Updating the monthly production graph - solar across PJM continued to look great in July. (June happened to be unusually sunny). Good progress but for perspective, we generated 3.5TWh of solar in July, but about 17TWh from coal in the same month. We continue to lag behind other grids in solar.

I failed to repair the light on my back porch (the top keeps coming off) and now a second family of doves has moved in. I think I should just give up and let them have it at this point.

Just to make sure my kids grow up with some weird ideas about food... Chili oil agave Brussels sprouts Soysauge and onion pizza Okonomiyaki-inspired shiitake-zucchini pizza with mayo and bonito

Asked a model to help me prove a simple theorem in lean so I could learn a bit of lean bad: I'd made an error in my math and accidentally asked the model to help prove an unproved conjecture (it did not) phew: i was using deepseek v4 flash so my lesson cost only $0.03 lean still feels hard though

Failure to achieve harmony between your ML + startup culture people and your SRE + systems culture people.

Karl Bode@karlbode.com · 6d ago

whoops we ALSO recklessly failed to adequately secure our own hacking software the only conclusion possible is that the singularity has arrived

Mmm. The salt and baking soda dry brine idea for pan grilling shrimp works really well.

second dose of shingles vaccine achieved. wonder how tomorrow is going to feel. 😆 (I'm not looking forward to it, but the important answer is: it's still going to feel better than getting shingles.) The pharmacist: Just take Tylenol non-stop for 48 to 72 hours.

We were there last night for Quantum Theater's production of The Tempest and I can honestly say it was probably the most fun Shakespeare production I've seen - though my experience with non-traditional productions of the bard is limited. Very glad I went, do recommend. And the setting was great.

David Andersen@daveandersen.bsky.social · 2w ago

Little bit of ancient Pittsburgh for the evening Carrie furnaces, a former blast furnace

Little bit of ancient Pittsburgh for the evening Carrie furnaces, a former blast furnace

This is taking me OUT!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

This is underappreciated - my students and I have done some cool research that has almost certainly touched systems you use daily, but by far and away my biggest impact on the world has been through helping teach a bunch of very smart BS/MS/Ph.D. students who go on to do great things.

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 2w ago

9. By supporting universities, they support the human capital development that flows into the commercial sector and generates the growth and innovation that has been a massive boon for US commerce. This plan undercuts that role, with disastrous consequences that will ricochet for years to come.

Pittsburgh friends, per our Chief who is the regional Emergency Management Coordinator, we have severe weather forecasted for tomorrow early afternoon through late evening. It could be as bad as the April storm of 2025. Charge up during the morning tomorrow, unplug anything sensitive early.

This is a thread worth reading in its entirety

Silverman on Security@silvermansecurity.bsky.social · 2w ago

I've seen really sharp folks over the past couple of days remark on here that they're surprised by Iran's hardline response to Trump & his Team Clown Shoes diplomatic overtures, to keeping the Strait of Hormuz, & the Iranian response to renewed US strikes. There's a reason for the befuddlement. 1/

On second thought, perhaps getting tickets to an outdoor performance of The Tempest really was tempting fate. (the performance we were going to tonight was canceled due to a thunderstorm. But had a lovely time saying hi to a bunch of colleagues while waiting around beforehand. :)

Administration that refuses to do anything about climate change angry at effects of climate change

Trump Action Tracker@trumpactiontracker.bsky.social · 3w ago

US Republicans threatened sanctions on Canada and Canadian government officials after smoke from devastating wildfires has drifted across huge swathes of the US. Trump also weighed in on Truth Social writing:In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the US had been “... TAT: [Foreign policy]

"It is arguments like this and the cavalier confidence with which they are freely asserted in the halls of academia that make everything Trump wants to do to the universities seem so eminently justified." eat my entire ass, you Heidegger wannabe

Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof@evanbernick.bsky.social · 3w ago

At the risk of fanning the flames of this: IW appears to believe that harsh criticism of him personally justifies restricting the academic freedom of everyone. If not, I’d like to hear him say that newly minted academics should be free to say he’s trafficking in bigotry.

Breathing outside without a mask is like licking a fireplace today. 🤮Horrifying to think that 100 years ago, Pittsburgh was like this nearly every day. Pour one out for air quality regulation and the EPA for helping transform the city into a great place to live.

Urp-ple Pittsburgh

I felt like having some good news this morning, so I've updated my tracking of PJM-wide (PA, VA, NJ, etc.) wholesale solar generation year-on-year comparison. Continued growth. (Per someone's question, this is only grid-scale, not residential, so actual total solar is a bit higher)

PJM Energy Production Bot@pjmproductionbot.bsky.social · 3w ago

A little mid-year update for PJM-wide solar production: 2026 through June continues to be another nice gain over the previous year. The rate of adding solar seems to be stable for the last few years but solar is still being added, and likely very profitably.

😍 Go Somerville. Zero traffic deaths in 3 years.

Ken McLeod@kenmcld.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Somerville has lowered speed limits all over..., repainted and shortened crosswalks..., added new speed humps, fixed sidewalks, expanded its bike-lane network, installed new bus stops and bus lanes and stepped up ticketing for distracted driving" AND ITS WORKED www.governing.com/infrastructu...

13yo's pre-algebra class is mixing |v| and ||v|| willy-nilly for the vector l2 norm and I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT THIS. (it turns out i have a lot of feelings about this class. Which is kind of funny for someone who, as it turns out, barely remembers trig.)

The world: watching the rapid evolution of unmanned systems combat reshape warfare Hegseth:

Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social · 3w ago

Hegseth announced they're gonna start screening for T and administering testosterone treatment for warriors found wanting

My son just told me is favourite sentence is: “I didn’t say we should kill him” because if you emphasise each different word it changes the entire meaning

Something else burning in the flames today

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE0w... crab rave, for whoever needs it

Noisestorm - Crab Rave (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by Noisestorm

youtube.com

the biggest positive story on climate is that it doesn’t seem to matter how much of the world is run by reactionary fascists: the rise of solar is unstoppable

Nicolas Fulghum@nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · 4w ago

Solar's sharp rise continues. As of April 2026, global solar capacity now exceeds 3 terawatt. 1 gigawatt → 1 terawatt: 20+ years 1 terawatt → 2 terawatt: 33 months 2 terawatt → 3 terawatt: 19 months

How about EVERYBODY cancel their Drop Site subscriptions (which is on that Nazi-loving platform Substack anyway) and invest in THESE FOLKS INSTEAD? 👇 (Hey: just invest in them anyway?) Thanks to @mariannedhe.bsky.social for putting this together. Boost plz for mass Drop Site unsubscribe !

It's time to trade up.

Support women and gender-diverse indie politics reporters. We're the goodies.

newsletter.mariannedhenin.com

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 4w ago

"she asked for it"

*blink* you did not.

"Thank God our kids weren’t with us. I’m not sure if I would’ve been able to react as calmly." Just published the absolute craziest story of my entire career. www.thedrive.com/news/how-flo...

How Flock Cameras Wrongly Tracked Me For Days over ‘Stolen’ Plates and Sent Police After Me

A simple error got magnified by Flock's nationwide surveillance camera network and ended with four cop cars boxing me in.

thedrive.com