Aidan Budd (he/him)

Celebrated last night receiving the Service to FLC award. Being nominated by a colleague & acknowledged by college leadership for all the efforts in reconciliation work, mentoring students, & research grants was special. I can’t believe how fast 4.25 years have passed since becoming faculty. 1/2

Living on a Victorian terraced street in London, which has gotten gentrified over the 20 plus years we have had a flat in it, the power to turn SUVs into little electric minicars.

SPACE CRAB 🦀

Silhouetted landscape with low yellow sun shown though clouds on the right of the picture, some wispy clouds around it. Horizon is across middle of the image, several isolated round tree crowns rise above the line of the hill.

Beautiful views over the Kraichgau hills in southern Germany on this morning's dog walk.

A mountainscape. In the foreground, there is a sliver of fellside, lit up golden by the sun. Behind it, the mountain rises, pure black in silhouette, the lit fells stretching out behind.

Every photographer has a favourite shot. This is one of mine.

Helvellyn, in the late afternoon, when the mountain was everything.

AI was asked to create images of Black African docs treating white kids. How'd it go? Researchers were curious if artificial intelligence could fulfill the order. Or would built-in biases short-circuit the request? Let's see what an image generator came up with.

generative models like Midjourney aren't able to create images that don't adhere to harmful stereotypes,even when instructed explicitly to flip stereotypes
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/10/06/1201840678/ai-was-asked-to-create-images-of-black-african-docs-treating-white-kids-howd-it-

I want people to fully know that by the way they draw metaphorical comparison between the worst people ever & the mentally ill, real humans are actually harmed & their lives & conditions worsened. They seem not to know though I would not underestimate that we don't matter to them as people at all.

Illustration by Ananya Rao-Middleton of a dark skinned Black woman with one hand resting on her chin. She is wearing a purple cardigan. Around her is a box of special K cereal, meat and vegetable kabobs, a cupcake and a cookie in a pink background. The text underneath reads “Clarkisha Kent Isn’t Afraid of a Changing Body”

So excited that the next installment of @eater.Bsky.social’s Low and Slow series is out co-edited by me featuring an interview with @ClarkishaKent.bsky.social by Dr. Sami Schalk on fatphobia, ableism, and food

www.eater.com/23880758/cla...

Illustration by Ananya Middleton-Rao

Is there writing on the way sportscasters talk about "making history" (generally via a new statistic) and so on? The discourse of history in sports-talk more generally? 🗃️

Cuteness overload - went walking with doggo, and next door neighbours with their 18 month year old kiddo yesterday. Last night kiddo said IN HIS SLEEP "gassi Aidan" ("walking with Aidan") 💖

Really true. Thanks for loving books & never letting a friend go without recommending one!

It is really hard being a writer these days. The industry is getting tougher all the time. You can REALLY help authors and books you love by talking about them. Word of mouth is real magic, your voice matters, it's never too small. Share your enthusiasm for books you love. And THANK YOU.

Bluesky seeming to work well bec my feed has your comments & this one by Abeba about how & why AI therapy would be a terrible idea &...the basic idea's the same.
(Some research already suggests AI assistance is not likely to be well-adopted when people know the source...?) bsky.app/profile/abeb...

The charlatans aren't at the gates, they're already in the city. If people with expertise in mental health tech (myself included) don't step up here people will suffer. All the theoretical benefits of digital mental health support will be buried under (deserved!) ill will from BS offerings

Extract from page 25 of linked pdf

Extract from page 25 of linked pdf

Indeed and it actually was also really sexist what he did, so it's a clear example of very purposeful "pygmalion displacement" too. See our (Lelia E. & @anneliesk.bsky.social) work here: doi.org/10.31235/osf...

A screencap of the first post by womensart1 (same account on Bluesky and Twitter)

Just a heads-up in case folks aren’t aware that the person who runs this account refuses to post art by trans women artists.

It's funny that if Bluesky ever does take off, Jack Dorsey will go down as the undisputed king of microblogging platforms and he will have absolutely no idea what makes any of this good or why anyone uses this. It'd be like if the inventor of the dishwasher was a dalmatian.

Hey Skeeters! Blueskees? Anyway... do any of you use Kofi? Pros? Cons?

PLEASE. PLEASE.

Picture of a beautiful black and white cat standing up in a box, with her magnificent white paws positioned neatly on the side of the box

By way of an apology for tweeting about the ideological capture of science over the weekend, here is Kevin in a box ❤️ happy Monday 😊

Debunking AGI inevitability claims Have you heard these claims? "AGI is imminent!" or "At current rate of progress, AGI is inevitable!" In a recent preprint, my co-authors and I explain why, and present a formal proof that, such claims...

Debunking AGI inevitability claims irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2023/09/17/d...

The first of his books I read is still one of my favourites - Joyland from 2013. Enjoyed it as an evocative coming-of-age story.

Nnedi FaceTiming with a surly-looking Neptune the Space Cat.

This photo of my FaceTiming with Neptune always makes me laugh, 😆.

I did it.
It's your problem now.

First post in the sky

I am Veeeee, and I make art.

Here are some of my artworks from ink to pet portraits

Dm if you are interested in a custom portrait or any other art.

This discount continues through TODAY ONLY! 25% off pre-orders at @barnesandnoble.bsky.social, including the sequel to THE MIMICKING OF KNOWN SUCCESSES, [deep breath] THE IMPOSITION OF UNNECESSARY OBSTACLES, for more Mossa and Pleiti mysteries on Jupiter!

Screenshot of the order page at Barnes and Noble for THE IMPOSITION OF UNNECESSARY OBSTACLES with banner promoting "25% OFF PRE-ORDER BOOKSWwith Code PREORDER25" for Premium and Rewards Members

It's pre-order time again at Barnes and Noble! Get a discount on THE IMPOSITION OF UNNECESSARY OBSTACLES, book 2 of the Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti, and enjoy a whole new mystery, more relationship angst, academic shenanigans, and a trip to Io! www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-imposi...

Ginger and white cat sitting on carpet staring up at the camera

George has more of a comment than a question

I like "The Pretty One" by Keah Brown and "Seven days in the art world" by Sarah Thornton

The overwhelm/burnout risk are constant.
Advocating for myself is a skill I am still building.
I'm under constant scrutiny of not being 'Autistic enough' from neurotypicals.
Unless something throws my routine, I can function fairly well.
Human-ing is hard, words are hard, but I keep trying anyhow.