Matt Mack
@matthras.bsky.social
Hard-of-hearing + mild AuDHD mathematician, cellist, anime+manga+VTuber fan with a giant backlog of games and books to get through. Chronically online: matthras@aus.social, matthras@x.com, matthras.com
Pinned
Matt Mack
@matthras.bsky.social
· Oct 23
Howdy! I'm currently a PhD student #mathbio but have an eclectic mix of interests/specialties including:
🧶knitting/crochet/cross-stitch
🦻accessibility esp. in maths
👨🏫maths education
🧮operations research
🎵classical music
And am always groaning about how little time there is to learn everything!
🧶knitting/crochet/cross-stitch
🦻accessibility esp. in maths
👨🏫maths education
🧮operations research
🎵classical music
And am always groaning about how little time there is to learn everything!
Mum and I swore in the New Year by watching Mr. Robot S1. Now she's at church and I'm drafting work emails because my work to-do list is filling up with too many ideas but I can't schedule them because I have to use a new work laptop which is back in Adelaide as;dfjkaskj;
December 31, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Mum and I swore in the New Year by watching Mr. Robot S1. Now she's at church and I'm drafting work emails because my work to-do list is filling up with too many ideas but I can't schedule them because I have to use a new work laptop which is back in Adelaide as;dfjkaskj;
2025 and this PhD has been good to me thus far. I'm grateful to have something that I can put my head down and concentrate on to occasionally block out the noise of things going on around the world. I can definitely do that for a bit longer 🫡🫡🫡
December 31, 2025 at 12:54 PM
2025 and this PhD has been good to me thus far. I'm grateful to have something that I can put my head down and concentrate on to occasionally block out the noise of things going on around the world. I can definitely do that for a bit longer 🫡🫡🫡
Reposted by Matt Mack
1995, studying in Prague for a year. I went to Bucharest by myself, fully intending to shell out for a hotel since there wasn’t a lot of backpacker-level tourist infrastructure yet. Showed up to the hotel to check in & the desk clerk took one look at me and said “You can’t stay here.”
December 31, 2025 at 3:21 AM
1995, studying in Prague for a year. I went to Bucharest by myself, fully intending to shell out for a hotel since there wasn’t a lot of backpacker-level tourist infrastructure yet. Showed up to the hotel to check in & the desk clerk took one look at me and said “You can’t stay here.”
Halfway through Atomic Habits and what I find fascinating is how much of it is about manipulating second-order circumstances; it's also what I've figured out for myself independently. I like the implied self-acceptance of core tendencies yet acknowledging one's want to change.
December 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Halfway through Atomic Habits and what I find fascinating is how much of it is about manipulating second-order circumstances; it's also what I've figured out for myself independently. I like the implied self-acceptance of core tendencies yet acknowledging one's want to change.
Walked past a restaurant that had on their signage: "Made fresh using food."
🧠: As opposed to what? 🙃
🧠: As opposed to what? 🙃
December 30, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Walked past a restaurant that had on their signage: "Made fresh using food."
🧠: As opposed to what? 🙃
🧠: As opposed to what? 🙃
Not on my bingo card: Widex rolling out a software update to my hearing aid blocking me from turning down the volume while at a noisy restaurant a few days ago, now this morning the software hanged mid-update and after reboot my hearing aid can't pair with my phone anymore grr 🤬
December 29, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Not on my bingo card: Widex rolling out a software update to my hearing aid blocking me from turning down the volume while at a noisy restaurant a few days ago, now this morning the software hanged mid-update and after reboot my hearing aid can't pair with my phone anymore grr 🤬
Reposted by Matt Mack
As someone who taught for a while at a university where this kind of community just wasn't possible in person, you might think I was the optimal AI use case for the source of this conversation.
But in reality, my intellectual lifeline from 2015-2018 was academic Twitter, connecting me to people.
But in reality, my intellectual lifeline from 2015-2018 was academic Twitter, connecting me to people.
I mean this in the kindest way: this could be solved by creating meaningful connections with your peers/colleagues. I have a writing group and a thinking group and plenty of people to text or call with questions, and it doesn’t require draining the earth of resources or stealing work.
If you use it as a dialogic thinking space where you externalities thought and use it to hold, reshape, question, extent, perturb your thinking. Just like a good teacher or mentor could, except you need to set and guide the interaction style.
December 28, 2025 at 12:19 AM
As someone who taught for a while at a university where this kind of community just wasn't possible in person, you might think I was the optimal AI use case for the source of this conversation.
But in reality, my intellectual lifeline from 2015-2018 was academic Twitter, connecting me to people.
But in reality, my intellectual lifeline from 2015-2018 was academic Twitter, connecting me to people.
Well, that's n = 2 observations now on "it takes 2 times the length of a conference to feel like I've fully recovered from a conference".
My brain randomly switched on a day or two ago and I was like "Huh? Well I guess I'd better go work on stuff again."
My brain randomly switched on a day or two ago and I was like "Huh? Well I guess I'd better go work on stuff again."
December 27, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Well, that's n = 2 observations now on "it takes 2 times the length of a conference to feel like I've fully recovered from a conference".
My brain randomly switched on a day or two ago and I was like "Huh? Well I guess I'd better go work on stuff again."
My brain randomly switched on a day or two ago and I was like "Huh? Well I guess I'd better go work on stuff again."
/trying to think of similar Aussie publications that would have a similar role like this but falling flat.
Maybe I should just write my own articles based on various papers I find interesting anyway.
Maybe I should just write my own articles based on various papers I find interesting anyway.
There is a job posting for a mathematics staff writer at @quantamagazine.bsky.social:
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...
Maybe this is good for you or somebody you know!
#MathSky 🧮 #iTeachMath ♾️
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...
Maybe this is good for you or somebody you know!
#MathSky 🧮 #iTeachMath ♾️
Staff Writer (Mathematics), Quanta Magazine
POSITION SUMMARY Quanta Magazine is seeking a first-rate reporter and writer to identify and cover newsworthy developments in mathematics. The ideal candidate will have tireless appetite for exploring...
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:11 AM
/trying to think of similar Aussie publications that would have a similar role like this but falling flat.
Maybe I should just write my own articles based on various papers I find interesting anyway.
Maybe I should just write my own articles based on various papers I find interesting anyway.
Wee I'm a year older today!
I usually write a little 'guess my age' maths poem+riddle but academic stuffs towards the end of this year has really knocked out all my remaining thinking energy 😅
I usually write a little 'guess my age' maths poem+riddle but academic stuffs towards the end of this year has really knocked out all my remaining thinking energy 😅
December 25, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Wee I'm a year older today!
I usually write a little 'guess my age' maths poem+riddle but academic stuffs towards the end of this year has really knocked out all my remaining thinking energy 😅
I usually write a little 'guess my age' maths poem+riddle but academic stuffs towards the end of this year has really knocked out all my remaining thinking energy 😅
Mum and I finally watched Crazy Rich Asians (2018) a couple of nights ago and I'm writing down a lot of thoughts.
Initially mum thought the film setting was in Hong Kong and she found rich people to be very insufferable there, so she initially wasn't interested in watching 😂
Initially mum thought the film setting was in Hong Kong and she found rich people to be very insufferable there, so she initially wasn't interested in watching 😂
December 23, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Mum and I finally watched Crazy Rich Asians (2018) a couple of nights ago and I'm writing down a lot of thoughts.
Initially mum thought the film setting was in Hong Kong and she found rich people to be very insufferable there, so she initially wasn't interested in watching 😂
Initially mum thought the film setting was in Hong Kong and she found rich people to be very insufferable there, so she initially wasn't interested in watching 😂
Reposted by Matt Mack
After the Bondi attack, I wrote about guns and gun laws as a Jewish Australian and an expert in public health:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Australia’s gun laws have long been the envy of the world. They must remain so, especially after Bondi | Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz
As a public health expert and Jewish Australian, I urge our leaders to ensure gun legislation matches the world we live in
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:05 AM
After the Bondi attack, I wrote about guns and gun laws as a Jewish Australian and an expert in public health:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Lucid Dream Tidbit: At a local community market inside a school gymnasium, spotted a nice handbag with music printed on it. On one side was an AI-generated cello part of Pachelbel's Canon, with hallucinations 😱 Pointed it out to the store-owner who visibly cringed.
December 22, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Lucid Dream Tidbit: At a local community market inside a school gymnasium, spotted a nice handbag with music printed on it. On one side was an AI-generated cello part of Pachelbel's Canon, with hallucinations 😱 Pointed it out to the store-owner who visibly cringed.
Meanwhile on Twitter/X an ex-Google engineer seems to have gotten AI-psychosis and is claiming to have a Lean-verified proof of Navier-Stokes. Can't make this shit up, bad enough with the arXiv AI-slop submissions, sigh.
December 22, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Meanwhile on Twitter/X an ex-Google engineer seems to have gotten AI-psychosis and is claiming to have a Lean-verified proof of Navier-Stokes. Can't make this shit up, bad enough with the arXiv AI-slop submissions, sigh.
I'm randomly editing subtitles and am very amused by the different ways "Turing" gets mis-transcribed: "chewing" is one. "Church-Turing Thesis" was initially "church cheering thesis".
(And I'm very sure the speaker has ADHD, there's quite a handful of verbal tics I'm noticing)
(And I'm very sure the speaker has ADHD, there's quite a handful of verbal tics I'm noticing)
December 22, 2025 at 6:31 AM
I'm randomly editing subtitles and am very amused by the different ways "Turing" gets mis-transcribed: "chewing" is one. "Church-Turing Thesis" was initially "church cheering thesis".
(And I'm very sure the speaker has ADHD, there's quite a handful of verbal tics I'm noticing)
(And I'm very sure the speaker has ADHD, there's quite a handful of verbal tics I'm noticing)
New blog post! 2025 Reflections - One year of PhDing, how has it been? (~14m read)
I've been grumpy about a lot of things, but I'm also happy and optimistic about my progress.
matthras.com/2025/12...
I've been grumpy about a lot of things, but I'm also happy and optimistic about my progress.
matthras.com/2025/12...
December 21, 2025 at 9:29 PM
New blog post! 2025 Reflections - One year of PhDing, how has it been? (~14m read)
I've been grumpy about a lot of things, but I'm also happy and optimistic about my progress.
matthras.com/2025/12...
I've been grumpy about a lot of things, but I'm also happy and optimistic about my progress.
matthras.com/2025/12...
Mum and I went to Costco last week and we spotted pistachio spread and brought back some. I tasted it and it was just like...Nutella? People went crazy over Dubai chocolate and this?!
I'm getting old.
I'm getting old.
December 21, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Mum and I went to Costco last week and we spotted pistachio spread and brought back some. I tasted it and it was just like...Nutella? People went crazy over Dubai chocolate and this?!
I'm getting old.
I'm getting old.
The sheer amount of writing I feel I need to do for my 2025 Reflections blog post...it's like "Why can't I have this level of enthusiasm for my PhD thesis & notes?!"
December 21, 2025 at 12:34 AM
The sheer amount of writing I feel I need to do for my 2025 Reflections blog post...it's like "Why can't I have this level of enthusiasm for my PhD thesis & notes?!"
Why you should invite me to your Xmas party: Usually I can't follow any noisy group conversations so my natural tendency is to drift towards the kitchen and make myself useful. You effectively have a free kitchenhand who can help with the food 😁
December 20, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Why you should invite me to your Xmas party: Usually I can't follow any noisy group conversations so my natural tendency is to drift towards the kitchen and make myself useful. You effectively have a free kitchenhand who can help with the food 😁
Funniest misheard I've had in a while: Friend brings a sweet called "mann wa salwa", pitches it as "D'you like saffron? Then you'll like this!"
My deaf arse initially heard "suffering" instead of "saffron" 😂
My deaf arse initially heard "suffering" instead of "saffron" 😂
December 20, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Funniest misheard I've had in a while: Friend brings a sweet called "mann wa salwa", pitches it as "D'you like saffron? Then you'll like this!"
My deaf arse initially heard "suffering" instead of "saffron" 😂
My deaf arse initially heard "suffering" instead of "saffron" 😂
Reposted by Matt Mack
I'm sure a peer has already made this joke, but the opposite of a translator is a cis-earlier
December 17, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I'm sure a peer has already made this joke, but the opposite of a translator is a cis-earlier
Common theme that's appearing to me in r/AskMenOver30: when someone posts about having a marriage, job, hobbies, etc. but feel empty/unfulfilled, all of their hobbies are consumption related; no activities related to making something (physical or digital) or developing a skill.
December 16, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Common theme that's appearing to me in r/AskMenOver30: when someone posts about having a marriage, job, hobbies, etc. but feel empty/unfulfilled, all of their hobbies are consumption related; no activities related to making something (physical or digital) or developing a skill.
Man I do not miss how much /noisier/ Melbourne is in general.
Emphasizing more and more with the grumpy recluse who lives out in a completely remote cabin out in the country 😅
Emphasizing more and more with the grumpy recluse who lives out in a completely remote cabin out in the country 😅
December 15, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Man I do not miss how much /noisier/ Melbourne is in general.
Emphasizing more and more with the grumpy recluse who lives out in a completely remote cabin out in the country 😅
Emphasizing more and more with the grumpy recluse who lives out in a completely remote cabin out in the country 😅
Dear colleagues + academic friends you don't have to apologise to me for not attending my talk(s), I get that y'all are busy and shit and have priorities more important to you lol 😂
(Felt weird enough getting it in emails from two separate unrelated people)
(Felt weird enough getting it in emails from two separate unrelated people)
December 15, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Dear colleagues + academic friends you don't have to apologise to me for not attending my talk(s), I get that y'all are busy and shit and have priorities more important to you lol 😂
(Felt weird enough getting it in emails from two separate unrelated people)
(Felt weird enough getting it in emails from two separate unrelated people)
My role as "Family Tech Support" still remains 😢
Fixed a printer issue that was otherwise forcing mum to make trips to Officeworks to print. Basically W11 wasn't configuring with the WF3820 correctly so I installed the Universal EPSON drivers.
/groans in millennial
Fixed a printer issue that was otherwise forcing mum to make trips to Officeworks to print. Basically W11 wasn't configuring with the WF3820 correctly so I installed the Universal EPSON drivers.
/groans in millennial
December 15, 2025 at 12:43 AM
My role as "Family Tech Support" still remains 😢
Fixed a printer issue that was otherwise forcing mum to make trips to Officeworks to print. Basically W11 wasn't configuring with the WF3820 correctly so I installed the Universal EPSON drivers.
/groans in millennial
Fixed a printer issue that was otherwise forcing mum to make trips to Officeworks to print. Basically W11 wasn't configuring with the WF3820 correctly so I installed the Universal EPSON drivers.
/groans in millennial