I propose to found a Museum of Fiascos. Informational and instructional exhibits would describe and demonstrate notable fiascos, failures, blunders, botches, collapses, and cock-ups through time. My university’s IT department can sponsor a wing. X could be Exhibit A.

If you’re worried about complex computing systems developing artificial intelligence and wiping out humanity, you might stop navel gazing about that and worry about complex computing systems wiping out humanity by critical failures due to an expired SSL certificate.

If your response to a “being a junior faculty/staff is hard, all the responsibilities” thread is to say that it’s not so hard at your institute, maybe it’s not hard there. Or maybe it’s that the junior faculty and staff are afraid to speak honestly to you.

New plan to get astronomy-famous: enroute to next conference, get loaded on double scotches in the airport bar and tweet ignorant remarks about cosmic inflation, “This is why Americans think the matter-energy balance is terrible,” “Hubble tension is caused by coastal elites,” etc

Social media is no joke, it can kill. Think carefully about what you say lest you murder some poor teen’s parents.

Twitter seems really worked up about PAC-12 lately, but I won’t believe it’s a high Tc superconductor until confirmed by an independent lab.

I don’t put a lot of weight on what prediction markets say about high-Tc superconductivity, I’ll believe there’s a revolution when used copies of Ashcroft and Mermin shoot up to $500 because people want to actually learn some solid state physics.

Tech billionaires: here is a new disruptive innovation Me: I just want to be able to print a single sheet of paper without having to restart the printer, the computer, and the network connection three times each Tech billionaires: here is a new logo for an app!

The biography of Oppenheimer is titled “American Prometheus,” regardless of how you feel about the man I don’t think expecting his biopic to be a inspiring recruiting tool is reasonable. Prometheus doesn’t just get tenure and retire comfortably.

A problem for media companies taking on the Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA is that actors are really good at delivering pithy lines explaining their cause into a camera. Gee, who could have expected that?

Twitter is so non functional I can’t believe Elon thinks people would pay to read more of it. He should be paying the users to read what’s left of it.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a physicist in want of attention must be in search of a hot take.

Telescope operator’s log at @mmtobservatory says the Forest Service is conducting an owl survey on the mountain so there may be more lights than usual, which is odd because I thought owls could see in the dark.

If the orcas' position were justified, they should be willing to debate the boats.

How is “No Labels” anything more than an attempt to extort Biden and Democrats to hire Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson on as political consultants/ad hacks, by threatening a 3rd party spoiler campaign?

Pinochet’s coup in Chile, secret negotiations with North Vietnam, and Nobel “Peace” Prize all culminate in 1973, now just the midpoint of Henry Kissinger’s life. Arguably he peaked early and has coasted on his reputation as a secretive, cynical, blood-drenched toady since then.

Lawrence Krauss publishes op-ed arguing diversity initiatives in science are a distraction from elevator groping and being bad at physics talks

Years ago, before I heard that grad students were being advised not to get in an elevator alone with Larry Krauss, I went to a Larry Krauss colloquium on physics beyond the standard model and it was bad. So he’s not even good at that.