What I increasingly suspect is that people's use of AI isn't robbing them of their ability to think independently. Maybe it's the other way around. People's desire to surrender thought and decision making to someone or something else is what has helped GAI tools to catch on. (3/3) #academicsky

I started teaching in 2010. Back then there would always be a few bolshy students with strong opinions and hot takes in the room. Yet even before ChatGPT, by the late 2010s students already seemed to be losing confidence in voicing their own thoughts, opinions and critique (2/3) #academicsky

Unlike a lot of colleagues, I'm neutral about AI in universities. However, I'm sharing this article because I agree with some of the sentiments. At the same time, IMHO a lot of the gripes many colleagues have about AI and laziness miss the mark (1/2) #academicsky www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Fellow academics, do you ever feel like, even though you work at a university and are surrounded by Objectively Very Clever people, you're actually surrounded by idiots? (And yes, I am tired...) #academicsky

Bacup, West Yorkshire, has a barbers called Ali Barber's and a vape shop called Planet of the Vapes

Do I dare leave the house with no jacket today....? Stay tuned!

It’s important to remember that voting tactically is not an endorsement of the party you vote for. You should tell them what you really expect of them for lending them your vote… less of what we had before, not more! Check your May 1st local elections tactical vote here: StopReformUK.vote /5

The weird obsession transphobes have with women's bathrooms as "safe spaces"... I went to an all girls Catholic high school in Dublin in the 1990s and those bathrooms were never fucking "safe" LOL

Love the new Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan album. Like Vangelis and John Carpenter got married, moved to the north of England, and started a family. warrington-runcorn-cis.bandcamp.com/album/the-na...

TIL Greenland is geographically 8 times the size of the UK. But its population is just 56,000, comparable to towns like Macclesfield, Livingston, Kettering, Aldershot, or Castlereagh. Amazing.

Very excited to be part of this in Dublin next month. Just a few tickets left! nialler9.com/a-love-from-...

Remembering The Guv

THREAD Things that didn't make the news that will likely change our lives for the better The news is not an accurate reflection of the world. Good news doesn't get reported as much. Here are the wonderful things researchers have achieved recently. 1/24

From the time 3 years ago I was in Austin Texas for a few months, I still get promo emails from Torchy's Tacos. I have no idea if/when I'll ever go back, given the insane political climate in the US. But I can't bring myself to unsubscribe because every email makes me think "mmmm tacos"

The Oxford Handbook of Blimey Someone Edited a Whole Book Just on That

Looks like all my mates in Scotland collectively shat it when they got an alert on their phones earlier this evening. Imagine if we harness that energy somehow

Invigilating an exam is a bit like DJing, but much quieter and more stressful

This sounds grimly plausible theconcernedbird.substack.com/p/elon-musks...

Oh wow, I've got a meeting at work tomorrow of the Memory Group. Nearly forgot!

The latest issue of Music, Sound and the Moving Image is on library music, and includes an article by Elodie Roy and myself. liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/toc/msmi/18/...

Still don't understand BlueSky, what do you people want from me? I've got some lecturing and some DJing coming up, it's all very exciting, trust me.

A man keels over in a chaotic emergency room, an 88-year-old woman waits for 24 hours in the back of an ambulance, a depressed and frustrated paramedic can’t face his job anymore This is the reality of the state of the NHS right now and it’s terrifying 👇 www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...

Why supporters of the president of South Korea wave American flags and flags saying "stop the steal." The 2020s is the decade in which the internet made politics really weird www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Everyone's girlfriend is called Lisa, Kate, or Sarah

There's a film on Netflix called Carry-On and every time it pops up I think "Carry On What?"

Yesterday I was on a walk through some farmland and was hit with this intense cabbage-like stink. Turned out it was coming from a field of Brussels sprouts. That stink! And enjoy sprouts with Christmas dinner, but I'll never think of them the same way again #sprouts

For those outside higher ed, it's difficult to explain the full range of attacks it faces. The most obvious, of course, come from far right culture warriors, braying about "grooming" and "indoctrination". But it's impossible to overstate the internal rot -- the increasing slide of uni admins into 🧵

What's your least favourite train station and why is it Manchester Oxford Road?

I'm DJing tonight at this great party at the Golden Lion in Todmorden with loads of sound people and the legendary Jon Dasilva headlining. Free in 1-7, tickets for the evening on Skiddle and the door. In aid of mental health charities ♥️

No more public transportation posts from me but amazingly I did make it to 20 and even did a bonus day. It did start as a shitpost but then I decided to roll with it, and got really into it. Disappointed nobody else took up the challenge - I wanna see your influential transport picks! (1/2)

BONUS POST, DAY 21: Metrocable, Medellin, Colombia 😍

Day 20: the Enterprise from Belfast to Dublin

Day 19: the Citylink coach from Glasgow to Belfast, which puts passengers on the Stena Line ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast - two modes for the price of one cheap ticket.

Day 18: Amtrak Empire Builder from Portland to Minneapolis

Day 17: Merseyrail train from Liverpool Central to Ormskirk

WOW! More than 6,000 people have now completed our Safeguard Democracy survey🔥 Can we get it to 10k to send a proper signal about need to take money out of politics? Fill it in here. democracyforsale.co.uk/safeguard Do share! Thanks! 😀

Day 16: Lothian bus number 16, Edinburgh

Day 15: the Linha do Douro

Day 14: the LUAS Green line from Brides Glen to Broombridge, Dublin

Day 13: the Edinburgh tram

Got my outfit ready for cyborg Monday. GN

The craziest thing about this story? It’s all legal Britain’s election laws are awful - as successive governments have been told this for years and done *nothing* And Musk has shown that he is very, very willing to funnel cash to distort democratic politics… www.thetimes.com/article/6c2c...

Day 12: the Trans Pennine Express train from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Oxford Road. I could have picked Northern or EMR but Trans Pennine Express has the best name.

Day 11: the Northern Rail service from Manchester Victoria to Todmorden

Day 10: the Glasgow Subway (or "clockwork orange" said nobody ever)

Day 9: The number 7 CapMetro bus from Duval/41st to San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, Texas

Day 8: the South Western Railway service from Bournemouth to London Waterloo

Day 7: the CalMac ferry from Oban to Tiree

Interrupting the public transportation posts to plug a DJ gig this weekend - come on down to Carnival Brewery in Liverpool where I'll be spinning some tunes with pals who I'm not sure are on Bluesky or not. Advance tickets on Skiddle