Apparently, Badenoch believes that everyone deserves another chance to make things Reich.

Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 2h ago

Amazing.

I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the stacks below...

alix e. harrow@alixeharrow.bsky.social · 20h ago

i don't like to police genre, but it's not dark academia unless somebody gets squished in one of these bad boys

The head-measurers are already up in my mentions. It look less than an hour. Wish they‘d stay on X where at least they’d know they’re wanted and amongst like-minded souls.

Grumpy Philosopher@stevecooke.org · 4h ago

This Jason Arday scandal is shocking in terms of his conduct, but it isn’t doing anything to dispel the view that racism continues to impose systematic disadvantage. The delight being expressed by racists that at last they‘ve found a single case to confirm their biases is palpable.

This Jason Arday scandal is shocking in terms of his conduct, but it isn’t doing anything to dispel the view that racism continues to impose systematic disadvantage. The delight being expressed by racists that at last they‘ve found a single case to confirm their biases is palpable.

New proposal: font size of author names on papers to be in proportion to their contribution.* * this post prompted by me adding my name to a paper that I’ve done only a very small amount of work on.

Amazing. A university writes to tell me a post I applied for two years ago, and had entirely forgotten about, no longer exists, they are very sorry for wasting applicants' time etc. Never change German universities, never change.

The inevitable endpoint of this story, in which a man in the Telegraph uses a single case to complain that attempts to treat people fairly are an existential threat to universities. Surprise: you’ll never believe that the professor who wrote the story went to an elite, boys-only private school.

In 2026, we’re celebrating 30 years since #PolicyPress was established and 10 years since the creation of #BristolUniversityPress. These pages celebrate our history and our hope that we will continue to make a difference. We hope you enjoy! https://ow.ly/uRRz50ZulBC

This is what happens when anti-racism norms erode, and elites bear a lot of the responsibility for norm erosion, as they have disproportionate power to set and enforce norms

Charles EP Murphy@cepmurphy.bsky.social · yesterday

news.sky.com/story/nhs-st... stereotypically this has been seen as Old People, but not only would the old people of now have often been born post-Windrush, lot of this will be younger people who've always lived in a diverse Britain. The guy with a pregnant wife likely millennial at oldest

For anyone who missed our digital workshop earlier this year, here's a brief summary! Coorganised with Love Hansell and @simonlohse.bsky.social 🙌 #animalexperimentation #animalresearch #3Rs doi.org/10.14573/alt...

This is daft and unnecessary. Just another form of vendor lock-in, which #Micro$lop like its rival #Apple has considerable form (though Apple did away with the need to manually save documents in its own products ages ago)… 🤨

Heather Burns@heatherburnstech.bsky.social · yesterday

The most terrifying enshittification I've discovered has been learning that Microsoft Word documents no longer auto-save if you are not saving them to one of their own proprietary cloud services. I'm slapping control-S like it's 1999.

Just had a look at the 'digital learning environment' courses our digital learning team offer: 40% of the courses are on using AI. One course on engaging learning spaces, one on accessibility, a bunch on specific products, six on AI. Utterly ridiculous.

Just had a paper desk rejected from an environmental philosophy journal because it's on animal rights. That field remains baffling.

This is how you do things right.

Ben Goldacre@bengoldacre.bsky.social · yesterday

Apologies: I’m not online much, I haven't paid any attention to Rod Liddle for a long time, I didn't really know his extremes. I do now: I wouldn’t have posted if I'd known. I’ve seen death of difficult people up close (and its impact on others): that’s the only reason it was on my mind as an issue.

New research explores why AI chatbots feel so engaging. Dr @tomroberts.bsky.social argues that people interact with chatbots much like fictional characters, helping explain their popularity while raising important questions about trust, influence and misinformation. @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social

“Fictional” chatbots help explain popularity of artificial intelligence

The huge popularity of AI chatbots can be explained by their accepted role as fictional characters in people’s lives – in the same way as those found in films, TV and books, a new study

news.exeter.ac.uk

I’m so tired of people who enjoyed the company of a jovial racist & violent abuser complaining that people aren’t saying nice things about him. If you’ve been a victim of racism, misogyny or homophobia you’re supposed to shut up or be kind to avoid upsetting those who haven’t.

Leo Enright@ollopa11.bsky.social · 2d ago

I am saddened by the tone of commentary in this place about my former BBC colleague. The level of vitriol seems more suited to the other place. I worked with Rod at the Today programme. He took no prisoners, but he was witty and personally capable of genuine warmth. My sympathy to his family.

Good to see science and universities bundled into the same analysis rather than treated as separate entities (as they are by their dismemberment in separate government departments). But it would be QUITE NICE if 'science' could be construed in the European sense of science. It's not STEM alone.

Time for Andy Burnham to smile on UK science

Waning support for basic research threatens Britain’s technology ambitions

ft.com

Rod Liddle was racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, admitted he’d try to have sex with kids if he could, & punched his pregnant girlfriend. His career was devoted to spreading bigotry. It’s hard to stomach someone who wasn’t the subject of his hate telling everyone to be silent or kind.

Ben Goldacre@bengoldacre.bsky.social · 2d ago

Sad to see people posting on social media negatively about Rod Liddle, who died yesterday. If I have disagreed with you very strongly in life - and you die - I hope I'll be either silent, or kind.

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

Would vote for a party whose manifesto included pushing Clacton into the sea and letting it float away. It’s definitely the worst of who we are as a nation.

Election Maps UK@electionmaps.uk · 2d ago

Clacton By-Election Voting Intention: ➡️ RFM: 73% (+27) 🗑️ CBF: 20% (New) 🟥 REC: 2% (New) ⚫ Others: 5% (-49) Via @survation.bsky.social, 16-24 Jul. Changes w/ GE2024.

AI is definitely causing growth in some areas of the economy. Primarily those that are having to take extra steps (like universities and publishers) to ensure that their activities are not being ruined by AI. Rather like the way computer viruses stimulated the growth of anti-virus software.

This article by @smellosopher.bsky.social on Mary Hesse, of whom I was/am scandalously ignorant is a brilliant introduction to a brilliant and important thinker about how science works.

Oh, a creepy, racist, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, journalist has died. No, I don’t have anything else to say on the matter.

Philosophy job klaxon! Enquiries welcome to me.

Job Opportunity at Lancaster University: Lecturer in the Philosophy of Psychiatry

Lecturer in Philosophy of PsychiatryAbout usThe School of Global Affairs at Lancaster University takes a bold and distinctive approach to addressing the complex and multi-dimensional problems facing h...

hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk

The TV and radio is just fill of hateful little men whose entire lives are consumed with anti-migrant sentiments. It’s so tiring. I don’t know why media companies feel compelled to keep giving their poison such a big platform. Couldn’t we just hear a tiny bit less? Nobody mandates 24hr hatred.

Academia is plagued by a network of racist, head-measuring eugenicists, supported by billionaires. They give each other jobs, use institutional affiliations & titles, & create crappy journals, to give credibility to pseudo-scientific racism. Too many institutions are happy to employ these dickheads.

Zia Yusuf is claiming the extra scrutiny of Reform’s finances is evidence of unfairness. Less dishonest people might instead take it a consequence of greater wrongdoing by a bunch of corrupt grifters.

Sodding Wiley now float an offer of an 'AI companion' to give commentary over journal articles you're trying to read. In order to get rid of it, you have to click, maximising the fucking thing, & then dismiss it. They make their website & published research worse to push AI garbage, arghh.

'Its outsourced guards are barred from the building’s high-quality “hub” – bright and airy recreation rooms that are available to the institution’s mainly white employees. They are not allowed to take their breaks there, or even sit in that area.' 1/2

National Gallery security staff segregated like ‘second-class citizens’, curator claims

Exclusive: Outsourced guards, largely from minority ethnic backgrounds, barred from staff hub for mainly white employees

theguardian.com

Saw Odysseus, thought it was pretty good, not sure why there’s so much discourse. Unimpressed with 30 minutes of pre-movie adverts & excessive aircon blowing in my face for 3.5 hours though.