Professor of Economics at GMU. Very mid practitioner of Brazilian jiu jitsu. I like dogs. https://noeldjohnson.github.iohttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mr5oxrow722vSome days you just need to stay low and keep your eyes on things.21 Jul 2026 11:22 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr5oxrow722vhttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mqts2k7a6s2dManaged to image M51 and M13 from rural Ohio last night. Great conditions until the clouds rolled in!17 Jul 2026 12:50 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqts2k7a6s2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mqg2k5abjk2aThe Swiss head coach is the most European looking person I’ve ever seen.12 Jul 2026 01:45 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqg2k5abjk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mq7ojuenh22pIt is, once again, leaf blower season. As tradition dictates, a haiku… Blowers hum and wail, Thoughts drift like leaves in the gust— Workday blown away.09 Jul 2026 12:54 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq7ojuenh22phttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mq5ifqe7ik2gI really enjoyed spending the last 30 minutes figuring out that in order to submit my paper to an Elsevier journal, the MS can be pdf, but the separate title page cannot be a pdf, but must be either a Word file or sent to them by post as cuneiform tablets.08 Jul 2026 15:59 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq5ifqe7ik2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mq53f4j6vk2gReally awesome that schools and summer camps frequently have special dress-up “theme” days for my 11 year old. Nothing better than waking up and learning it’s “wacky Wednesday” and she needs to dress up as her favorite holiday. Really keeps me on my toes. Grateful.08 Jul 2026 12:06 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq53f4j6vk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mq2xj37rys2t🧵1/ The half-life of a grudge. Britain crushed the 1857 revolt in northern India with mass reprisals centered on Lucknow. For decades after, districts closer to that violence vaccinated their children less against smallpox and the effect faded as the generation that lived through 1857 died off.07 Jul 2026 15:51 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq2xj37rys2thttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mpoicmdk4s23🧵 1/ The most famous party trick in AI: take word vectors and compute "king − man + woman." You (often) get queen — evidence the model learned gender as a direction in space. Could you pull that off using nothing but the titles of books printed in Europe, 1450–1650?02 Jul 2026 16:47 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpoicmdk4s23https://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mpm53pzcj22rWay ahead of you, GMU Emergency Alert System. The World Cup is on and I've decided to limit all activities both outside AND inside.01 Jul 2026 18:21 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpm53pzcj22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mpm4vhfc3c2pClaude Code just told me that the version of Ruby I've been using on my laptop is "ancient". And now I feel old too.01 Jul 2026 18:18 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpm4vhfc3c2phttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mp5cgjbeyc2eWas watching an instructional video on reverse de la riva and my wife walked in and looked at me like I'm weird. I have no idea why...25 Jun 2026 20:47 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp5cgjbeyc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mp576qjxcc2vA couple things I learned doing research this week... The Thirty Years' War (1618–48) didn't simply shrink German printing — it redrew the map. After imperial forces sacked Magdeburg in 1631, the city's presses went nearly silent. Neutral Hamburg's boomed. The two cities traded places.25 Jun 2026 19:49 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp576qjxcc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/ndjohnson.bsky.social/post/3mozxrxyark22Big thanks going out to Amazon for ruining their book search on the app by integrating ai into it.24 Jun 2026 12:58 +0000at://did:plc:xd7e4bb7zzmzyh5om6pse6y2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mozxrxyark22