Journalism!

Rob Beschizza@beschizza.com · 2h ago

Well this turns out to be misleading! The LLM was used to rewrite human-written stories in commercial registers ("literary magazine", "published short story collection"). You'd have to read supplemental materials from a zip fle to know that was the methodology. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

'The Mowing-Devil', printed in 1678. It recounts, as fact, an alleged incident in #Hertfordshire. A farmer saw a fiery light over his oat field one night, and then found it had been mysteriously mowed. The illustration encouraged some to believe it depicts the first Crop Circle. #WyrdWednesday

Well, everything I attempted sucked today so I wrote myself a permission slip about that.

2/2 The close-ups of my wildfire embroidery. I tried to get a glowing effect with the fire and embers with colours I chose. I cut up my favourite cardigan for the rough charred ground as it was the only fabric I had with the right colour and texture but its not needed in this heat anyway...

‘In the world’s richest societies, it is no longer the case that age correlates to a lack of resources. Instead there are vast pools of assets held by older citizens, particularly in the form of property, private pensions and other retirement funds.’ David Runciman: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

David Runciman · The Cult of Longevity

We don’t have a politics of what works so much as a politics of what older citizens won’t notice. All human beings...

lrb.co.uk

We shouldn't fall for the myth that channelling money to the private sector is the ONLY way to build infrastructure. Investing public money directly would give the public 100% ownership over anything we build, avoiding profiteering by private companies. neweconomics.org/2026/04/the-...

The private finance myth

Towards a better balance of public and private infrastructure provision

neweconomics.org

Illustrating @rossignol.bsky.social's article about @cavesofqud.com for 7th issue of @wyrdscience.bsky.social is one of my favourite work from 2025. I am never tired of reposting stuff commissioned by Wyrd Science magazine.

The Telegraph is right, of course. Bluesky believes we should be kind. And we should. To everyone. Except those guys. Those specific guys. You know the ones.

Congrats to everyone who got a shoutout in the Telegraph today, although I don't know where they got the idea that Bluesky is a place where people are kind to each other. This is site is not kind. This is a PvP server where you get randomly matched with an American who has misunderstood your joke.

Mic Wright@brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 13h ago

I was wondering why I’d got 19 clickthroughs from The Daily Telegraph…

Concept art for Willow (1988). By the amazing #Moebius

This is a pretty good summary of why this stuff has zero appeal to anyone who actually enjoys making anything, and there will never be anything Ai companies can do about that. (Green absolutely torching his own credibility is just an astonishing unforced error. Write your own words!)

Mike Bithell@mikebithell.bsky.social · 13h ago

The specific focus in this video on the way these tools get under your skin and train you to depend on them is an aspect I personally find existentially terrifying. youtu.be/TtvICev9sBE?...

Bede's World! Bede's World! Party time! Venerable!

I do like it when a cloud appears as hand-painted backdrop for the heart-breakingly beautiful anime of my life story.

I do like it when a cloud appears as hand-painted backdrop for the heart-breakingly beautiful anime of my life story.

Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisis

Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisis

Iran conflict windfall over three months reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damage Eight of the biggest oil companies amassed profits of more than $90bn (£67bn) in just three months as the Iran conflict sent energy prices soaring and the emissions-fuelled climate crisis caused deadly heatwaves. The windfall war profits have reignited calls for oil and gas supermajors such as Saudi Aramco and BP to pay for the environmental damage caused by “cashing in on human misery” and fund a rapid transition to renewable energy. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

2000 reviews! Well I didn't expect this before we launched but I'll take it. :-)

Really on-point article by @gibiz.bsky.social . We've all been saying this for years — often in meetings with platform holders! Over and over! 😔 There ARE answers; but the peeps with the power don't seem to want to do anything. #gamedev #indiegames #gaming www.gamesindustry.biz/the-industry...

The industry makes great games, but nobody can find them

Algorithms built to surface content are increasingly rewarding volume, familiarity, and short-term engagement over quality or originality

gamesindustry.biz

This seems very bad. Also: i can't remember the last time I watched broadcast news.

Michael Savage@michaelsavage.bsky.social · yesterday

NEW: GB News has now spent a year as the leading news channel (though Ofcom treats its shows as "current affairs"). BARB data says it has been ahead of BBC News Channel and Sky News for 12 months in terms of average views. Still losing money, but gaining influence.

Unironically? I'd set it in the 1800s with Jaws hunting an old whaling ship. Show the horror of industrial whaling and the working conditions on those hellish floating factories, then have Jaws rip it all to shreds while toxic masculine whale hunters try and fail to kill something that fights back.

weinberg@weinbergs.bsky.social · 7mo ago

let's pretend: Universal announces a screenwriting contest for Jaws 5. What's your pitch?

In addition to transmitting it over power lines, you can store it in piles of gravel by heating up the gravel. www.techbriefs.com/component/co...

Hot Rocks Store Energy

Electric energy is converted to heat and stored in gravel until it is needed.

techbriefs.com

Art by Noriyoshi Ohrai for the movie program sold at Japanese screenings of Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior), 1982.

I've got a new story up on Rascal. It's one of those stories that is a real gift. It's just so charming and fun. Don't worry about what it is about. Just read it! You will not regret it! www.rascal.news/larping-cthu...

Larping Cthulhu-style

How the HP Lovecraft Historical Society dressed up, solved mysteries, and lost their minds having fun

rascal.news

Yes I acknowledge it makes sense in context but “I need my car to meet criminals” is now my favourite basis for an attempted exceptional hardship plea. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Absolutely unbelievable how solar power has taken off worldwide during the Hormuz oil crisis. You don't have to hand it to him, but Trump may have done more to finally kick off a global civilization of effete librul solar users than anyone else in the West

Ruins, roots, that sort of thing

"Liberal bubble" has only ever meant anywhere where right wing perspectives aren't artificially elevated and forced into everyone's feeds.

Hi, hi. It's been a while and I still have some left so do you mind if I promote my Changing Landscapes zine? 40 pages dedicated to ruined structures (and vehicles!) in the North Pennines. £10 including P&P - UK only. Info & buy: www.mariegardiner.co.uk/zines-and-pr... #Photography #Zine

This survey on drought and heatwave tolerant wild plants is closing in on 100 responses - please do fill it in with plants you've seen thriving or coping in recent days in your area. I'm aiming for over 200 responses in total. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Which wild plants are coping with heat and drought?

Help identify which wild plants are thriving in your area or garden without watering during hot, dry weather. Check your garden and wild areas near you this month August 2026 and report how wild plant...

docs.google.com

We are in the third drought in five years. We have the National Trust and NFU - those radical types - sounding the alarm on unprecedented temperatures. But so little from any single figure in politics talking about the climate crisis.