Justin Vasel
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justinvasel.xyz
Justin Vasel
@justinvasel.xyz
440 followers 260 following 2.1K posts
Physics Ph.D. Supernova hunter. Air Force space operational energy analyst. Chair of the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability and Resilience. IU Alumn. HAM radio KE9DTH.
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Reposted by Justin Vasel
emilymbender.bsky.social
There's a long discussion going on in my mentions about whether or not "LLMs" (quotes explained in a sec) apparently getting mostly* correct answers to arithmetic questions is "inconsistent" with the stochastic parrots metaphor.

>>
September 30, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
stevewg.bsky.social
Colley Hill, Surrey: coffee break from birding the steep scrub. Love the plaque on the bench I’m sitting on
September 22, 2026 at 8:11 AM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
lzdarkmatter.bsky.social
Our new results are out! We have observed a single nuclear recoil in our detector that we find difficult to explain with our background model. Could it be a hint of dark matter? It’s far too early to say, but it’s certainly intriguing! #darkmatter
September 1, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
doctorow.pluralistic.net
They disinvented the VCR. You might think that the reason we don't have VCRs anymore is because VCRs were supplanted by DVDs, PVRs and streaming, but that's not the case. They had it in for the VCR from the very start, and they never stopped trying to kill it. Eventually, they succeeded.

1/
A 1960s family living room in which a mom, dad and two kids are mesmerized by a cabinet-style TV. The image has been altered. The TV has an early 1990s VCR atop it. The TV screen is displaying a cross-sectioned human head with brains and spine on display. A huge fist has materialized in the room, with bloody spiked knuckle-dusters, smashing into the VCR. The oil painting over the sofa has been replaced with a pulp image of a male head, its cranium removed and replaced by a dome. Inside the dome is a red eight-segment VCR clock, displaying 12:00. The background in the painting is a tangle of cassette tape. The whole image's colors have been boosted, giving it an overexposed look.
August 26, 2026 at 4:02 AM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
librarycongress.bsky.social
The Library is devastated to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton, a music legend and titan of children's literacy. Her Imagination Library program has earned multiple Library Literacy Awards and, in 2018, she visited us to donate its 100 millionth book to our collection and host a story time. 🦋❤️
Dolly Parton reads to children in the Library’s Great Hall in 2018. Photo by Shawn Miller.
August 25, 2026 at 7:09 PM
justinvasel.xyz
Despite the .ai domain, this wonderful site is all about the human touch. Palette cleanser for anyone feeling nostalgic or feeling too 2026.
Museum of the Human Web
The Museum of the Human Web preserves the cultural artifacts that shaped internet history.
museum.parallel.ai
August 24, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
funnelfiasco.bsky.social
It's `sudo shutdown -h now` o'clock
August 21, 2026 at 9:38 PM
justinvasel.xyz
Everyone knows 404 Not Found or 403 Forbidden, but are you aware of 418 I'm a Teapot? 🫖🧵
Screenshot of RFC 2324 (HTCPCP/1.0), 1 April 1998, page 4, showing section 2.3.2 defining the "418 I'm a teapot" error code as "Any attempt to brew coffee with a teapot should result in the error code '418 I'm a teapot'. The resulting entity body MAY be short and stout."
August 21, 2026 at 3:39 PM
justinvasel.xyz
It's even prettier in person! ♥️🤍

#16-0 #IndianaUniversity
A man in a light green blazer smiles for a selfie beside the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy, which sits on a red-and-white striped table in front of an Indiana University banner and a First Financial Bank backdrop.
August 21, 2026 at 2:11 PM
justinvasel.xyz
Glad to see calls for accountability growing throughout the IU community.
Concerned Scientists at IUB call for the removal of IU Trustee Sage Steele
The letter calls upon Gov. Mike Braun and the Board of Trustees to follow “its own code of conduct” and remove Sage Steele.
www.ipm.org
August 21, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
archive.org
📻 On National Radio Day, we celebrate the deep history of radio. From pulp heroes to breaking news to ham radio enthusiasts, it's a medium built for community. 📡

Tune into radio history in our collections: archive.org/details/oldt...

#NationalRadioDay
Cover of Radio News magazine's September "Special Tube Data Issue," priced 25 cents. A large Art Deco-style vacuum tube in blue, yellow, and orange dominates the red cover. Headlines read "An Untuned R.F. Coupler for Screen-Grid Tubes," "The 1930 Amateur Regulations," "How to Judge Tubes," and "Complete Tabulation of Tube Characteristics." Signed by artist David Hymes.
August 20, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
mrmxy.bsky.social
"If you don't use AI you'll get left behind" Brother I've sent emails from a Super Nintendo, I fucking love getting left behind
Photo of a CRT monitor next to a Super Famicom console with an XBAND modem inserted. The monitor's screen shows the XBAND's email composing screen. The message being composed has the subject line "I'm writing from a snes :00" and is addressed at a user named "フフフ". Screenshot of the email composing screen from the previous photo. Screenshot of the bsnes-plus Super Nintendo emulator open on Ubuntu. The game loaded is identified as "X-Band Modem BIOS (J)" and the emulator window shows the XBAND email inbox screen. There are two emails: one from user "mrmxy" with the subject line "i'm writing from a snes :0" and one from "System" with the subject line "Welcome!!" Behind the emulator window is a terminal window showing the emulator's log (indicating emulated modem activity) and a file explorer window with some Super Nintendo ROMs and save files. The bsnes-plus emulator's window now shows the content of the email, which reads (beside a profile image of an ape with sunglasses): mrmxy 住所 Earth, Solar System 送信日 2023.6.17 タイトル im writing from a snes :00
August 19, 2026 at 9:29 PM
justinvasel.xyz
The letter I posted last week about Trustee Sage Steele is running as an oped in the Indianapolis Star today.

Please share with fellow Hoosiers, and consider sending an email of your own to the IU President and Trustees if you believe this behavior demands an official university response.
Sage Steele's waterboarding fantasy dishonors Indiana University | Opinion
Sage Steele helped adopt Indiana University's principles on civic discourse. Her social media post about Anthony Fauci violated those standards.
www.indystar.com
August 18, 2026 at 3:00 PM
justinvasel.xyz
Tired: The Odyssey
Wired: Spiderman
Inspired: Cat Video Fest 2026
Cat Video Fest 2026 Official Trailer
YouTube video by WJCT Public Media
www.youtube.com
August 14, 2026 at 8:13 PM
justinvasel.xyz
lmao boom for whom?
Screenshot of an article from the Wall Street Journal with the headline "The Jobless Boom Has Arrived"
August 14, 2026 at 4:28 AM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
xkcd.com
Geology Building

xkcd.com/3284/
Comic. [A college building labeled “Department of Geology” with a diagonal slash through center making it look uneven.] [caption] The administration regretted giving the geology department free rein to design their new building.
August 14, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
samwho.dev
This might be the most beautiful thing I've read in my life. What a privilege to be alive in 2026.

ordinaryabundance.com
Ordinary Abundance
A walk through a modern apartment, through the eyes of the people for whom everything in it was new.
ordinaryabundance.com
August 13, 2026 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
justinvasel.xyz
Today I sent an open letter to IU Board Chair David Hormuth and IU President Whitten about a post by Trustee Sage Steele, in which she publicly mused about torturing a named public figure and asked who wanted to join her.

I am calling on IU leadership to say publicly that this is not who we are.
Screenshot of letter, page 1. There is too much text to fit within the character limit of this alt text. You can find a link to the PDF version of this letter in the next post of this thread. Screenshot of letter, page 2. There is too much text to fit within the character limit of this alt text. You can find a link to the PDF version of this letter in the next post of this thread.
August 12, 2026 at 9:14 PM
justinvasel.xyz
Today I sent an open letter to IU Board Chair David Hormuth and IU President Whitten about a post by Trustee Sage Steele, in which she publicly mused about torturing a named public figure and asked who wanted to join her.

I am calling on IU leadership to say publicly that this is not who we are.
Screenshot of letter, page 1. There is too much text to fit within the character limit of this alt text. You can find a link to the PDF version of this letter in the next post of this thread. Screenshot of letter, page 2. There is too much text to fit within the character limit of this alt text. You can find a link to the PDF version of this letter in the next post of this thread.
August 12, 2026 at 9:14 PM
justinvasel.xyz
I'm absolutely floored seeing a Trustee of Indiana University openly fantasize about torturing another human.

This is abhorrent and shameful behavior, and IU should condemn it unequivocally.
Screenshot of a Twitter retweet. The original tweet is from the New York Post and depicts a photo of Anthony Fauci sitting during his recent Senate testimony. The text reads "Fauci privately warned of miscarriage risk linked to COVID vaccine while publicly claiming no issues, newly released texts show". That post was retweeted by Sage Steele (@sagesteele) who wrote "Where do I go to get permission to waterboard this man?? As he hangs upside by his toes, of course. Anyone wanna join me?"
August 11, 2026 at 1:55 PM
justinvasel.xyz
Ah yes, the infamous Trojan Pachanga
A horse-sized-and-then-some sculpture of a blocky cartoon horse standing in a large open lobby with dark paneled walls. Its body is clad in overlapping planks with a weathered wood look, painted in fading bands of orange, teal, yellow and green. Short V-shaped notches are cut all over the boards, giving it the fringed look of a piñata rendered in lumber. A round disc on its head serves as an eye. It stands on a patch of artificial turf, roped off with blue stanchions. To the right is a standee for The Odyssey: a row of armored warriors lit in cold blue, with a cloaked figure holding a sword walking between them. Text below reads "A film by Christopher Nolan / THE ODYSSEY / 07.17.26 / Shot entirely with IMAX film cameras." Can label art for Sun King Brewery's Pachanga. On a white background, a red block at top holds the Sun King Brewery logo. Below it, "PACHANGA" in chunky black hand-lettered capitals, flanked by small red diamonds. In the center, an illustration of a donkey-shaped piñata built from segments of fringed paper in red, blue, yellow and green, with one big cartoon eye. A blue banner across the bottom reads "Mexican-Style Lager."
August 6, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
brendelbored.bsky.social
It’s hard to explain but tv was better when you couldn’t watch the show you wanted whenever you wanted to watch it and most of the shows were worse and the TVs were worse and the entire experience was worse, that’s when it was better
August 3, 2026 at 12:52 AM
justinvasel.xyz
Long layover at Detroit (KDTW) and nearly spit out my beer when I saw this one casually taxiing by

#AvGeek
Through the large windows of the airport. A large Delta airplane with the LA28 Olympics livery taxis by. The livery features a gradient from pinkish-red above the wings to dark blue near the tail. The logo for LA28 is in white block letters. Except for the "A", which is replaced by the Delta logo.
August 1, 2026 at 3:42 PM
justinvasel.xyz
brb time traveling back to 2024 so I can vote in the Anchorage mayoral election
A green political campaign banner attached to a chain link fence with a portrait of a dog (a husky?) next to the words "The choice is clear! Write in Meiko for Mayor 24!"
August 1, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Justin Vasel
crowbar.wtf
I just saw a reel of a young man doing a thing called “What’s on Grandpa’s Turntable” - & he reviewed the album the Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails.

I’m just going to lay here and turn into dust now.
July 26, 2026 at 12:47 PM