New on the Eye blog, review of The AI Con by @johnlw ‘The ouroboros of hype’, www.eyemagazine.com/blog/post/th...

A new Blizzard union, workers and lawmakers alike question the EA buyout and horror game design continues to evolve - Patch Notes #27

Dear #AdultGame devs: For the upcoming episode of our podcast "Random Encounters", we're looking for developers who'd like to share their perspectives on depictions of sexualised violence in interactive fiction. We'd need your answers, either in writing or as voice recordings, until October 31.

Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble developers unionize to combat 'instability and unfair conditions'

We turned our pain into a research paper… documenting how our collaborative research team (which included researchers at a public university) navigated a slew of public records requests (by some of the same folks who have since turned their attention towards attacking academia more broadly).

Apparently there's something about week 6 of the research methods course that just makes me think about the Sawbones podcast.

Apropos of this thread, @lackingceremony.bsky.social is writing a book about game design and you should look for it in about a year! Also Avery Alder advocated in this talk that designerd writing loose materials WRITE IN A LAYOUT PROGRAM and I feel profanely seen, this is utter filth (that I do)

A lot of people are (understandably) focused on the Saudi Arabia and Kushner part of this, but the far bigger immediate impact will come from the new private EA being on the hook for $20 billion in debt. That could mean mass layoffs, more aggressive monetization, and other big cost-cutting measures

This looks like an interesting new paper on #assetization in #videogames || www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Under its new leadership — who spread misinformation throughout the pandemic — the FDA announced it will limit all Covid vaccines to adults over 65 and those with certain medical conditions. Covid continues to spread and cause harm. This an anti-science move that will kill more Americans.

#cwcon Jason Tham takes a balanced view of AI use in teaching writing but ultimately asks whose time has been saved by AI efficiency (if any has been saved at all) - and notes AI’s erasure of labor. Writing takes time (and should), and reducing time reduces quality.

#cwcon Tham: timescapes of writing with AI: compression of drafting time; expansion of evaluation time; elimination of incubation time; fragmentation of writing time

Really looking forward to this talk next week!

disastrous

This work by @ashstokoe.bsky.social and I highlights the importance of administrative records - and ways they are scrutinised and policed - on trans people’s participation in public life. It’s a topic that feels increasingly relevant in the UK 🎓🌈

Hello friends, I’ll be back in the UK next week and am very excited to be presenting a public lecture in Oxford on Thursday 15th May about doing creative queer legal work. Come along if you’re around/interested! RSVP here: url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/AEOUCpRYOh... 🌈🎓

‘If your game is good, it will do well, it’s a meritocracy’ ‘How does the algo know it’s good?’ ‘If people engage with it’ ‘What brings people to engage with it?’ ‘The algo’

A UK-wide academic initiative was launched yesterday by non-trans feminist academics and educators (allies) who oppose the recent anti-trans Supreme Court ruling & the concerning EHRC attitude to it called 'Not In Our Name'. To co-sign: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 🌈🎓 #AcademicSky

The funniest part of this is that they showed off Overwatch, a large part of that "tip" economy would be coming directly from content creators as neither games journalism or game guides have kept up with addressing how to play a live service game in the way the demo fantasized

Useful chart to understand AI agents (by @mmitchell.bsky.social) www.technologyreview.com/2025/03/24/1...

"Grants are getting killed “without any scientific input anywhere. It is purely political,” said a member of a senior NIH leadership team. “The science in this country is going to be destroyed if you can change what the priorities are going to be every four years. You can’t do science that way.”"

"Corseting the scrambled remains of the unborn is a crime" @demiurgent.bsky.social

Call for papers: "Tech Oligarchy" Forum by @sciasculture.bsky.social #bigtech #sts #oligarchy #Trump #ElonMusk think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...

They're dismantling the agency that can, if it did robust enforcement, fill the deficit. For every $1 it spends on enforcement it generates $5-$9 in revenue. We lose ~1 trillion dollars each year to tax fraud, mostly from the rich. Musk paid no income tax in 2021 www.propublica.org/article/the-...

little pieces of language are ours slogans, taglines, chants, flyers, memes, stickers, posters, zines

“We went to the AAAS meeting to see what practicing scientists think about gutting the nation’s science and technology infrastructure, and here’s what Trump’s acting NSF director and head of OSTP told us” is some fine motherfucking reporting, NYTimes.

i'm featured in this article about AI in the context of social media recommendations and content moderation www.forbes.com/sites/peters...

I'm saying Go Birds because there's a chance their victory riot turns into a general strike

I have to wonder about the American strategy of spending three decades defunding and mocking the humanities, forcing kids into STEM fields whether they like it or not, and then rug-pulling the entire US science & medical sector because you got mad at women online.

Honestly, I think even those of us who were saying gamergate is a training ground for/and direct path to outright fascism are probably a little bit surprised at how literally correct we actually were.

i just think at this point it you don't see the direct path from gamergate to trumpism then you're purposely ignoring it

🚨As leaders gather for the Paris #AIActionSummit, they must confront a stark reality: rapid deployment of AI in the public sector is deepening inequality, expanding mass surveillance, & violating human rights. Our analysis in @techpolicypress.bsky.social 👇

Missed this when it came out, but it's one of the must-reads in @mskellymhayes.bsky.social's newsletter for good reason.

www.civilservicestrong.org and this series: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/what-civil... are both good public resources, with more coming this week. Plenty more circulating privately.

Please help spread the word - this is today in DC www.mobilize.us/moveon/event... This is Wednesday in all 50 states and DC www.newsweek.com/50-states-an...

I'm trying a couple different fragrances to achieve my goth "smells like a decaying catholic cathedral" and this one leans more "grandpa's funeral"

Spoilers inside, obv (it's been 4 months but you can never be too sure) but this is an excellent read, and provided a nice reframing of some issues I had with Veilguard also that were thought-provoking.

➡️ January 20: FAA director fired ➡️ January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen ➡️ January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded ➡️ January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees ➡️ January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years Making America Great Again!

#DHmakes ✊

I know Section 31's been a thing since DS9, but what drew me to working on Star Trek Prodigy was getting to tell stories in an optimistic world in which we moved past capitalism and greed. Not one that's propped up by backroom assassins.

Hey uh I have no creative power in Star Trek anymore so this means nothing, but I 100% object to the head of the franchise Alex Kurtzman justifying a Space C.I.A. for the Federation to exist.

1. Trump's immigration crackdown is premised on the idea that the US is experiencing a massive surge in violent crime According to Trump the crime wave is especially severe in cities THIS IS A LIE New data shows crime is LOWER than when Trump left office in 2020, and below pre-pandemic levels

Seriously. and all of the armies of lobbyists universities pay for.

This is the time. Scientists should come together. They should speak back as a collective. Professional scientific orgs should push back. Write letters. Sign petitions. Do not obey without resistance. Do not hide and shrink yourselves. Be bold. #science #nih #nsf #funding

This! And adding: Don’t forget about local action. It’s much easier to see the results of your work on a local/community scale vs. a national scale. Doesn’t mean national action isn’t important, but if you’re feeling dismayed because “nothing makes a difference,” that’s much less true locally.