Ed Miliband has just given his speech to Labour conference. I like the way he used "Putin apologists" to describe Reform. Laying out clearly the reasons for their anti-science, anti-renewables, anti-patriotic agenda.

What are people's recommendations for image editing software without added GenAI? #NoAI

You can't expect a technology built on scraping the entire internet indiscriminately to be legal, decent, and honest. This is predictable. Regulate LLMs and Generative AI. They must take responsibility for their inputs. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Cancelling Disney? I wrote about my impressions of the BFI streaming service: www.warpcoresf.co.uk/16-08-25-bfi...

Today in shenanigans: alignmentalignment.ai

parliamentlive.tv/event/index/... Catherine Atkinson talks about regional transport inequality, and the lack of investment in buses and trains in the East Midlands.

I'm concerned that we won't get the debate we deserve from this deputy leadership contest. With just hours to go, I urge colleagues to nominate me and ensure the full range of members' views is represented on the ballot paper.

I managed to work in criticism of AI into today's Audit and Governance meeting.

Labour must listen to its radical realists - and build a principled, practical, popular left alternative; and reject the populist right. Join me in @mainstreamlabour.bsky.social to bring that alternative to life. www.mainstreamlabour.org/get-involved

I have joined this: www.mainstreamlabour.org

Too many rural communities, like Hinxworth, have been failed by a bus system that puts profit before people. If you can’t drive, you’re cut off—from jobs, education, and even social contact. Labour is set to change that with legislation to deliver public transport that serves communities' needs.

I think that if you are trying to understand the Anthropic book settlement, and you are not doing it in light of the (extremely) failed Google book settlement from 2011, you will never be able to understand what is happening.

In Firefox, type in about:config to get to the advanced configuration page. Search for: browser.ml.chat.enabled - it should be set to false to turn off all the plagiarism engine bs.

Both of my brothers work in IT/computers and are even nerdier than me. So it was refreshing to hear their scepticism about GenAI at today's family gathering. People who understand tech know it's a grift, and this isn't a minority view.

Immigration is a net contributor to the UK economy. The only difference in academic studies is by how much. Pass it on.

Yay, the alert worked this time. I wonder though about the process of tracking those who didn't get one for whatever reason.

Do you have a website? According to Pivot to AI, recent GenAI summaries have been using the whole code of websites - including hidden comments - to create summaries. This is a teaching opportunity!

Nigel Farage is not on the side of working people.

This is Spud. She was offered a stick of celery today and took personal offense to that. 12/10 (IG: spud.the.cryptid)

My new GenAI Grapevine column providing analysis and coverage related to generative AI is out. Includes a deep dive into the Anthropic settlement along with publishers failing to register copyright. Plus info on tension at Worldcon over writers using AI and a book people must read. 1/2

People who use GenAI to write code are idiots if they think that code is in any way secure, which is a problem for all of us if it's used in things we rely on. This example is frog lickers all the way down: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnFK...

Quieter streets will be a benefit for all. Once, the stench of horse manure clogged up city streets; will we ever look back on traffic noise and pollution the same way? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There's a line in Buses Connecting Communities that reports on some places in Derbyshire having a bus only 3 times a day with what read, to me, like a shocked tone. Um. That passes for a decent service level in some counties. publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cm...

The Asylum fesitival in Lincoln was buzzing today. Top-notch costuming, quite the spectacle.

You know what to do.

#Romancelandia After much mulling, I finally updated and formalized my review policy. Also: fuck GenAI #RomBkBlog

Just Spreadshirt committing commercial suicide by making AI content theft opt-out (and by opt-out they mean leave the service). #NoAI www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvWP...

Incredible new privacy risk: Redditor recounts doing a job interview over Zoom with an AI notetaker on the call (Fathom). After the applicant left the call, the interviewers stayed on to discuss/bash her. She then got their post-call remarks in the AI summary. www.reddit.com/r/interviews...

Just learned that British sf author and editor David Gullen has died. A good friend and a good writer, a real loss.

Morning Bluesky. This is how Putin pays for his war machine.

Here's a free-to-read copy of"Cash", originally written for Unbound's One In Five poverty-themed anthology (the book's been lost in the demise of said publisher). Ta. www.eamonnmartingriffin.co.uk/blog/2660179...

This is concerning, because it could undermine the Renter's Rights Bill and the mission to build 1.5m homes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Rr...

Did you know the BFI has a streaming service? I've been exploring it, and coming up with treasures: www.warpcoresf.co.uk/16-08-25-bfi...

New #WriterBeware blog post: A brief backgrounder on authors' class action lawsuit against Anthropic for unauthorized AI training, plus how you can find out if your books may be included and how to add yourself to a contact list for official class action notices writerbeware.blog/2025/08/15/b...

Jack Hull, one of many men but one whose loss was felt keenly by my family who never saw their brother or son again and never had the opportunity to visit his grave. Today, on VJ Day 80 years on I remember him and everyone who served and those who were impacted by their loss.

Why is it I can never have just one idea at a time about a new thing to write, it's always about 23?

Today's Septonundrum is quite a moody classic. 🟪🟪🟪🟨🟨🟨🟨 www.warpcoresf.co.uk/wcsf-guess-t...

It's '1 short walk around the garden = 1 full workout' levels of humid this evening.

I don’t think people outside East Lindsey appreciate how poor our public transport is, and the average age is 52. So when new driving medical tests for over 70s come in, more people will find themselves reliant on services that don't operate on Sundays or evenings, or through their village. #Lincs

A blog experiment the things that caught my eye online this week to share www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/8/...

Standard right-wing tactics: 1. These are the things you need to be afraid of(, that we made up). 2. Why is the left not caring about people being afraid of these things(, we made up)? 3. Vote for us, so we can save you from the things you are afraid of(, that we made up).

Of all the symbols of revolution, Clippy is the most uninspiring and beige. It's MS, how could it be anything else?

Good politics demands good political strategy. And good political strategy requires clarity about who we’re talking to & delivering for So! Here’s the headline summary of our work revealing the five different groups of 'Reform-curious voters': open.substack.com/pub/liambyrn...

I don't want Palantir near any of my data.

Wow, this post really took off. So it's a good time to point out all of my SFF novels have been stolen and fed into various AI writing tools, but you can buy them from all good bookshops.

Last week, Reform UK launched a campaign against so-called energy “eyesores”. Yet their Mayor wants to cover Lincolnshire with fracking rigs. This isn’t about land or eyesores. It’s about repeating the line that their millionaire donors tell them to say. It needs calling out.

I discovered AI slop in the wild in Kobo's health categories. Dangerous. @mtamblyn.bsky.social Kobo needs better filters. #Booksky

The more I think about the factors that go into effective #Lincolnshire local government reorganisation, the more complex it gets. www.loutheye.co.uk/04-08-25-how...

I didn't realise that All Party Parliamentary Groups can charge for 'associate membership' to outside (e.g. commercial) organisations. This feels like officially-sanctioned cash for access... Via the great non-profit MySociety:

We could built water-hogging data centres. Or we could learn to optimise code and use machine learning only for things we really need, and tax externalities appropriately. One of these approaches has never been tried. www.bbc.com/news/article...