Minor thing given what's going on in the world right now, but I've just discovered that TurnitIn, the product many universities use for grading & plagiarism detection, offers students an 'AI-powered writing tool' as well as AI detection tools for instructors. They're selling weapons to both sides.

Let the joy in.

There is ONE simple lesson. Learn it. Believe it. Teach it. There is NO benevolent Empire. No matter how politely it dresses up its violence

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 224 of The Continent We celebrate people whose purpose and passion shine through a tumultuous 2025, embodying Khalil Gibran’s words that “work is love made visible.” Meet our Africans of the Year: bit.ly/224_TC

Gwirikwiti chairo?

NBC News@nbcnews.com · 8mo ago

The measles outbreak in South Carolina is “accelerating” with no end in sight following Thanksgiving and other large gatherings, state health officials say.

are we still on about em dashes and ai. imo human writers should just use the em dashes even harder. we should be out here pummeling out those em dashes like we're emily dickinson

In terms of what’s understood to be socially acceptable behavior, normalizing the filming/taking pictures of people in public who are minding their own business (and putting it online) is one of the worst developments of the past 15 years.

Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway

A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. She was later hailed as a hero.

futurism.com

Alongside the word of the year we should have “the word that has lost the most of its meaning this year”. I nominate “ceasefire”.

Annual reminder to water your Christmas tree poems …

Demonstrators march in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities, calling for an end to femicide, rape and misogyny.

‘Stop killing us’: Huge crowds rally in Brazil, decrying rise in femicide

Demonstrators march in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities, calling for an end to femicide, rape and misogyny.

bit.ly

Before all that fame and history-making, Danai Gurira was a high schooler in Harare, acting in the local theatre scene. Her return to those roots may well be her most impactful production.

Danai Gurira’s Zim baby comes of age

Before all that fame and history-making, Danai Gurira was a high schooler in Harare, acting in the local theatre scene. Her return to those roots may well be her most impactful production.

continent.substack.com

Just 2k more to go, people. And this project has been fighting for 8 months. I have seen projects funded overnight - but THIS should be funded now. Translations. Black/African stories. In a world fraught with hate, we mend it with love. ko-fi.com/africantrans...

Support African Translation Project

African Translation Project / Rally Weekend - let's close this up! / please see - please share / After eight months - let's complete funding for the translation of Zvinobvinza to: The Crocodile Doesn'...

ko-fi.com

I am old enough to remember when the unis forced everyone to return to the classrooms during covid, refused to allow anyone to take a gap year, and endangered us all because they wanted the rent money. But I guess they have a new scam now. Won't even need students soon!

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 8mo ago

'The Russell Group institution, one of the UK’s largest, has announced plans to expand beyond its traditional fully campus-based model of higher education and increase its digital and global presence, as well as its flexible learning opportunities.' 1/2

lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...

Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani

It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…

lithub.com

I know what my December read is

LMJ@elleemmejaye.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I finished Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler about a month ago, so I am definitely looking forward to reading this article.

Join us tomorrow for an important event to discuss the future of internet freedom, and what we can do to protect digital rights. @phatcontroller.bsky.social Date: 26 November 2025 Time: 16:00–17:30 UK time Sign up here 👇 www.ids.ac.uk/events/inter...

When FB released its first iPhone app (pre-Android), if you let it have access to your contacts, and then deleted the app, IT WOULD LOCK YOU OUT OF YOUR CONTACTS. Just take the info with it. This company has always been particularly awful, even amongst tech awfulness.

Dom Ervolina@dominicervolina.com · 9mo ago

Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified the company had a “17x” strike policy for accounts that engaged in the trafficking of humans for sex. “You could incur 16 violations and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended" time.com/7336204/meta...

Goddamn dude, just go ahead knock 25 percent off my 401k and get on with it, I can't take much more of this.

New York Times Opinion@nytopinion.nytimes.com · 9mo ago

What if the A.I. bubble “is an inevitable part of developing and adopting a revolutionary tool that will fundamentally improve productivity and growth?” Mohamed El-Erian writes.

The politics, theology, and hype behind the first gamer saint aftermath.site/carlo-acutis-g...

who- who do Britons think did the slavery

holy shit: “Among the 2,000 UK adults surveyed, 85% were unaware that Britain forcibly transported more than 3 million Africans to the Caribbean, 89% did not know that Britain enslaved people in the Caribbean for more than 300 years” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Caribbean reparations leaders in ‘historic’ first UK visit to press for justice

CRC mission will seek to deepen public understanding of Britain’s colonial legacy and its lasting impact

theguardian.com

The AI bubble may be about to bust. Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock. We all need to say this very clearly: NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH! Expropriate their asses instead. They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet. They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3

"theft tech" is a term my pal @astra.bsky.social thought of just today when we were working on our book about these End Times Fascists. We were thinking about what should happen when this this bubble busts, as we all know it will. Remember: they have bunkers. We don't. 2/3

Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable group. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Full story by @josephcox.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/google-has-c...

Every time someone’s like “put that in the louvre,” my head now goes “and then steal it from the louvre, the security password is louvre”

Yesterday, when Bovino announced ICE would be returning to Little Village today, some of us donated and fundraised to buy out street vendors in the neighborhood. This morning, volunteers hit the streets at 6:30 am, looking for vendors to buy out. Tamales make an excellent breakfast.

Last day for submission!

Harare Review of Books@hararereview.com · 10mo ago

Announcing: HRB's Zimbabwean Speculative Poetry Competition 🥳🎉 #HRBZimSpecPo Send us your speculative poetry featuring Zimbabwean myths, urban legends, and or/oral narratives. Make it utopian or dystopian, we don't mind! Be formal, or experimental. Challenge yourself! Challenge us!

“I hear you talk about ‘we’ a lot, oh you speak French now?”

Al Jazeera English@aljazeera.com · 9mo ago

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash says the international community failed Sudan, while speaking at the Manama Dialogue about the humanitarian situation in Darfur following the advance of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Reminder to anyone who needs it today: Reading books (at home, on the bus, in Starbucks); owning books; loving books; discussing books. None of these things are “performative” unless you’re selling tickets.