IMPORTANT 🧵 We've been seeing how RFK Jr & anti-vax lobby has been steadily and effectively reducing access to vaccines in the US. But it could happen in UK too. It's a threat worth considering given Malhotra's speech at Reform conf & big overlap between anti-vax and RW populsim. Read on! 1/11

They've got it backwards: autistic people take more paracetamol due to all the headaches caused by neurotypical people constantly spouting nonsense takes* *obligatory disclaimer that paracetamol and autism have nothing to do with each other, and we live in a hell world

This is the lead story in the New York Times. If you're in the business of communicating, whether through journalism, commentary, or art, this is the five-alarm fire. People are going to remember who spoke up and who stayed conveniently silent or postured about "neutrality."

Co2 and electricity use aside, here's some fun facts! Data centres can consume 5 million gallons of *drinking water* a day, while approx 2/3rds of post-2022 data centres have been placed in areas already experiencing drought or water stress.

it’s time, if you haven’t already done so, to shut down your twitter account, and tell the institutions you are part of to leave too. there’s no way any UK museum, university, politician or any of us should still be on that far-right platform

I am begging you people to stop describing concerns about or objections to generative AI tools as "fears". I am not scared of AI. Now, the fascist-enabling, Trumpian, amoral tech CEOs who you are cheerfully allowing to dictate to you the information you have access to. They're scary, yes.

Do it. Search your name. Take their money. It’s yours anyway.

I compared current pages with wayback machine equivalents from Jan (I'm fun). Can't see any big changes to actual scope/policy, except for no longer accepting print journals, and complete removal of LSTRC with its named members, substituted with references to "external, expert consultants".

Day 1 in our new house and we are being BURGLED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

Hey we've noticed that u take showers sometimes lol. Can u not though because we need literally all of the water available in order to power our big machine which takes your art and rips it up and stitches it back together wrong so that we can pretend it's our own work. This is super necessary"

"you can't possibly comment on how good a generative AI tool is unless you've used it" -> "you can't possibly comment on how stress-relieving it is to walk around whacking strangers on the head with a comedy-sized saucepan unless you've tried it"

Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all: “If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.” Israel just killed him.

This is a very well-written, interesting and important piece that is worth taking the time to read fully. www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2025/ai-feel...

This is amongst the most impactful two minutes of broadcasting I’ve ever seen. By Emma Murphy, International Editor, ITV News. #Gaza

Utterly, utterly vile new low. How about, instead, misogynistic terfs stay away from young women to preserve their right not to be near such mindless, repellant hatefulness. Co-opting feminist language to justify this bigotry is deplorable. www.thepinknews.com/2025/08/05/m...

The full list of all 18,500 children killed in Gaza, in video form. www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

Given the anodyne habit of terming as "ethical considerations" the astronomically huge environmental impact of generative AI, and the fact that it is built off grand-scale theft, and the back of unacknowledged, barely-paid, exploited workers in toxic environments, I suggest a new helpful framing:

Went on my first run* in approximately 3 months today. Expecting special prize for exceptional bravery from King to arrive in post imminently. *Gentle 20 minute slow jog along river

[Blogged] The AI powered Library Search That Refused to Search - From Clarivate's Summon to Primo Research Assistant, content‑moderation layers meant mostly for chatbots are "quietly" blocking controversial topics from being searched aarontay.substack.com/p/the-ai-pow...

Zuckerberg farted out some nonsense today, and since most media outlets refuse to report critically any time a tech CEO offers them some a pseudoserious press release, I've decided to do it for them. sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/7/30/how-to-read-an-ai-press-release

This was getting increasingly unwieldy and hard to read/navigate so I've given it a bit of an overhaul - I hope it's helpful! #medlibs libguides.exeter.ac.uk/c.php?g=7252...

Tom Lehrer made all of his music 100% public domain so if seeing people sad about his death makes you want to check them out… it’s free. he wanted you to share them. tomlehrersongs.com

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency. "Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die" Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

#medlibs come join me!

Famously of course, algorithmic biases against darker skin in facial-recognition technology has been solved and is totally fine, so this seems like a really clever and well thought-through idea. www.ajl.org

🧵Introducing the Trump Action Tracker website! Today I’m launching www.trumpactiontracker.info - a live, searchable list of authoritarian‑style actions from Trump’s second term (over 740 actions so far). 1/14

America’s retreat from science has far-reaching implications for global research and innovation open.substack.com/pub/christin...

Spotted the new Sarah J. Maas novel

Hey, #medlibs! People may have already seen this, but it looks like NCBI databases are undergoing an update July 26 which may last “12+ hours.” The notification sppeared in PubMed, so assuming that’ll be impacted too. ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2025/07/08/n...

GenAI uses this, genAI uses that. What I think we should put our efforts into is developing a special machine that detects when any politician starts a sentence with "let me be clear". Machine then teleports into the space above them, and pours custard on their head accompanied by a loud clown horn

Times may be hard but we can take solace in knowing that it has been, to quote, a "bumper year for penguins" 🐧

Without yet knowing the details of what's actually happened beyond social media, this still illustrates the chilling impact of censorship such as book bans on #IntellectualFreedom www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

In the Data Modification and Access Removal in the US session at #CILIPConf25 and my key takeaway is the continued importance and need for decolonisation across knowledge bases and library collections in light of a historical reliance on US sources in systematic reviews and research more broadly.

Had a good (and hopefully useful!) experience being on the panel for the "data modification and access removal in the U.S" session at #CILIPConf25 today. Was mildly terrified the entire time of course 😂

Brilliant keynote speech from Sebastian Cuttill at #CILIPConf25 on "the power of advocacy", putting forward a forceful argument for fighting back against allowing the AI agenda of "predominantly U.S-based tech firms to dictate our future". Am excited for the rest of the day!

This type of weapons-grade hubris can only be produced by people whose impoverished understanding of "human knowledge" gets poorer by the day

OP has noted this in the comments too, but just to be clear that Medline is different to MedlinePlus (which doesn't stop this being very not good).

got my haircut today and the first thing the nice lady said when I sat down in the chair was, "and would you like a ritual today?" She did not elaborate. I said "no, thank you". The conversation moved on; the mystery remains.

can’t believe this still needs to be said, but: stop following altNPS. none of them work for the NPS and they exist to do Qanon numbers station crap and sell merch. it’s annoying for a lot of us that are actually NPS. thanks

I'm at the #UHMLG conference! Worcester is beautiful, I haven't got myself lost yet, and I successfully gave my presentation without throwing up in abject terror all over the front row 👍

Who could have possibly predicted this

This week is Men's Health Week! We have lots of books on men's health available in our Wellbeing Collection - have a browse of the list here: rl.talis.com/3/exeter/lis...

Possibly the best thing I've read about ChatGPT yet. h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...

#CALC25 recordings are coming out thick and fast. Next up Rachel Brett's talk 'Information in the age of mechanical reproduction: what do librarians do?' #LibrarySky #CritLib #Skybrarians www.youtube.com/watch?v=u53L...

Could we. Perhaps. Not.

Working on my slides for this webinar happening on Tuesday at 1pm. There's still time to register and it's open to all: www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...

alright folks new challenge - why have these 17 articles from the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health disappeared from PubMed? #medlibs #pubmed

Wow: after 15 years, YouTube has taken down the original 'Rick Roll' video due to a "licensing issue," likely due to the acquisition of Astley's record lable. The metadata remains, but if you click through it goes to 'video not found': www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4...

Right I've finished Andor, which does mean that unfortunately I'm going to be Strange for a minimum of 3-5 business weeks. Best star war since Empire Strikes Back and it ain't close