Does your university use ChatGPT Edu? Please send me a DM if you do. I have identified a potential data breach affecting students' data that has not yet been fixed and I'm trying to compile further examples from other universities. Reposts appreciated!

Oregon Trail was a great game even though the graphics were a little buggy

Incredible moments in Chicago history

One of those days where you have a ton of virtual student meetings and Microsoft Teams decides not to recognize your microphone because Teams is G A R B A G E

I would have preferred a Chevrolet 490, but yeah something tells me imma need more shelf space soon 👀👀👀 jaysbrickblog.com/news/lego-11...

Today is the 90th anniversary of @consumerreports.org! From our first issue: Raw milk is dangerous, check for hidden lead in kids' toys, don't waste money on premium fuel if your car doesn't need it, and watch out for low-quality clothing made with poor labor practices. Also, stockings.

Computer keyboards: 1990s IBM Model M that came bundled with desktop pc still amazing after 3 decades; hotswappable parts and huge DIY scene Computer mice: e-waste in 6-12 months, even if you buy a prosumer, flagship product (My Mx master just stopped connecting to anything 😡)

Tom Hanks once sent me fan mail. Typed on his personal letterhead and sent to my house. It was delightfully surreal. I can verify it was from him because we had lunch the next time I was in LA. He is, as you might expect, absolutely lovely.

Jobs I had in college: Selling computers for not a lot of money Selling computers Selling shoes Selling computers again Selling TVs

One thing that drives me nuts the EV market is that these companies are targeting in some respects some of the worst potential converts: people who want and can afford $60-100k electric SUVs are generally, well, older…

Uh… what? Too many things wrong with this position to pick through (I need to get grading done) but, uh, tariffs are definitely playing a role in prices, even if it isn’t an obvious “line go up!”

It's very cold across most of the country, so to counteract that, quote-post a favorite photo from a summertime baseball game. Mets game with my dad, beginning of June last year (he’s a Yankees fan so this was partially torture for him 🤣)

One of my hottest takes: HEB is kinda mid. Prices are OK but not competitive with Aldi, Costco, or Winco. Selection lacks the level of local integration of Meijer or Wegmans. I think Texas just has/had garbage alternatives (Kroger/gag-Walmart) until recently. www.foodandwine.com/heb-top-groc...

RIP the consumer electronics market part 37

Excuse me negative WHAT

I desperately updated my iPhone and my Mac mini to the newest OS to try and get continuity camera to work (lol nope) and now both devices are markedly worse. Cool.

No new pictures: Where are you at mentally?

My annual thank you to @wcaleb.org for the Generic Syllabus Maker, making my professor life so much easier! Profs, if you haven't found this one yet, go check it out when you need to add in all the class meeting dates in your syllabi schedules. wcaleb.rice.edu/syllabusmake...

One day cvs will fill my tamiflu prescription 🙏🙏🙏

Hello Missouri (and in about 20 minutes, goodbye Missouri)

Carl Fisher, born on this day in 1874, more than anyone else, according to Hoosier writer John Bartlow Martin, "symbolized the glorification of the automobile in Indiana." rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/11/carl...

I used to manage wine programs for movie theaters and I am in the extremely unique position to say with professional certainty that the answer here is a crisp Albariño.

After this semester I plan to move away from Microsoft products entirely; going back to LibreOffice w/ the Zotero plugin, and installing either Fedora or Bazzite on my desktop; still need a good replacement for OneDrive that easily syncs across multiple devices tho

any content writers looking for work? I have a list of 60 (?) works I need to add background to for my non-Jewish friends. Must have excessive knowledge of Judaism, some appreciation for art, and at least a bit of a sense of humor. quote a price I am dying here

Should call it Rent, Buy, Crush

How much you think the ad agency billed Volvo for this, a pun(?) that literally everyone who’s ever heard of Lyle Lovett has made?

It’s Van Time

Convinced a friend to buy a Crown Signia instead of a well equipped CR-V or RAV4, Toyota pay me I am responsible for like half your Crown sales

JSTOR printout of Kranzberg’s Laws

New Years Resolution: Get. Stuff. Published. No more sitting on something and polishing it until it’s absolutely perfect (guaranteeing it never sees the light of day) Editors, look out!

“Technology and History: ‘Kranzberg’s Laws’,” was published in Technology and Culture in *1986*— that's *forty fucking years ago* people— & it was delivered as his (Kranzberg's) presidential address to the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) the year before that, so we're rolling up on 41…

Hey history folks! I’m teaching a Masters’ historiography course on 20th century US history with a focus on technology and the environment; any new books out there I should consider as I finish up the reading list? The focus is on consumerism, suburban spaces, and battling determinism

Ok HEB, no more Christmas commercials kthanks, every additional time I hear “iiiiiittts crizzzzzmuzzzz tyyyyyme in teggggggggsaaaas” I’m shopping at Aldi instead (This is an empty threat, I almost never go to HEB when I’m in teggggggggsaaaaaas)

I have a better understanding of how generative AI works than any CS student I’ve ever taught and that’s why I know it’s educational poison designed to suck away easy dollars from clueless administrators

The article you’re sharing touts a teacher making students use “A.i.” to design ugly sweaters. That’s a repugnant use of tech based on theft to rob kids of the chance to use their own minds and hands to actually draw. Do you support that attack on human creativity?

girl WHAT www.consumerreports.org/cars/toyota/... like, (#4) WHAT www.theautopian.com/mazda-wants-... BLESS THEIR HEARTS, WHAT?

Like fr this might be the first time ever that DBT didn’t get that top spot since like 2009/10 😅

When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.

AI is an existential crisis for scholarship, and this thread is an example of why. If you use genAI in your "research," even if it's just for a "thought partner" or "writing-starter," you are contributing to this crisis. Full stop.

Automakers in the Danger Zone in 2026 Lukewarm takes: Nissan/Infiniti Volkswagen Stellantis (all, yes even Jeep) JLR Lucid/Rivian Spicy takes: Mazda Ford MINI

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a product more micro targeted for my mom than this

I would like for no more of my musical heroes to die for a while, thanks

Big news: @rustbeltlab.bsky.social has launched “Rust Belt Studies"! We're proud to see KSUP represented in the inaugural issue, which has @jlauck1941.bsky.social's essay from “Where East Meets (Mid)West,” plus a review of Deborah Fleming’s “Ghosts of an Old Forest.” www.rustbeltstudies.org/journal

Don't let a good gamepad go to the Google Graveyard! December 31st is the deadline to save the Google Stadia Controller. It's easy... and new Steam support makes it even more worthwhile!

Classes done. One of my history of automobiles students got me a Nash advertisement from the 1920s they saw at a flea market because we watched part of @joeligo.bsky.social ‘s doc on AMC (and then I left it in my office and didn’t take a picture so you’ll just have to take my word for it)

Last day of classes for the semester ☹️ (sad because it’s over, also dead because all that’s left is grading for all 5 of my classes 😭)

🚨🚨 The deadline to submit papers, panels, and abstracts for the 2026 Midwestern History Conference at Miami University in Oxford, OH, has been extended to Monday, December 15. Check the thread for a few reminders about submissions:

Bring out the (Joe) Pug, please, Louisville!

Talk about prioritizing short term gains over long term stability! What could possibly go wrong by putting all the eggs in a single basket and throwing away a reputation that took decades to build?

This composition had eluded me for nearly a decade, but yesterday I was finally able to capture it. A train rolled through just as the Duquesne Incline was crossing over the tracks in #Pittsburgh, creating a picture perfect winter scene. It was worth the hours and hours I've waited over the years.