I started August - all those days ago! - thinking I’d have time to finish a draft of a paper and submit for review. And then I checked my email today. No. Now it seems is the time for teaching prep to start.

Small suggestion for improving society: get rid of the changing screen ‘menus’ in coffee shops and go back to fixed menu boards.

ChatGPT: it talks to your kids so you don’t have to!

These ‘glasses’ should quite simply be banned. End of.

Michael@michaeljsc.bsky.social · 6d ago

Actually quite angry reading this. I know it’s a bit passé to talk about “why don’t politicians crack down on people not using headphones on the bus” but I think we do need to reckon with platforms that incentivise people to completely disregard the norms of civil society and get away with it.

I always wondered what it would take for the Telegraph to decide there might be a downside to climate breakdown. Well, now we know. Even so, this article manages not to mention it.

“She’s just a translator” shows that you don’t understand what translation is. Some of this comes from the ‘automation’ of translation, through things like Google translate. It’s as though it’s just looking words up in a dictionary. No. It’s an art and a science at once. To get meaning and feeling.

247wallst.com/investing/20... Love to see it! Not all arseholes own a Cybertruck, but all Cybertruck owners are arseholes.

Cybertruck Called the Biggest Flop in Automotive History, as Tesla Shares Plummet

Tesla investors endured the worst week for the stock since 2022, while a damning new report compared the Cybertruck to one of the most notorious failures in automotive history. The numbers behind that...

247wallst.com

Do we reckon the software in this shitty Williams F1 car is vibe coded using Claude?

Oh no! Chinese tech companies may have unfairly used US tech firms models to train their own. Karma, as they say, is a bitch!

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 2w ago

As free Chinese AI models have got closer to matching paid American offerings, some tech executives and national security leaders have accused Chinese firms of creating security risks or unfairly using U.S. technology to train their own.

If you are applying to do a PhD I would like to offer the following free advice: Do not send vague and generic mass emails to all the staff in a department in search of a supervisor. It doesn’t reflect well on you. It says you can’t be bothered to spend any time reading profiles or work.

I’m not with British Gas, but I do wonder how easy it is to find a phone number to call on their website versus how easy it is to find a chatbot on their website… www.theguardian.com/business/202...

‘Customers prefer AI chatbots,’ says British Gas owner as 1,300 call centre jobs axed

CEO Chris O’Shea defends Centrica’s plans as it reports rise in retail profits following focus on bigger margins

theguardian.com

Even if you put no value in learning and see no benefit to society from a well educated population, universities are massive employers and economic assets. They are often one of the largest employers in their town/city, providing a wide range of jobs: teaching, research, IT, catering,

Ummm, what the hell is a “historically accurate” adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey?

What song did the Sirens sing in The Odyssey? Wrong answers only.

There's a Home Office-sized obstacle in the way of ending rough sleeping

Councillor Adam Hug@adamhug.bsky.social · 2w ago

But the elephant in the room is the Home Office. At least 25% of people on Westminster's streets have no/limited recourse to public funds which makes helping them difficult (particularly when hostile to engaging with the authorities) and where support from voluntary sector partners is critical.

PSA on the Victoria Line tube in London. Phillipson and every other GC weirdo needs to take note.

Oh good lord. Wes Streeting is Defence Secretary.

Confused Girl Meme

ALT: Confused Girl Meme

static.klipy.com

YES!!!! The better team won. And now Trump has to give the trophy to a country he currently hates! #worldcup

FFS Argentina. You don’t get to play for penalties for 135 minutes, get beaten fair and square, and then throw a fucking strop when you lose.

YES!!!!!!! 1-0 Spain!!!!!!

What a dreadful decision. Neither of those were fouls - not on Otamendi nor on Martinez. That’s two clear should be a goal.

Ref is failing already. It will get away from him very quickly. That’s two clear fouls that he’s let Mac Allister get away with.

Well that was all deeply embarrassing and cringeworthy. I really hope millions of people switch the tv off during the ‘half time show’.

Why do FIFA have an ‘anthem’? Just F-off with all this crap. Let’s just have a football match.

What is your most obsessive academic trait? Mine is: module reading lists must be consistently and meticulously formatted. Inconsistently formatted references on a module reading list drive me nuts! And I will spend an entire day manually reformatting them if I am taking over another module.

I previously posted this with some careless wording. But the colonial politics of this is fascinating.

Feel really sorry for the French players with the amount of racial abuse about to come their way.

Half of nothing is, ummm, nothing… AI is completely unprofitable. But I understand the sentiment!

Aleianjack@aleianjack.bsky.social · 3w ago

Majority Of Workers Thinks Americans Should Get Half Of AI Profits, Since It's Stealing From Us Anyway open.substack.com/pub/wonkette...

Can we never have a World Cup in America ever again, please? Apparently the US anthem will be played at the final even though the US aren’t playing, and half time will be 30 minutes instead of the usual 15 so that there can be a ‘Half Time Show’.

I don’t get these MoD “Join the army because you can play football” adverts on British TV. Also: ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!!! 🇫🇷⚽️