@richlitt.bsky.social
PhD in CS at Te Herenga Waka, focusing on birds. Open source. Linguist and conlanger. eBird and iNat. SustainOSS and CURIOSS. He/him. See https://burntfen.com for a list of things I did when I should have been doing other things.
Ran an AGM today, and finished my six months of service on the exec committee for my postgrad student association. Happy to be just a member again. 🖖
www.burntfen.com/2026-03-16/t...
I'm sure someone smarter has already proposed this, but we need a supercharged Right to Repair 2.0.
If companies won't support products, they must release the software to open source. If they don't sell replacement parts, they must facilitate 3rd party efforts (share technical plans).
@bfly52.bsky.social Might be relevant for you, if you didn't know about this.
Some of the documents were also only accessible through Anna's Archive.
I asked about the DOI. What's the easiest tool for a small journal to use to get DOIs? Zenodo?
Still waiting!
Mahmoud's policy itself is abhorrent, but it's also profoundly stupid in terms of the UKs long term interests
Also, I keep misspelling it Eupelecothecla, which I guess would be a giant pelican combined with Thecla from The Book of the New Sun. Which isn't totally out of the question for that book.
#genewolfe #botns
The paper is here: hbs.bishopmuseum.org/sd/pdf/op176...
I published a paper in Systema dipterorum Nomenclatural Notes, on the correct form of the name Eupelecotheca celer.
I can finally say I have published something on flies. This makes me… pretty white for a fly guy.
Ht @brembs.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy, who said this to me 15 years ago.
I jumped on the microphone with @richlitt.bsky.social to discuss the sustainability of regional conferences like @pyconau.bsky.social and how important it is to have a thriving local community!
🎧 podcast.sustainoss.org/286
Thanks for having me on Richard, it was a great conversation 🎉
Some notes I just wrote for myself for future papers:
- Do not use the word "taxonomies" when talking about lists maintained by different authorities. It confuses some readers.
- Do not use the paper as a noun phrase, such as "Gmelin (1760)'s FR action". It is ungrammatical to some readers.
I once dragged myself to the polls in Brookline because my roommate was running for office there and I knew she’d never forgive me if she lost by one vote… and she won. By one vote.
Host Richard (@richlitt.bsky.social) talks with Jack (@gdayitsjack.bsky.social) about PyCon AU (2026.pycon.org.au) and how regional conferences build local connections, support new speakers, and help sustain open source communities.
Listen at 🎙️ podcast.sustainoss.org/286
A key point using AI for research, at least based on current models in widespread use: They are programmed to do retrieval first. They will only do analysis when you specifically prompt them. So when you first ask a question, they tend to just summarize what others have said.
holy shit you guys
Fuck i love our city. 😄
Why Do Some People Still Wear Masks In 2026 And On A Completely Unrelated Note Why Is Everyone In The Office Sick Right Now Apart From The Guy In The Mask?
More like Zero Days of the Condor.
Rate a bird film:
Three Days of the Condor.
0/5, there was no condor. They even mention the Audubon Society, but the bird never showed up.
I had a paper accepted in principle to a major journal yesterday. Don't know what to share or if I can, but definitely going to go see The Beths in concert tonight to celebrate.
I don't care what your personal preferences about the deficit are. You don't get to violate all the laws & the Constitution to steal federal data & illegally dismantle the government. Get yourself elected to Congress & pass legislation if you care so much. Otherwise, you need to go to jail now.
🚨 Bulbul project update: we are now measuring specimens in several collections in Asia, Europe and USA. The data will be used in a family-wide analysis of intraspecific variation and are destined for the next global dataset release (AVONET 2.0). If you want to join the project, get in touch. 🪶🌐🌎🧪
Woohoo!
Really great opportunity here!
It really is quite grimly hilarious how the drive for "Open Access" in academic publication was almost immediately captured by publishers who declared that, if readers weren't going to pay, then authors and their employers would have to.
And we bought it, schmucks.
Mesmerising. 💛
"Stages of Rot," by Linnea Sterte.
I am sorry.
Yes, the French booksellers association forced the Paris Book Festival to drop Amazon sponsorship due to Amazon "seeking to flood the market with fake AI-generated books, promoted by fake reviews, written by fake readers [which rise] to the top of fake rankings"💥 MORE OF THIS, PLEASE 💥
I've had much better purchase on this question on Mastodon.
mastodon.social/@richlitt/11...