Merry Christmas and good cheer to all — except proponents of Gen AI. They can fuck off.

My opposable thumbs don’t seem to help much when it comes to wrapping presents. Most chimpanzees could probably do better; possibly even a few dolphins.

Stuff made by HUMANS that I've enjoyed this year. Post #3. The Cuckoo’s Lea by @drmjwarren.bsky.social. Well written, evocative, and wears its erudition very lightly!

An excellent conservation centre in Leeds needs support for a new boiler. TCV Hollybush Emergency Boiler Appeal www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/tcv-hollyb...

Marxists: AI is a technology for capital to crush labor power and take control of everything. Sensible people: this is doomerism and hysteria. Navarro: AI is a technology for us to crush labor power and take control of everything.

Thanks for all the very helpful responses. I now have everything I need. (Writing an essay on turtle doves, loss, Richard Jefferies, and the dream of escaping from linear time…)

I'd be most grateful if anyone in possession of a field guide to British birds from the 1950s/1960s could provide me with a photo of the relevant page featuring the turtle dove, along with the bibliographical reference. In return, I'm happy to make a Christmas donation to a charity of your choice.

My daughter, who is FIVE, just told me off for “Dadsplaining everything”. 💀💀💀

Perfect reading matter for the festive period. @davidbatherwoods.bsky.social

Just finished my last piece of 'work that I don't necessarily want to do' for 2025! I *might* do a bit of writing over Christmas, if I feel like it (and my kids let me), but basically school's out. Time for a mince pie. 🎄🎄🎄

a big part of the issue surrounding the use of chatgpt/LLMs in academic research comes down to process vs. product. a lot of us know that the process of doing research matters because that's where intellectual work is done; but some "academics" and lots of techies only care about a fast product

I'm very excited to announce the launch of the #18thC Ecologies Network! Co-convened by myself & @calsutherland.bsky.social at @cecs-york.bsky.social , ECEN is a hub for researchers interested in the many diverse ecologies of the period 🌱 Find out more: hzj520.wixsite.com/eighteenth-c...

A suitably dreary morning for lurking in a graveyard looking for hawfinches. Eventually had a good scope view of one and a half view of another. Also a few siskins and greenfinches plus the usual woodland birds. (Harewood, West Yorkshire) #UKbirding

Apart from being total bollocks, the headline to this article (about Knaresborough) is a geographical headfuck.

To my astonishment, after five months and many phone calls and emails, Aer Lingus have paid me some money that they were legally required to pay me!

"Learning from the past to inform future seabird conservation (PASTBIRD)" An eclectic mixture of etnography, inorganic chemistry and seabird/island ecology. In 2026 we will be looking for a PhD student in AU in Denmark, and a PostDoc in the Faroes. Please share! dff.dk/hvad-har-vi-...

Consumer-facing “A.i.” is a fascist project of right wing billionaires to replace actual knowledge and human interaction with lies, disinformation, slop, and propaganda.

I'm sorry, but using AI like this should be considered academic malpractice. I would be infuriated to find out that reviewers were placing my work into AI systems without my consent. www.frontiersin.org/documents/un...

this is what i was talking about when I said we need to ground anti-ai arguments in a rejection of the goals. what makes it wasteful isn't a specific measurable quantity, (although that's also still a lot) what makes it wasteful is *what it's used for* we need to kirby this argument

Still shopping? BUY MY BOOKS. Buy this one for anyone who likes the world and was once a kid. www.hive.co.uk/Product/Rich...

Christmas has come early for me, thanks to my friend, the brilliant @zaraslattery.bsky.social. One of the v few self-printed copies of volume one of our graphic novel, SWEENEY'S PROGRESS. A labour of love for both of us. One day a publisher may agree and publish it *prays to the comics gods*

Some not very enjoyable deck clearing to do today at work. Mistle thrush singing on campus has cheered me up, though. (Along with much coffee.)

Stuff made by HUMANS that I've enjoyed this year. Post #2. Three great books demolishing tech fantasies. Empire of AI @karenhao.bsky.social More Everything Forever @adambecker.bsky.social The AI Con @emilymbender.bsky.social & @alexhanna.bsky.social I wish university leaders would read them...

If you live in Leeds, and feel like getting really angry, think about all the money the UK government has wasted on absolute bollocks in the twenty years since the Leeds supertram was cancelled -- because likely costs had escalated from £500 million to £1 billion.

2001 Leeds supertram approved 2005 Leeds supertram cancelled 2012 Leeds trolleybus approved 2016 Leeds trolleybus cancelled 2024 Plans for 2 tram routes by early 2030s 2025 Plans delayed until late 2030s Meanwhile, we all struggle with a congested, polluted city. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Remember when HS2 to Leeds was cancelled by the NIC's shitty maths and fundamental lack of expertise, and Leeds was thrown the bone of "you'll get trams" and I said those would never be delivered? Yeah, as I was saying...

Overstating the capacity for solar and batteries to go it alone and free-marketly solve climate change without any new policies, activism, regulations or consumer-level collective shifts is becoming a real problem

Not a good year professionally. Various rejections and little time to work on meaningful projects. But I’m privileged. I can try for better next year. Solidarity to all colleagues whose jobs have been lost or threatened. And bah humbug to those in power unwilling to defend higher education.

An absolute bedrock institution for understanding how the planet works, just civilization-scaled vandalism by the most incurious morons on Earth

“The AI industry is essentially unregulated, which has placed the burden for the well-being of kids heavily on the shoulders of parents.” As a parent of young children, I cannot emphasize enough how schools need to stop socializing children into GenAI users through partnerships with Big Tech.

New in Romantic Reconfigurations | Charlotte Smith's Liberal Feminism re-values her fiction as articulating a specifically liberal agenda of legislative reform and intellectual freedom, often through imitations of earlier comic fiction and satire. Find out more here: bit.ly/4pzg37C

It’s a sad indictment of Britain’s ignorance of nature that Sycamore Gap petitions - for a tree that mattered to humans but not nature - received tens of thousands of signatures but a petition to protect entire peatland habitats is stuck at 1,500 actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

On this final full week before Christmas, and just in time for the end of #DisabilityHistoryMonth, why not read my interview with Armineh and Liz on how ableism presents itself in the HE sector, and how we've collectively and individually navigated it as disabled people.

I'll be honest: this year has mostly felt like a zero-progress slog in terms of getting my writing out there. But I did publish a handful of things, and I'm gonna list them here so I don't forget about them. All but one are free to read, too.

Some nice reviews of our best selling fun science book, Funny Bums Freaky Beaks. It’s popular mainly with 4-9 year olds. Younger kids enjoy the art & humour, older kids like the humour & trivia. It’s available here: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/funn...

Small daughter rushes into the kitchen and starts rummaging around in cupboards. Me: Hi — what are you up to? Daughter: Making a treasure hunt for the family. [Looks at me sternly.] You’re not invited. 😥

As the closing date draws nearer, here's a reminder of the Prize's key dates and entry criteria 🍃 Please do read the full Ts&Cs on our website before submitting your entry. Good luck, and we can't wait to read your work 📝 naturechroniclesprize.com/terms-and-co... #Booksky #NatureWriting 📚💙

On the bus, I compiled a list of made-up games that I play with my daughter. There are 15, ranging from the Beckettian ennui of 'Rock', to the sci-fi family saga 'The Aliens', to the absurdist comedy of 'King Swan-Eater', to the brutal violence of 'Slap That Dad'.

Art made by HUMANS that I've enjoyed this year. Post #1. The Blacktongue Thief and The Daughters' War (audiobooks) by @buehlmeister.bsky.social Compelling world-building and characterisation; sometimes grim and harrowing, but never gratuitous; leavened with moments of humour, love, and beauty.

An important read for anyone who cares about nature in the UK!

"Eely is a symphony in four movements. This book-length poem by Steve Ely explores themes of fenland, power, conflict and biodiversity, and the lifecycle, ecology, epic migration, conservation status and enigma of the European eel." longbarrowpress.com/current-publ...

Thinking of retraining as a right wing columnist. My first column: how rich people affected by the mansion tax have it much worse than the homeless. My second: how being massively racist and liking Hitler is just a normal developmental phase experienced by all children. Ker-ching!

Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...

Big shout out to the two students who turned up late to my final class of the semester, and thereby saved me from the first seminar wipeout of my teaching career.

Are you suffering from a problem with your housing? Well, now you can solve the problem with the patented Private Eye method of dealing with the housing crisis… From the new Private Eye, in shops now.

Happy WTF is happening with REF day to all those who celebrate.

This fucking timeline

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So frustrating to read work in which students are using Gen AI to find secondary sources. This is no criticism of them. It's widely seen (though not by me) as an acceptable use and sometimes even encouraged by universities. But, in my field at least, it's really bad at finding good sources.

Did someone say Christmas presents? Available in paperback now as well as the beautiful hardback. Choose #TheCompanyOfOwls this winter!