Stephen G. Prilliman

Field of Sausages

A screenshot from the official Mozilla blog that reads: Firefox will grow from a browser into a broader ecosystem of trusted software. Firefox will remain our anchor. It will evolve into a modern AI browser and support a portfolio of new and trusted software additions.

Mozilla has a new CEO and he just announced that Firefox will evolve into a modern AI browser. This is a good example of how management doesn’t understand its own user base and why they go out of their way to install Firefox on Windows, Android, iOS and other devices blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/l...

I had two different students email me this week to ask why I hadn’t updated their grades. It turned out they meant their midterm grades.

The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste

whenever a youtuber *chooses to put into the video* that they asked chatGPT something, i close the video lol.

as if i'm interested in hearing about the journey you took talking to a fucking chatbot about a problem you were trying to solve 🥴

What was supposed to be AltText October took until today but I’m done! Alt text for 60 figures complete!!

CAMPUS VISIT WITH THE VAMPIRE

TEACHING DEMO WITH THE VAMPIRE

SIT-DOWN WITH THE DEAN WITH THE VAMPIRE

APOLOGETIC EMAIL THAT THE SEARCH WAS CANCELED WITH THE VAMPIRE

Halloween gravestone reading “I Did My Own Research” in a yard with two skeleton arms sticking out of the grass.

Happy Halloween

One thing I like about AI is how I’ll search for “ESPN” and then the browser will be like “AI Powered Search found you the website for ESPN” and I can marvel at the wonders of Tomorrowland

a coyote holding a sign that says " that 's all folks " ALT: a coyote holding a sign that says " that 's all folks "

I feel like the engagement on this website has really fallen off.

The house has two sides or “wings” he tore down the wing on east side. He said his wife wasn’t really using it??

I own a house I rent to a guy. It’s an historic home with a big yard. Today I found out he tore down half the house. He says he’s going to rebuild it with someone else’s money. For some reason he didn’t ask my permission. Is anything I can do about it?

I'm catching strays this morning.

I’m holding out for my personal astromech.

Book writing update: I'm part way through review and I think the figures are more-or-less set, so now I'm writing alt text for each of 60 or so figs.

I'm calling it "Alt Text October". I'm trying to do 5 every day, which means I'm actually doing 2-3 every third day, but I'm making progress.

Spotted at the airport

If you've ever wondered about #POGIL, I'm helping facilitate a Mini-POGIL Experience next Wednesday, October 15. Come check it out! events.pogil.org/event-6350752

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Four test tubes containing different liquids: clear and colourless; pink and clear; white and opaque; blue and opaque.

There is a danger that we assume students are good at observation. @dave2004b.bsky.social shares ideas to hone learners’ skills throughout their education to help them see, and explain, clearly
edu.rsc.org/cpd/developi...
#chemed #sciteachuk

Like, I can’t believe I didn’t think to sell people future Moon helium instead of becoming an educator

Moon helium deal biggest purchase of natural resources from space

I know there are other things going on, but I can’t get over this.

Adjusted for inflation Spirited Away cost $22 million to make. The Triplets of Belleville cost $16.5 million, Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers cost $14.28 million, and Oscar winner Flow cost only $4 million. These critically acclaimed, made by real people films, cost less than this pile of actual vomit.

Tony Wan, head of platform at MagicSchool investor Reach Capital, explained to me that AI education companies benefit from teachers and students flagging inappropriate content and otherwise helping guide product development. To that end, he said, “we often encourage our founders to just get this in the hands of teachers and users as quickly as possible—not necessarily as a refined product. And I don’t mean that in a bad or irresponsible way.” Wan later clarified that this “should not come at the expense of quality or pose risks.”

Y’all, they are just admitting it.

New plan: we get Obama to demand the death certificate

Finished Andor tonight. Even if you aren’t a Star Wars fan you should watch Andor. I don’t even understand how good it is.

🧵THREAD: Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ is doubling down on using a $2B tobacco settlement fund to push conservative shareholder proposals at major corporations. The state's investment board just voted 3-1 to target 10 companies in 2026. 1/8

The goal of this class is to create the habits of mind necessary for your success in chemistry, science in general, and in your career. These habits are developed by constantly challenging your brain to evaluate information, develop new concepts and apply these concepts in new contexts. These habits do not develop when you use artificial intelligence to solve problems. In fact, early studies on users of AI indicate that they cause academic abilities to decay (authors have been calling this effect “brain rot” and “de-skilling”). Furthermore, AI is frequently found to solve chemistry problems incorrectly. Therefore, you should not use AI in my class. You already have a “Ph.D. level expert” available to you – me! I am not as fast as AI, but you can email me at any time and I will get an answer back to you. So there is really no need for you to use AI in this class. Since I am asking you not to use it, I will also refrain from the use AI in the creation of class materials including activities, lab experiments, homework, quizzes and exams.

We're all coming at this from a different place, but here is my syllabus policy on AI for General Chemistry

She doesn’t need a hero, she is the hero we need. 🤩

Ralph Wiggum sits at a computer with the letters CAT on the screen along with a red cat. The caption says "I'M AN ARTIST!"

A.I.:

YouTube video by vlogbrothers What Trump is Doing to Universities

Hank Green does an excellent job of spelling out some of the challenges higher ed is experiencing. It's worth sharing, especially with those who are not as familiar with the workings of academia.

#RAdminSky #Research #Science #AcademicSky

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQwh...