I truly don't understand how people rely on AI. Any time I use an AI chatbot, on any system, it turns me into some kind of dominatrix, where the chatbot ends up grovelling and apologising for its own inadequacy over very simple instructions, while I berate it for said inadequacy. E.g.:

You don't speak of dreams as unreal. They exist. They leave a mark behind them.

'Tis that most solemn and serious time of year: the ritual Changing of the Work Email Password, with all attendant cascading swearing as yet *another* program needs re-signing in and authenticating.

Every now and then someone takes a run at me along the lines of "I don't understand why you, a scifi writer, don't appreciate 'AI'," and I'm all, motherfucker, it's *because* I'm a science fiction writer I have the positions I have, how many times do we have to fucking yell "torment nexus," my dude

Super useful. I figure a lot of us here in the Sky know this stuff already, but it might be handy to hand to parents, grandparents and pals who are less technically minded. www.librarian.net/NoToAI/

This is Green Park

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 2d ago

"Kew Gardens has had a weather station since 1871. This July was, based on third party analysis of Met Office data collected at the site, the first calendar month on record where no rainfall was measured at Kew."

so if Interview with the Vampire is canonically set in our universe, you're telling us there's a chance that Lestat de Lioncourt *did* visit The Museum of English Rural Life

One of the most important issues of our time is that the future of humanity is presently being authored by people who have nothing but total contempt for humanity and seek the erasure of everything that gives being a human meaning. It’s not just annoying. It doesn’t just suck. It’s existential.

🚨 After 40 years of research, Brazilian scientist Dr. Mariangela Hungria wins the World Food Prize for pioneering a $2 nitrogen-fixing bacteria treatment that replaces costly fertilizers, saves farmers $25 billion annually, and cuts 230 million tons of CO₂ emissions.

I have a joke about Ganymede, and it serves

Greg Jenner (Historian)@gregjenner.bsky.social · 5d ago

I have a joke about Poseidon, but it’s probably too deep for you

“Now we have no more cookies to eat,” said Toad sadly. “Not even one.” “Yes,” said Frog, “but we have lots and lots of will power.” “You may keep it all, Frog,” said Toad. “I am going home now to bake a cake.”

1. This is what happened with microfiche 2. Again, material culture is entirely disregarded 3. @jasperfforde.bsky.social's Thursday Next series kinda warned about this

Shiro Sirius@shirosiri.us · last wk.

I don’t want to be too sensationalist about this but also I’m the least violent person in the world and I think if someone said this to my face I’d hit them

Not-so-accessible toilets www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Staff at newest V&A site in London vote overwhelmingly for strike action

V&A Storehouse dispute centres on toilet and hydration breaks as employees across V&A in London also vote to strike in wider action

theguardian.com

Incidentally, a lot of what I do as a writer is discard material. But in order to discard it, I need to know it exists and I need to understand why it doesn't belong in my book. If I allowed AI to analyze documents for me, it would only feed me information it felt was relevant. What might I miss?

While wading through dense academic research for my next book ETHER WARS, I had to stop every few pages to process the info. Now imagine if I had let AI analyze it. People forget: writing is not just the finished product. It's everything in between that gets you there. There are no shortcuts.

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 4mo ago

SLEUTH-HOUND isn't even out yet (Oct 20!), but here go. 😅 Thrilled to announce ETHER WARS—the story of anesthesia's discovery in the 1840s & the fierce battle over credit. When a discovery changes the world, who, if anyone, can claim it as their own? Thanks to my agent @dconaway99.bsky.social!

I wish for material access to all dress and textile collections so I can look inside them, feel the fabric and inspect the seams. AI could definitely grant that wish, right??

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social · last wk.

“What we need to explain to the world: Number one, we are close to creating a genie that can grant any wish. Number two, we are going to make sure that our first wishes broadly benefit humanity” - Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI — This is definitely the opposite of Anthropic’s AI kills all jobs pitch.

Google Maps has gone bonkers for London transport. It pushes buses over everything, with wildly optimistic travel times, and won't offer the best tube routes, ones I know work (yes even with buses turned off). I can easily shave 5-15 minutes off Google's offered times. How are tourists managing?

I have a master's degree in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, I've studied the 'Odyssey' in Ancient Greek, and I've been writing about the ancient world for over a decade. This is my exhaustive review of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'. #Odyssey #classics talesoftimesforgotten.com/2026/07/23/a...

An Ancient Historian's Breakdown of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' - Tales of Times Forgotten

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is perhaps the most highly anticipated new film of the 2020s. It has already received near-universal acclaim from film critics and earned more at the box office in its ...

talesoftimesforgotten.com

From the Archive – Essay: Needlework and Sewing Tools – Traces of Textile Trade in Whitby from the 1840s to 1914. www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/ne...

“When I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split.” Happy Raymond Chandler’s birthday!

The phrase 'picky bits' is everywhere in London and I do not care for it.

We are hiring a new Editorial Fellow who specialises in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe 🌍 👉 this 2-year fellowship runs from October 2026 - September 2028 👉 this role is paid and part-time (3 hours per week) 👉 the application deadline is Friday 7 August Please share widely!

Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowship at History Workshop, 2026

History Workshop is seeking to appoint one Editorial Fellow in 2026, with specialism in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe.

historyworkshop.org.uk

there are a million examples but when I hear “academics/experts need to earn back public trust” and then see [this], I think the assumption that public trust is “earned” rather than bought with marketing is just too wild for serious conversation how did the bot “earn” this level of trust, I wonder

Kathleen Bachynski@bachynski.bsky.social · 2w ago

“A Florida pastor sued OpenAI on Wednesday, claiming that its chatbot, ChatGPT, had offered him “extremely dangerous medical recommendations” that led to delayed care for a life-threatening pulmonary embolism last year. The lawsuit claims that ChatGPT …had dissuaded him from seeking medical advice”

Tried on a large, fabulous pair of recent season YSL clip-on earrings today, which slipped straight off my ear every time. They cost over £1,000, and had one job...

I stood in Oxford St today at peak hour and counted and it's at least 10 tourists to 1 local wearing a crossbody so my data is accurate.

Hilary Davidson@fourredshoes.bsky.social · 2w ago

When did everyone get the memo that you should wear a small crossbody bag while travelling? Because nothing screams 'tourist!' wherever I go across Europe and North America like that diagonal sling. There's other dress markers too but that's an easy one.

Elon Musk: "Isn't this what you imagined?" Homer: "I'm blind you fucking idiot."

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 2w ago

Presumably including a historically accurate cyclops

When did everyone get the memo that you should wear a small crossbody bag while travelling? Because nothing screams 'tourist!' wherever I go across Europe and North America like that diagonal sling. There's other dress markers too but that's an easy one.

The answer to "why does everything suck now" almost ALWAYS goes back to "venture capital." Which goes back to "a lot of people have too much money and don't know what to do with it." Which goes back to: "We need to tax rich people more." It's like it's the solution to 99% of our problems!!

@laperry2.bsky.social · 2w ago

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

Thinking about how Osprey, a publishing house almost entirely devoted to publishing military uniform/equipment fetish material disguised as dry but picture heavy non-fiction tomes, put out a book dismantling the right wing mythologization of Sparta with an absolute all-timer table of contents.

Striking stat in today's FT in the context of new EU laws to control destruction of unused clothing. A very good example of how the capitalocene functions: extractive production matched by destruction in service of maintaining shareholder value, with no human benefitting from the actual products.