Michael R. Powell

"AllMyExes, Riverwalk, Revolver, Alamo, LoneStar, TwoStep, Vaquero, PricklyPear, TexasRanger, Haystack, RioGrande, Stockyards, Pumpjack and GiddyUp are the names of 14 new phages discovered by the local research team." Researchers having fun with their work. 😊 www.keranews.org/texas-news/2...

I nominated Tiny Bookshop in quite a few categories. Highly recommend it if you want a cozy, low-stress business sim about running a mobile bookstore. Charming side stories, a cohesive art style, and a really soothing vibe. store.steampowered.com/app/2133760/...

It was funny when a person started requesting quotes using my email. I laughed it off thinking they got a new Gmail address and forgot the spelling. Now I'm getting their employee's tax information. Alicia Smith of North East Texas Luxury RV Resort, your boss doesn't know their email. Sorry. 🤷

Having a great time in Iceland! #NorthernLights #Iceland

Get a load of this turkey! The other four Osceola turkeys I spotted bailed on the photoshoot before I could snap a picture. It's always fun staying at a house against a nature conservation area and seeing the wildlife wander into view. #WildlifeWednesday #FloridaWildlife #Turkey

My "future" looks horrifying! Always a roll of the dice, but Spaceship Earth at EPCOT spectacularly botched our faces yet again. 😂 My ride partner? Headless. Me? Large random chunks of face missing. Disney magic, I guess! ✨🎢 #EPCOT #SpaceshipEarth #DisneyWorld

I heard you can pet them once, but only once. Please don't do that. First day in Yellowstone was great! #Yellowstone

Love seeing nature during my night runs! I believe this is a common Barred Owl. It swooped past me before perching on top of the streetlight. 🦉 Now I'm just trying to figure out where they dropped my invite to Hogwarts. 👀🤞 #BarredOwl #Owl #Running #Orlando #Florida #HarryPotter

What a match today! Witnessing Wrexham AFC make history with back-to-back-to-back promotions — something no other club has done in EFL history — was incredible. Can’t wait to see how it’s covered in the show this summer! ⚽ 🥳 #WxmAFC

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081

Just hit 200,000 miles on the odometer. Put 50k on it in one year alone a while back. Safe to say I got every penny’s worth. Thinking of hanging on to it a bit longer with prices all over the place. Likely an EV or at least a hybrid next. #Honda #Accord

Just finished Bad Monkey, book & show. The show had some rough spots near the end—lower production quality, rushed moments—but it fleshed out details the book didn't dive into. The show's ending felt more satisfying, it even made me pity the villain a bit. The book also used some unnecessary slurs.

Ender has one focus in life. Ball. #dogsofbsky

Just finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz—a harrowing but important read, though the horrors felt softened. I am slightly frustrated by the 'fiction' label; the inaccuracies felt more like memory gaps or narrative choices. Fiction implies a complete fabrication to me. This story will stick with me.

Don’t forget, there is a lunar eclipse tonight for the majority of North America. If you’ve never seen one I highly recommend setting an alarm and making an effort to watch. You don’t need anything fancy, you just get to see a big red moon in the sky! science.nasa.gov/solar-system...

Drinking tea has been linked to various health benefits, including a lower risk for heart disease and degree of inflammation in the body. Now, a new study by researchers from Northwestern University suggests another surprising perk of the beverage: The brewing process may help purify the water.

Lily thinks my legs were designed for her comfort. She won’t rest anywhere else if lying on me is an option! 🤣 #dogsofbsky

🚀 Just finished Moonraker. Spoilers, but the Nazis’ demise was 🤌. Best Bond book so far. The arc on Bond’s romance was refreshing from previous books and movies. Now starting The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Not the thematic follow-up I wanted, but it feels… necessary. Expecting it to be heavy. 📖

Exploring DeepSeek right now! I’ve used ChatGPT (even paid for it at one point), so I’m curious how the free versions of DeepSeek and ChatGPT stack up. Anyone else comparing the two? Thoughts? #AI #DeepSeek #ChatGPT #ArtificialIntelligence

If you need something on your side monitor for the day...

Just finished reading The Hobbit for the first time—what a journey! 🧙‍♂️ Now working to finish Moonraker. 🚀 So far one of the better Bond books! www.goodreads.com/michaelrpowell

Coquito in a festive German boot mug to kick off the night, and champagne ready to cheer as the ball drops at midnight! Here’s to an unforgettable New Year! 🎉🥂🎊 #NewYearsEve #HappyNewYear

I had an amazing time volunteering at Give Kids the World this weekend! The staff and families are incredible, and the village looks magical with all the holiday decorations. Now that my degree is finished, I’m excited to be able to volunteer more next year. #Volunteer #GiveKidsTheWorld

Relaxing day for golf. ⛳ #golf

Just finished the #Shrinking season finale and wow! Perfectly crafted season with no filler episodes or slumps. The cast's genuine chemistry shines through in their witty banter. Hats off to the brilliant writers for masterfully sparking empathy for all characters, even with the darkest of topics.

This cannot be comfortable for him. #DogsofBluesky

Another thing I made this year: Real and implied birds.

Just finished the Star Trek: Lower Decks finale and wow—what a ride over five seasons! Hilarious, heartfelt, and always delivering a positive message. Hoping Paramount finds more work for this incredibly creative team. It started as lighthearted fun and became some of the best Trek ever. #LowerDecks

Stuck on the couch sick, but The Day of the Jackal had me captivated for two days—a gripping, suspenseful thriller with classic cat-and-mouse tension. Now diving into Skeleton Crew. So far it feels like a safe family show, but the adventure aspect is great. #TheDayOfTheJackal #SkeletonCrew

I miss how social media was about connecting with people who shared your interests. Now platforms are overrun by scammers, bots, and paid influencers. Lately, it feels like every new follower just wants to sell to me—or scam me. Identifying genuine people is hard with all the noise out there.

Starting to feel like I’m collecting more bots and scammers than interesting connections. I was excited to see Bluesky’s user count soar, but the flood of crypto and romance scam accounts is pretty disheartening. How do we strike the right balance between accessibility and effective scam protection?

To my friends, if you own a domain, you likely have the skills to handle verification. No domain? Bluesky provides non-technical steps that are buried as the last three paragraphs of this post: bsky.social/about/blog/4... It costs ~$15 a year. I appreciate Namecheap for streamlining the process.

How do you spot an ad or scam account? 🤔 I’m thinking about using the following-to-follower ratio as a clue. Maybe 1:3? Following 3x more people than they have followers. What’s your go-to rule? This is going towards something I'm trying to code and automate as a fun side project using Bsky API.

Ended the season last night with a 14-28 loss—not what I hoped for, but grateful for the fight. With Head Coach Gus stepping down, a new chapter begins. Here's to hoping the team comes back stronger next season! 🏈 #UCF

Ready for game day! #UCF #Orlando #Utah

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 Grateful for so much this year—way more than I could ever fit within the message character limit.

Watching rocket launches from Orlando: a breathtaking reminder that the sky is not the limit. 🚀✨ #SpaceCoast #RocketLaunch

How can platforms effectively combat misinformation? One approach could be requiring users making medical claims to link their accounts to their professional web domains (e.g. a hospital or university affiliation). Personal opinions could remain a separate account. #Misinformation #DigitalEthics

Dog sitting these two is always an adventure! Lily is the ultimate chill companion—content to lean on me and relax no matter what’s going on. Daisy, on the other hand, is a ball of energy, ready to play non-stop until she crashes. But disturb her nap? She’ll make sure you hear about it!

Well that didn't take long for the bots to show up in force from X after I posted once. I'm disappointed it wasn't the real Mark Hamill that decided to follow me. @markhamillofficial.bsky.social is his verified account. Everyone be vigilant of fakes. I hope Bluesky has future plans to address this.

Loving Bluesky so far—it has a refreshing, less toxic vibe. Reminds me of Reddit in its early days before it got overwhelmed with users. Curious to see if Bluesky will face similar challenges as it grows, especially with bots starting to make their way in. 🤔 #Bluesky #SocialMedia #NewPlatforms

Congratulations to Michael Powell, who recently successfully defended his dissertation!