“A loaded gun” Letting Minsters bypass Parliament with Henry VIII powers is never a good idea. But the government did it anyway, by packing the new data protection Act with them. That means a potential future Reform government could easily create an integrated database for use by a British ICE.

Nigel Farage wants to build a British ICE. Keir Starmer may have handed him the tools

Reform’s proposed "Deportation Command” would integrate NHS, police and financial data into a single surveillance database. Meanwhile, Palantir has signalled it won’t stand in their way, and…

thenerve.news

Announcing the recipients of the Scots Language Publication Grant 2026. . . 🥁

Scots Language Publication Grant Awardees 2026

The Scots Language Publication Grant supports Scots publishers and encourages Scots writers.

scottishbooktrust.com

“Waymo and Waze announced Thursday a data-sharing pilot program that will funnel pothole data collected by robotaxis to a free Waze platform designed for cities.” Careful with that word “free.”

Waymo robotaxis are tracking potholes and sharing that data with Waze users | TechCrunch

Two Alphabet-owned businesses are teaming up to find potholes and share that information with cities.

techcrunch.com

📢New Article Published in Law, Ethics & Technology 📜AIWitness testimony: visual neuroprostheses, AI-mediated perception and the law of evidence 🔎Claudia González-Márquez, Burkhard Schafer @gonzalezmarquez.bsky.social @burkhardschafer.bsky.social www.elspub.com/doi/10.55092...

As the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation, we support a huge range of bright ideas and world-changing inventions. But did you know this includes music technology? 📽️➡️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Jm...

Innovation funding brought these musical instruments to life

YouTube video by UK Research and Innovation

youtube.com

Border searches aren’t just about your phone—they can reveal deep digital footprints. Staying safe means more than just powering down. When traveling, plan ahead, know your rights, and limit what’s accessible to protect your privacy. More tips here: cdt.org/insights/pro...

Never come across 'WindowsCentral' as a media outlet but this piece is powerful and dense and absolutely spot on about where we are with AI and business models right now. Putting bigger outlets to shame. www.windowscentral.com/artificial-i...

Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?

Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?

windowscentral.com

Karoline@karoline.bsky.social · 8mo ago

"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."

Are you an Edinburgh Law School graduate based in the Munich area? Then meet with your fellow alumni at an informal gathering held at Hofbräuhaus München on Friday 21 November, 8pm - 10pm. Find out more and register: https://edin.ac/47v8siz

Figuring out how the brain uses information from visual neurons may require new tools, writes @neurograce.bsky.social. Hear from 10 experts in the field. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/the-big-pict...

Connecting neural activity, perception in the visual system

Figuring out how the brain uses information from visual neurons may require new tools. I asked nine experts to weigh in.

thetransmitter.org

I was at her Edinburgh gig last night, and it was wonderful (AND we repaired an unstable timeline involving one copy of Poyums Annaw, a space time anomaly and the Edinburg Book Festival, but that's a story for another day) - if you want to treat yourself, and there is one near you, get a ticket!

Len Pennie@lenniesaurus.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🚨LOW TICKET WARNING🚨 there are 8 tickets left for my event in Glasgow with Denise Mina on Tuesday, so if you want a ticket, nows your chance! www.waterstones.com/events/len-p...

This is brilliant news, and what a great project!

Patrick James Errington@pat-err.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🎉 Thrilled to share that I've received a @ukri.org #FutureLeadersFellowship for our transdisciplinary, participatory, & practice-partnered project #RewritingWor(l)ds @re-writer.bsky.social/ rewriting-worlds.ed.ac.uk researching #poetry, creative engagement, & #wellbeing for young people

I am so pleased to announce that I have been awarded a @ukri.org Future Leaders Fellowship www.ukri.org/news/ukri-an... to undertake the project 'A Multi-Dimensional Understanding of the Digital Far Right'.

UKRI announces winners of £120 million Future Leaders Fellowships

Research into the causes of lung cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are among 77 projects to be funded by UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships.

ukri.org

Eleanor Morton's latest take on AI - worse than Craig youtube.com/shorts/8-lgJ...

We Have AI Now

YouTube video by Eleanor Morton

youtube.com

Whoops, that should've been @4sweb.bsky.social, my bad! bsky.app/profile/did:...

Dr. Damien P. Williams has to go the way his blood beats@wolven.blacksky.app · 11mo ago

Last week at @4sweb, I got the honour of being on a on Disability Access, Infrastructure, & Technoableism panel w/ @chartblay.bsky.social , @ashleyshoo.bsky.social, & Raquel Velho, learning from & speaking w/ them & @disabilitystor1.bsky.social & @besswww.bsky.social, as commenters & interlocutors…

Only 10 days left to apply: We are searching for a senior postdoc (3 +3 years) in the field of theoretical ecology and evolution. The position provides the opportunity to closely interact with experimentalists and develop own research projects. Please RT. Details 👇: shorturl.at/iiiOv

Privacy is essential for people with disabilities to live with independence and dignity. While assistive tech can empower autonomy, mishandling sensitive health or disability data can lead to discrimination, stigma or control. Learn more: privacyinternational.org/case-study/5...

"The idea of robot/AI rights acts as a smoke screen, allowing theorists and futurists to fantasize about benevolently sentient machines with unalterable needs and desires protected by law." firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 11mo ago

Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times

New batch of emails from Russia's disinformation campaign, which added Chancellor Merz of Germany to its list of targets, which has previously focused on Moldovan president Maia Sandu and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Letting Google set the narrative about the environmental costs of "AI" is like letting tobacco companies set the narrative about the effects of second-hand smoke by measuring the health effects of sitting through one neighbor smoking one cigarette.

While many get overexcited on AI and copyright Audibe quietly finds low-tech solutions to rip off authors and redistribute money from creators to billionaires. An important petition here: www.change.org/p/convince-a... and for background, this video helps: www.youtube.com/@Elisabeth_W...

Sign the Petition

Convince Audible to revise it's New Royalty Model

change.org

Exactly one month til I'm heading across the UK with POYUMS ANNAW. Already so many of yous have bought books and tickets, and been so supportive of my work, thank you!! Tickets are available for most dates (if you've missed your city or you're not able to attend we're livestreaming the 24th)

Running she comes, late, Reeling in under the last Bronze brimmings. She sits Among twenty whispers. —George Mackay Brown, “Island School” published in Carve the Runes: Selected Poems by George Mackay Brown (Polygon 2021) #Orkney #poetry birlinn.co.uk/product/carv...

Orkney Library & Archive@orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 12mo ago

If your kids are struggling with going back to school then it's definitely not a new thing. This little girl was going to school in Evie, #Orkney in 1920 which is 105 years ago. She doesn't look terribly keen. #PhotographicArchives

The wonderful @lenniesaurus.bsky.social has been shortlisted for Scottish Writer of the Year! If you've enjoyed her poetry or tireless (and frankly incredible) efforts promoting Scots with her Scots word of the day series, send her a vote: projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotslanguag...

Scots Language Awards 2025 shortlist unveiled

Hands Up for Trad are gled tae annoonce that amang the braw nominees includit on the shortleet for a Scots Leid Award 2025, are weel worthy fowk fae Scottish literature, theatre, eddication an busi…

projects.handsupfortrad.scot

This sounds absolutely excellent!

Meredith Rose@mrose.ink · last yr.

Got my tentative schedule for DragonCon, and FOLKS...

Two startups have just launched embryo selection software based on genomic IQ prediction. Both have support from "educational genomics" researchers, but some scientists say the startups are selling "snake oil." New post on genetics, IQ and education codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2025/08/04/e...

Educational genomics and embryo selection startups

Photo by David Matos on Unsplash Two new genomics startups have released consumer services claiming to allow parents to screen and select embryos based on polygenic scores for IQ. Both are already …

codeactsineducation.wordpress.com

Gulls. youtube.com/shorts/SJZsD...

they infuriate me. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙

YouTube video by Miss PunnyPennie

youtube.com

I'm holding onto one thing. I love you.

I have seen lots of people replying to Ian to say that the law is clear post FWS so the code shouldn't be revised. I have read into this more than most, so I'm going to list all the important issues unresolved by FWS. (Note I'm not saying that I will like how they are resolved.) 🧵

Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · last yr.

The trans rights stitch-up: How the government plans to silence parliamentary debate on the most far-reaching restriction of minority rights in our lifetime open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

@aycaatabey.bsky.social Ayca's brilliant PhD discusses the Data Protection implications of this www.de.ed.ac.uk/people/dr-ay...

Ben Williamson@benpatrickwill.bsky.social · last yr.

The details of this Canvas/OpenAI partnership are all about building an "ecosystem" of edtech and LLMs connected by the LMS. It really is about turning the whole digital infrastructure of education over to edtech and big tech "to shape the future of education" 🤢 www.instructure.com/press-releas...

BREAKING: The EU Commission has released a mandatory template for AI developers to disclose training data. Unlike the Code of Practice, this is not optional. It could have global fallout, as rights holders abroad might use it to sue over copyright. digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/e...