Lindsay
@lindsaynielson.bsky.social
Tesla says a use case for these things is child care and speaking as someone whose child has entered the actively-and-gleefully-trying-to-cause-himself-harm phase, a 5-10 second reaction time is, uhhhhh, not great
Watch how long it takes this clanker to do, well, anything 🤦♂️💀 #fail #teslatakedown
September 5, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Tesla says a use case for these things is child care and speaking as someone whose child has entered the actively-and-gleefully-trying-to-cause-himself-harm phase, a 5-10 second reaction time is, uhhhhh, not great
Reposted by Lindsay
Since the interviewee must remain anonymous, we are now calling this Moynihan's Law:
"The easier a governmental task looks to an outsider, the more likely it has been found to be impossible by many smart people in the past."
"The easier a governmental task looks to an outsider, the more likely it has been found to be impossible by many smart people in the past."
Coding interviews from people who left government earlier this year, and this is a fantastic quote in response to a question about what DOGE tech folk don't understand.
August 4, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Since the interviewee must remain anonymous, we are now calling this Moynihan's Law:
"The easier a governmental task looks to an outsider, the more likely it has been found to be impossible by many smart people in the past."
"The easier a governmental task looks to an outsider, the more likely it has been found to be impossible by many smart people in the past."
I think fondly of the Thomas Guide at least once a month.
I am officially one of The Ancients, Keeper of Knowledge of the Before Time
June 4, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I think fondly of the Thomas Guide at least once a month.
Pope Spicy Chicken Sandwich VII
Your Pope name is: Last thing you ate + number of letters in your first name.
Which makes me Pope Muffin the Fifth.
Which makes me Pope Muffin the Fifth.
Your Pope name is: Last thing you ate + number of letters in your first name.
Pope Dirty Rice the III ???
ok then
Pope Dirty Rice the III ???
ok then
May 9, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Pope Spicy Chicken Sandwich VII
Reposted by Lindsay
The Democrats on the House Science Committee have set up a website to collect stories from fired federal employees, anonymously if desired. Please amplify. (This helps the lawyers establish standing for bringing legal cases against the administration!)
democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings
democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings
February 19, 2025 at 6:24 AM
The Democrats on the House Science Committee have set up a website to collect stories from fired federal employees, anonymously if desired. Please amplify. (This helps the lawyers establish standing for bringing legal cases against the administration!)
democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings
democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings
Reposted by Lindsay
🧵"So this is how liberty dies..."
Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.
I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9
Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.
I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9
February 13, 2025 at 11:38 AM
🧵"So this is how liberty dies..."
Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.
I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9
Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.
I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9
Super duper cool that the NSF doctoral research grant that helped fund my dissertation would be rescinded if I had it today because I used race as a set of control variables in my regression models!
Exclusive: NSF this week began to search through billions of dollars of grants the agency has already awarded for anything touching on topics that President Donald Trump has criticized. And NSF has blocked grantees and trainees from accessing funds while the review is underway. scim.ag/3El0NZh
EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders
Grantee accounts remain frozen, while union accuses NSF of ignoring rules governing peer review
scim.ag
January 31, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Super duper cool that the NSF doctoral research grant that helped fund my dissertation would be rescinded if I had it today because I used race as a set of control variables in my regression models!
Reposted by Lindsay
Reposted by Lindsay
Today Jimmy Carter is officially too old to play with Lego
October 1, 2024 at 4:58 AM
Today Jimmy Carter is officially too old to play with Lego
Reposted by Lindsay
Thread of comical/worrying dog crossbreeds:
July 28, 2024 at 2:51 PM
Thread of comical/worrying dog crossbreeds:
Dammit, I hope this take is correct.
I've written a longish take on the last couple of days, including about how what looked like (and initially was) Democratic panic over Biden morphed somewhere along the way into a rope-a-dope strategy against the GOP, and whether Harris can win (spoiler: yup):
whatever.scalzi.com/2024/07/22/b...
whatever.scalzi.com/2024/07/22/b...
Biden, Harris, Trump and 2024
Slow news weekend, am I right? Some thoughts on the current state of things, in no particular order. 1. I was not a fan of the idea of Joe Biden leaving the race, and I still have my suspicions tha…
whatever.scalzi.com
July 22, 2024 at 8:18 PM
Dammit, I hope this take is correct.
If you see this, post a picture you took at sunset
June 17, 2024 at 2:44 AM
If you see this, post a picture you took at sunset
I'm pretty up to date on the election conspiracies floating around, but kudos to this lady for teaching me a new one I guess
June 6, 2024 at 4:54 PM
I'm pretty up to date on the election conspiracies floating around, but kudos to this lady for teaching me a new one I guess
As promised, this thread was absolutely 100% worth it!
It’s June 4, 2024, and today is the 50th anniversary of one of the most important days in Cleveland history. TEN CENT BEER NIGHT. If you don’t know about Ten Cent Beer Night, please please please read this.
This is my first thread. It will be long, but it will absolutely 100% be worth it.
This is my first thread. It will be long, but it will absolutely 100% be worth it.
June 5, 2024 at 1:46 PM
As promised, this thread was absolutely 100% worth it!
Reposted by Lindsay
I personally want to congratulate Donald Trump for finally winning a popular vote
May 30, 2024 at 9:37 PM
I personally want to congratulate Donald Trump for finally winning a popular vote
Reposted by Lindsay
Reposted by Lindsay
Guys, it is proper bananas that the size of the Moon and the distance to the Sun are so perfectly matched. It's one of the absolutely coolest things about the sky, and I say this as a person who discovers whole new planets.
April 8, 2024 at 1:19 AM
Guys, it is proper bananas that the size of the Moon and the distance to the Sun are so perfectly matched. It's one of the absolutely coolest things about the sky, and I say this as a person who discovers whole new planets.
Ahhhh, feels like home earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
April 5, 2024 at 2:40 PM
Ahhhh, feels like home earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
Reposted by Lindsay
I don't know who needs to know this, but Pro Publica has an online thing that will format a letter to your US health insurance company to demand the records behind a claim denial. (which the insurance is then legally required to provide in most cases)
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
Find Out Why Health Insurance Denied Your Claim
You likely have the right to access records that explain why your insurer denied your claim or prior authorization request. Use ProPublica’s free tool to generate a letter requesting your claim file f...
projects.propublica.org
March 22, 2024 at 1:25 PM
I don't know who needs to know this, but Pro Publica has an online thing that will format a letter to your US health insurance company to demand the records behind a claim denial. (which the insurance is then legally required to provide in most cases)
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
Reposted by Lindsay
this story from today's Ask A Manager is killing me
March 18, 2024 at 7:32 PM
this story from today's Ask A Manager is killing me
This tale of tortoise copulation is somehow the most wholesome thing I've seen on social media lately.
OMG WE FOUND HIM. THE PEOPLE HOLDING HIM WERE ALSO GOOD SAMARITANS. THEY MADE CHRISTIAN IDENTIFY HIM BY HIS SHELL DAMAGE. HE'S GOING TO BE COMING HOME BUT HE IS
FUCKING ANOTHER TURTLE RIGHT NOW. OOPS.
FUCKING ANOTHER TURTLE RIGHT NOW. OOPS.
March 14, 2024 at 5:37 PM
This tale of tortoise copulation is somehow the most wholesome thing I've seen on social media lately.
Reposted by Lindsay
been saying this for months www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/o...
March 12, 2024 at 5:39 PM
been saying this for months www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/o...
Schaudenfreudelicious!
Hello, police? Cancel the EMTs, the victim was actually dead on contact.
February 29, 2024 at 11:00 PM
Schaudenfreudelicious!