iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Mark L. Thompson

timovaneldijk.bsky.social @timovaneldijk.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Also understand the resistance to AI, there is plenty of slop out there, but FoundersChat by @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social is not! It is based on the original Founders Online sources. It is an academic tool for education and cites original sources. Our university made it available for free, pro bono!

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Hi Elena, maybe first try it for yourself before insulting one of the nicest & most decent people you could ever meet? Respectfully, the app's creator, a professional historian.

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I literally walked into the Code Cafe at 4:00 on a Thursday afternoon at the end of February, talked to DCC data steward Bjorn Bakker for half an hour (turns out, he's a big Hamilton fan!), and within weeks Timo and I were working to bring this project to light. And here it is!

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Many thanks to CIT & Timo van Eldijk @timovaneldijk.bsky.social of the Digital Competence Centre @ug-dcc.bsky.social , who was able to turn concept into action within the space of only a few months: a real doorzetter.

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

For 20+ years I have sought to engage many a disengaged undergraduate by having them read your work ... ! On the theme, you might enjoy playing with this: founderschat.app.rug.nl

founderschat.app.rug.nl

FoundersChat — Research Portal

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

That's great news, Michael. Beautiful cover, too.

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Coming soon: FoundersChat, an app I've built that allows you to make queries to the entire Founders Online corpus. Ask big questions like "what is the relationship between liberty and slavery?" or find out what Alexander Hamilton really thought about Aaron Burr ... & then check the provided sources.

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I thought the illustration was a joke ... The Bizarro States of America

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

They have an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign & domestic

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

This map looks like the chart of the travels of some obsessive explorer ... a new Crusoe or a mad Magellan for 2025

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

The fine print: "Student-directed work, clinical and research areas are not affected ***at this time.***"

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

"Freedom is your ticket to sensational events. Gain access to unique Freedom experiences that take you way beyond cashbacking." -- my credit card, getting into the Revolutionary Spirit of 2026

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Hard to believe it, but next week is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It became a named storm on the 24th and hit Louisiana on the morning of the 29th. It was really quick. www.weather.gov/lix/katrina_....

Satellite image of Hurricane Katrina making landfall on the morning of August 29th, 2005

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

These are three quite smart people ... I'll definitely be checking it out

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

A great accompaniment to Robin Blackburn's "An Unfinished Revolution," too ... !

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Made it into the reference room collection at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. I guess my job is done

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

I'm sure there are a few disused ones lying around that they could repurpose

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

James Osterberg aka Iggy Pop = 78 🎂

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Total (full, non-EU) cost for tuition for three years: about $45k, which is a few thousand less than you would pay for four years of in-state tuition at LSU, where I used to work

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

In three years you could get a BA (or one for an MA) from a top-rated American Studies program at a four-century-old Dutch university in the compact, safe international city of Groningen. (Just saying) www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u...

nytimes.com

Leaving the U.S. for College or Grad School? Tell Us More.

The New York Times is looking to hear from students who are considering attending schools abroad because of Trump administration policies.

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Lou can't retire! Just more time to research, write, and edit!

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

He just needs a chance to mansplain himself

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Reposted by Mark L. Thompson

The ITPS (Institute for Thomas Paine Studies) @theitps.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Hello BlueSky! The #ITPS has been a quiet on social media for a while as we focused our efforts on our newsletter, Page of Reason, and other projects. We’re excited to reconnect here, so please look out for some updates over the next few weeks, and we’d be grateful if you’d share the word too!

An image of several ITPS archive items, including pamphlets glasses a trunk and a pitcher on display on a glass table with brown bookshelves behind it.

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

In 2004 I wrote a review of the late geographer Carville Earle's "The American Way." According to his cyclical theory of US history, we're now in the depths of an era of "Bad Times." But that also means that the age of "Third Democracy" & "Good Times" are on their way! www.h-net.org/reviews/show...

h-net.org

H-Net Reviews

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I've bought two Epson "EcoTanks" in the last two years (because it makes sense to double down on a failed product once you've already invested so much in it). Eco, indeed

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

I was just teaching the Alien & Sedition Acts two months ago

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

If you can be patient, it will be on sale sometime this summer ... But that's a long time from now in baseball time

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

I love his old school style ... but it's also an effect of being ... old 🙊

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

@theslowridepod.bsky.social Little Guy's doppelgänger from the New Zealand republic of Whangamōmona www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Ha - some Cantabrigians are going to be pissed, too

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

I seem to recall that John Locke & John Dickinson & quite a few Bostonians had some thoughts about the implications of someone taking away your property without your consent

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Can't wait to see my new royalty checks come in after this score. I can stop grading papers forever💰💰💰

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Context: ~3,000 staff, students, and supporters were at the Grote Markt in the heart of Groningen to protest the Dutch governing coalition's plans to make massive cuts to the higher education budget. If you know academics, then you know how hard it is to get them to agree to do something like this

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

is on strike in Groningen.🚩 No insightful historical analyses will be forthcoming today

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Mark L. Thompson @mark-l-thompson.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Following this account is like picking up a penny off the sidewalk

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