m somewhat glad I’m on vacation at the moment as the government shuts down. I work in research administration and all the federal grant related systems are going to be offline. Which might blow up some of our software but will definitely fuck over our local science hippies.

According to this proclamation anyone holding a H-1B visa who is outside the country and does not re-enter within the next 20 or so hours will be denied entry unless they can prove they have paid $100k. To whom is a little unclear.

Finance guy says it’s nearly impossible for data centers to turn a profit given the insane depreciation on the chips. On the bright side if they have a few bankruptcy sales we might get much cheaper rent-a-rig streaming gaming services.

As women worldwide have gained education and career opportunities, many have grown more selective. Women want independence, while many men expect a “servant at home”, says Fernández-Villaverde. “Women are asking, ‘Why would I marry this person?’ A lot of men are undateable. Truly undateable.”

www.axios.com/2025/08/21/a... Will this reverse the billions of dollars people in expensive suits are shoveling into the bullshit fires? Of course not.

Over the weekend someone broke into our building’s parking garage and then broke into the elevator service room and did some undisclosed damages. I’m still trying to figure out why someone would go to the trouble of taking a crowbar to that particular door but no other.

gizmodo.com/the-world-wi... I do take exception that humanity as a whole isn’t capable of facing our current and near future economic, political, and social crises. It’s the people in charge who have a problem. I suppose our problem is we don’t hunt and eat them nearly often enough.

www.finalroundai.com/blog/softwar... tl;dr version: we can get the robot to code but it’s an idiot and needs constant supervision. You are now the code janitor. No, we won’t hire a recent grad who also needs supervision but is capable of learning.

‘The company is yet to experiment with creating plus-size women, claiming "the technology is not advanced enough for that".’ That’s a take so stupid they should be smacked with a week old mackerel and prohibited from using any technology more advanced than a pencil.

They might have more traction outside of those-we-used-to-call-hipsters if you marketed these as civilian body cams rather than content creation devices. The cops can grab your phone if you try recording them but they might miss your glasses.

Just got my ballot and it’s mayoral election time in the anarchist jurisdiction of Seattle. And there’s Bruce Harrell. A guy I didn’t vote for last time because he seemed to be overly concerned with the cops and corps. But somehow he still managed to disappoint.

Huh, I might have a job next year after all. We'll see if the rest of congress can act like adults and not bludgeon the economic golden goose that is the US research community.

PUT IT INSIDE MY BODY.... ahem, as a lifelong allergy sufferer... this sounds spiffy. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

If you're a member of the Democratic gerontocracy, the chances of you catching a primary challenger just went up 1000%.

www.science.org/content/arti... If orcas enjoy a good exfoliation can we get a team of marine biologists to introduce them to a loofah scrub down and attempt to use that service as a negotiating tactic to get them to agree to sink Jeff Bezos' big stupid yacht?

Entire thread is a delight to read in its entirety but wanted to pull this out. This point seems to be something that more than a few straight white male type people have a very, very difficult time grasping when it comes to women's choices for their personal appearance.