Nom de Plume Brett
@maverickbrett.bsky.social
I mean nom de plume literally means pen name.
Views do not represent employers or funding agencies.
Engineer playing god poorly.
Fund basic science research. (He/Him)🏳️🌈
Views do not represent employers or funding agencies.
Engineer playing god poorly.
Fund basic science research. (He/Him)🏳️🌈
Pinned
"A counterintelligence assessment of Will Stancil and his Network"
Your James Angleton in 1946 and bolt away from having fallen asleep drinking bourbon and being goth, and know this future must not come to past.
Your James Angleton in 1946 and bolt away from having fallen asleep drinking bourbon and being goth, and know this future must not come to past.
FYI this was the win condition for the campaign for the People of Minnesota.
Trump ends aggressive immigration operation in Minnesota that triggered large protests and nationwide outrage following the killing of two US citizens
u.afp.com/S6o9
u.afp.com/S6o9
February 13, 2026 at 1:52 AM
FYI this was the win condition for the campaign for the People of Minnesota.
LOL.
JUST IN: About a year after mounting another run for Arizona's highest office, Karrin Taylor Robson has announced that she is suspending her second campaign for governor.
2026 Elections: Karrin Taylor Robson suspends run for AZ governor
About a year after mounting another run for Arizona's highest office, Karrin Taylor Robson has announced that she is suspending her second campaign for governor.
bit.ly
February 12, 2026 at 10:38 PM
LOL.
Phenomenal meeting, managed to get nothing done, only productive work was discussing work I am not allowed to do right now, and the thing I did need help on, we got none of it done.
February 12, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Phenomenal meeting, managed to get nothing done, only productive work was discussing work I am not allowed to do right now, and the thing I did need help on, we got none of it done.
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
This is so incredibly bad.
BREAKING: The EPA revokes scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger the public health, removing a key basis for the climate change fight.
Live updates: Trump's EPA revokes scientific finding that underpinned US fight against climate change
The Trump administration revoked a scientific finding at the center of U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, a significant rollback of regulations.
bit.ly
February 12, 2026 at 7:56 PM
This is so incredibly bad.
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
oh hell yes
(Mexican and Japanese heritage night jerseys for the Dodgers)
(Mexican and Japanese heritage night jerseys for the Dodgers)
February 12, 2026 at 5:22 PM
oh hell yes
(Mexican and Japanese heritage night jerseys for the Dodgers)
(Mexican and Japanese heritage night jerseys for the Dodgers)
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
BREAKING: Judge Leon *rejects* Secretary Hegseth's bid to punish Sen. Kelly for advising troops to ignore illegal orders. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
February 12, 2026 at 5:45 PM
BREAKING: Judge Leon *rejects* Secretary Hegseth's bid to punish Sen. Kelly for advising troops to ignore illegal orders. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
I think it’s gonna be very weird when universities lose like PhD programs because there’s going to be no more academic funding, but they have to stay in existence because they provide the junior level of sporting in this country right before the pro level.
February 12, 2026 at 5:28 PM
I think it’s gonna be very weird when universities lose like PhD programs because there’s going to be no more academic funding, but they have to stay in existence because they provide the junior level of sporting in this country right before the pro level.
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
we would be better if the onion didn't exist
unfortunately American pop culture has spent decades aggressively encouraging the notion that anyone who seeks political office is somewhere between incompetant and malicious, and thus inherently suspect
and now here we are
and now here we are
February 12, 2026 at 5:14 PM
we would be better if the onion didn't exist
I want everyone to remember we do actually have the cause of the story on video recounting it available on YouTube. Thank you, Sandia.
Lab folks also took a tour in the late 50s and asked how the US guy armed with a carbine was gonna stop the German pilot sitting in a German fighter with a US bomb loaded on it if the German went rogue
"Uuhhh shoot the tires...?" did not inspire confidence
(This is part of the PAL origin story)
"Uuhhh shoot the tires...?" did not inspire confidence
(This is part of the PAL origin story)
February 12, 2026 at 5:09 PM
I want everyone to remember we do actually have the cause of the story on video recounting it available on YouTube. Thank you, Sandia.
Yeah personal reliability programs are not effective at actually protecting the weapons but on the other hand this is so much worse so who can say if they are effective?
Today in 1958, at RAF Sculthorpe, about 3 miles west of Fakenham, England, USAF atomic bomb technician Master Sergeant Leander Cunningham, 41, suffered a mental breakdown, locked himself in the bomb maintenance building, and threatened to detonate a Mark-5 bomb by shooting it with his .45 pistol.
February 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Yeah personal reliability programs are not effective at actually protecting the weapons but on the other hand this is so much worse so who can say if they are effective?
Something like 2% of all federal law enforcement capacity has been in Minessota for it. Like we have some slack, but that’s more than a little slack.
can only live on canned soup in a holiday inn express for so long before morale starts to tank, I guess
The immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to mass detentions, protests, and two deaths is coming to an end, border czar Tom Homan said.
February 12, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Something like 2% of all federal law enforcement capacity has been in Minessota for it. Like we have some slack, but that’s more than a little slack.
I read energy as entropy, and I will point out that is also true, and a way cooler description.
Oh great, we gave a bunch of ill disciplined and racist degenerates high energy anti aircraft weapons to drunk drive next to major metropolitan airports.
According to multiple NYT sources, it wasn’t even military personnel at Fort Bliss that fired an anti-drone laser at alleged cartel drones. It was CBP who used the weapon on loan from DoD against a child’s party balloon they mistook for a drone. The Pentagon gave CBP an anti-aircraft weapon.
February 12, 2026 at 2:40 PM
I read energy as entropy, and I will point out that is also true, and a way cooler description.
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
“Don’t sign up for this email list!”
Meanwhile Evelyn Normielib and Grace Southernbelle over here are using their government names on video calling for the violent dismemberment of administration officials.
Meanwhile Evelyn Normielib and Grace Southernbelle over here are using their government names on video calling for the violent dismemberment of administration officials.
February 12, 2026 at 12:48 PM
“Don’t sign up for this email list!”
Meanwhile Evelyn Normielib and Grace Southernbelle over here are using their government names on video calling for the violent dismemberment of administration officials.
Meanwhile Evelyn Normielib and Grace Southernbelle over here are using their government names on video calling for the violent dismemberment of administration officials.
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
long-term, fwiw, I think this will also make [LLM] spam & manipulation a completely uncontrollable problem here, putting aside human manual manipulation, but the site is currently flying low enough that it's not catching anyone's eye
February 12, 2026 at 5:07 AM
long-term, fwiw, I think this will also make [LLM] spam & manipulation a completely uncontrollable problem here, putting aside human manual manipulation, but the site is currently flying low enough that it's not catching anyone's eye
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
the only way community moderation even comes close to working (e.g. reddit) is if you have a massive set of gates that posts have to pass through before they actually hit the feed.
atproto's design - anyone can hit the firehose with just an email - puts a tremendous, unsolvable burden on free mods
atproto's design - anyone can hit the firehose with just an email - puts a tremendous, unsolvable burden on free mods
February 12, 2026 at 5:07 AM
the only way community moderation even comes close to working (e.g. reddit) is if you have a massive set of gates that posts have to pass through before they actually hit the feed.
atproto's design - anyone can hit the firehose with just an email - puts a tremendous, unsolvable burden on free mods
atproto's design - anyone can hit the firehose with just an email - puts a tremendous, unsolvable burden on free mods
I uh would strongly advise against carrying around a metal flask that has the correct markings for containing / is a radioactive source. That will trigger a hazmat call out.
February 12, 2026 at 12:24 AM
I uh would strongly advise against carrying around a metal flask that has the correct markings for containing / is a radioactive source. That will trigger a hazmat call out.
You have to clarify this due to how many troops are on the border.
Customs and Border Protection personnel — not U.S. troops — used military laser to shoot object near El Paso -- new from @dflawrence.bsky.social over on @defensescoop.bsky.social defensescoop.com/2026/02/11/e...
Customs and Border Protection personnel — not U.S. troops — used military laser to shoot object near El Paso
U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel shot down an object with a military laser earlier this week near El Paso, Texas, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
defensescoop.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:58 PM
You have to clarify this due to how many troops are on the border.
Do you ever see a piece of visual art, and go "My go it was beautiful what have I been allowed to see? The color, the composition, everything is perfect?"
February 11, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Do you ever see a piece of visual art, and go "My go it was beautiful what have I been allowed to see? The color, the composition, everything is perfect?"
Reposted by Nom de Plume Brett
i think the best part of this analogy is that whether or not you have a ferrari is irrelevant if you're stuck in traffic
Everyone has been given a free Ferrari, but it’s got a manual transmission and some weird requirements so it takes a little skill and effort. Most just stare at it. Some jump in and grind gears. A bunch drive into the wall. Others complain it’s not a teleportation device. All fools. A few just zoom.
February 11, 2026 at 9:25 PM
i think the best part of this analogy is that whether or not you have a ferrari is irrelevant if you're stuck in traffic
Are industrial Legos good or bad? The question that sparks a weekly argument in my professional circles.
Like not to get too curmudgeonly, but often times your design is worse or vastly more difficult because of it.
February 11, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Are industrial Legos good or bad? The question that sparks a weekly argument in my professional circles.
Yes. (and it's bad)
I feel like it's very understated how the availability of standardized widgets and doohickeys influences engineering and design decisions in a way that it didn't a century ago
February 11, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Yes. (and it's bad)
Because our email system is incredibly fucked up, I switched access systems and let me say: I swear to god I can not always open attachments its a crap shoot.
I work at one of the biggest media companies in the world and there's about a 30% hit rate on execs knowing how to open email attachments. I think, much like politics, we enthusiastic dorks don't realize how many people treat the entire concept of tech as radioactive
February 11, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Because our email system is incredibly fucked up, I switched access systems and let me say: I swear to god I can not always open attachments its a crap shoot.