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Mike MacFerrin

@icesheetmike

Dr in glaciology and expert mapper of coastal topography at a Cooperative Research Institute. An organizer for disability rights in science, which mostly involves yelling at agencies. Science is the easier part of my work. #T1D

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Latest posts by Mike MacFerrin @icesheetmike

Disability accommodations are a rare thing that actually trickles down. You like curb cutouts? Auto-opening doors? Jar openers? Ramps? Hand rails? YOUโ€™RE WELCOME

Even as an abled person you use disability accommodations every single day.

Supporting accommodations actually helps everyone.

07.03.2026 00:13 ๐Ÿ‘ 1220 ๐Ÿ” 386 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 19 ๐Ÿ“Œ 14

OMG Outlook Search! WHHHHHY!

I can type a name verbatim and itโ€™ll show me a random selection of โ€œlikely-relatedโ€ matched emails from the past 8 years but NOT SHOW ME the email from that exactly-named person sent just yesterday.

26.02.2026 21:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I honestly couldnโ€™t explain the difference between โ€œOneDriveโ€ and โ€œSharePointโ€ if you forced me to at gunpoint, other than I can stare at the same document in both depending on where I navigated there from, and each platform has its own peculiarly-subtle-but-distinct flavor of hell.

26.02.2026 21:28 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I laughed unreasonably loud at this
๐Ÿ˜ญ

26.02.2026 21:21 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
a man with a beard and glasses is wearing a blue shirt and giving a thumbs down sign . Alt: A man with a beard and glasses in a blue shirt is quietly and unceremoniously giving a thumbs down sign with a deadpan stare.

Our Uni force-migrated us to use Microsoft-everything (sigh) and our team is having to scale back because:

- Sharepoint sucks (!) for editing docs
- MS Teams randomly throttles peoplesโ€™ audio on group calls where we canโ€™t even hear each other
- File-sharing gets wonky as hell
- etc

It sucks! ๐Ÿ‘Ž

26.02.2026 21:12 ๐Ÿ‘ 11 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

We are going to need Nuremberg Trials when this is all over.

26.02.2026 17:05 ๐Ÿ‘ 2408 ๐Ÿ” 834 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 146 ๐Ÿ“Œ 50

โ€œPlease give me $100M to put my thoughts and feelings on the Blockchain for the world to see and weโ€™ll make a $billion back by having computers solve a trillion sudoku puzzles to save them there forever.โ€

It really was a flawless business model.

26.02.2026 16:55 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

amazing insight bro

26.02.2026 16:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Quote graphic with text: โ€œIt moves Colorado into the 21st century of civil rights related to people's decisions over their own bodies. We can leave some of these old Eugenics-era policies in the past.โ€ โ€” Jack Johnson, Attorney and Public Policy Liaison, Disability Law Colorado.

Quote graphic with text: โ€œIt moves Colorado into the 21st century of civil rights related to people's decisions over their own bodies. We can leave some of these old Eugenics-era policies in the past.โ€ โ€” Jack Johnson, Attorney and Public Policy Liaison, Disability Law Colorado.

Eugenics is not just history; STILL itโ€™s written into law in some states.

In Colorado, people with disabilities can still be sterilized over their objection.

This MUST end.

https://nationaltoday.com/us/co/denver/news/2026/02/15/colorado-bill-aims-to-repeal-forced-sterilization-law/

26.02.2026 16:02 ๐Ÿ‘ 9 ๐Ÿ” 6 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Iโ€™m old enough to remember when the Blockchain was going to change absolutely everything.

26.02.2026 13:14 ๐Ÿ‘ 28 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I get โ€œOne year of free credit monitoringโ€ about every 3-8 months at this point.

24.02.2026 23:05 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I ๐Ÿ–ค how in the modern US, every 6 months you get a letter likeโ€ฆ

โ€œWe wish to inform you [a Company youโ€™ve never once heard of] had all your medical information which may have been compromised & leaked in a security breach. Weโ€™re sure itโ€™s fine tho.โ€

โ€ฆand you canโ€™t do a single damn thing about it.

24.02.2026 22:09 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I truly wish more of these bills would get introduced (and pushed through!) in times when we have a Dem majority and presidency, when they have a chance of passing. But then itโ€™s *crickets*. This feels purely performative.

24.02.2026 17:34 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
a man with a beard says now that 's a name i ve not heard in a long time Alt: Obi-Wan in Star Wars. โ€œNow, that is a name Iโ€™ve not heard in a long time. A long time.โ€
24.02.2026 04:05 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
a man in a suit and tie is holding his hair Alt: Jim Carrey in a suit, yanking his hair in flamboyant exasperation, emanating a WHYYYYYYY expression of sheer frustration.

An anti-vax elderly family member has been sick & coughing for 3 straight weeks, refuses to get tested, and insists this โ€œbad fluโ€ is being treated effectively by their chosen regime of supplements.

For 3 weeks!

I love this person enough to care but theyโ€™re driving me to witsโ€™ end with this.

22.02.2026 19:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

So youโ€™ve been to these. ๐Ÿ˜

I skipped the felt cowboy hat! Primarily because it didnโ€™t fit (I have a big nogginโ€™) and I had nowhere else to carry it, lol.

21.02.2026 05:53 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

100%. We run relatively simple โ€œAIโ€ algorithms (like random-forest decision trees, etc) for specific scientific apps on a desktop machine with just a handful of minutes compute time. Not all ML algorithms are โ€œwastefulโ€ in the โ€œdrain aquifers run a data centersโ€ theme of Grok, ChatGPT, etc.

21.02.2026 00:26 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

(Narratorโ€™s note: It was allowed, and pre-Trump was a welcomed part of Broader Impacts. Reviewer 2 just didnโ€™t like we planned to PAY people for that work rather than it being all-volunteer.

Iโ€™m still miffed the PM let that factually-false comment sail through review untouched.)

20.02.2026 20:06 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

We had a killer proposal exploring the boundary of melt zones in high-elevation Greenland. Zones were discovered just in the last 8 yrs; no one knew squat about where they intersect.

Tanked in part b/c Rev 2 didnโ€™t like 5% of our budget doing DEI work. โ€œI donโ€™t think thatโ€™s allowed,โ€ they quipped.

20.02.2026 19:59 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I've become ever-more impressed with scientists I know in anthro and sociology.

Physical Earth Science, by contrast, is closing its eyes and hoping to weather the fascism by putting its head down & ignoring the fires. (Exceptions exist! But not enough.)

The scientists who study human behavior? ๐Ÿ”ฅ

20.02.2026 16:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I had never in my life thought about it. But yeah, somewhere, thereโ€™s gotta be.

20.02.2026 02:45 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

CU Boulderโ€™s Regents have done this multiple times, each time itโ€™s been a sham.

They use closed-door discussions to select a slate of โ€œup to 5 finalistsโ€ that then open to public-comment period. When โ€œ1 sole finalistโ€ is nominated, the fix is obvious.

18.02.2026 15:46 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

But then, see, you donโ€™t *own* a digital receipt for the worst monkey drawing youโ€™ve ever seen! Think of the possibilities!
</s>

18.02.2026 14:44 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Theyโ€™re torturing kids in concentration camps and building 10x more camps right now. Itโ€™s all happening right now.

Free them all. Burn the entire system to the ground. All of it.

18.02.2026 14:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 30 ๐Ÿ” 11 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

"the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children"

17.02.2026 20:09 ๐Ÿ‘ 1329 ๐Ÿ” 682 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 25 ๐Ÿ“Œ 22

100%. Any candidate preaching โ€œmoving onโ€ and โ€œletโ€™s get back to bipartisanshipโ€ can go to hell. People need to be tried and convicted, very publicly, for these crimes against humanity. Hundreds of people (at least). No meaningful change without accountability.

18.02.2026 13:55 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I spent 2 good-but-exhausting days at a geospatial conference & trade show. After getting home, my family meticulously picked through my pile of 15 free vendor pens and just cherry-picked the very nicest ones for themselves.

I feel so used. ๐Ÿ˜ญ ๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ๐Ÿ–‹๏ธ

18.02.2026 04:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 10 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I was on a (failed) proposal for one of the โ€œEarth System Explorer Future Missionsโ€ that just got frozen.

One of those โ€œsilver liningโ€ things personally, but I have colleagues on a competing ESE mission that was funded. Thisโ€™ll destroy careers (and ๐Ÿ›ฐ๏ธs!) if it sticks even a cpl months.
๐Ÿคž it doesnโ€™t.

13.02.2026 20:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Ah-HA! Never mind, found it.

Itโ€™s a bit of an awkward system right now but I really appreciate the work!

13.02.2026 14:59 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
A screenshot of the header on one of my posts (@icesheetmike.bsky.social)

Just under my screen name and pic are three separate labels for โ€œHeโ€, โ€œHe/Himโ€, and โ€œHim.โ€

There should only be one (โ€œHe/Himโ€).

A screenshot of the header on one of my posts (@icesheetmike.bsky.social) Just under my screen name and pic are three separate labels for โ€œHeโ€, โ€œHe/Himโ€, and โ€œHim.โ€ There should only be one (โ€œHe/Himโ€).

Is there latency for labels being *removed*?

I picked โ€œhe/himโ€ to replace the separate โ€œheโ€ & โ€œhimโ€ labels, & de-selected the latter two. โ€œHe/himโ€ showed up almost instantly but now all 3 persist, despite only 1 being currently selected. Do I wait, or is it a bug?

Not a big deal, but ยฏ\_(ใƒ„)_/ยฏ

13.02.2026 14:57 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0