iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 27/09/2026

I let MLB have a piece of my mind on this - guy who saw Nolan Ryan throw his fourth no-hitter, June 1975 -- among many other things in MLB history

support.mlb.com

MLB Support

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 25/09/2026

Once again, @aefpweb.bsky.social punches well above its weight in the world. In this week's example, a comment on proposed new grant rules (in EDGAR). In general, my professional associations have done a huge amount of good work in the past few years.

us.list-manage.com

Docket ID ED-2026-OPEPD-2542_AEFP Comment_2026 09 23.pdf

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 21/09/2026

Daughter and I are ripping apples and peaches from their branches. We will then eat those we don’t share. Yes, apples and peaches grow in Arizona. At 4000 ft

Man and small wagon full of green apples and peaches

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 21/09/2026

It's inevitable: the minute after I post a blog entry, I notice more errors. One difference between a blog and journalism: professional editing before publication. Deeper one, which I've mentioned before: corrections. If your "substack periodical" has no corrections, it's a multi-author blog.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 21/09/2026

Reasoning about and interpreting effect sizes: How big are they, really? shermandorn.com?p=9838

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 19/09/2026

"Republicans still have father to fall" indeed!

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Reposted by Sherman Dorn

elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Friend shared this video of a man unveiling the library he hid when he fled Damascus in 2011. It’s incredible

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 16/09/2026

Simon has a ritual way of getting off his stroller/sedan. It must be through his magic gate. @weratedogs.com

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 15/09/2026

Got my flu, COVID, and 10-year TDAP booster yesterday. Sore arms today but not a scintilla of improved 5G reception

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 15/09/2026

From @karenbalcom.bsky.social (McMaster U) on H-Childhood: "I am looking for partners to form a more panel on the intersection of Critical Adoption Studies x History of Childhood and Youth (June 2027) ... Researchers at all career levels welcome." Proposal deadline is today! So reach out!

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 13/09/2026

One of my 🤦‍♂️ errors of omission with a colleague was the one time @tressiemcphd.bsky.social and I met IRL, and I forgot I had Google Voice precisely for a throwaway # to divert spam. I'm sorry, Tressie.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 09/09/2026

I may or may not have the equipment needed to set up a garden Noem display in October. If so, there will be pictures.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 08/09/2026

I just took a break from work with a new video from the marvelous @ellecordova.bsky.social

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 07/09/2026

Going to make my daughter watch "Power to the People Y'all" with me. I strongly suspect I won't have to twist any arms.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 02/09/2026

I hope every honest reporter in the country responds to Yale flacks' pitches as follows: "Tough shit, you kicked reporters off your campus. You can wait a year before getting any coverage."

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 01/09/2026

"Doesn’t every child deserve 935 million Manny Riveras of learning?" Reader, I had reason this afternoon to check this 11-year-old blog entry on interpreting effect sizes. shermandorn.com?p=8079 Also, I think this is the only blog entry of mine that's been cited in a refereed article.

doi.org

Translating Standardized Effects of Education Programs Into More Interpretable Metrics - Matthew D. Baird, John F. Pane, 2019

Evaluators report effects of education initiatives as standardized effect sizes, a scale that has merits but obscures interpretation of the effects’ practical i...

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 31/08/2026

Working this afternoon at an indie cafe, Where U Bean. Also...

Giant “mug” with plant in it. On the aide: “I’ve cut back to just one cup of coffee a day!”

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 31/08/2026

I was on a trip and just saw this. Wow. <sends to personal email to request my local public library to order, as well as order personally>

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 28/08/2026

At my meeting this morning, I introduced myself: "I'm Sherman, and I love Dolly Parton." One of the most enthusiastic responses I've ever had when I've started talking. And yes, it was absolutely related to what I was saying. My co-conspirator in this project is Frank Serafini, literacy scholar.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 27/08/2026

Each morning I wake and ask myself, "Is it finally the day when the Onion writes about me?"

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 25/08/2026

I feel incredibly privileged that I was alive for more than six decades when Dolly Parton was a model public citizen as well as a wonderful performer.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 25/08/2026

I just received a spam-email invitation to a meeting, and I first misread it as being from "Livid Places Publishing." Honestly, I think my first (mis)reading would be much better.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 25/08/2026

This morning the Youtube algorithm tossed me this 11-month old video from @jamellebouie.net, which is a lovely explanation of how decontextualized numbers related to the history of slavery can be so dead wrong, and why slavery was so deeply embedded in the Confederate states in 1860.

youtu.be

How many slaveholders were there, really?

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 24/08/2026

Make a band bigger: Gladys Knight and the Artistic Smudges

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 22/08/2026

Raffi songs now come with half the beats

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 22/08/2026

"We shall fight on the Bloombergs. We shall fight on the financing rounds. We shall fight in the yields and on Wall Street. We shall fight in the T-bills. We shall never surrender. "Reporting for duty."

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 22/08/2026

Rensions absolutely is a word, and we must use it every day for the rest of this presidency.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 19/08/2026

We know the answer with Rahm Emanuel. And Larry Summers.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 18/08/2026

Very happy that @mattbarnum.bsky.social is now explaining higher ed as well as K-12 research.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 15/08/2026

I've saved this (and part 1) for later reading in my VERY long reading queue on LLMs and other gAI models. But very briefly, point 4 in this reflects my sense of both the specific, almost niche nature of productive LLM use, and the domination by slop of general experience.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 14/08/2026

Having a broad historical perspective is the most public cheat code available, and yet it seems like Tressie McMillan Cottom, Jamelle Bouie, and others are pulling rabbits out of hats. (Meanwhile, we historians are cheering in the background when we see this.)

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 11/08/2026

Gen X is no longer the most shameful generation.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 11/08/2026

Water shut off at home for the next few hours. Scheduled! (For replacement of water softener.) This is one of those situations where I earnestly hope for the simplest, least-complicated plumbing job ever. OTOH, there's almost never a plumbing issue where I hope for complications.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 07/08/2026

Yesterday, someone asked the crowd sheltering during a thunderstorm how looking at <waves> all this made them feel. I said, "Young." Today, I wanted to recapture that feeling and purchased Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 06/08/2026

This week I discovered Vandy hadn’t told TIAA I’m no longer an employee. I left in 1996. Fixed that in a jiffy.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 06/08/2026

I’m disappointed in all the disappointment. Also: I’m an historian of education. and this is in my wheelhouse.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 05/08/2026

Of course Tressie McMillan Cottom would stand in her yard, yelling, "Get on my lawn, as long as you learn how to!"

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 04/08/2026

Just a reminder for everyone spotting "hey, this AI finance thing seems like an Enron-level scam," @benjaminjriley.bsky.social was there about 18 months ago:

buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com

EnronAI

What's past is prologue?

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 03/08/2026

Flagging this for my corner of Bluesky: I'm shocked, shocked to find out that Federal Censorship Commission chair Brendan Carr has been less than forthcoming in his most recent financial report.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 03/08/2026

Just read the USDOE press release on the McMahon letter, and all I can say is: I for one welcome the introduction of MMT in undergrad macro classes, and anarchist writings in finance.

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 01/08/2026

Update^3: one more subsection drafted. Hoping it's elegiac, but I'll be happy if reviewers think it's purplish prose instead. I just want a reaction!

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 31/07/2026

Update update: the world has tossed me either a Horrible Distraction or a Wonderful Reward: a hint of a working paper with a discussion of causality and a weird bit of finance economics that caught my attention when researching retirement investments. Probably not weird to finance economists

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 31/07/2026

Update: still working on the R&R. In a considerably better mood today, and closing in (so is the deadline). It's now 3:30 on a Friday afternoon and the temperature's rising here in the house (peak electric rates so the thermostat's set higher). Write a paragraph, distract self, rinse/repeat...

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 31/07/2026

Oh no! The invisible bond vigilantes are waiting to swoop once again! 🤣🤣🤣

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 31/07/2026

Coming to a state legislature near you: Stand Your Ground-Up Bull Testes laws. (AFAIK the more likely natural sources are yams and soybeans, but Stand Your Ground-Up Soy Boy just doesn't have that ring.)

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Sherman Dorn @shermandorn.com · 30/07/2026

Working on an R&R through a miserable mood ... makes the mood less miserable. I had some nice work there on the word-lathe.

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