Almost 10,000 authors have come together to publish an empty book protesting the theft of books by tech companies to train AI models.
Titled Don’t Steal This Book, it is empty of text except the names of the authors involved.. 🧵
Our little wildlife pond is teaming with tiny tadpoles! A few have dispersed and are feeding around the edges, but mostly they're all clumped together so the surface of the pond looks alive.
Just two years ago a single frog laid a small clump of spawn… and now, a few years on, there's LOADS of it
Haven’t gone out for a few days. The world has changed. Low temperature but you won’t feel cold. Flowers are blooming overnight! I missed some moments, but not a lot, I reckon…
🩵🤍💙
The star magnolia is blooming on campus.
About 80 pied wagtails on the tree in front of TK Maxx, The Headrow, Leeds. Same spot, same season!
A short-ish chat covering fun stuff like why LLMs are a cyberattack on higher education and why we should interpret AI as a diagnostic for a deeper underlying crisis of legitimacy.
Sand Martins have continued to arrive into Britain and Ireland in recent days, with 420 records now received. Numbers should continue to rise over the coming weeks, ahead of the peak reporting rate in April. They are often seen hawking for insects over wetlands #ukbirding
Just had a mild existential panic when I saw that the publisher of my debut book is advertising '5 copies or fewer' left.
New followers, new intro! 👋 I am a third-year PhD candidate at Radboud University, studying our historical relationship with insects and other small creatures 🐜🪱🪳🪰 I am also editor for @womenshistory.bsky.social
My interests include #envhist, #entomology, #gardening, and of course #cats 🌱👩🌾🐱
Please watch this and consider writing to your MP about licensing Grouse Moors. A skydancing #HenHarrier is a wonderful sight that sadly very few people ever get to see. @friendsofthedales.bsky.uk
#raptorpersecution
#Skydancer
youtu.be/0zNIzsNAwNY?...
From A Nature Poem for Every Night of the Year, ed. Jane McMorland Hunter
Tuesday #eveningread
A day started with a great sunrise
Now, immersing in a soundscape of foxes and tawny owls (earlier than before)
Keep WARM tomorrow!!!
I just got an email pushing a new book, and ... I'm not going to call out the book itself, cause I don't wanna ruin anyone's day, but ... I am going to subtweet it.
It's yet another book on how the problem with climate change is ... the way we talk about it! "Framing"! "Messaging"!
1. Are you currently using an AI tool for work-related tasks or projects? * Yes * No, but I would like to (PLEASE SKIP TO QUESTION 7)
My employer asks me to complete a survey on AI usage for which this is the first question (required):
Admin complicity has been kind of heartbreaking
> Many universities’ administrations are embracing AI for instruction, research, and evaluation. In some cases, AI has guided decisions about which programs to cut at times of austerity in the education sector.
www.theguardian.com/technology/n...
Thank you! So true! 🌞
Poems for Lent (Day 18)
• Siegfried Sassoon •
Morning glow! Leeds, UK
Good morning! 🌅
The air is so fresh and revitalising!
There we go. The kind and wise @davidgooda.bsky.social swooping in to nudge us over the £1k line. Bloody hell. Thanks so much, everyone. ONWARDS.
I was in Tehran this time last year. I want you to see how beautiful my city is. I want you to see the city the US/Israel is trying to wipe off the face of the earth
Always feel happy when I spot my first bluebell (spotted in Hampshire) #signsofspring #wildflowerhour @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
Wild Daffodils, Barren Strawberry, Early Dog Violet, Primrose, Lesser Celandine and Bluebell
#Wildflowerhour #Signsofspring Wild Daffodils, Barren Strawberry, Early Dog Violet, Primrose, Lesser Celandine and Bluebell found in South Cumbria this week.
Just heard from a potential PhD student based in Iran. I had written to arrange a meeting, before everything kicked off. Their reply calmly explains that we can't meet because they are facing a total blackout and severe instability. What awful and unnecessary chaos to inflict on ordinary Iranians.
Pair of Siskins eating sunflower hearts
What's better than a Siskin on your feeders? Two Siskins! The species that kicked off my interest over four decades ago @yorkbirding.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social #Acomb #UKBirding
Good to see some mainstream journalism questioning the economic hype around AI.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
A reminder that humans in cars - notably omitted from this thanks to motonormativity - kill 1.2m people every year
From Spring: A Folio Anthology, ed. Sue Bradbury.
Monday #morningread
🐦🐧🐦⬛
Have a good week!
From A Nature Poem for Every Night of the Year, ed. Jane McMorland Hunter.
Sunday #eveningread
Wood anemone starting to flower in the local Hazelwoods. #wildflowerhour
Carpets of Celandine and Sweet Violet (latter scenting the air beautifully), Norway Maple, Wood Anemone, Wild Strawberry and Common Dog-Violet (V. riviniana with ‘riven’ spur - thanks to VC6 Helena for that aide memoire!) #SignsofSpring #WildflowerHour
It’s 8pm & it’s Sunday, so it must be time for #wildflowerhour!🎉 Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised blooms you’ve spotted from across Britain & Ireland in the last week especially if they are #SignsofSpring, the focus of this week’s challenge! 😀
