Steuard Jensen
@steuard.bsky.social
Physics professor, Tolkien scholar, JoCoNaut, and all-around science nerd.
he/him
he/him
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
do you have any idea how much you have to piss somebody off to make them change their gauge
#Finland will begin to #Russia - proof its rail network, integrate with EU train infrastructure.
The Finnish government has announced the conversion of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to European standard (1,435 mm).
www.trenvista.net/en/news/flas...
The Finnish government has announced the conversion of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to European standard (1,435 mm).
www.trenvista.net/en/news/flas...
November 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
do you have any idea how much you have to piss somebody off to make them change their gauge
Thursday feels a bit harder than Friday for me, since I feel it as closer to core family time. Not 100% sure I'd manage to stay up late here in Eastern Time (too many late nights grading recently), but I'd love to try.
November 24, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Thursday feels a bit harder than Friday for me, since I feel it as closer to core family time. Not 100% sure I'd manage to stay up late here in Eastern Time (too many late nights grading recently), but I'd love to try.
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
I'm already a monthly donor to Scarleteen, in fact! Though thus far, our kid has reacted to us (infrequently!) mentioning the site with seemingly genuine bafflement: strong "why would I want to read about *that*?" vibes. (As far as we've been able to tell, anyway. Maybe she sneaks there in private.)
November 23, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I'm already a monthly donor to Scarleteen, in fact! Though thus far, our kid has reacted to us (infrequently!) mentioning the site with seemingly genuine bafflement: strong "why would I want to read about *that*?" vibes. (As far as we've been able to tell, anyway. Maybe she sneaks there in private.)
My short summary of the takeaway: if your kid doesn't already use Roblox, don't let them start. If it's already a big part of their life, trying to yank it away could make things worse, but you MUST have ongoing conversations about what they're seeing and about potential risks. Build trust.
November 23, 2025 at 3:54 PM
My short summary of the takeaway: if your kid doesn't already use Roblox, don't let them start. If it's already a big part of their life, trying to yank it away could make things worse, but you MUST have ongoing conversations about what they're seeing and about potential risks. Build trust.
If you have a kid who plays on Roblox (or might someday), you should read this cautionary thread. @rahaeli.bsky.social practically invented the field of social media Trust & Safety 20+ years ago (before founding Dreamwidth): there's nobody I'd trust more than her for honest guidance on this stuff.
I'm kinda clueless here, so if you've got any links to more info I'd love to see them.
For my kid, it's mostly the place she goes to hang out with her existing offline friends: the closest thing to a third space she's got. It's given our family prompts for lots of good online safety conversations.
For my kid, it's mostly the place she goes to hang out with her existing offline friends: the closest thing to a third space she's got. It's given our family prompts for lots of good online safety conversations.
November 23, 2025 at 3:54 PM
If you have a kid who plays on Roblox (or might someday), you should read this cautionary thread. @rahaeli.bsky.social practically invented the field of social media Trust & Safety 20+ years ago (before founding Dreamwidth): there's nobody I'd trust more than her for honest guidance on this stuff.
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
AirBnB CEO calling it “vibe revenue” just 👨🍳 😘
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
November 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
Pass it along to family with *pre*-Roblox-aged children! As noted in the thread, taking the game away once it's become a part of a kid's life is a LOT harder than just never letting them start playing in the first place.
November 23, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Pass it along to family with *pre*-Roblox-aged children! As noted in the thread, taking the game away once it's become a part of a kid's life is a LOT harder than just never letting them start playing in the first place.
That was such a disturbing and weird interview to read about! It doesn't reduce my worry about anything rahaeli is talking about here in the slightest.
That said, I don't think the context of Baszucki's response about "an opportunity as well" supports a damning reading of that specific line.
That said, I don't think the context of Baszucki's response about "an opportunity as well" supports a damning reading of that specific line.
November 23, 2025 at 12:22 PM
That was such a disturbing and weird interview to read about! It doesn't reduce my worry about anything rahaeli is talking about here in the slightest.
That said, I don't think the context of Baszucki's response about "an opportunity as well" supports a damning reading of that specific line.
That said, I don't think the context of Baszucki's response about "an opportunity as well" supports a damning reading of that specific line.
Thanks again for all this: I'm genuinely grateful. We've been having some of these conversations with her all along, and especially the last couple of days in talking about what you've already shared. (We've had at least one "trusted outsider" mostly set up already.) We'll go through this list, too!
November 23, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Thanks again for all this: I'm genuinely grateful. We've been having some of these conversations with her all along, and especially the last couple of days in talking about what you've already shared. (We've had at least one "trusted outsider" mostly set up already.) We'll go through this list, too!
(Because we've heard at least a fraction of the worrisome stories out there, but despite years of fairly heavy use of the platform we haven't yet knowingly happened upon any of those things ourselves.)
November 23, 2025 at 3:43 AM
(Because we've heard at least a fraction of the worrisome stories out there, but despite years of fairly heavy use of the platform we haven't yet knowingly happened upon any of those things ourselves.)
Our kid (now 14) tells me she's never stumbled onto inappropriate content hidden in a game, fortunately. She doesn't really chat with people she doesn't know from school (except for actual game mechanics). And she's been unusually careful about online safety for ages. Maybe that's all kept her safe?
November 23, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Our kid (now 14) tells me she's never stumbled onto inappropriate content hidden in a game, fortunately. She doesn't really chat with people she doesn't know from school (except for actual game mechanics). And she's been unusually careful about online safety for ages. Maybe that's all kept her safe?
I really appreciate your responses here: you've long been my most trusted source of social media/T&S information. This really does sound like a risky platform.
I'm trying to figure out if my kid/family has just been lucky these past ~six years, or if we're doing something right enough to stay OK.
I'm trying to figure out if my kid/family has just been lucky these past ~six years, or if we're doing something right enough to stay OK.
November 23, 2025 at 3:43 AM
I really appreciate your responses here: you've long been my most trusted source of social media/T&S information. This really does sound like a risky platform.
I'm trying to figure out if my kid/family has just been lucky these past ~six years, or if we're doing something right enough to stay OK.
I'm trying to figure out if my kid/family has just been lucky these past ~six years, or if we're doing something right enough to stay OK.
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
I'm kinda clueless here, so if you've got any links to more info I'd love to see them.
For my kid, it's mostly the place she goes to hang out with her existing offline friends: the closest thing to a third space she's got. It's given our family prompts for lots of good online safety conversations.
For my kid, it's mostly the place she goes to hang out with her existing offline friends: the closest thing to a third space she's got. It's given our family prompts for lots of good online safety conversations.
November 22, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I'm kinda clueless here, so if you've got any links to more info I'd love to see them.
For my kid, it's mostly the place she goes to hang out with her existing offline friends: the closest thing to a third space she's got. It's given our family prompts for lots of good online safety conversations.
For my kid, it's mostly the place she goes to hang out with her existing offline friends: the closest thing to a third space she's got. It's given our family prompts for lots of good online safety conversations.
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
It's Friday, and apparently bluesky is ready for this fun revelation:
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
November 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
It's Friday, and apparently bluesky is ready for this fun revelation:
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
That's not to excuse any of those people for ignoring the racism and destruction of democracy! They shouldn't have! And it's not to claim that Trump's plans for "making America great again" were remotely plausible, or that they wouldn't hurt countless people. But it *is* a core part of his message.
November 21, 2025 at 10:09 PM
That's not to excuse any of those people for ignoring the racism and destruction of democracy! They shouldn't have! And it's not to claim that Trump's plans for "making America great again" were remotely plausible, or that they wouldn't hurt countless people. But it *is* a core part of his message.
Yeah: for most of us paying attention, the blatant racism and explicit fascism were absolutely his core message. But (in line with this article) a decent fraction of Trump's voters just tuned that out. They heard "Make America Great Again": bring back jobs, reduce prices, focus on national pride.
November 21, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Yeah: for most of us paying attention, the blatant racism and explicit fascism were absolutely his core message. But (in line with this article) a decent fraction of Trump's voters just tuned that out. They heard "Make America Great Again": bring back jobs, reduce prices, focus on national pride.
Thanks!
OK: If I'm understanding it, this is about grad school fields that are eligible for extra-high "professional degree" limits on annual student loan borrowing. And yeah: weird list! Why is Optometry "professional" but not Physical Therapy? (Gonna get rough for those big-spender MBA students!)
OK: If I'm understanding it, this is about grad school fields that are eligible for extra-high "professional degree" limits on annual student loan borrowing. And yeah: weird list! Why is Optometry "professional" but not Physical Therapy? (Gonna get rough for those big-spender MBA students!)
November 21, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Thanks!
OK: If I'm understanding it, this is about grad school fields that are eligible for extra-high "professional degree" limits on annual student loan borrowing. And yeah: weird list! Why is Optometry "professional" but not Physical Therapy? (Gonna get rough for those big-spender MBA students!)
OK: If I'm understanding it, this is about grad school fields that are eligible for extra-high "professional degree" limits on annual student loan borrowing. And yeah: weird list! Why is Optometry "professional" but not Physical Therapy? (Gonna get rough for those big-spender MBA students!)
Yes, I did see that, but I don't understand enough to know *what* funding is affected, and how. *Most* undergraduate degrees are not officially "professional"! (Surely a BA in Philosophy isn't being treated as "professional" while Nursing now isn't, right? Both have always been eligible for loans.)
November 21, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Yes, I did see that, but I don't understand enough to know *what* funding is affected, and how. *Most* undergraduate degrees are not officially "professional"! (Surely a BA in Philosophy isn't being treated as "professional" while Nursing now isn't, right? Both have always been eligible for loans.)
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
8675309 is prime, and so is 8675311, so if you ever need a middlin'-large pair of adjacent primes to test your cryptographic suite, all you need is a 1980s earworm and a +2 and you're all set.
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 3:28 AM
8675309 is prime, and so is 8675311, so if you ever need a middlin'-large pair of adjacent primes to test your cryptographic suite, all you need is a 1980s earworm and a +2 and you're all set.
I don't understand the implications here. What's the *new* category? (Are these now being included in broad "liberal arts"? So colleges with lots of Ed and Therapy students can count as SLACs? Or something else?) How does this affect available aid, accreditation, etc.? (Which danger is it?)
November 21, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I don't understand the implications here. What's the *new* category? (Are these now being included in broad "liberal arts"? So colleges with lots of Ed and Therapy students can count as SLACs? Or something else?) How does this affect available aid, accreditation, etc.? (Which danger is it?)
Reposted by Steuard Jensen
Amazing thread. Eye opening and sobering all at once
Look, men aren’t worried about being falsely accused of rape. False rape allegations occur at roughly the same frequency as false allegations of murder/etc., and they seem real not worried about those, even though they also wreck your reputation.
They’re worried about what they *have* done.
They’re worried about what they *have* done.
November 21, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Amazing thread. Eye opening and sobering all at once
The one big thing I see that's not addressed in this article is the role that outright bigotry plays in American politics today. We know "racial resentment" has always been by far the best predictor of Trump support, but respondents aren't likely to openly describe their ideal party in racist terms.
November 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
The one big thing I see that's not addressed in this article is the role that outright bigotry plays in American politics today. We know "racial resentment" has always been by far the best predictor of Trump support, but respondents aren't likely to openly describe their ideal party in racist terms.