Behold an innovation in academic publishing that, astonishingly, is an IMPROVEMENT, not an abomination. Instead of marking up proofs and sending them back, I am allowed to make direct edits to the publisher's source file in LaTeX. Is this genuinely new, or have I just been publishing in old […]

I so much do not want to be updating reading lists and course Moodles in preparation for the new semester that I deep-cleaned my dishwasher. And did laundry. ANd took out the recycling. #academicChatter

I have been asked to provide some samples of my calligraphy for my calligraphy guild's website. The requester knows me well enough to specify, 'nothing controversial, no swearing . . . ' Hah, nothing controversial. Kindness is controversial these days. I […] [Original post on wandering.shop]

RE: https://wandering.shop/@NerdsofaFeather/117234659051628633 hey, guyz, I have a review up on Nerds of a Feather!

Yeah, Em, you tell'em! Yeah, Em, you tell'em! https://youtube.com/shorts/XKsPaX2NVOs

Behold, she is done! This is, without a doubt, the most complex project I've ever undertaken, and I'm very proud of myself for seeing it through to the end. #humanArt #noAI #artistsofMastodon #IslamicGeometricart

RE: https://wandering.shop/@ergative/117155598340484118 To anyone who was interested, these turned out to be an absolute scam. These things are just bolted plates that mimic the shape of the component parts of the original, but do not actually work in the slightest. Ignore the geared dotting […]

Ergative Absolutive@ergative.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 3w ago

These ebay ads for this snail-shaped ruling pen dotted-line drawer are hilarious. Clearly ai-generated by a model that has absolutely no idea how they're supposed to be used. I'm debating buying one anyway, because I've never seen these available for purchase outside of wildly expensive vintage […]

I'm seeing a lot of discourse around the new Harry Potter series, and much of it is built not only on condemning JKR's behaviour, but also criticising the text itself. I'd like to suggest that the second half -- the criticism of the text -- is not relevant and even a distraction.

"there are some really exciting innovations in the pre-dosed laundry detergent space . . .'' This is your sign to stop scrolling youtube shorts and do literally anything else.

Before tonight, I was the only Colombian to ever win a Hugo. As of tonight, I am the only Colombian with two Hugos.

RE: https://wandering.shop/@ergative/117155598340484118 These are on aliexpress now too. A bunch of them have 1-star reviews, reporting indignantly that they look nothing like the picture. I have bought two of them which, as far as I can tell from the most realistic-looking images, have two […]

Ergative Absolutive@ergative.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 3w ago

These ebay ads for this snail-shaped ruling pen dotted-line drawer are hilarious. Clearly ai-generated by a model that has absolutely no idea how they're supposed to be used. I'm debating buying one anyway, because I've never seen these available for purchase outside of wildly expensive vintage […]

Other than modern Hebrew, I don't know of any dead language that's been successfully revitalized. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that Siraya can keep it up. #linguistics https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/siraya-language-deemed-extinct-over-a-century-ago-finds-its-voice-again-in-taiwan/

news.mongabay.com

Horatio: So Milo Yiannopoulos goes to 't. Hamlet: Why, man, he did make love to this employment. He is not near my conscience. His defeat Does by his own insinuation grow. ’Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes Between the pass and fell incensèd points Of mighty opposites.

Progress! You have to understand that these take ages to paint. I spent two hours last night doing just one of those hexagons. #humanart #islamicgeometricart

🚨 The deadline for abstract submission for the Second Workshop on Replication in the Language Sciences (https://sites.google.com/view/worela2) taking place on 8–9 July 2027 in Cologne has been extended to 15 September 2026 (final extension). 🚨 We invite […] [Original post on fediscience.org]

Hey, @thisismyglasgow , do you have any photographs of that gorgeous white art-deco building right across from the Argyle St exit of St Enoch subway station? I've tried to photograph it many times from my phone, but I don't have the right lens or something […] [Original post on wandering.shop]

These ebay ads for this snail-shaped ruling pen dotted-line drawer are hilarious. Clearly ai-generated by a model that has absolutely no idea how they're supposed to be used. I'm debating buying one anyway, because I've never seen these available for purchase outside of wildly expensive vintage […]

Work in progress of my Uzbek ceramics-inspired panel. Designs taken from Dr Esra Almahal's excellent book on Islamic biomorphic patterns. Materials are gouache on hot-press watercolour paper. #humanart #islamicgeometricart

Yes, I COULD just whip up a quick placeholder figure in paint or powerpoint and plop a screenshot in my document draft. OR --- and bear with me here --- I could spend an hour coding it up in tikz, because my brain is shot from drafting this all day and I can't write words any more. #academicChatter

Welp, just sent an all-staff email about the importance of getting feedback to students in a timely manner, and unfortunately typed (and sent) 'feedy speedback' without noticing. Naturally, a colleague immediately noticed. I guess I'm glad they're reading what I send! #academicChatter

Just clicked off a youtube video (that had already been feeling fairly AI-ish in its script) at the line, 'Now, I don't have the math skills to work this out, but ChatGPT tells me . ..'

A very hearty greeting to the two gentlemen sitting by me on the train this morning, both of whom sported very fine octopus tattoos on their left hands. They showed no signs of being acquainted; they simply shared a morning commute and excellent taste in personal adornment.

I regret to announce that as of about 1am this morning, British House Spider season has begun. I'm afraid I had to evict Reginald out the window, but I have no doubt that his leggy chums will emerge from the walls before too long. I'll make sure to reunite the lads in short order.

Oh look, a mediocre white dude resigns from Academia in disgrace yet we've never heard about it and he wasn't hounded to death via social media for it... #JasonArday #Whiteness #Academia #WhiteMediocrity https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1j19yx4026o

Suspended University of Greater Manchester boss sacked

The University of Greater Manchester sacks George Holmes who was suspended in May 2025.

bbc.com

The world is closing in on trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness. Seven more countries have eliminated it in the past year, including Egypt, Australia and El Salvador, taking the total to 32. The number of people needing antibiotics and hygiene programmes has halved in a decade […]

Me: We're almost halfway through the book. Isn't it a murder mystery? Shouldn't we have a dead body by now? 5 pages later, the (first?) victim is pushed down the stairs.

That whole 'Linked in added a slop-reporting button' smells an awful lot like 'Linked in is getting people to provide free data about features that are commonly associated with AI slop, which will be helpful data for developing new LLMs that do not have those features.'

Did you know about Pikiwedia? If you don't know about Pikiwedia, you need to learn about Pikewedia. I swear, I'm got to assign something about speech errors and spoonerisms from this. https://pikiwedia.netlify.app/Dog #linguistics

Hey, folks! Do you know of any unisex/open toilets? Add them here! I just went on and added my work building, which is fully open to the public during business hours, and has single-sex toilets on the ground floor, but two single-occupancy unisex rooms on the upper floors. (There's a space to […]

Hey, folks! Do you know of any unisex/open toilets? Add them here! I just went on and added my work building, which is fully open to the public during business hours, and has single-sex toilets on the ground floor, but two single-occupancy unisex rooms on the upper floors. (There's a space to […]