Happy Henson Day 2025! UMD is having a celebration of creativity, imagination, and inspiration, about Jim & Jane Henson, UMD alums. Activities across campus and online. innovate.umd.edu/hensonday2025 #HappyHensonDay

4.6 quake, epicenter in Berkeley. 😳

worth repeating at regular intervals

I found this birding book along the side of the road on the Tamiami trail in the Everglades on 8/25/25. It is so well loved with sightings going back decades. If you're a birder (I am not) please spread the word and hep me find the owner so they can be reunited

Webinar - Ethics for Agentic Technology Ariel Greenberg Sep 26, 2025 12:00 PM EST umd.zoom.us/webinar/regi... We'll discuss how we can equip AI with the ethical reasoning needed for prosocial behavior. #ai #aiethics @susannahpaletz.bsky.social

First talk is Sept. 26, just over a week away! Ariel Greenberg is giving a talk on "Ethics for Agentic Technology" @ottrs.bsky.social Here to register: umd.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

One of my favorites from my collection! Unfortunately I have no date or info about who she was.

Me after tweaking my back AGAIN after having an awful few weeks in August, knowing that another steroid shot is not an option

I am fascinated by this guy who was a Higher Ed administrator and has now moved into teaching classes as a faculty member. He is documenting his whole journey on TikTok. Over the summer, he had so much excitement 🧵

We at OTTRS are getting ready for our speaker series! Interested in teams and technology? Want to get on our email list about our speakers? Go here and ask to be added: ottrs.ischool.umd.edu

i just remembered that the guidance counsellor at my high school had this little plaque on her desk, facing outward, that read "your procrastination is not my emergency" seems relevant to several aspects of academia

tomorrow is September all of the sudden which feels unjust

Baby. Postcard from my collection, ca. 1900.

(Normal = neutral expression concealing existential despair and brain-crushing boredom.)

Only a small % of people engage in toxic activity online, but they’re responsible for a disproportionate share of hostile or misleading content on nearly every platform Because super-users are so active, they dominate our collective impression of the internet www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

We are hiring a one-year postdoc! Position involves team science with AI from a social science perspective (e.g., psychology, org behavior, communication, HCI, human factors, business technology, related fields). Best consideration is Aug. 29: umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UMCP/j...

AI slop and the destruction of knowledge irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2025/08/12/a...

Hello friends! I am co-organizing a workshop at VL/HCC 2025 (in Raleigh, NC, this October) on human-AI sensemaking, with an emphasis on embodied/visual languages to build common ground between human and AI systems.

We have always loved kitty yawns. Photo from my collection, no date/info.

in a way aren't we all looking for more sink cheese where we found it yesterday

live action catbus looking pretty sweet

How does one get less tired outside of getting enough sleep

How great was Tom Lehrer? In 2020, he moved his entire catalog into the public domain because he felt he'd made more than enough money off of it. Enjoy every Tom Lehrer album: tomlehrersongs.com

I miss them ever

Me checking Bluesky from the Netherlands after the #INGRoup conference oh crap

Heck yeah #INGRoup

the rest of the cast is great but OMG evidently me and my family need to have Mr. Moss-Bachrach over for dinner

Getting ready for #INGRoup 2025! We're in Rotterdam this year.

NoPro takes a trip to the 2025 Osaka World Expo thanks to writer Scott Gillies with a research lift from Corinna Kester and stunning photos by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle in our latest feature! noproscenium.com/a-visit-to-t...

This is a new Murderbot short story, coming out later this week on Reactor Magazine. It’s about ART and its crew, set before Network Effect, and how ART finally decided to tell them about meeting a rogue SecUnit.

This photo says “Edna Wilke” on the back and I hope that was the name of the kitten. Photo from my collection, ca. 1950s.

Beautiful cat timeline break

Very fancy potato bear postcard from my collection, unsent and date unknown.

Oscar the Grouch’s trash can is bigger on the inside. Oscar doesn’t age. Oscar has a dedicated companion. Conclusion: Oscar is a Timelord.

A lot of y'all get it right. Much love to you.

A friend just texted to congratulate me on a forthcoming project, about which she learned from ChatGPT. Never mind that I am ... not currently writing a book on the divine feminine... ? Again, again, again: AI is bad and wrong and won't give you accurate info, friends. It's not a search engine.

Tha last thing yu see before yu die

NEW PIECE by me & @lollardfish.bsky.social on our (always free!) newsletter. We talk about the recent "we're living in a new dark ages/ feudalism" discourse. "Svetlana Boym warned that “unreflective nostalgia can breed monsters.” And Medieval 2025 is beginning to breed some monsters..."

Relevant to a lot of work

Last month there were allegations that some of my students may have used generative AI on my final exam. The incident led me to give some serious thought to how we are dealing with these tools in the professional education context. Here’s what I wrote to my students: jeremysheff.com/2025/06/02/g...

For Murderbot Eve/Day (depending on when you watch it) I wanted to post a few more photos. #murderbot

RIGHT NOW

me feeling guilty about spending too much time laying on the big cushion looking at the tiny computer so I convince myself to get up so I can sit on the tiny cushion and look at the big computer for the rest of the day (I feel less guilty about this)

“Life is better when we leap together.” Kermit the Frog delivered a commencement speech at the University of Maryland on Thursday, the alma mater of his creator, Jim Henson. nyti.ms/4dwMuhQ

[company wide email] due to the angry goose in the parking lot of our office building we will be relocating to a new office building