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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz
@hendrik-erz.de
1.3K followers 500 following 830 posts
PhD Student, Institute for Analytical Sociology (IAS) Political Sociologist studying policymaking processes in U.S. Congress. Program Chair @ic2s2.bsky.social Website: https://hendrik-erz.de I develop @zettlr.com, a free academic writing app.
hendrik-erz.de
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 2d
+++ NEW ARTICLE +++

What is theory, and how do the goals of a paper influence the choice of style for your theory part? I show that theory always needs to match the methods, and this can be quite hard.

www.hendrik-erz.de/post/between...
Between Theory and Methods
In this second reflection article on my dissertation, I talk about theory. I explore my theoretical origins, why I am no longer a theory guy, and how …
www.hendrik-erz.de
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 5d
And no, I know that none of this is unexpected. I just feel unable to accept this behavior as normal, even relative to this administration.
hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 5d
Every day feels like someone from this administration is taking my PhD, and prints it out, just to set it on fire in front of my eyes.
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 5d
I am convinced that most of this administration is clinically delusional. It is bewildering to observe how these people feel at the same time existentially persecuted, and continue to smash into existing norms and institutions with a brutality on par with police violence.
ryanenos.bsky.social
Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 6d
Somebody actually sat down and wrote these two sentences, one after another. www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/u...
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 5d
It appears Denmark has found a simple solution to its drone problem.

(Seen at Copenhagen main station)
An ad announcing a full drone prohibition across entire Denmark until tomorrow.
hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 9d
When was the last time you drove a nail into a wall using a knife? 🤨
hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 9d
And the second nailing is done — I’m just 93 theses apart from my Martin Luther memorial badge!
A photo of me in front of the spiknings-door in Norrköping
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 10d
Cool: the new iPhone I got supports “visual intelligence.” Not so cool: it only allows you to use ChatGPT.

But using shortcuts, one can recreate this with Apple’s own models. Bonus: it detects events pretty easily.

Whenever I want to know something, a single click on the action button suffices.
A screenshot of a shortcut that uses Apple’s LLMs to analyze pictures.
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 10d
Now that I'm finally out of Lightning-land, I decided to give it a shot and connect my external backup drive directly to my phone, and … I don't know what I expected. Of course it works, but it's still … mind blowing.

And that's what I'm saying as a not too illiterate person!
hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 12d
+++ NEW ARTICLE +++

Studying five years of U.S. Congress: What remains?

Reflections on my PhD Thesis

www.hendrik-erz.de/post/five-ye...
Five Years of Studying U.S. Congress: What Remains?
I am almost done. A few days ago, my dissertation "On the Record: Understanding a Century of Congressional Lawmaking through Speech and Vote …
www.hendrik-erz.de
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 12d
I nailed it! — quite literally!

Må spiknas!
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 12d
Oh yes
hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 13d
Thanks! It’s a custom build from during Covid — that thing is a tank!
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 13d
Finally! Proof that, when your printer complains about missing yellow, it’s lying!

(Seen at my university printing office)
A photo of reserve toner stacks. 2x Cyan, 3x Magenta, 4x Yellow, 3x Black (K).
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 13d
It's finally real — my printed thesis has just arrived! Isn't it beautiful? 😍

(Link to Open Access: doi.org/10.3384/9789...)
A photo of some copies of my thesis
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Reposted by Hendrik Erz
pengzell.bsky.social
Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 14d
Every time economists discover occupations exist, a sociologist dies
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 15d
The big issue U.S. democracy has is that its constitution is somewhat vague and as such open to interpretations like the Unitary Executive Theory, which grants POTUS a much larger authority than intended by the founding fathers. This shows that “intentions” are powerless in this instance.
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 15d
We might now hope that “history doesn't repeat itself” but I would be cautious. The Trump administration is indeed sometimes inconsistent — a feature of authoritarianism —, but I would not be surprised if they just continue the classic playbook. It has worked flawlessly for them until now.
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 15d
Look, people rarely agree about what “antifascism” entails, but if someone aims to ban an ideology (“Antifa” is not an organization), this sends a clear sign as to what is about to happen next.
crimethinc.com
CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective @crimethinc.com · 15d
Confirmation that Trump will be signing an executive order designating "antifa"—i.e., opposition to fascism—as "a domestic terrorist organization."

What this will mean concretely has yet to be seen. For now, read this guide to preparing communities to endure repression:

crimethinc.com/Safeguarding
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 16d
Microsoft has started to use its AI to review code and it’s going approximately as expected.

(Explainer: macOS is on version 26, but the Darwin kernel, which it uses, is on version 25.)
A screenshot of AI slop
hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 19d
Time to think about VS Codium, I guess.

(Btw I don't hate GPT models. I'm using them myself. I just really don't like them being shoved in my face like a turd.)
hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 19d
Also, of course, THAT setting is not retained in the "recently used" ones.

Wow, Microsoft, just wow.
A screenshot from VS Code
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 19d
I'm waiting for the next update which quietly re-enables that feature so that I can disable it again lol
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 19d
But wow, it did lead me to the correct setting. But boy, this is such a dark pattern, it's basically black.

"Chat: Learn how to hide AI features" suggests that it will pull up an actual GPT chat that may explain how to disable Copilot. But what it actually does is give you a setting to turn it off.
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hendrik-erz.de
Hendrik Erz @hendrik-erz.de · 19d
I wanted to disable, not use, Copilot in VS Code, and Microsoft pulled a classic Microsoft.
A screenshot from VS Code
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