Love this map of where world cup players were born umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/birth...

I'm not sure if this means that much but occasionally I get entranced by packing as much information possible into one graph. Plotting on a map would just reveal most of the coastal and north-south differences between energy consumption, production, climate, wealth, and politics.

I'm not usually into fashion, but my daughter and I were chatting about electronic fabrics and I then later found this. ANREALAGE 2025-26 show: things really light up at around the 4:00 mark. youtu.be/U8_Fa4Cdb_0?...

Academics on the morning of June 1, after Commencement, sitting down to a clean desk and (mostly) empty calendar for the summer stretching ahead ...

This is extremely cool, be sure to watch the video! news.mit.edu/2026/three-s...

Here's my full ranking because I REMEMBER THE ORIGINALS before they were polluted: 1. The Empire Strikes Back 2. Rogue One 3. A New Hope 4. Return of the Jedi 5-10. Seen some of them, but I can't remember which, which says it all.

@mlamster.bsky.social Congratulations!

You should try making bacon in the microwave.

Oof, i just saw the most predictable crash in Cambridge. Person wearing headphones jaywalking between stopped cars. Noisy motorcycle going fast in the shoulder / bike lane (!?) wiped out, I think to avoid oblivious pedestrian. Everybody standing but also seems like everyone partially at fault.

Wow, this sounds really cool! Now, let me get back to “Infinite Jest”… “Palantir has sold clothing — including logo-emblazoned hoodies, shorts, caps and a T-shirt featuring Karp’s favorite motto, “Dominate” — for years.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/s...

Indeed. open.substack.com/pub/statmode...

I started thinking about how urbanization trends differ across the US and maybe went a bit too deep. Made this plot of % urbanized pop in each state versus John Borchert's model of urban evolution based on 5 epochs of urbanization in the US defined by transport tech (and AC!). YMMV.

Hint of the AI bubble, number 9,477,615,337: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/u...

Enjoyed reading "The Unaccountability Machine" by Dan Davies: at turns thoughtful and hilarious. Goes deep into cybernetics, history, neoliberalism, and accounting (!). A friend sent me this quote which is pretty funny and on target unless you're an academic; then the joke is on you (and me).

When I'm writing about electricity and the changes it wrought, I think about this article often by @adriennelaf.bsky.social .... written in 2015, more than a decade ago (!), this opening paragraph still rings true for AI as it did for dot coms, cloud computing, social media, crypto:

Did you know that Guyana has a GDP per capita of more than $70,000? Me neither! Statistics say this is from oil extraction, but what is Guyana like? To compare: US $72k, Saudi Arabia $63k, Germany $62k, Australia $60k, Japan $46k. Plot from @ourworldindata.org , ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-...

Another profile in memoriam. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/31/m...

Excellently written and argued, as always by @author-calnewport.bsky.social. (One author where you can't ask, 'where does he find the time?'.) www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/o...

I was featured on a short podcast episode for Ask MIT Climate talking about the grid of the future, sometimes (micro), and community choice aggregation. climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e5-...

I met him in high school at a book signing, and read his first five or six books before the even more recent and successful ones. I still think about the people he wrote about all the time. Rest in peace. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/25/m...

Enjoyable on multiple levels: the thought, the patience, the local economy, the apples, the many adjectives for flavor, all to adapt to climate change and global competition. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/u...

Strong evidence in favor of academic conferences: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/t...

Liked this. Running on basic competence in government and anti-corruption draws a nice contrast with incumbents in both parties. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/o...

Daryl Morey, MIT graduate: "Bill [Simmons] famously coined the conference name of “Dorkapalooza” and sadly then called me Dork Elvis, which has stuck with me and is a little frustrating. You don’t get to pick your nickname." www.theringer.com/2026/03/06/n...

This visualization tool for urban land value is pretty neat, though the Azure data feed for some cities are presently disrupted (maybe a temporary cyberattack I heard mentioned this morning). open.substack.com/pub/progress...

"The goal, according to Matter Neuroscience, the company that set up the phone connection, is simply to get younger and older people to talk to each other ... to provide a connection between two groups that studies show are the loneliest in the United States." www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/11/m...

Nice to see this 10th anniversary conference for David MacKay's untimely death. I generally do not believe that anyone remembers our work after we die, but it also helps to be a "smart, generous, and committed person". statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/03/01/r...

This photo essay (by bicycle!) has everything you probably wanted to know about energy infrastructure in Everett, MA: histecon.fas.harvard.edu/climate-hist...

A celebration of the family cargo bike. open.substack.com/pub/nminus1b...

Striking illustration showing that the *only* coast on earth that has accurate measurements of sea level rise is the Atlantic coast in North America. Is this why decision-makers in Washington DC and New York City don't feel the same urgency as everywhere else? www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/c...

I quite enjoyed “North Woods” by Daniel Mason. A celebration of Western Massachusetts history, forests, and birds.

The definition of corruption: "noun: dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery."

A Harvard colleague calls grading there: "Fifty Shades of A". www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/12/b...

Just another perfect day, I love MA.

Within 18 months all white collar workers could be replaced by a 1km sphere of flesh in Central Park

"HERE COMES DIGGINS! HERE COMES DIGGINS!". What a great call. youtu.be/IVuIoS7HolE?...

I've always wanted to do this. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/11/m...

An enjoyable short segment. youtu.be/qLXvYmS6jPw?...

Today I received what I found to be a remarkably entertaining sale notice from an online bike shop I've ordered from before. It's just goofy and funny, two aspects that I really need more in my life more than anything AI can do.

TIL that 1 MCF ~= 1.038 MMBTU based on 2023 average heat content, so convert gas volumes to energy all you want (within +/-4%!)

Love this.

Here's the slide I use when I talk about rising costs in BOTH gas and electricity systems. Capital expended on distribution poles, wires, and pipes is the main cost for utilities and are the main driver of your rapidly growing energy bills. Gas 4X and electricity 2X inflation between 2003 and 2023.

In this season of college and graduate school admissions, I remembered this quite moving story about breaking the rules to do the right thing over enforcing selectivity. Seavey, circled, used to live in my town! www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/22/m...

Got around to listening to this and catching up on 2024 and 2025, in preparation for this year. Does a good job of explaining academic issues in terms of real people and relationships. apps.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/mult...

Building offshore wind, despite the federal obstacles, would benefit Massachusetts and New England. www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Missed this but sounds fun.

This op-ed is by the former NYT Detroit bureau chief, and adapted from a book I'm going to order: “The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market.” www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/02/o...

Oh, what a bummer. Put away your phone, "Sentimental Value" is worth it! www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...