Burkhard Schafer

I was at her Edinburgh gig last night, and it was wonderful (AND we repaired an unstable timeline involving one copy of Poyums Annaw, a space time anomaly and the Edinburg Book Festival, but that's a story for another day) - if you want to treat yourself, and there is one near you, get a ticket!

she said, voice shaking: I think I just understood my PhD! (she had passed her Viva 14 years ago...) We never found out how pickled gherkins on rye bread had triggered that epiphany

I remember an evening email with my parents and brothers, some day in the late 70s. Among the usual chatter, my mother's face suddenly went vacant, and she stared silently at the wall. My father asked if everything was all right....

This is brilliant news, and what a great project!

UKRI announces winners of £120 million Future Leaders Fellowships Research into the causes of lung cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are among 77 projects to be funded by UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships.

I am so pleased to announce that I have been awarded a @ukri.org Future Leaders Fellowship www.ukri.org/news/ukri-an... to undertake the project 'A Multi-Dimensional Understanding of the Digital Far Right'.

YouTube video by Eleanor Morton We Have AI Now

Eleanor Morton's latest take on AI - worse than Craig
youtube.com/shorts/8-lgJ...

Whoops, that should've been @4sweb.bsky.social, my bad!
bsky.app/profile/did:...

Only 10 days left to apply:

We are searching for a senior postdoc (3 +3 years) in the field of theoretical ecology and evolution.

The position provides the opportunity to closely interact with experimentalists and develop own research projects.

Please RT.

Details 👇:
shorturl.at/iiiOv

Privacy is essential for people with disabilities to live with independence and dignity.

While assistive tech can empower autonomy, mishandling sensitive health or disability data can lead to discrimination, stigma or control.

Learn more:

privacyinternational.org/case-study/5...

"The idea of robot/AI rights acts as a smoke screen, allowing theorists and futurists to fantasize about benevolently sentient machines with unalterable needs and desires protected by law." firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

New batch of emails from Russia's disinformation campaign, which added Chancellor Merz of Germany to its list of targets, which has previously focused on Moldovan president Maia Sandu and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Letting Google set the narrative about the environmental costs of "AI" is like letting tobacco companies set the narrative about the effects of second-hand smoke by measuring the health effects of sitting through one neighbor smoking one cigarette.

Sign the Petition Convince Audible to revise it's New Royalty Model

While many get overexcited on AI and copyright Audibe quietly finds low-tech solutions to rip off authors and redistribute money from creators to billionaires. An important petition here: www.change.org/p/convince-a... and for background, this video helps: www.youtube.com/@Elisabeth_W...

Exactly one month til I'm heading across the UK with POYUMS ANNAW. Already so many of yous have bought books and tickets, and been so supportive of my work, thank you!! Tickets are available for most dates (if you've missed your city or you're not able to attend we're livestreaming the 24th)

Running she comes, late,
Reeling in under the last
Bronze brimmings. She sits
Among twenty whispers.

—George Mackay Brown, “Island School”
published in Carve the Runes: Selected Poems by George Mackay Brown (Polygon 2021)
#Orkney #poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/carv...

Scots Language Awards 2025 shortlist unveiled Hands Up for Trad are gled tae annoonce that amang the braw nominees includit on the shortleet for a Scots Leid Award 2025, are weel worthy fowk fae Scottish literature, theatre, eddication an busi…

The wonderful @lenniesaurus.bsky.social has been shortlisted for Scottish Writer of the Year! If you've enjoyed her poetry or tireless (and frankly incredible) efforts promoting Scots with her Scots word of the day series, send her a vote:

projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotslanguag...

This sounds absolutely excellent!

Educational genomics and embryo selection startups Photo by David Matos on Unsplash Two new genomics startups have released consumer services claiming to allow parents to screen and select embryos based on polygenic scores for IQ. Both are already …

Two startups have just launched embryo selection software based on genomic IQ prediction. Both have support from "educational genomics" researchers, but some scientists say the startups are selling "snake oil." New post on genetics, IQ and education codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2025/08/04/e...

Ahhhh.... The "stand up" part threw me there. And my physio sometimes asks me to do unusual movements, to see if I can, so I'd def. done the same thing you did and thought he'd have his reasons 😆

That's...pretty much how I would have understood it too.... What were you supposed to be doing?

a painting of a bear on a monocycle, balancing lots of food, and the name "Blind bear" underneath it

So you mean you are extremely well coordinated? 😄
(from concreteplayground.com/sydney/bars/...)

Dunan Mor, ann am Muile. Tha e cho èibhinn. (dunan - little fort/fortlett; mor- big: little big fort)

Qualified immunity, obviously. While there are cases that broadly indicate that police destroying evidence is a violation of civil rights, there is no single case that specifically addresses the destruction/suppression of earrings.

YouTube video by Miss PunnyPennie they infuriate me. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙

Gulls. youtube.com/shorts/SJZsD...

A black and red ink drawing, reading "Even in the hardest times/ I am confident we will find ways to love." In the center panel is a person hugging a bundle of fire tightly, and it is flanked with simplified decorative flower motifs. Ink on vellum, digitally layered. By Kori Michele Handwerker.

I'm holding onto one thing.
I love you.

I have seen lots of people replying to Ian to say that the law is clear post FWS so the code shouldn't be revised. I have read into this more than most, so I'm going to list all the important issues unresolved by FWS. (Note I'm not saying that I will like how they are resolved.) 🧵

@aycaatabey.bsky.social Ayca's brilliant PhD discusses the Data Protection implications of this www.de.ed.ac.uk/people/dr-ay...

BREAKING: The EU Commission has released a mandatory template for AI developers to disclose training data. Unlike the Code of Practice, this is not optional. It could have global fallout, as rights holders abroad might use it to sue over copyright.
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/e...

I must admit I have become overly reliant on my spell checker when casting spells, and Oh boy can that go wrong! I recently summoned a demon from the dungaree dimension, e.g.