Patrick McCray
@patrickmccray.bsky.social
Professor @ UCSB => science + tech + environment
Kluge Chair in Technology & Society @ LoC, 2025-26
New book = https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553483/readme/
Cairn kicker 🚵 🎣 🧗♂️⛷️🏄🏼♂️🏔 in Cali-rado.
More = https://www.patrickmccray.com
Kluge Chair in Technology & Society @ LoC, 2025-26
New book = https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553483/readme/
Cairn kicker 🚵 🎣 🧗♂️⛷️🏄🏼♂️🏔 in Cali-rado.
More = https://www.patrickmccray.com
Pinned
My new book will be out in early December 2025 via
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
Reposted by Patrick McCray
Looking for a chance to think about something fun and interesting? Join us in-person or on-line at the Computer History Museum on January 20th to hear @patrickmccray.bsky.social talk about his new book (about books about computing), README.
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
Read Me
Whether you’re an expert, student, or simply curious, how can you truly grasp what is happening in computing? One powerful answer has endured: “Read a book!” In Readme, historian W. Patrick McCray exp...
computerhistory.org
January 12, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Looking for a chance to think about something fun and interesting? Join us in-person or on-line at the Computer History Museum on January 20th to hear @patrickmccray.bsky.social talk about his new book (about books about computing), README.
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
The New York Times said that Mr. von Däniken’s prose, which it categorized as “Early Terrible,” was such a “mixmaster of facts, speculations, rhetorical questions” that reading it left one’s mind “the consistency of a rich Swiss fondue.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/o...
Erich von Däniken, Who Claimed Aliens Visited Earth, Dies at 90
www.nytimes.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:12 PM
The New York Times said that Mr. von Däniken’s prose, which it categorized as “Early Terrible,” was such a “mixmaster of facts, speculations, rhetorical questions” that reading it left one’s mind “the consistency of a rich Swiss fondue.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/o...
Being a Nazi doesn't pay the bills...
January 10, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Being a Nazi doesn't pay the bills...
Tom Verlaine Was a Mystery. His Archives Reveal More of His Story.
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Good night, Petro state
January 8, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Good night, Petro state
"The son of an alcoholic C.I.A. officer, Mr. Ames failed upward through the agency ranks for 17 years until he attained a headquarters post of extraordinary sensitivity..."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
Aldrich Ames, C.I.A. Turncoat Who Helped the Soviets, Dies at 84
www.nytimes.com
January 7, 2026 at 12:34 AM
"The son of an alcoholic C.I.A. officer, Mr. Ames failed upward through the agency ranks for 17 years until he attained a headquarters post of extraordinary sensitivity..."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
2026 is going to have a lot of "what happens when one NATO country attacks another NATO country?" vibe
January 5, 2026 at 2:22 AM
2026 is going to have a lot of "what happens when one NATO country attacks another NATO country?" vibe
National parks and tactical nukes...both national resources.
January 5, 2026 at 1:40 AM
National parks and tactical nukes...both national resources.
One can read this (gift) op-ed about the failed state in Venuzuela and substitute "USA" in just about every sentence and it still tracks...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/o...
Opinion | This Is What Venezuelans Really Want
www.nytimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 7:02 PM
One can read this (gift) op-ed about the failed state in Venuzuela and substitute "USA" in just about every sentence and it still tracks...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/o...
Reposted by Patrick McCray
Check out the recording of the AHA’s Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on federal science funding. Panelists Melinda Baldwin, Arthur Daemmrich, & Bhaven Sampat, with moderator Alexandra Levy discussed the history of the federal govt's approach toward science in public policy.🗃️
AHA Congressional Briefing: History of Federal Science Funding
YouTube video by American Historical Association
www.youtube.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Check out the recording of the AHA’s Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on federal science funding. Panelists Melinda Baldwin, Arthur Daemmrich, & Bhaven Sampat, with moderator Alexandra Levy discussed the history of the federal govt's approach toward science in public policy.🗃️
My school has developed a set of "Guidelines for AI Use."
Note the use of the subjunctive "should" -- as in "I should eat less and exercise more."
I've seen babies with a sharper set of teeth.
cio.ucsb.edu/artificial-i...
Note the use of the subjunctive "should" -- as in "I should eat less and exercise more."
I've seen babies with a sharper set of teeth.
cio.ucsb.edu/artificial-i...
Guidelines for AI Use | Office of the Chief Information Officer
cio.ucsb.edu
January 2, 2026 at 7:07 PM
My school has developed a set of "Guidelines for AI Use."
Note the use of the subjunctive "should" -- as in "I should eat less and exercise more."
I've seen babies with a sharper set of teeth.
cio.ucsb.edu/artificial-i...
Note the use of the subjunctive "should" -- as in "I should eat less and exercise more."
I've seen babies with a sharper set of teeth.
cio.ucsb.edu/artificial-i...
It's not too late to buy that special geek in your life a present.
My new book will be out in early December 2025 via
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books 🗃️
January 2, 2026 at 6:04 PM
It's not too late to buy that special geek in your life a present.
"Hi, I'm Wyoming Deadfall...I live nowhere near where you told people I would be hiking."
January 2, 2026 at 6:03 PM
"Hi, I'm Wyoming Deadfall...I live nowhere near where you told people I would be hiking."
New Year's Eve massacre...
December 31, 2025 at 8:35 PM
New Year's Eve massacre...
The AHR rarely features articles that take the history of technology as a central topic...Kate McDonald's new article is a wonderful exception:
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
What Makes Transportation History: The Rickshaw Past and the Contested Meaning of a Modern Concept
Abstract. The idea that societies progress from rickshaw to railroad has been ubiquitous in discourses of colonialism and technological determinism since t
academic.oup.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:41 PM
The AHR rarely features articles that take the history of technology as a central topic...Kate McDonald's new article is a wonderful exception:
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
jfc that Atlantic cover with an angelic RFK Jr holding some effing prayer beads
a white cat is eating food on a wooden floor
ALT: a white cat is eating food on a wooden floor
media.tenor.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:17 PM
jfc that Atlantic cover with an angelic RFK Jr holding some effing prayer beads
For anyone feeling a picogram of sympathy for MTG after today's fawning NYT piece:
www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/p...
www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/p...
Video surfaces of Marjorie Taylor Greene confronting Parkland shooting survivor with baseless claims | CNN Politics
Video of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene confronting Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg before she was elected to Congress went viral Wednesday amid an uproar over newly surfaced comments sh...
www.cnn.com
December 29, 2025 at 5:21 PM
For anyone feeling a picogram of sympathy for MTG after today's fawning NYT piece:
www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/p...
www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/p...
If you're in the Palo Alto area on January 20, I'll be having a conversation about my new book et al. with @dcbrock.bsky.social
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
Read Me
Whether you’re an expert, student, or simply curious, how can you truly grasp what is happening in computing? One powerful answer has endured: “Read a book!” In Readme, historian W. Patrick McCray exp...
computerhistory.org
December 29, 2025 at 4:17 PM
If you're in the Palo Alto area on January 20, I'll be having a conversation about my new book et al. with @dcbrock.bsky.social
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
computerhistory.org/events/read-...
So - when will the trend for long-form profiles of ethically bankrupt people end? (not including link)
December 28, 2025 at 3:35 PM
So - when will the trend for long-form profiles of ethically bankrupt people end? (not including link)
Happy Holidays!
December 25, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Happy Holidays!
Happy holidays! Here’s hoping next year treats us all a little better.
December 24, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Happy holidays! Here’s hoping next year treats us all a little better.
Stop. This. Crap. Writing.
December 23, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Stop. This. Crap. Writing.
