Derek Bruff

Great Backyard Bird Count – Join us each February when the world comes together to watch, learn about, count, and celebrate birds. Each year people from around the world come together to watch, learn about, count, and celebrate birds. Join us in February!

2026 Great Backyard Bird Count is on! Feb 13-16. Report your sightings on eBird or just follow along and watch sightings accumulate around the globe in real time. It’s getting birdy! #birds www.birdcount.org

Dataviz *and* birding? I am there!

Oh, yeah, that’s right.

That's the big if, right? Will people pay money to see a movie that stars these actors' licenses, if the actors themselves aren't involved? Or, you know, even dead?

So much competence

That’s quite a revision.

1) No, I didn't. TIL that Tennessee's state bird is the Northern Mockingbird.

2) Yes, most definitely!

Looks like a final of Republican+29, which is a 29 point swing toward blue!

Having worked at Vandy for 17 years… that tracks.

I once asked a department chair what their PhD placement goal was. He said 100% into top 25 R1 faculty jobs. I asked how they were doing. He said 0%. 🫠

It’s projection. Would Ron Johnson dox someone? Probably. And that’s why he thinks others would do that. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Wasn’t Family Matters an ABC show?

A person is working at a desk with an open laptop and a historical manuscript. The manuscript lies on a supportive cushion, showing handwritten notes. The image has a pixelated design.

A person holds a tablet over a document on a table, capturing an image of handwritten pages. The table also displays a paper with a red "15" and a "Please Do Not Touch" sign. The person's arm has tattoos, and there is a reflection of ceiling lights on the tablet.

A red high-heeled shoe featuring handwritten black text on the surface is placed on a clear display stand. The background includes a blurred table with papers and an open laptop.

Can #AI accurately transcribe tricky primary source documents—including shoes?

At the “AI Transcription Winter 2026 OLLMpics," Library staff tested four platforms, and the results are in:

https://library.virginia.edu/news/2026/gamechanger-can-ai-accurately-transcribe-primary-source-documents

They would be as likely to break what was working as they would be to fix what was broken.

Unless you can find the unicorn Lederman describes in this piece.

White-throated Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Red-winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal

This last week was a rough one—no power for four nights, among other challenges—but the birding was great. #birding

If it doesn’t have an RSS feed with audio content, it’s not a podcast.

Update: The power is back on! We have heat again.

We were! Got our power back a few hours ago.

Day five without power at my house. Cell signals are back and the roads are mostly clear. But with more cold coming, our little propane heater can’t keep up so we’re going to stay with friends tonight. Apologies if I owe you an email!

Today’s home office. The only corner of the yard where I get an occasional Internet signal.

European Starling, White-throated Sparrow, Carolina Chickadee, and Carolina Wren

It’s rough out there, so here are some birds.

Make it happen. You actually have the power.

Here’s hoping the Horned Lark comes out in this game. cc @aba.org

Good reporting there by @bethmcmurtrie.bsky.social. And I appreciate the comment from @josheyler.bsky.social about the value of centers for teaching and learning.

UT-Austin Is Closing Its Teaching Center. Faculty Members Ask: Why? A series of shutdowns announced by the provost are short on detail. Professors say they make little sense.

So UT-Austin is committed to "undergraduate research, faculty support, advising," but it's closing the offices and centers that do that work? Um, what?

www.chronicle.com/article/ut-a...

Answering a question about AI disruption, @monasloane.bsky.social points out how her students are struggling on the job market right now. They're the ones sending out hundreds of resumes, which is another reason to listen to them about AI.

Also: Students aren't a monolith. They need space to deliberate various perspectives.

Students trust universities with their data, but terms and conditions confuse them.

Students want clear AI policies. They worry their voice won't be taken seriously.

More findings from @monasloane.bsky.social: Student participation in university administration has declined over the last 30 years.

Students are "digital natives" and "AI experts in their own right." [I have issues with those claims.] We need their voices in these discussions. [Hear, hear.]

Given that, Mona has started up a Student Technology Council at UVA's School of Data Science, involving students in the design of the council from the start.

Their findings: University tech decisions impact student life (not just learning) now and in the future. (con't)

We Are All AI Experts Now The social impact of AI is real. We need to understand the everyday use of AI to get a better picture of how we can prevent AI harm.

Now @monasloane.bsky.social is pivoting to teaching and students. "We are all AI experts now," she wrote here: medium.com/@monasloane/.... That is, students are actively exploring and gaining expertise in how to use AI in their studies.