Instant earworm which also absolutely identifies my age.

A propos of nothing in particular, just because the horrors persist but so must we, this is my new (not new, 1970s danish) light fitting, picked up at auction, and newly installed.

📢 We’re hiring! The University of Warwick is recruiting for a full-time, permanent academic position in Psychology, available at either: 🔹 Assistant Professor 🔹 Associate Professor 📅 Application deadline: 5th April 2026

This sets a precedent which could ruin universities across the country. Devastating, particularly given how hard universities, and university staff, worked to do our best for our students in the most difficult of circumstances.

Come work at my place!

A lovely article from my brilliant colleague, about staying positive despite the awful weather. theconversation.com/how-to-stay-...

As an Irish learner and a beekeeper, this is very relevant to my interests! I named one of my hives after Gobnait and they took it rather too seriously and were quite feisty, whereas the hive I named after Valentine (also patron of beekeepers) were much calmer.

This really does sound simple but also like it would work.

This thread did not go where I thought it would, and is well worth a read.

I have just received, and very carefully unwrapped, my very own tentacle pot, made by the incredibly talented @roseschmits.bsky.social . I love it so much!

Just received this gorgeous print from the very talented @ciaraioch.bsky.social , along with an assortment of little extras. I love it, and it will take pride of place on my office wall!

I was talking to my students just the other day about what it means to offer a balanced account. It doesn't mean treating every opinion or statement as equally valuable, it means evaluating them and determining their value.

Ooh, look, you can get rid of AI summaries in Google!

I like mine!

I was once on a bus in Oxford, wearing a military blouson jacket. The chap behind me asked what it was, as he didn't recognise the insignia, so I told him it was, as far as I knew, French Foreign Legion. "Ah yes", he said, "they had the right idea, the French..."

Which lines of poetry live rent free in your head? More scouts than strangers, Ghosts who'd walked abroad Unfazed by light, to make a new beginning And make a go of it, alive and sinning Ourselves again, free willed again, Not bad

I visited "An Siopa Leabhar" in Dublin yesterday, and happened to bump into a guy who was in one of my online Irish classes. I don't think he's a regular there, and I've never been before; what are the chances?

Bhuel, táim beagánín bródúil asam.

An afternoon well spent in the sewing room.

Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen; The Dubliners Alive in Chains Avril Lavigne Devotchka Rufus Wainwright (I like to think I've eclectic, but then everyone thinks they're eclectic, don't they?)

I thought I was being so clever but the weather is absolutely vile today and I have regrets.

SAD has got me wanting to spend all day on the sofa eating carbs and all night failing to go to bed, so not only have I ordered a SAD lamp, but I got it on local pick-up so I will have to leave the house in daylight tomorrow.

I am watching a very bad Jason Statham movie called The Beekeeper, and I have some notes. Firstly, that's not a bee suit and it would not keep bees out. The gloves are wrong too. Honey doesn't come out of a spinner that clean, and as for the hives, who stacked those? They're a mess.

Get to know your mutuals! List 10 random things you enjoy. Beekeeping Gaeilge Dressing like Miss Marple Sad boys with guitars Baking without a recipe A nice notebook Neolithic sites Angry girl singers Cosy murder mystery Malbec

This applies equally well in the UK as in the US; gotta laugh so as not to cry...

Watching #GameOfWool and I'm honestly confused; we're told these are some of UK's most talented knitters but half of seem to be pretty much beginners. Also, knitting and crochet are two separate things.

BlueSkyers, please tell me your most niche and specialist joke. Mine, which I dreamt during my PhD; Why are rhotic accents cool? They just rrrr.

Literally no-one asked for this. (I have now disabled the AI settings, but it should never have been opt out!)

I'm considering making báirín breac for the first time this weekend, but I have a dilemma; the internet seems divided on whether it should include yeast or just baking soda/powder. #speirgorm, cad a gceapann sibh?

It's Halloween, and my roses are still in bloom. It's lovely but it also feels wrong; a beautiful portent of doom.

Excellent thread here, and there are some bonus recipes in amongst the passionate condemnations!

Good thread!

It'll be interesting to see if this research holds up. At a minimum, it would be nice to have a tiny bit of balance against all the guilt-tripping aimed at mothers over every choice they ever make!

Superb.

This seems like a terrible idea. At 18, kids are mostly just about ready to start living somewhat independently, and university is a great way to give them that opportunity but with guardrails. This kid is not ready for that.

Wow! My first thought was, this is incredible, how cool. My second was "OK, but does it come in child sizes please?"

Suddenly and for no particular reason I'm interested in what happens to a political party or movement when it loses its leader vs what happens to a cult when it loses its leader.

What cruel mockery is this? I feel like Sisyphus and Tantalus in one.

While defending the luddite argument in Discord, I stumbled into this IMO succinct explanation for opposing generative AI: At every step in the process, it impoverishes us.

The reports of the death of a teenager after ChatGPT actively encouraged him to end his life, are truly horrific. ChatGPT should be frozen while it is investigated, but I am now wondering, how long until the first criminal trial with AI as the defendant? Not the company but the AI itself?

This is a great, really engaging article. I'll be sharing this with my students!

Yep; technology can help to do some tasks, but GenAI threatens to replace _thinking_ (with something that only looks like thinking). Machine learning can do brilliant things, for example in medical screening, but GenAI... well, if the bubble is about to burst, I shall be relieved.

This is my very first harvest! Just one frame, as I only got my own bees fairly recently, but I built the frame and my bees drew it out and filled it, and it is delicious; citrussy and floral. I am delighted!

A good article here, worth a read! Why AI Shouldn't Be the Future of Academia | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-...

Gonna need to read this.

I love this idea! I shall have a think about how it might be scaled up for larger undergraduate classes; our cohorts are over 200, and even seminar groups can be around 40-50 students, which might make it tricky but it's a great way to engage students.

anybody else’s gyre feel wider lately

Taim ar colaiste na samhradh i Glencolmcille, ar feadh coicise. Ait sasta!

I get emails every week inviting me to seminars on how to incorporate AI into my teaching, to which the answer is a very decisive "absolutely not". You can't outsource thinking. Or if you can, you shouldn't.

definitely relevant to my interests!