Mark Tough
@marktough.bsky.social
Doin' stuff at the nexus of tech, community development, and education. Geezer Xer. Iowa farm boy, 33-year Baltimore City rowhomie. Indie music, Patterson Park, pinball, disc golf, hiking, cat appreciating, econ/soc. Shitlib vibes, Warren-ish policies.
I love Morgan State. And I used to be a work neighbor of Morgan State.
Those things said, the notion that the university will "run entirely" on the AI is impossible on its face and I don't know if I hope this hyperbole was Wolfe's or Morgan State's.
Those things said, the notion that the university will "run entirely" on the AI is impossible on its face and I don't know if I hope this hyperbole was Wolfe's or Morgan State's.
Morgan State University is one of the first colleges in the country to create its own sovereign artificial intelligence system. The university will soon run entirely on the AI, called Obsidian, which will advise students and grade assignments.
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...
Morgan State could one day run entirely on AI
The historically Black college may be one of the few universities in the country, perhaps even the world, that has its own sovereign AI.
www.thebanner.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I love Morgan State. And I used to be a work neighbor of Morgan State.
Those things said, the notion that the university will "run entirely" on the AI is impossible on its face and I don't know if I hope this hyperbole was Wolfe's or Morgan State's.
Those things said, the notion that the university will "run entirely" on the AI is impossible on its face and I don't know if I hope this hyperbole was Wolfe's or Morgan State's.
I've paid attention in varying degrees to The Atlantic since roughly 1979/80, the start of my high school debate era. It's always frustrated me, albeit in different ways over time. I didn't hate the early years of the Goldberg era. But the last 5ish years have been tough. Canceling today...finally.
Jeff Goldberg, the editor of the Atlantic, is a villain who has helped create American fascism.
Kudos to Kennedy's handlers for getting him a cover shoot -- praying with a rosary! -- at the same time he's at the center of a 🤢 cyber infidelity scandal. No notes.
November 24, 2025 at 10:57 PM
I've paid attention in varying degrees to The Atlantic since roughly 1979/80, the start of my high school debate era. It's always frustrated me, albeit in different ways over time. I didn't hate the early years of the Goldberg era. But the last 5ish years have been tough. Canceling today...finally.
I JUST DID THIS at the Pulaski East Baltimore City Autozone two days ago! There was no posted prohibition. The darkness has not fully descended.
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I JUST DID THIS at the Pulaski East Baltimore City Autozone two days ago! There was no posted prohibition. The darkness has not fully descended.
This is interesting and potentially valuable, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY wish Niskanen had opted for illustrating ranges on a color spectrum rather than the binary best-vs-AllTheRest approach. They could still rhetorically single out the top tier.
The potential benefits of migration are not identical everywhere.
This remarkable new resource from @niskanencenter.bsky.social maps the US counties where the economic benefits of immigration might be highest —>
www.niskanencenter.org/mapping-amer...
This remarkable new resource from @niskanencenter.bsky.social maps the US counties where the economic benefits of immigration might be highest —>
www.niskanencenter.org/mapping-amer...
November 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
This is interesting and potentially valuable, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY wish Niskanen had opted for illustrating ranges on a color spectrum rather than the binary best-vs-AllTheRest approach. They could still rhetorically single out the top tier.
SO PROUD of my neighborhood! I don't know Buzz but I hope to soon!
I’m howling.
November 20, 2025 at 4:21 PM
SO PROUD of my neighborhood! I don't know Buzz but I hope to soon!
Reposted by Mark Tough
Meanwhile, consider this.
A GREAT NUMBER of beltway scribes wasted time last fall obsessing abt Nuzzi's sexting life rather than focusing on dangers of electing a fascist.
And now, Condé Nast has chosen Nuzzi over Tean Vogue's exceptional political reporting (and the 5 journos who stood up for it).
A GREAT NUMBER of beltway scribes wasted time last fall obsessing abt Nuzzi's sexting life rather than focusing on dangers of electing a fascist.
And now, Condé Nast has chosen Nuzzi over Tean Vogue's exceptional political reporting (and the 5 journos who stood up for it).
November 18, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Meanwhile, consider this.
A GREAT NUMBER of beltway scribes wasted time last fall obsessing abt Nuzzi's sexting life rather than focusing on dangers of electing a fascist.
And now, Condé Nast has chosen Nuzzi over Tean Vogue's exceptional political reporting (and the 5 journos who stood up for it).
A GREAT NUMBER of beltway scribes wasted time last fall obsessing abt Nuzzi's sexting life rather than focusing on dangers of electing a fascist.
And now, Condé Nast has chosen Nuzzi over Tean Vogue's exceptional political reporting (and the 5 journos who stood up for it).
Cloudfare don't Cerf.
Oh good, that definitely makes it easier for me to get my work done today… 😭
Remember when we had a decentralised Internet, that routed around failure points? That was pretty natty, we should look at that again, maybe?
Remember when we had a decentralised Internet, that routed around failure points? That was pretty natty, we should look at that again, maybe?
November 18, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Cloudfare don't Cerf.
The Power of Mark.
November 17, 2025 at 12:12 AM
The Power of Mark.
HOUSE OF DYNAMITE Microreview (no spoilers):
YAY:
- Basic story architecture
- Reasonable versimilitude of the geek stuff
- Catalytic event
OK:
- The acting, generally
NO WAY:
- Too much emo (some to be expected, this was overkill)
- Idris dealt a sloppily written POTUS
TL/DR: B, leaning B+
YAY:
- Basic story architecture
- Reasonable versimilitude of the geek stuff
- Catalytic event
OK:
- The acting, generally
NO WAY:
- Too much emo (some to be expected, this was overkill)
- Idris dealt a sloppily written POTUS
TL/DR: B, leaning B+
November 16, 2025 at 12:11 AM
HOUSE OF DYNAMITE Microreview (no spoilers):
YAY:
- Basic story architecture
- Reasonable versimilitude of the geek stuff
- Catalytic event
OK:
- The acting, generally
NO WAY:
- Too much emo (some to be expected, this was overkill)
- Idris dealt a sloppily written POTUS
TL/DR: B, leaning B+
YAY:
- Basic story architecture
- Reasonable versimilitude of the geek stuff
- Catalytic event
OK:
- The acting, generally
NO WAY:
- Too much emo (some to be expected, this was overkill)
- Idris dealt a sloppily written POTUS
TL/DR: B, leaning B+
Ok, so I posted yesterday that while I've placed SK clearly in the grifter column for 5+ years now, I couldn't get all that excited about the dunking. Upon further review of R's more encyclopedic set of receipts, yeah, ok, it's warranted.
For the record, there are at least three misdirections-at-best in this week's Main Character's thread about how her being suspended for 72 hours for violating the violent rhetoric policy is the greatest outrage ever to happen:
November 15, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Ok, so I posted yesterday that while I've placed SK clearly in the grifter column for 5+ years now, I couldn't get all that excited about the dunking. Upon further review of R's more encyclopedic set of receipts, yeah, ok, it's warranted.
A Bernstein leaning wood-ward is old news.
(sorry)
(sorry)
November 15, 2025 at 1:22 PM
A Bernstein leaning wood-ward is old news.
(sorry)
(sorry)
Today's main character is assuredly grifterious but I think her ill-chosen word is still pretty easily contextualizable and I just don't see it eclipsing or erasing the deeper use of the word as is all too sadly necessary these days. Self-drama has been heavily baked in there for years anyway.
November 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Today's main character is assuredly grifterious but I think her ill-chosen word is still pretty easily contextualizable and I just don't see it eclipsing or erasing the deeper use of the word as is all too sadly necessary these days. Self-drama has been heavily baked in there for years anyway.
Ok, 45 years later I now understand that the enunciation in The Kings' This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide was normal vernacular and not just sloshy singing.
Sandy Brondello, new head coach for @tempobasketball.bsky.social, can’t recruit players or build a team until the new CBA is ratified and free agency gets going, so she’s spending her free time learning how to say “Tor-on-no.”
Listen to the full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
Listen to the full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Ok, 45 years later I now understand that the enunciation in The Kings' This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide was normal vernacular and not just sloshy singing.
Great piece, great media site, and I'm with the fighters here.
But I'm always gonna pedantically hate the fact that an America with thousands of incorporated places of under 1,000 people still has nothing better to call a place that is TWO FACTORS OF MAGNITUDE LARGER a "small town."
But I'm always gonna pedantically hate the fact that an America with thousands of incorporated places of under 1,000 people still has nothing better to call a place that is TWO FACTORS OF MAGNITUDE LARGER a "small town."
Los Alamos and U of Michigan want to build a data center in the small town of Ypsilanti. The city's people don't want to help make weapons of mass destruction. The fight is only just starting
A Small Town Is Fighting a $1.2 Billion AI Datacenter for America's Nuclear Weapon Scientists
Ypsilanti, Michigan has officially decided to fight against the construction of a 'high-performance computing facility' that would service a nuclear weapons laboratory 1,500 miles away.
www.404media.co
November 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Great piece, great media site, and I'm with the fighters here.
But I'm always gonna pedantically hate the fact that an America with thousands of incorporated places of under 1,000 people still has nothing better to call a place that is TWO FACTORS OF MAGNITUDE LARGER a "small town."
But I'm always gonna pedantically hate the fact that an America with thousands of incorporated places of under 1,000 people still has nothing better to call a place that is TWO FACTORS OF MAGNITUDE LARGER a "small town."
But now and then, I go to a party, get drunk/
And the next morning, I can't for the life of me (detachable jetway)/
Remember what I did with it (detachable jetway) 🎶
"Mobile lounge"?!
You ain't nothin' but a bus ride to the sky 🎶
And the next morning, I can't for the life of me (detachable jetway)/
Remember what I did with it (detachable jetway) 🎶
"Mobile lounge"?!
You ain't nothin' but a bus ride to the sky 🎶
A mobile lounge carrying passengers crashed at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday, injuring more than a dozen people and causing some damage to the terminal.
Mobile Lounge Crashes at Dulles Airport, Causing Injuries and Damage
More than a dozen people were hurt and will be evaluated at a hospital. Air travel has been hampered in recent days by the government shutdown.
nyti.ms
November 11, 2025 at 12:53 AM
But now and then, I go to a party, get drunk/
And the next morning, I can't for the life of me (detachable jetway)/
Remember what I did with it (detachable jetway) 🎶
"Mobile lounge"?!
You ain't nothin' but a bus ride to the sky 🎶
And the next morning, I can't for the life of me (detachable jetway)/
Remember what I did with it (detachable jetway) 🎶
"Mobile lounge"?!
You ain't nothin' but a bus ride to the sky 🎶
Ever-increasing polarization.
November 11, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Ever-increasing polarization.
Visited a friend with cancer in hospice care in Towson, Maryland today.
A few doors down is a woman who was a childhood friend of Anne Frank and has photos of them as kids by her bedside. (!!!)
Cue that Falkner quote about the past and put it on a loop. Damn.
(confirmed legit, btw)
A few doors down is a woman who was a childhood friend of Anne Frank and has photos of them as kids by her bedside. (!!!)
Cue that Falkner quote about the past and put it on a loop. Damn.
(confirmed legit, btw)
November 9, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Visited a friend with cancer in hospice care in Towson, Maryland today.
A few doors down is a woman who was a childhood friend of Anne Frank and has photos of them as kids by her bedside. (!!!)
Cue that Falkner quote about the past and put it on a loop. Damn.
(confirmed legit, btw)
A few doors down is a woman who was a childhood friend of Anne Frank and has photos of them as kids by her bedside. (!!!)
Cue that Falkner quote about the past and put it on a loop. Damn.
(confirmed legit, btw)
"Evil = stupid" is absolutely the coin of the realm over yonder in my generational homeland called Facebook. And not just re ideology, as discussed here, but with respect to strategy, tactics, just about everything. There are such cases (Tuberville being my bannerman here) but MANY counter-examples.
I'm a few chapters into @lkatfield.bsky.social's great new book on MAGA intellectuals and I thought the close of her introductory chapter made a very important point about the dangers of talking about MAGA as it it is an intellectual desert. It's more like a refulgent swamp of shitty, toxic ideas.
November 7, 2025 at 8:28 PM
"Evil = stupid" is absolutely the coin of the realm over yonder in my generational homeland called Facebook. And not just re ideology, as discussed here, but with respect to strategy, tactics, just about everything. There are such cases (Tuberville being my bannerman here) but MANY counter-examples.
Ok, it's a good day.
November 6, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Ok, it's a good day.
Reposted by Mark Tough
immaculate vibes
November 5, 2025 at 1:34 AM
immaculate vibes
Reposted by Mark Tough
you know what cures a lot of intracoalition friction, is winning
November 5, 2025 at 2:14 AM
you know what cures a lot of intracoalition friction, is winning
I didn't know what the sound was when my class of adult coding students and I heard it, but the sound of the plane hitting the Pentagon, filtered across to two or three miles separating us from it, was like nothing I had heard before and hopefully never will again.
the extent to which people have utterly forgotten that 9/11 was a real thing that actually happened is a testament to both how fucked human memory is and also how much the Bush administration squandered its mission to protect the country
I don't want to call this person out because they're not entirely wrong, but I think what this misses was that right after 9/11 the political culture were in fact scared shitless that 9/11 was going to happen again and again. It wasn't about civility that made people support WOT, it was fear.
November 4, 2025 at 4:23 PM
I didn't know what the sound was when my class of adult coding students and I heard it, but the sound of the plane hitting the Pentagon, filtered across to two or three miles separating us from it, was like nothing I had heard before and hopefully never will again.
Niche pet peeve:
Can we please retire "visible from space"/"visible from orbit" as bignifiers (signifiers of large size)? Medium/high-grade commercial satellites render every Target, every football field, and for that matter my rowhome's rooftop deck "visible from space."
Can we please retire "visible from space"/"visible from orbit" as bignifiers (signifiers of large size)? Medium/high-grade commercial satellites render every Target, every football field, and for that matter my rowhome's rooftop deck "visible from space."
November 2, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Niche pet peeve:
Can we please retire "visible from space"/"visible from orbit" as bignifiers (signifiers of large size)? Medium/high-grade commercial satellites render every Target, every football field, and for that matter my rowhome's rooftop deck "visible from space."
Can we please retire "visible from space"/"visible from orbit" as bignifiers (signifiers of large size)? Medium/high-grade commercial satellites render every Target, every football field, and for that matter my rowhome's rooftop deck "visible from space."
Holy crap! A new organic follow!
My sporadic rando posting obviously isn't designed to grow an audience; it's just nice to see that one-out-of-fifty account that isn't botty when I go in to block the dross.
My sporadic rando posting obviously isn't designed to grow an audience; it's just nice to see that one-out-of-fifty account that isn't botty when I go in to block the dross.
November 1, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Holy crap! A new organic follow!
My sporadic rando posting obviously isn't designed to grow an audience; it's just nice to see that one-out-of-fifty account that isn't botty when I go in to block the dross.
My sporadic rando posting obviously isn't designed to grow an audience; it's just nice to see that one-out-of-fifty account that isn't botty when I go in to block the dross.
Change one letter, ruin a candy.
Mayday
Mayday
Change one letter, ruin a candy.
Knickers
Knickers
Change one letter, ruin a candy.
Starwurst
Starwurst
October 30, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Change one letter, ruin a candy.
Mayday
Mayday