Ron Bronson
@ronbronson.com
post-hci, critical urbanism, platforms, hype, social atomization & care, temporal civics, 18F alum. pdx digital corps founder. only posting ephemera.
asst. prof. of practice in urban tech at UMich.
host of the sound bulletin on kffp-fm. ronbronson.design
asst. prof. of practice in urban tech at UMich.
host of the sound bulletin on kffp-fm. ronbronson.design
The people deploying AI to judge admissions essays aren’t equipped to understand the systems they’re delegating judgment to
December 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The people deploying AI to judge admissions essays aren’t equipped to understand the systems they’re delegating judgment to
Reposted by Ron Bronson
Lesson one: Yes, you can do a lot of things if you break the law.
Lesson two: Doing something is not the same as doing a good thing - it is harder to build than it is to destroy.
Trump has built nothing like the TVA. His lawbreaking is not "freeing the stuck wheels of bureaucracy."
Lesson two: Doing something is not the same as doing a good thing - it is harder to build than it is to destroy.
Trump has built nothing like the TVA. His lawbreaking is not "freeing the stuck wheels of bureaucracy."
December 3, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Lesson one: Yes, you can do a lot of things if you break the law.
Lesson two: Doing something is not the same as doing a good thing - it is harder to build than it is to destroy.
Trump has built nothing like the TVA. His lawbreaking is not "freeing the stuck wheels of bureaucracy."
Lesson two: Doing something is not the same as doing a good thing - it is harder to build than it is to destroy.
Trump has built nothing like the TVA. His lawbreaking is not "freeing the stuck wheels of bureaucracy."
Reposted by Ron Bronson
"you can't use llm's to write your application but we will use llm's to help review them"
no wonder students have no idea whether or not they should be using these things, the adults in the room have no clue either!
no wonder students have no idea whether or not they should be using these things, the adults in the room have no clue either!
Judging from the quotes in here, university admins are some of the least “ai literate” people in existence. No wonder they think students need to be taught how to use it.
After mass AI college-cheating freakout, many admissions offices are using it to screen student applications | Fortune
It wasn't long ago they began banning student use of it for homework or test-taking. Admissions offices are different, though.
fortune.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:20 PM
"you can't use llm's to write your application but we will use llm's to help review them"
no wonder students have no idea whether or not they should be using these things, the adults in the room have no clue either!
no wonder students have no idea whether or not they should be using these things, the adults in the room have no clue either!
Zach Bryan doing a stadium tour is wild to me. Country enough to sell tickets, apparently.
December 2, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Zach Bryan doing a stadium tour is wild to me. Country enough to sell tickets, apparently.
Crazy how every app and tool are copying SimCity 2000 loading screen "reticulating splines" in 2025
December 2, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Crazy how every app and tool are copying SimCity 2000 loading screen "reticulating splines" in 2025
Reposted by Ron Bronson
If you would like to read more from the already-existing field of maintenance studies, The Maintainers Study Guide is a great place to start. I am proud to have contributed editing + design labor to this project!! themaintainers.org/study-guide/
December 1, 2025 at 10:09 PM
If you would like to read more from the already-existing field of maintenance studies, The Maintainers Study Guide is a great place to start. I am proud to have contributed editing + design labor to this project!! themaintainers.org/study-guide/
Reposted by Ron Bronson
ChatGPT is 3 years old this week — what was the world like in late 2022, and how did that shape what ChatGPT has become? I wrote about ChatGPT as a pandemic technology, centered on expectations of social isolation in ways that continue to define it. mail.cyberneticforests.com/what-was-cha...
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:16 AM
ChatGPT is 3 years old this week — what was the world like in late 2022, and how did that shape what ChatGPT has become? I wrote about ChatGPT as a pandemic technology, centered on expectations of social isolation in ways that continue to define it. mail.cyberneticforests.com/what-was-cha...
Reposted by Ron Bronson
“The line and the stream. — Ethan Marcotte”
https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-line-and-the-stream/
> That’s why I’ve come to realize that statements about the future aren’t predictions: they’re more like spells.
https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-line-and-the-stream/
> That’s why I’ve come to realize that statements about the future aren’t predictions: they’re more like spells.
November 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
“The line and the stream. — Ethan Marcotte”
https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-line-and-the-stream/
> That’s why I’ve come to realize that statements about the future aren’t predictions: they’re more like spells.
https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-line-and-the-stream/
> That’s why I’ve come to realize that statements about the future aren’t predictions: they’re more like spells.
Hadn't heard this new Angel Bat Dawid collab until today.
As someone who is always lamenting how we don't get weird 70s avantjazz records anymore, this was an instant vinyl buy.
As someone who is always lamenting how we don't get weird 70s avantjazz records anymore, this was an instant vinyl buy.
𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬 💎
𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗮𝗯𝘁𝗮 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗮
This powerful collaborative album from visionary composer/multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid & multidisciplinary artist/musician Naima Nefertari is out today on 2xLP black classic vinyl + on all streaming platforms!
angelbatdawidnaimanefertari.bandcamp.com
𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗮𝗯𝘁𝗮 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗮
This powerful collaborative album from visionary composer/multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid & multidisciplinary artist/musician Naima Nefertari is out today on 2xLP black classic vinyl + on all streaming platforms!
angelbatdawidnaimanefertari.bandcamp.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Hadn't heard this new Angel Bat Dawid collab until today.
As someone who is always lamenting how we don't get weird 70s avantjazz records anymore, this was an instant vinyl buy.
As someone who is always lamenting how we don't get weird 70s avantjazz records anymore, this was an instant vinyl buy.
Reminds me of how big daytrading was during the first dot com bubble when I was on active duty. Was deployed a captain obsessed with penny stocks back then too.
www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
Top Gun Traders: Stock Bets and Crypto Culture Take Over the Military
Troops are hooked on investing. They’re trading tips from cockpits and the decks of aircraft carriers, and making fortunes.
www.wsj.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Reminds me of how big daytrading was during the first dot com bubble when I was on active duty. Was deployed a captain obsessed with penny stocks back then too.
www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
Lane Kiffin proves if you're good enough at your job you can get away with most anything. Ole Miss hiring the DC right now was smart, no way you want the job sitting open. Taking a conference job with a current playoff team is bananas.
November 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Lane Kiffin proves if you're good enough at your job you can get away with most anything. Ole Miss hiring the DC right now was smart, no way you want the job sitting open. Taking a conference job with a current playoff team is bananas.
Rutgers not being able to beat Penn State at home with an interim coach...it'll never be a rivalry. What a clown show.
November 30, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Rutgers not being able to beat Penn State at home with an interim coach...it'll never be a rivalry. What a clown show.
The people on linkedin talking about llms as non-waterwasting sound like public smoking defenders
November 29, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The people on linkedin talking about llms as non-waterwasting sound like public smoking defenders
Lazarus Project is a fascinating exercise in watching a time-travel government bureaucracy operate. Like c'mon.
November 29, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Lazarus Project is a fascinating exercise in watching a time-travel government bureaucracy operate. Like c'mon.
Fiona Apple
Mos Def (Jay Electronica opened)
TV On The Radio
Show Me The Body
Hilary Hahn
Mos Def (Jay Electronica opened)
TV On The Radio
Show Me The Body
Hilary Hahn
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you have seen
R.E.M.
Sara Bareilles
Pearl Jam
Hall & Oates
Madonna
Sara Bareilles
Pearl Jam
Hall & Oates
Madonna
November 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Fiona Apple
Mos Def (Jay Electronica opened)
TV On The Radio
Show Me The Body
Hilary Hahn
Mos Def (Jay Electronica opened)
TV On The Radio
Show Me The Body
Hilary Hahn
November 28, 2025 at 5:07 PM
another day another eu brand that stopped shipping to the USA (Makia from Finland)
November 28, 2025 at 3:34 PM
another day another eu brand that stopped shipping to the USA (Makia from Finland)
♫ Top 5 artists of the Last.week: Tiffany Poon (16) Bar Italia (15) They Are Gutting a Body of Water (11) Hyldon (10) Gabriel Jacoby (9). #myweekcounted 576 Scrobbles with Lastfm #music via @lastfm.blue
November 28, 2025 at 5:05 AM
♫ Top 5 artists of the Last.week: Tiffany Poon (16) Bar Italia (15) They Are Gutting a Body of Water (11) Hyldon (10) Gabriel Jacoby (9). #myweekcounted 576 Scrobbles with Lastfm #music via @lastfm.blue
Didn't realize Simply Red won an R&B Grammy for their cover of "If You Don't Know Me By Now" www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTcu...
Simply Red - If You Don't Know Me By Now (Official Video)
YouTube video by Simply Red
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Didn't realize Simply Red won an R&B Grammy for their cover of "If You Don't Know Me By Now" www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTcu...
i love telling people in the 90s my local paper would *pay* people to report the local high school sports scores. my coach used to do it for our hs tennis matches, eventually he let me do it. it was like 50-75 per season (for each the star ledger & courier news) they'd mail you a check
i think a lot about how the job of local newspapers even 15 years ago was largely to go to town meetings, events, etc and record what happens there. people in any town in the country could keep track of what their local government and reps are doing, and that pipeline's been all but cut
November 27, 2025 at 7:16 PM
i love telling people in the 90s my local paper would *pay* people to report the local high school sports scores. my coach used to do it for our hs tennis matches, eventually he let me do it. it was like 50-75 per season (for each the star ledger & courier news) they'd mail you a check
every social app gets discovery wrong it seems, but none worse than social networks because they forget how network effects actually scale. people want to find likeminded folks, keep informed & discovery stuff that some how justifies the time we waste on here.
In the small country of Norway (5.5M) there are 300,000 people registered on Bluesky as of last year.
Yet I have no way of seeing what’s going on with these 300k people because I work internationally and have my app set to English.
I want a locality toggle in Discover.
github.com/bluesky-soci...
Yet I have no way of seeing what’s going on with these 300k people because I work internationally and have my app set to English.
I want a locality toggle in Discover.
github.com/bluesky-soci...
Hundretusener av nordmenn bruker Bluesky: Nesten halvparten så stort som X
For noen måneder siden hadde få hørt om X-utfordreren. Nå bruker over 300.000 nordmenn Bluesky.
nrkbeta.no
November 27, 2025 at 4:14 PM
every social app gets discovery wrong it seems, but none worse than social networks because they forget how network effects actually scale. people want to find likeminded folks, keep informed & discovery stuff that some how justifies the time we waste on here.
Reposted by Ron Bronson
«Critical thinking is not the sole attribute of literature and philosophy departments. Instead, it is embedded in science, engineering and other hardcore technical disciplines, where logic and problem-solving are non-negotiable.»
No, critical thinking is not «problem-solving».
It's problematization
No, critical thinking is not «problem-solving».
It's problematization
Who, pray tell, is worshipping the liberal arts? Where is the mythical university alluded to here where STEM and business courses are criticized and somehow disincentivized by those in power?
It’s time to stop worshipping the liberal arts | Letters
Letters: While such institutions have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever, says Jianyang Geng
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:17 AM
«Critical thinking is not the sole attribute of literature and philosophy departments. Instead, it is embedded in science, engineering and other hardcore technical disciplines, where logic and problem-solving are non-negotiable.»
No, critical thinking is not «problem-solving».
It's problematization
No, critical thinking is not «problem-solving».
It's problematization
Death By Lightning was really good. Felt like a stageplay.
November 27, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Death By Lightning was really good. Felt like a stageplay.
Did I build a spec version of an immaculate grid style game for tennis? I did. Was it in the middle of the night? it was.
November 26, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Did I build a spec version of an immaculate grid style game for tennis? I did. Was it in the middle of the night? it was.