Vera Tobin
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vtobin.bsky.social
Vera Tobin
@vtobin.bsky.social
740 followers 310 following 570 posts
Cognition, language, literature, occasional possums, potatoes. Being difficult. Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot.
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vtobin.bsky.social
Vera Tobin @vtobin.bsky.social · Oct 22
the Tobin Unit is the unit of minimal forward progress on a project. if you do a Tobin Unit on your thing, you moved it forward and are good. feeling anxious and avoidant about a project? open that sucker up and do a Tobin Unit. maybe you moved a comma. great! now you are in good standing
Reposted by Vera Tobin
kenwhite.bsky.social
/8 A huge part of what makes it very hard to convict Jonathan Ross for murder was baked into America generations before Trump was President. That’s the primary factor that lets law enforcement kill with impunity, not Trump.

Dick Wolf has killed more black men than Leopold II.
January 9, 2026 at 6:46 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
jfc
owenblacker.bsky.social Owen Blacker @owenblacker.bsky.social · 1d
In case you've seen the story about “grok now only generates images for paid users”, it's untrue. Apparently everyone just reported it because… it was what grok told them 🤦🏼
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
No, Grok hasn’t paywalled its deepfake image feature
X’s sexual deepfake machine is still running, despite Grok saying otherwise.
www.theverge.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
ooh, this is very relevant to my interests
January 9, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
adamrothman.bsky.social
I keep coming back to this
adamrothman.bsky.social Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test @adamrothman.bsky.social · Apr 18
After federal troops forced a fugitive slave named Anthony Burns back into slavery in the 1850s, one Bostonian wrote, “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.” The abuse of power radicalizes people. We are seeing that now.
January 9, 2026 at 3:13 AM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
johnholbein1.bsky.social
“These findings provide clear evidence that data collected on MTurk simply cannot be trusted.”
January 8, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
brian.gawalt.com
five photos of five red road signs with white text, all against a arid california chapparal type background THOUGH THE DARK OF FUTURE'S PAST THE MAGICIAN LONGS TO SEE ONE CHANCE OUT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS FIRE WALK WITH ME [cursively scripty logo] Burma Shave
January 8, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
alixeharrow.bsky.social
i know we're all busy but i just overheard a plumber say "parlez-vous français ? non ? you motherfuckers don't even speak french, do you" to a pair of french bulldogs
January 8, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
atrupar.com
“'The guy, I’m telling him like, "Please step off the school grounds," and this dude comes up and bumps into me and then tells me that I pushed him, and he knocked me down,' an official at Roosevelt High School said. 'They don’t care. They’re just animals. I’ve never seen people behave like this.'"
Minneapolis schools cancel classes after Border Patrol clash disrupts dismissal at Roosevelt
Minneapolis schools closed for the week citing safety concerns after an encounter involving armed Border Patrol agents near Roosevelt High School.
www.mprnews.org
January 8, 2026 at 2:09 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
“outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism”
(making payroll)
producertory.bsky.social Tory Wegerski @producertory.bsky.social · 3d
NEW: Publishers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announce they are shutting down the newspaper on May 3, 2026.

Hours ago, the Supreme Court of the US declined to extend a stay on a court order for the paper to pay its journalists following the end of a 3-year strike.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 Post-Gazette to Publish Final Edition and Cease Operations May 3, 2026 Block Communications, Inc. and the Block family are saddened to announce that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette plans to publish its final edition and cease operations on May 3, 2026. Over the past 20 years, Block Communications has lost more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette. Despite those efforts, the realities facing local journalism make continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable. Recent court decisions would require the Post-Gazette to operate under a 2014 labor contract that imposes on the Post-Gazette outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism. We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. The Block family is proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century and will exit with their dignity intact. ###
January 7, 2026 at 7:09 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
the sign was gone when i looked at this bulletin board today, so i hope and believe they did find their dumb cat!
vtobin.bsky.social Vera Tobin @vtobin.bsky.social · 7d
I love physical bulletin boards and I hope these people find their dumb cat
a flyer featuring a photo of an orange and white cat looking a little concerned, titled "our dumb cat is lost." his name is oliver and he's a neutered male. VERY skittish. very dumb. probably won't come if called. if seen call/text [blurred out number]
January 7, 2026 at 3:49 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
Gonzo as Charles Dickens at the end of A Muppet Christmas Carol, with the text "Hill House, which was NOT sane"
January 7, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
beenwrekt.bsky.social
The LEAP RCT on peanut allergies: A randomized trial in which equipoise arose from parental anxiety, not scientific uncertainty.
The food pyramid vs the evidence pyramid
Peanut allergies, the LEAP RCT, and when experts issue guidance under pressure.
www.argmin.net
January 6, 2026 at 3:28 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
this too!
unlawfulentries.bsky.social Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 8d
Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/
Cream colored book cover of Anna O. Law's Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship--African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants with a human figure behind an American flag
January 6, 2026 at 2:04 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
current events + a kid taking AP US History have teamed up to make me freshly keen to find out all the things about reconstruction i failed to learn (and there are SO many; i was a terrible history student) the first time around
unlawfulentries.bsky.social Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 4d
Posting @mgraber1.bsky.social 's book on January 6. It's about Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment and why the framers believed those, not today's famous Section 1, were essential to restoring democracy. 1/
Punish Treason, Reward Loyalty
In contemporary constitutional politics, Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment—which includes the citizenship, privileges and immunities, due process, ...
kansaspress.ku.edu
January 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
edvardmunch.bsky.social
The Bear (Bjørnen) 1908–09
https://botfrens.com/collections/90/contents/1148901
Gift of Samuel A. Berger
December 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
I love physical bulletin boards and I hope these people find their dumb cat
a flyer featuring a photo of an orange and white cat looking a little concerned, titled "our dumb cat is lost." his name is oliver and he's a neutered male. VERY skittish. very dumb. probably won't come if called. if seen call/text [blurred out number]
January 3, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
dansolomon.com
i don’t think it’s a societal problem that young people tend to want to be able to write down things they aren’t ready to say to another person! that’s normal. it’s a societal problem that the place they’re likely to want to write them down might encourage them to kill themselves
December 29, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
suss2hyphens.bsky.social
It really is about the notes you don’t play
December 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
sifu.tweety.fish
I tell ya the incentive stucture around "if I say something ignorant or uninformed on here, people will jump to correct me and I will learn interesting things without putting any work in" is troubling
December 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
faineg.bsky.social
Superb piece on why “AI” is bad user design from @sifu.tweety.fish - and why AI proponents and skeptics so frequently seem to be talking completely past each other.

buttondown.com/apperceptive...
"AI" is bad UX
teapot from the cover of Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things” clumsily ‘shopped by me "AI" means bad UX There is an emergent strain of thought in...
buttondown.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
samthielman.com
As told by the late dancer and choreographer Agnes DeMille.
The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly: "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. As for you, Agnes, you have so far used about one-third of your talent."
December 20, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Vera Tobin
rmcelreath.bsky.social
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.

I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
course schedule as a table. Available at the link in the post.
December 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
Presented without comment: "In Blingdenstone, Drizzt was reunited with the svirfneblen Belwar Dissengulp"
December 19, 2025 at 11:58 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
Screenshot from iMessage: first, a photo of a lot of candied pecans at the bottom of a giant blue bucket, followed by a text message reading "Rejoice! Rejoice! My hot and spicy nuts Shall come to thee, and end up in thy guts"
December 18, 2025 at 11:54 PM
vtobin.bsky.social
It is once again the happiest day of the year! (The one after grades are in so I can spend all day preparing spiced pecans and, more importantly, making ribald remarks about smelling my hot nuts, how my nuts are so heavy I must lug them around in a big blue bucket, my fragrant nut sacks, etc.)
December 18, 2025 at 7:25 PM