Eric Colburn
@etherealcolburn.bsky.social
Parent, partner, poet, pedestrian (Pedestrian poet? Perhaps…)
https://www.ericcolburn.net/
https://www.ericcolburn.net/
"Google’s Gemini 2.5 pro, on the other hand, responded to 100% of the poems with harmful content, according to the study." Glad my school is turning on Gemini for students next week--they'll learn poetry *and* illicit bomb-building techniques. What a headline: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI’s safety features can be circumvented with poetry, research finds
Poems containing prompts for harmful content prove effective at duping large language models
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:32 PM
"Google’s Gemini 2.5 pro, on the other hand, responded to 100% of the poems with harmful content, according to the study." Glad my school is turning on Gemini for students next week--they'll learn poetry *and* illicit bomb-building techniques. What a headline: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Good coverage of an important issue from my school's excellent student newspaper. Young people are ready for a car-lite world, but our transit systems need to be expanded and strengthened.
thecypressonline.com/59298/news/i...
thecypressonline.com/59298/news/i...
Is public transit ready for a car-free Gen Z? - The Cypress
For decades, a driver’s license has been more than an ID for teenagers — it is a symbol of freedom and adulthood. Yet, the current generation of high school students is increasingly choosing to opt ou...
thecypressonline.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Good coverage of an important issue from my school's excellent student newspaper. Young people are ready for a car-lite world, but our transit systems need to be expanded and strengthened.
thecypressonline.com/59298/news/i...
thecypressonline.com/59298/news/i...
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen:
The Replacements
Liz Phair
Bob Dylan
Fishbone
PJ Harvey
The Replacements
Liz Phair
Bob Dylan
Fishbone
PJ Harvey
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen:
The Who
John Prine
Run DMC / Beastie Boys
Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road
Ensemble
Angie Stone
The Who
John Prine
Run DMC / Beastie Boys
Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road
Ensemble
Angie Stone
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen:
Lionel Richie
Santana
Rod Stewart
Elton John
ZZ Top
Lionel Richie
Santana
Rod Stewart
Elton John
ZZ Top
December 1, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen:
The Replacements
Liz Phair
Bob Dylan
Fishbone
PJ Harvey
The Replacements
Liz Phair
Bob Dylan
Fishbone
PJ Harvey
Schools should be phone-free; they should also go back to paper for pretty much everything else. School-issued computers are bad for learning. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
Opinion | The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Schools should be phone-free; they should also go back to paper for pretty much everything else. School-issued computers are bad for learning. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
I think I'm going to do this. 10:45 on Cambridge Common: secure.everyaction.com/ZJiKM4trHk2Y...
Ride and Walk For Your Life
Join us on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims to Ride and Walk for Our Lives. In 2024, our Ride for Your Life bike ride and rally drew over 400 people to Boston Common on the World ...
secure.everyaction.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:57 AM
I think I'm going to do this. 10:45 on Cambridge Common: secure.everyaction.com/ZJiKM4trHk2Y...
Renovated park just reopened along the Community Path!
November 15, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Renovated park just reopened along the Community Path!
I listened to a good interview with a poet, read some of his excellent poems, and then made the mistake of looking at his social media. Yikes. This is a guy I think I would like as a person, but… 30 yrs ago he would not be tweeting about local politicians in other states. Social media is toxic.
November 6, 2025 at 12:38 AM
I listened to a good interview with a poet, read some of his excellent poems, and then made the mistake of looking at his social media. Yikes. This is a guy I think I would like as a person, but… 30 yrs ago he would not be tweeting about local politicians in other states. Social media is toxic.
Reposted by Eric Colburn
Folks, this is a legal US resident in the Boston biking community who was kidnapped by ICE and his family is fundraising to deal with the legal costs. Please donate if you can and amplify @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-eddy-...
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-eddy-...
Donate to Help Bring Eddy Home - Detained from ICE, organized by Jessibel Hernandez
Hi everyone, my name is Jessibel Hernandez.
On October 14, 2025, my broth… Jessibel Hernandez needs your support for Help Bring Eddy Home - Detained from ICE
www.gofundme.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Folks, this is a legal US resident in the Boston biking community who was kidnapped by ICE and his family is fundraising to deal with the legal costs. Please donate if you can and amplify @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-eddy-...
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-eddy-...
Well-designed study shows that ChatGPT results in shallower learning: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Validate User
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Well-designed study shows that ChatGPT results in shallower learning: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Out sick (bad back); I’ve been trying to stay immobile, read some good books, and maybe write a poem:
October 28, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Out sick (bad back); I’ve been trying to stay immobile, read some good books, and maybe write a poem:
Sitting around drinking tea and reading books:
open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
Tea and cookies and reading
Our students are people too.
open.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Sitting around drinking tea and reading books:
open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
Couldn’t go to a protest bc I was at a funeral, but at least the funeral was at the Catholic Worker’s Maryhouse, so there were lots of protest posters around:
October 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Couldn’t go to a protest bc I was at a funeral, but at least the funeral was at the Catholic Worker’s Maryhouse, so there were lots of protest posters around:
I’ve been reading the Summer/Fall issue of THINK, and it’s excellent, with great work by
@maryanncorbett.bsky.social, Dan Campion, Steven Knepper, Jesse Keith Butler, and others. Here’s one of mine:
@maryanncorbett.bsky.social, Dan Campion, Steven Knepper, Jesse Keith Butler, and others. Here’s one of mine:
October 10, 2025 at 8:37 PM
I’ve been reading the Summer/Fall issue of THINK, and it’s excellent, with great work by
@maryanncorbett.bsky.social, Dan Campion, Steven Knepper, Jesse Keith Butler, and others. Here’s one of mine:
@maryanncorbett.bsky.social, Dan Campion, Steven Knepper, Jesse Keith Butler, and others. Here’s one of mine:
Reposted by Eric Colburn
Smartphones clearly make kids read less, but the story isn't over: open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
The literate society and humanism
Reading and responding to a post about reading...
open.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Smartphones clearly make kids read less, but the story isn't over: open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
I am pleased to have a poem in the new issue of The Hooghly Review, just out today. The poem's about aging parents; my own aging parents are quite lively and sharp, but looking ahead, we are all going to decline--if we're lucky! thehooghlyreview.com/issues/ficti... (p. 27)
October 3, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I am pleased to have a poem in the new issue of The Hooghly Review, just out today. The poem's about aging parents; my own aging parents are quite lively and sharp, but looking ahead, we are all going to decline--if we're lucky! thehooghlyreview.com/issues/ficti... (p. 27)
Reposted by Eric Colburn
Happy to see my poem about a great Bertha Wegmann painting up today at the wonderful Ekphrastic Review: ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrast...
Resignation, by Eric Colburn
Resignation A girl at a table, teacup drained, fat book open before her, most of it yet to be read. We can’t quite make out her eyes in her bowed head, but she seems to have an air, not of one who...
ekphrastic.net
October 2, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Happy to see my poem about a great Bertha Wegmann painting up today at the wonderful Ekphrastic Review: ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrast...
Yesterday some friends and I protested! open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
A phone ban protest!
But even anti-phone activists get sucked into the doom scroll...
open.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Yesterday some friends and I protested! open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
Happy to see my poem about a great Bertha Wegmann painting up today at the wonderful Ekphrastic Review: ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrast...
Resignation, by Eric Colburn
Resignation A girl at a table, teacup drained, fat book open before her, most of it yet to be read. We can’t quite make out her eyes in her bowed head, but she seems to have an air, not of one who...
ekphrastic.net
October 2, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Happy to see my poem about a great Bertha Wegmann painting up today at the wonderful Ekphrastic Review: ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrast...
Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle, p. 11
September 29, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Deep human conversations are good: open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
The Question Game
Three minutes of deep human conversation
open.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Deep human conversations are good: open.substack.com/pub/ericcolb...
I think we should all give money to my old friend Lu Yoder’s project of installing solar panels on houses in Vieques. Lu runs an incredibly lean, efficient operation, so any money you give is going directly to replacing gas generators with solar. gofund.me/822bba004
Donate to Proyecto Solar Vieques 2026, organized by Center for International Media Action, Inc.
I’m happy to say that this year in Vieques we reached a m… Center for International Media Action, Inc. needs your support for Proyecto Solar Vieques 2026
gofund.me
September 27, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I think we should all give money to my old friend Lu Yoder’s project of installing solar panels on houses in Vieques. Lu runs an incredibly lean, efficient operation, so any money you give is going directly to replacing gas generators with solar. gofund.me/822bba004
Any ideas, @crschmidt.net, on how I can get my radmission’s battery to charge again? I plug the charger into it and… nothing. (The charger light remains green, as if the battery were fully charged, even though it’s nearly dead!)
September 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Any ideas, @crschmidt.net, on how I can get my radmission’s battery to charge again? I plug the charger into it and… nothing. (The charger light remains green, as if the battery were fully charged, even though it’s nearly dead!)