The Values of Work. Excellent talk by Jenny Zhang.

Talk about a nail-biting finish. What a shot in the last second! (Basketball)

The only good thing that has come out of the “Signal-gate” is the increased popularity of Signal.

Trumpism, too, has an aesthetic. Allow me to pretentiously, subjectively, declare it not beautiful. The aesthetic of Trumpism is sprawl – which had already infected the United States long before the Maga movement metastasised.

What does Maga-land look like?

Whatever you think of David Blaine, he does impressive shit. In a recent TV series for National Geographic, he takes us behind the scenes to see how he trains to take new risks. Watch the video at the end of him kissing the cobra (or does he?)

No wonder my attempts at irony or sarcasm fall short (mostly) with my American colleagues.

“You were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”

A wonderful short story by Andy Weir.

Discuss...

Street protests today are far more numerous and frequent than skeptics might suggest.

“Where is the resistance?” is a common refrain. Our research affirms that resistance is alive and well.

But hey, if doomscrolling helps you sleep better, good luck.

After using the chatbot for four weeks, female study participants were slightly less likely to socialize with people than their male counterparts who did the same. Meanwhile, participants who interacted with ChatGPT’s voice mode in a gender that was not their own for their interactions reported significantly higher levels of loneliness and more emotional dependency on the chatbot at the end of the experiment. OpenAI plans to submit both studies to peer-reviewed journals.

Not many are using the chatbots as companion apps (think ‘Her’) just yet, so the results may not indicate more significant trends. However, I’m glad OpenAI plans to submit its studies to peer-reviewed journals.

New flash: Free speech still sucks in India. Typical reaction from new Shiv Sainiks who prove they’re just as bad as the ones from the 90s. Here is the standup video that caused the ruckus. It’s pretty incredible. As we would say, bande ke gaand mein dum hai. For a change, check out the comments; people are donating money in heaps.

Thanks to the new administration, people are unsurprisingly staying away from traveling to the U.S. The tourism industry is going to find out because the Trumpies fucked around.

The progressive Left’s favorite politician is happiest when he’s blaming the Democrats for Trump’s actions.

When medications you take to improve your health start killing you, always trace it back to the source making them.

Discuss...

Grammarly’s report on [The Productivity Shift: Higher Ed Insights](https://go.grammarly.com/l/894581/2025-03-11/5z1wg/894581/17417025804y6CHz51/EXTGrammarly173429SOBCG4ECutReportV1min.pdf), focusing on key trends to help educators guide future graduates through communication overload and responsible AI adoption. It’s by Grammarly and they’ve now adopted AI in a big way, so consider that as a caveat.

LASA offers four signature courses – that are mandatory for all freshmen [Science and Technology (SciTech) and Electronic Magazine (Ezine)] and sophomores [Great Ideas and Planet Earth (Plearth)]. There has been debate internally whether these should be mandatory since they take up two elective slots in those years. I loved reading this pros and cons debate in their student newspaper. After reading it, I’m on the Pro side.

Discuss...

The first word they chose to remove was Matter (🔗 direct link). Erasing identity. Literally.

MUNDUS SINE CAESARIBUS — A WORLD WITHOUT CAESARS. Unfortunately, ‘Sold Out.’

A bhakti boom is clearly being manufactured, like an extended trance party. The manufacturers and monetisers think they are as cunning as Chanakya of yore. They are reclaiming their civilization while filling their purses. This delusion of the deluder is what Adi Shankara referred to as ‘maya’ over 1,300 years ago.

India’s unfortunate manufactured religious devotion.

Liverpool’s famed “You Will Never Walk Alone” anthem and Jerzy Dudek’s role [podcast episode] in immortalizing the already famous song.

Discuss...

You can follow this blog, which will have only links and some commentary/opinion on the Fediverse. Simply follow @nerve-endings@linkingpark.net. Like, boost, or reply. There's also a discuss link, but currently, it's open to only (paid) Write.as members.

It's very sad to hear Kevin Drum's passing. Rest in peace, “CalPundit”. He was one of the more cogent bloggers I've followed since the early aughts, even when he joined Washington Monthly, a primarily online magazine. His love for charts, breaking down complex information, fantastic “lunchtime” photos, and strongly reasoned arguments had me returning to read him for over twenty years.

However, Kevin’s seminal work on the effect of lead on America’s crime trends in Mother Jones magazine was eye-opening for me. As someone whose research, including my Ph.d. dissertation, involved the effects of brownfields and their remediation, this revealed the possibilities of much more significant impacts.

There’s no way I’m letting my kid attend Columbia.

This is why standing up to bad people is more important than ever before, especially if they’re in your family. Why give them the pleasure of hurting you when you can simply cut off relations first?

Scientists are developing new and improved antibody treatments that can fight COVID-19 more effectively, even as the virus evolves. These next-generation antibodies could help keep treatments effective against future variants.

I love working in a “third place.” I wrote most of my dissertation (and several blog posts) in a bustling coffee shop. But can I brave the North American winter to work outdoors?

John Scalzi, one of the more prolific writers of science fiction, shares his writing spaces and tools (2017 story). Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem to have any fancy or eclectic tools or methods, yet they work wonderfully well.

Discuss...

The Alabama Supreme Court's decision on IVF is the perfect example of Niemöller's First They Came...poem playing out in America.

Go ahead, and don't fight to keep the Republicans out. Eventually, they will come for you too.

Discuss...

When given the lucrative chance to demonize a rival player, Clark chose a different path.

Caitlin Clark's Lesson for White Athletes: Don't Be a MAGA Pawn.

Discuss...

In a new study led by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, researchers found that each tree planted in a community was associated with significant reductions in non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality among humans living nearby.

Avatar may have a point about our even-closer-than-we-thought relationship with nature.

The use of a weighted blanket may result in more melatonin — a sleep-promoting hormone produced by the brain — being released, the research reveals. Melatonin reduces alertness and makes sleep more inviting.

Hold me tight, dear blankie!

Practicing meeting mindfulness allows us to free up time for other stuff that matters more. This isn’t to say that all meetings are useless — it’s just that the meetings we do have at Tremendous are meetings for a reason.  We don’t schedule meetings for quick status updates or aimless, recurring check-ins. And we don’t host Zoom happy hours or other manufactured social situations. (We save that for our twice-annual offsites, our most recent being September in Mexico City.)

I wish I could implement this in our workplace. Fewer meetings and more focused work.

In new research, Cornell University psychologists find that study participants, on average, were more than twice as likely to call male professionals — even fictional ones — by their last name only, compared to equivalent female professionals. This example of gender bias, say researchers, may be contributing to gender inequality.

And what's in a name, they say. I've also observed this in academia. Women are more likely to encourage even their students to call them by their first names, whereas some men insist on using the honorific 'doctor' while addressing them.

While Musk may be an extreme case, he's also the perfect example of the modern CEO: a chaotic blend of unproductive micromanagement and highly paid absenteeism. Being the “chief executive” is meant to be the highest position in the organization — the person who is ultimately responsible for everything in the company — and yet the modern executive is someone who deliberately takes on multiple roles, directorships, book deals, and speaking arrangements.

What I have always thought to be true – CEOs are overrated and grossly overpaid for something that we aren't even sure they are responsible for.

After reading Andy Baio’s latest post about AI-art generators and artist rights, I reached out and had him walk me through how to experience it myself. We followed the instructions in this video

Instructions on creating AI-powered portraits without relying on a third-party service.

Discuss...

Linking Park December 22nd, 2022

Accessing U.S. data for research just got easier

An online portal offers one-stop shopping to apply for access to protected data sets maintained by 16 federal agencies. Scientists can search the site to find the data set they want and then, with one click, file an application. The site also allows them to track the status of their request.

A new class of antidepressant works in 2 hours

The potential new drug is in a class of its own, as it works differently than any other antidepressant on the market.

It almost sounds like an upper you take during the holidays.

With all the AI websites out there, you can check whether your photo has been used to train these models.

To check whether images associated with you have been used to train an AI system, visit HaveIBeenTrained.com. (This engine doesn’t save your image searches.)

I checked mine and was relieved to find that it wasn't, but I found an image of someone I know online. Apparently, we look similar. Perhaps, it's the great big nose.

Newly discovered species of bacteria in the microbiome may be a culprit behind rheumatoid arthritis.

In our recently published study, my colleagues and I found an important clue to a potential culprit behind this disease: the bacteria in your gut.

This is personally important for me since my mom recently passed away due to complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis (it's an autoimmune disease). I'm curious if I'm susceptible.

Create Your AI Avatars

Select 10-20 photos of yourself (or you and your partner as a 👩‍❤️‍👨 couple, or your 🐶 dog or 🐱 cat). We'll train the AI to generate AI-generated avatars that look just like you in any style you want.

It will put you back $40, but the images are pretty great. However, I'm wary that they may be using my pictures to train their models in the future.

If you wondered how Kanye West, as a black man, pals around with overt white supremacists, read The Rainbow Putsch Coalition

It is weird, but it isn’t new. White supremacists, who in many (or sometimes any) cases wouldn’t pass as white, have always been an odd feature of the white supremacist landscape. This is in part because, contrary to the white supremacist’s most fundamental claims, race is a fiction — or, better said, a culturally derived, ever-changing, and porous set of overlapping categories that derive from and reinforce systems of domination and exploitation and are consequently always in flux.

Personal blogs are back...again. Say welcome to the ooh.directory.

We at Instagram Want You to Know That if You Don’t Use Reels We Will Hurt You and Your Family. Time to reel them in.

Esquire's Best New Restaurants in America, 2022. Two of Austin's are featured.

Discuss...

Linking Park November 19th, 2022

With the economic climate we are in and the paucity of talent, I love the concept of Stay Interviews (the opposite of Exit Interviews). Positive validation is extremely important to retain good people.

U.S. News college rankings draw new complaints and competitors. College rankings have always been fraught with methodology issues and biased toward factors that don't include equity. I'm glad such retrospection has motivated highly-rejective universities to opt out of rankings.

Whenever I see a line of ants, I wonder if anyone has estimated their numbers. It turns out scientists have, in fact, calculated how many ants are on Earth. The number is so big it’s ‘unimaginable.’.

As COVID surges again with RSV and flu, it's time to mask up again (if you stopped) and even if it's minor, there are more than 50 long-term effects of COVID-19 as documented in this systematic review and meta-analysis.

This might be old news, but I love the new Verge. It has made me put it back on a list of websites that I manually click through to its front page daily.

Why would they steal when the U.S. simply gives away a breakthrough battery technology to China.

It's no surprise that I love U.S. National Parks so I spent a good chunk of my time at the airport recently just browsing this list and marking the ones I have visited.

I still have to put summarize.tech: AI-powered video summaries through the paces, but a few videos I tried, it did a good job.

Red meat is not a health risk. New study slams shoddy research. Wait! So I can double my steak consumption?

Discuss...