Matthew Petersen
@meptrsn.bsky.social
Transportation Planner, Allston-Brighton Resident, Union Steward
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Herman Melville on moderates, all the way back in 1857:
May 27, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Herman Melville on moderates, all the way back in 1857:
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
‘providing computers to students without sufficient pedagogical support
may have limited the effects on academic performance and may have led to negative effects on
students’ grade progression over time.’
may have limited the effects on academic performance and may have led to negative effects on
students’ grade progression over time.’
Laptops in the Long Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
December 8, 2025 at 12:01 PM
‘providing computers to students without sufficient pedagogical support
may have limited the effects on academic performance and may have led to negative effects on
students’ grade progression over time.’
may have limited the effects on academic performance and may have led to negative effects on
students’ grade progression over time.’
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Varvara Stepanova, Circle Points—Teal and Orange, textile design, Russia, 1923
November 30, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Varvara Stepanova, Circle Points—Teal and Orange, textile design, Russia, 1923
👏ban👏left👏turns👏
I constantly hear in some planning circles that "speed isn't a big issue for new transit", downplaying issues with our new LRTs.
and yet today i heard sooo many riders, young and old, ask "why is it so slow?"
"transit should be frequent, reliable, and FAST" shouldn't be a hot take!
and yet today i heard sooo many riders, young and old, ask "why is it so slow?"
"transit should be frequent, reliable, and FAST" shouldn't be a hot take!
December 8, 2025 at 12:26 PM
👏ban👏left👏turns👏
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
The problem with every post-Millennial generation is they got to go straight to high speed internet. Of course you'll get computer madness that way. Make them start with those old screeching modems and work their way up
November 10, 2024 at 12:14 AM
The problem with every post-Millennial generation is they got to go straight to high speed internet. Of course you'll get computer madness that way. Make them start with those old screeching modems and work their way up
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
The news from Oklahoma and Nebraska is so depressing. The US public university system is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, created to democratize liberal arts education, and it's being destroyed by greedy people who think only the rich are deserving of such learning.
December 7, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The news from Oklahoma and Nebraska is so depressing. The US public university system is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, created to democratize liberal arts education, and it's being destroyed by greedy people who think only the rich are deserving of such learning.
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
I think you just invented potholes.
Tired: flat streets
Wired: Speed humps, tables, etc
Inspired: Speed *dips*, because modern clearance and suspension makes taking speed bumps at speed no big deal, but dips still make drivers worry they'll damage their car, and that has the highest level of encouraging compliance
Wired: Speed humps, tables, etc
Inspired: Speed *dips*, because modern clearance and suspension makes taking speed bumps at speed no big deal, but dips still make drivers worry they'll damage their car, and that has the highest level of encouraging compliance
December 8, 2025 at 4:06 AM
I think you just invented potholes.
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Me before becoming a CS professor: "with tightly scoped and heavily regulated use-cases, it's worth developing an extremely limited form of AI"
Me after 3 years as a CS professor: "we have to destroy all AI of any and every kind immediately and ban any future development work of any kind"
Me after 3 years as a CS professor: "we have to destroy all AI of any and every kind immediately and ban any future development work of any kind"
December 7, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Me before becoming a CS professor: "with tightly scoped and heavily regulated use-cases, it's worth developing an extremely limited form of AI"
Me after 3 years as a CS professor: "we have to destroy all AI of any and every kind immediately and ban any future development work of any kind"
Me after 3 years as a CS professor: "we have to destroy all AI of any and every kind immediately and ban any future development work of any kind"
Spending some time taking the bus today to run some errands - thinking a lot about the impact of the micro-interactions of bus stops, intersections, and crosswalk placements on bus speed and reliability
December 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Spending some time taking the bus today to run some errands - thinking a lot about the impact of the micro-interactions of bus stops, intersections, and crosswalk placements on bus speed and reliability
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
It is both deeply ironic and profoundly funny that all these overconfident maga chud dudebros are convinced they'll be at the top of a meritocratic system, when in reality they're actually the ones who've benefited most from what they themselves characterize as non-meritocratic factors.
Ending DEI practices in college admissions will expose an uncomfortable truth. Women now outperform men academically.
If universities stop trying to gender balance incoming classes but instead admit based on merit, they’ll reject men at higher rates than they do today.
If universities stop trying to gender balance incoming classes but instead admit based on merit, they’ll reject men at higher rates than they do today.
Trump’s attack on DEI may hurt college men, particularly White men
The Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion also targets gender. The ban may impact gender balancing practices that often benefit college men.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
It is both deeply ironic and profoundly funny that all these overconfident maga chud dudebros are convinced they'll be at the top of a meritocratic system, when in reality they're actually the ones who've benefited most from what they themselves characterize as non-meritocratic factors.
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
it does feel like an intense societal problem that the founder of palantir, the biggest survellience company, thinks like this
December 7, 2025 at 5:27 PM
it does feel like an intense societal problem that the founder of palantir, the biggest survellience company, thinks like this
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
"Today’s microwave can cook a frozen burrito. Tomorrow’s microwave will be able to cook an entire Thanksgiving Dinner. Ten years from now a microwave may even be able to run the country."
December 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
"Today’s microwave can cook a frozen burrito. Tomorrow’s microwave will be able to cook an entire Thanksgiving Dinner. Ten years from now a microwave may even be able to run the country."
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
"Extreme wealth is never earned; it is only enabled."
"Because working people have been shunted into defined contribution, self-funded retirement schemes, their futures are wedded to stock market returns in a way that people in similarly wealthy democracies find unimaginable." Inequality in the US is obscene. My thoughts:
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
The case for a 100% tax bracket for billionaires
I was looking through my photos, stumbled upon this image, and realized that I had to get out a seasonal newsletter today with a wish for 2025. Caption....
buttondown.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:12 PM
"Extreme wealth is never earned; it is only enabled."
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
We should take it way more seriously than we do that these unspeakably wealthy and powerful men are publicly equating summary judgement and public execution with their gender.
That’s real sick. Real real sick.
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
That’s real sick. Real real sick.
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
Joe Lonsdale Calls For Public Hangings
Silicon Valley radicalization escalates
www.thenerdreich.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
We should take it way more seriously than we do that these unspeakably wealthy and powerful men are publicly equating summary judgement and public execution with their gender.
That’s real sick. Real real sick.
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
That’s real sick. Real real sick.
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Ezra Klein even like "well we can agree 'birth tourism' is a problem," and no, I cannot. My group texts are about sports and kids.
still poleaxed by the idea that you could oppose birthright citizenship and still think of yourself as a liberal in any sense of the term.
December 6, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Ezra Klein even like "well we can agree 'birth tourism' is a problem," and no, I cannot. My group texts are about sports and kids.
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Waymo is issuing a software recall for its self-driving cars after reports the company's autonomous vehicles failed to stop for school buses. n.pr/4iGUYWf
Waymo will recall software after its self-driving cars passed stopped school buses
Waymo is issuing a software recall for its self-driving cars after reports the company's autonomous vehicles failed to stop for school buses.
n.pr
December 6, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Waymo is issuing a software recall for its self-driving cars after reports the company's autonomous vehicles failed to stop for school buses. n.pr/4iGUYWf
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Look, it's bad that it's a cat. What if it's a kid?
December 6, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Look, it's bad that it's a cat. What if it's a kid?
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
🎉LIFE AFTER CARS!
What a night! Thank you to everyone who attended our “Life After Cars” live show with Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear and @billbartholomew.bsky.social! We had a blast showing them around a rainy Providence and putting our @cleverhood.bsky.social to work!
What a night! Thank you to everyone who attended our “Life After Cars” live show with Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear and @billbartholomew.bsky.social! We had a blast showing them around a rainy Providence and putting our @cleverhood.bsky.social to work!
December 5, 2025 at 10:13 PM
🎉LIFE AFTER CARS!
What a night! Thank you to everyone who attended our “Life After Cars” live show with Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear and @billbartholomew.bsky.social! We had a blast showing them around a rainy Providence and putting our @cleverhood.bsky.social to work!
What a night! Thank you to everyone who attended our “Life After Cars” live show with Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear and @billbartholomew.bsky.social! We had a blast showing them around a rainy Providence and putting our @cleverhood.bsky.social to work!
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
There are many reasons to remember the life and work of Frank Gehry today but want to highlight that he was a good employer who knew how to run an office and took construction seriously.
December 5, 2025 at 9:26 PM
There are many reasons to remember the life and work of Frank Gehry today but want to highlight that he was a good employer who knew how to run an office and took construction seriously.
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
I have just approved TINY CARS to be built in America. Little SEDANS that should fit four at most but when you open the door 27 clowns spill out. HOW??? They will DUST THEMSELVES OFF as they leave the car. The HORN will make the little eeooh-eeooh sound. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
December 5, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I have just approved TINY CARS to be built in America. Little SEDANS that should fit four at most but when you open the door 27 clowns spill out. HOW??? They will DUST THEMSELVES OFF as they leave the car. The HORN will make the little eeooh-eeooh sound. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
Boston Data Show Streets With New Bike Lanes Successfully Shift Traffic, With Fewer Cars and Way More Bikes - mass.streetsblog.org/2025/12/05/b...
Boston Data Show Streets With New Bike Lanes Successfully Shift Traffic From Cars to Bikes - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Mayor Wu has hard evidence that her bike lane projects are helping reduce traffic – but her administration is reluctant to share it.
mass.streetsblog.org
December 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Boston Data Show Streets With New Bike Lanes Successfully Shift Traffic, With Fewer Cars and Way More Bikes - mass.streetsblog.org/2025/12/05/b...
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
"“We don’t have to be so stringent in supporting people,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you can just give people money, and we can trust and respect that they will make the decisions they need to in order to live.”"
!!!! THAT PART !!!!
!!!! THAT PART !!!!
More Indy families will get $500 a month as part of basic income program
Learn how a basic income program in Indianapolis is providing financial relief and empowering low-income families to meet their basic needs.
www.wishtv.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:39 PM
"“We don’t have to be so stringent in supporting people,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you can just give people money, and we can trust and respect that they will make the decisions they need to in order to live.”"
!!!! THAT PART !!!!
!!!! THAT PART !!!!
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
people, you have the chance to put my book ahead of Olivia Nuzzi’s on the bestseller list. put aside all other considerations and think how objectively funny this would be. #1, that Mountain Goats guy. #2, Antivax Man Has My Heart. funniest list of the century. We can do this if we try
December 4, 2025 at 3:47 AM
people, you have the chance to put my book ahead of Olivia Nuzzi’s on the bestseller list. put aside all other considerations and think how objectively funny this would be. #1, that Mountain Goats guy. #2, Antivax Man Has My Heart. funniest list of the century. We can do this if we try
Reposted by Matthew Petersen
What
President Trump, apparently enamored by the pint-sized Kei cars he saw during his recent trip to Japan, has paved the way for them to be made and sold in the US despite concerns
Trump Wants Asia’s ‘Cute’ Kei Cars to be Made and Sold in US
President Donald Trump, apparently enamored by the pint-sized Kei cars he saw during his recent trip to Japan, has paved the way for them to be made and sold in the US, despite concerns that they’re too small and slow to be driven safely on American roads.
bloom.bg
December 4, 2025 at 4:12 AM
What