I am grateful to have the support of Rep. Jamie Raskin in our fight to crush the corruption in D.C. that is raising costs for working families.

In honour of #InternationalOwlDay. (It may be a bit niche [or maybe not, seeing the popularity of #TheOdyssey], but it's my favourite of any memes I've made.)

Raises some interesting questions about the relationship between Spidey and Mr. Rochester, to say nothing of Spidey and Mr. Rochester's crazy wife, who lives in an attic full of ... spideys.

Daniel A. Horwitz@danielahorwitz.bsky.social · 4d ago

Legend substack.com/@slamshopp/n...

Excellent.

Dr Florence H R Scott@florencehrscott.bsky.social · 4d ago

I’ve had ‘Dear Scott’ a few times but this is a new one

It’s Caturday, so time to reread Tom Cox’s @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social thought-provoking interview with Philippa Islington-Sykes (pictured) and also my signed copy of Everything Will Swallow You, now available! 👍

Tom Cox@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 9mo ago

THREAD. In her exclusive interview in today's Daily Telegraph Magazine, the actor, influencer and designer Philippa Islington-Smythe (pictured) discusses the price of fame, her controversial new perfume, working with Margot Robbie and how becoming a parent changed her perspective on the world...

Rabbit rabbit 🐰

This Roman ring, wishing good life to Senicianus, was found in Silchester. It’s now on display in The Vyne. Its fame derives from the archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler consulting Tolkien on it in the ‘20s. Tolkien was inspired by the idea of a lost cursed ring & the rest is literary history. 🕰️C4thAD

Endometriosis takes nine years to diagnose. That’s about to change. NICE has approved two tests: a saliva test reading microRNA markers, and a gut-sensor test returning results in 45 minutes, sparing women the keyhole surgery currently needed. buff.ly/QX3jHk8 #ShareGoodNewsToo

Rapid endometriosis tests to be made available on NHS in England and Wales

Saliva and gut sensor-based tests hailed as ‘gamechanger’ for millions of women who can wait years for diagnosis

buff.ly

IMPACT: that company that was offering to buy books for AI companies’ training data — and probably destroy them in the process — says it will no longer offer this service following 404 Media’s exposure of it www.404media.co/ai-company-t...

Company Offering Printed Books to Train AI Stops After 404 Media Coverage

Citing backlash, ISBNdb removed its webpages about training AI, denied ever buying, scanning, or selling a book for AI training, and said the site was a "test of market interest."

404media.co

13 days til the Clacton by-election. Am I the only American keenly watching the progress of Count Binface?

To my colleagues in #Classics teaching in English: A PhD student of mine is searching for English-language summer schools to improve their basic Latin skills, within the EU, or good online resources or books to improve their Latin on their own. Any advice or experiences to share? #ClassicsBluesky

Kind of similar to Google Books and the Internet Archive, when you think about it. 😐

Dr. Erika Graham-Goering@jeanneologist.bsky.social · last wk.

'Anthropic described the project as “our effort to disruptively scan all the world’s books” in an internal memo, which noted “we do not want it to be known that we are pursuing this project”.'

Weird he can’t bring this kind of energy towards his colleague who is accused of beating up his daughter.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.

Moreno to Fauci: "Who the fuck did you think you were?"

I've confirmed that the UK's new Sovereign AI Fund does no due diligence on whether AI companies use copyrighted work without permission before investing in them. It took me 3 Freedom of Information requests to find this out: 🧵 1/10

An excellent, thought-provoking piece from Derek Krissoff on the fundamentals of where books come from.

Liana Krissoff@lianak.bsky.social · 2w ago

We need a “concepts of print” for high schoolers and college students. open.substack.com/pub/derekkri...

If memory serves, this is roughly the plot of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. "I Can Make You A Man," and all that?

Dan Davies@dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 2w ago

Again, the most important legal and ethical issue raised by this is something like "no you didn't, that's a lie, that didn't happen"

Count, have you any relations in the US? Who are eligible to run? Must be at least 35 earth-sun cycles old, and born in the US. Possibly in a spaceship that had landed, for instance. @countbinface.bsky.social

HAL@sperrympe.bsky.social · 3w ago

New from 404 Media: a company is selling tons of old books specifically to AI companies and says they have a strong NDA to never reveal which AI company bought all of the books. They don't want headlines of 'we scanned and destroyed millions of books for AI' www.404media.co/ai-companies...

AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI Slop

ISBNdb, a company that sources printed books for AI companies to turn into training data, tells clients “the optics problem is real.”

404media.co

Michelin-starred restaurant owner in South Korea faces jail for serving ants in dessert

Michelin-starred restaurant owner in South Korea faces jail for serving ants in dessert

Fine of 20m won (£10,108) could also be imposed for serving insect not approved for consumption under local law Prosecutors in South Korea have asked a court to sentence the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant to one year in prison for serving a dessert topped with ants, an insect not approved for consumption under local food safety law. The request, made on Monday, also sought a 20m won (£10,108) fine for the company that runs the restaurant, Yonhap news agency reported. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

🚨🚨🚨A US District Court judge just granted final approval of the landmark $1.5 billion Anthropic copyright settlement. Here’s what this means for authors:

Court Grants Final Approval of $1.5 Billion Anthropic Copyright Settlement

On July 20, 2026, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval of the landmark $1.5 billion class action settlement in Bartz ...

authorsguild.org

good article and, crucially, a good list at the end of cookware/kitchenware lines that are still quality (and family owned)

@laperry2.bsky.social · 2w ago

www.worseonpurpose.com/p/your-cookw...

Thinking a lot about Pompeii today, looking at the apocalyptic Michigan sky. Yikes.

Caryatid not in the Bee’s list! Shocking!! And it would be a pangram. Grr. 🏛️

Pretty Orwellian to call a bill "Sunshine Protection Act" that will literally take away morning daylight from kids.

Perverts of the world rejoice! It’s Meta’s new dodgy old mate glasses | First Dog on the Moon

Perverts of the world rejoice! It’s Meta’s new dodgy old mate glasses | First Dog on the Moon

Undetectable, always on and always sending data back to pervert headquarters

theguardian.com

Hi #PortfolioDay! I'm an Architectural Illustrator and 3D Artist from Edinburgh, Scotland. I work with historians and archaeologists to reconstruct our nation's built heritage assets using archaeological and measured survey data and by developing detailed 3D models. Website: bobmarshall.co.uk

@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social You might enjoy watching growth of library acquisitions of Everything being tracked here along w some reviews—currently in 77 libraries: search.worldcat.org/title/153194...

Everything will swallow you | WorldCat.org

Have you ever been curious about how people live when nobody is watching? Have you wondered whether there's more going on than meets the eye? Eric and Carl live in Dorset in a small white cottage unde

search.worldcat.org

I'd very much appreciate it if you took a moment to read the alt text on this. www.tom-cox.com

"Tributes Pour In for Senator Lindsey Graham", then a dramatic blank space on the landing page of NYT.