I really think that Carved in Stone ("A Storyteller's Guide to Pictland") will be the kind of TTRPG book that appeals to fans of RuneQuest, Pendragon, QuestWorlds, Mythras, & Gurps. I've been intrigued by this project for a while, now.

How (HOW) did I miss this!? 🤯

Losing #libraries' stacks space is almost always a terrible idea & I have seen it done for terrible architectural reasons (a grand staircase springs to mind)--but a whole floor!? Someone tell Cardiff U about the "serendipity of discovery"--not only books on shelves but colleagues in the aisles.

If you work in development-led archaeology in England, whether it's curatorial advice, consultancy or running projects, Historic England and Reading University would welcome your feedback on HE's guidance on the Palaeolithic 🦣🏺 Please follow this link to access a short online survey: bit.ly/3PcKMul

This is strongly archaeology coded. And I approve.

There's also something rather grating about this whole Top Trumps approach to food generally.

A very obvious part of "British Food Discourse" is that it never seems to have started by British people

Once again, I am seeking a commentary for Mark’s Gospel that would have been used by NEA Religious Studies / Religious Education GCSE students in and before 1989. Published in Britain, I assume. Slim, with a burgundy cover. Any leads gratefully received! 🙏

Reflecting, not for the first time & almost certainly not the last, upon the wide range of archaeological subjects & historical periods that I dismissed as “uninteresting” as a younger man but that I now find fascinating.

Mayo Clinic is using AI to listen to emergency room visits. Spoke to someone who recently took their elderly parent to hospital. Only later saw the disclosure on the wall: everything recorded so AI could take notes. It's opt-out, not opt-in, if you even see the notice www.404media.co/mayo-clinic-...

One for those of us who remember "Web 2.0" and "Social networking"--danah boyd on the decline of social media & the rise of "parasocial media." The blog post links to an open access article ... www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...

“I will NOT sacrifice the Oxford comma. We've made too many compromises already; too many retreats. They assimilate the em dash and we fall back. They capture ‘not just X but y’ and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!”

Late Roman and early post Roman archaeologists avert your eyes…

A Spanish tourist's souvenir from Hadrian's Wall

#nowReading Martha Sims & Martine Stephens’s Living Folklore.

Hi #Shovelbums / US-based #FieldArchaeologists / #archaeologists / #archeologists, Can you explain the following lingo in a job-posting for me? "Rotation schedules depend on project needs but are typically 10/4s, 6/1s or 5/2s."

Once again, I am seeking a commentary for Mark’s Gospel that would have been used by NEA Religious Studies / Religious Education GCSE students in and before 1989. Published in Britain, I assume. Slim, with a burgundy cover. Any leads gratefully received! 🙏

I went to SDUC/ CPDS (AKA “Lampeter”—archaeologists & geographers may have heard of it) in the 1990s. I’d be curious to know where folks ranked us at the time. (😉)

From the publisher’s page: “Claire Millington pieces together the wide-ranging archaeological evidence at Hadrian's Wall to reveal the lives of non-combatants who lived there alongside the Roman army.” Looks fascinating!

This is the @ainowinstitute.bsky.social's North Star Data Center Policy Toolkit, a set of policy and action recommendations for fighting against "AI" data centers at the local, state, and federal level. datacenters.ainowinstitute.org

That last post I reposted by @dansheehan.bsky.social reminded me of this stone cold classic from ALMOST TWENTY YEARS AGO—the Medieval Help Desk sketch: youtu.be/pQHX-SjgQvQ

You know what doesn't get its support unceremoniously pulled by a tech company? Fuckin' books, brother

The most depressing thing about University Ranking Days is that it ignores the fundamental truth about UKHE: Every department in every university is full of outstanding and original scholars. Every. Single. One. What distinguishes between them are the systemic inequalities in which they work.

Really important study that should catalyse some innovative integrated landscape scale approaches to developing sustainable communities in Ireland. Great to see so many references to community empowerment / wealth building agenda in Scotland too.

Pondering the uses of our (my archives) social media accounts. Can people recommend archival accounts at the top of their social media game? (I am talking MERL & Orkney level, here, FWIW.) #GLAM

Exploring ideas for My Next Project—for the last few years, my research has mostly focused on “How on Earth do I solve THIS problem at my archives centre/ center?” Simultaneously exciting & ... terrifying?

Enjoyed reading "The Unaccountability Machine" by Dan Davies: at turns thoughtful and hilarious. Goes deep into cybernetics, history, neoliberalism, and accounting (!). A friend sent me this quote which is pretty funny and on target unless you're an academic; then the joke is on you (and me).

Academics of the world, do with this info what you may. Even better, uninstall it from your devices 🧪

I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt say it again. Universities are roughly 1000 years old. They predate most operating models including capitalism and have lasted for a reason. Installing insecure, helpless managers who ape business methods results in bad businesses, not good universities.

The sinking feeling one has when one sees how many visits to one's wee websites are by bots (and AI bots, in particular).

This is such a lovely, clear image - fantastic detail 🙂

MOOCs in higher ed was very similar (and caused harms that lasted after the idea had disappeared).

More and more I see ‘economic growth’ pitched by major health & science players as an ultimate outcome & population health as a vehicle to achieve it. This is ideology. Specifically capitalist ideology. You may agree or disagree but it’s important to acknowledge this is an ideological standpoint.

To add to this excellent thread: AI detectors DO NOT WORK. At all. They are wildly unreliable, offering false positives and false negatives so much that if you are paying for one you are being grifted.

The more LLM writing gets pushed at us, the deeper into the dark woods of syntax my prose will go. I'm reading older and older books the more they push this generic window pane style. I will use semicolons in ways LLMs can't even imagine.

[Stands & applauds.]

Who wouldn't want to come to Vienna in June?

‘Don’t think, Feel!’ In Search of Paul’s Stones… A new blogpost has landed 🙂 practisesmakeplaces.wordpress.com/2026/04/14/d...

Hi #Shovelbums / US-based #FieldArchaeologists / #archaeologists / #archeologists, Can you explain the following lingo in a job-posting for me? "Rotation schedules depend on project needs but are typically 10/4s, 6/1s or 5/2s."

Wondering how different life would have been if I'd jumped into single honours Archaeology at SDUC/ CPDS, rather than single honours Ancient History & Archaeology ...

Can the SDUC/ CPDS / Lampeter/ UWTSD / PCYDDS crowd help? I'm trying to track down a poetry chapbook or zine published in 1992, 1993, or 1994. (@thelloydjenkins.bsky.social! There was a copy floating around your flat -- Lisa P. pointed out a poem in there to me.) Any leads appreciated! 🙏

Joe Whittle's thoughtful & profoundly moving essay on the Lenape, Lenapehoking, & the US's history of ethnic cleansing. Relevant to all archaeologists but especially for those of us in the USA and what is now "New Jersey." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“OpenAI is backing an Illinois bill that could exempt companies from liability in the event that frontier models…cause “critical harms,” like creating a weapon of mass destruction, killing more than 100 people, or causing at least $1 billion in property damage.” The bill in question:

It's about cutting costs, eh?

No, LinkedIn--I am not interested in the position that systematically destroys my profession and dismantles everything about which I care.

Eliminating libraries in prisons is a disaster, completely shortsighted. Libraries are a lifeline for incarcerated people who want to learn and grow, and have few other options.

Begging people to realise that Jesus is a prophet in Islam.

Oh, no!

I've been quietly removing tech from my school library since I took over 6 years ago. I thought people would be annoyed, but it's been great. Adults have barely noticed, and the students have responded well.

I just received a Lightning Source POD version of a Penguin Books novel. I am "quite surprised." Slightly annoyed message sent to the vendor. I had heard that a certain Famous Online Store was pulling this kind of thing but ...