And there’s the irony: in the attempt to avoid inserting itself into the argument, a news organisation which fails to distinguish empty statements from evidenced ones is doing exactly that. You cannot, in 2026, report passively and hope to be truthful. /ends

To my eye, some reporting also conflates the rather Victorian notion of truthfulness as “offering primary sources without attempting to interpret them“ with reporting any government statement as a primary source.

Many thoughts about this, but as @apiln.bsky.social has detailed so well over the years, "fury at X" has become the default pattern for what was once proper local journalism. Also, imaginaries of real places as slogans/utopias/dystopias are fascinating to see in practice, from NL to Baltimore.

In these times of trouble, something a bit niche but also a bit soothing - a post where I dug out some old roots of #metaphor theory that we have largely forgotten makingsciencepublic.com/2026/01/23/f... #histling

I think partly what's dismaying with Airport Book Policymaking (as @ifbookspod.bsky.social @michaelhobbes.bsky.social @notalawyer.bsky.social have demonstrated so well over the years) is just how easy it seems to be to capture the minds of supposedly thoughtful, critical public figures, with what's

Reminder that it was Young's father who coined the term 'meritocracy’, if you were beginning to doubt that the universe has a sick sense of humour

I've had enough.

Imagine what Nigel Kneale could have done with this!

Some interesting ideas here.

According to this FT article, Sir Paul Nurse says: “I’m afraid there’s many bad people around, but they have made scientific advances.” The ‘but’ in this quote says it all… So don’t blame us when we lose faith in institutions that regard integrity as irrelevant to designating scientific greatness.

removal from app store + google play probably fatally wounds the entire global right wing movement and significantly hinders musk’s own ability to get involved with elections both here and abroad

I sit, silent, cold, and armless, on the edge of my seat as the poltergeist once again levitates the mysterious laptop, book, and headphones all around me

While everyone is distracted by Circus Trump, European countries let his far-right sponsor and mentor of JD Vance in via the backdoor. No European government should work with Palantir. None.

These birds (in snowy #Utrecht this afternoon) all eat invertebrates, such as Keir Starmer they also understand twitter better

You'll notice that the "hard decisions" politicians are always talking about are always "cutting benefits for poor people" and never "disagreeing with America" or "banning billionaires' CSAM-machines".

A good rule of thumb is that anyone "just asking questions" about any marginalized group already knows the answers they want to hear, and is also a bad person whose opinions mean less than those of the group they're interrogating.

Went to thesis reviews at Cooper Union, and I’m moved, as always, by how much *everyone* benefits from an international cohort — the comparative perspective, the denaturalization of your own experience, the broader geographical and historical context: all threats to an authoritarian regime

artists hold immeasurable storytelling power. well-educated artists are a genuine threat to the establishment, and that's why so much time and money is spent on dissuading people from pursuing a life among the arts

forbidden cupcake

There once was a fire door in Norwich For which no-one could find a door wedge But perceiving that this old lighter Could be rammed in just a bit tighter Was a little too ironic, I really do allege

Thinking you have a good idea because the LLM said “good idea!” is identical to thinking your gas pump is grateful because it thanked you

If the legibility of research is a problem that ACM cares about - and I personally think it should be! - then the author of every ACM publication should be encouraged/supported to write an accessible, layperson's summary of their paper that could be connected to the DL entry for the paper.

I think the fundamental gap here is that non-creative people think that creative people make things for the end product, when in fact it’s the act of creation and not the end point that makes it worthwhile.

I’ve been seeing this cover over and over and I just… In the original you’re aware of the horror of falling, but the body positions of the workers are solid on the beam. Here, most of them should be falling off, yet they don’t, because they live in an unreal, consequence-free space.

I really support what the ERC does, but I really wish they would just publish clear, textual summaries of things like the new Plus Grants rather than expecting us to watch webinars / videos. The webinar introducing the grants was 1h30m long, with no link in the description to more details, nothing.

I don't want to generalize about other disciplines necessarily but for my part I can't think of a single skill that I want to test that relates to how long someone takes to complete the test.

The only "augmented reality" I want is some kind of analogue goggles that make everything look like this

An Amoco staff uniform "fashion brochure" from c.1972–3, showing Town Centre Service Station in Feltham, Middlesex (which I think was about where the car park is outside Matalan). Is that a Triumph 1500, or a Dolomite? More info here: www.flickr.com/photos/danlo... #petrolstations #petrocultures

See. This capitulation will do untold amounts of harm — by design.

Pope: AI won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation. AI: There is no Pope.

If HE was free at the point of use nobody would ever think like this - it would be seen, rightly, as a public good in which all can participate. But as a commodity, it just stirs resentment. I have many friends who have regaled me with stories of how their kids aren’t getting what they paid for.

If I was going to speculate, I’d say that the current government’s hostility to universities, and their refusal to consider them as crucial infrastructure, is directly traceable to Labour’s original decision to institute a fee regime which made HE a commodity in England (especially).

Really enjoying this from @helleborezine.bsky.social! (also, intriguing to me that the first story, by Reggie Oliver, incidentally includes a character who was a member of staff at "an art school in Norwich" which is of course the position I also find myself in...)

We’re often asked whether we’re optimistic or pessimistic about technologies. That’s the wrong question. If any of this matters, we need to stop seeing technology like the weather, to be merely forecasted, and instead see it like politics, to be collectively shaped.

In this week's post I make the case for an #AI #metaphor observatory tracking how we think and talk about and act on GenAI and LLMs makingsciencepublic.com/2025/11/14/m...

My first Wordpress blog post was 20 years ago today architectures.danlockton.co.uk/2005/11/16/w... That blog—boosted by links from sites such as BoingBoing (thanks @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy!)—ultimately led to so many opportunities, a PhD, a job in the US, basically my whole career in academia.

"Nostalgia is a warping gravity."

Was really struck by what a lovely inspiring exercise this is, like a primary school version of Mary Oliver’s Instructions for living a life Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it

No other word has done more damage to the craft of writing in recent years than “content”. Even if you’re using the word “content” ironically, or as a cute little joke, don’t. When someone calls writing “content” they’re pissing on someone’s hard work & passion. “Content” is Technosatan’s henchword.

I know there's more imp things on here today, but anyone have folks/papers I could cite that support to this idea? "Hollywood and mainstream media’s narratives overwhelmingly focus on dystopian climate futures making interventions on what people think is possible more difficult."

New utopian pulse is out! 𝐀𝐈 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? www.uu.nl/en/opinion/a... This post is for anyone who uses AI text-to-image tools or is concerned by their use. It tells an unexpected tale, which led me back to the cornfields of Illinois to interview my dad about 1970s rural America...

From coffee to the White House - how metonymies support and destroy our way of life #metonymy #linguistics makingsciencepublic.com/2025/10/26/a...

Now that em-dashes have been ruined by their overpresence in AI slop, we might as well switch to something better⸻namely Unicode U+2E3B, the 3-em dash⸺or at the very least U+2E3A, the 2-em.

After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results: - AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2% - ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1% - ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%

"if your politics is all about offering imaginary solutions to mostly phantasmatic problems, generative AI is the perfect tool for propaganda" — very useful thread

Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween. I’ve just found an ancient metal whistle with the inscription “QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT" inside a Snickers bar. I blew it and heard a note of infinite distance, and now I’m haunted by a figure in pale, fluttering draperies. Be safe.

If I were running Labour comms I would commission an app called 'Will the Tories/Reform deport you?' then let the reactions on TikTok and Instagram do their work.