My favorite thing about AI book club scams is that LLMs ate the entire internet's worth of text but never once told their users, "Hey, authors have no money."
12.03.2026 22:14
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My favorite thing about AI book club scams is that LLMs ate the entire internet's worth of text but never once told their users, "Hey, authors have no money."
I mean, it was kind of obvious the attraction there was saving on costs. So yeah, the time gained (supposedly) with AI would obviously not be free time. It would be time for more work.
The Don't Steal This Book campaign, signed by almost 10,000 authors clearly shows what will happen if copyright isn't respected - blank pages. The Human Authored scheme will help show readers what's real and what's AI - register now!
I'll watch this later.
Westminster Voting Intention:
RFM: 26% (-1)
GRN: 21% (=)
CON: 17% (=)
LAB: 15% (=)
LDM: 11% (+1)
SNP: 3% (+1)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 11 Mar.
Changes w/ 4 Mar.
If you're working in the AI space, you need to be pushing for universal basic income RIGHT NOW. It's not good enough to just say UBI may be needed in the future. And put your money where your mouth is, or else people will assume you're lying about the capabilities of AI and/or will push against AI.
Today, I am mostly carrying out a gender reassignment on a non-existent dog because an author couldn't make up his mind. Every day is a new adventure when you're a copy editor.
This is the first I'm hearing of these events. Still, it's not like it's important or relevant to people, not like when that flag-shagger fell off a ladder the other week. That was all over the news.
AI generated list of Apollo Moon landing sites. There are several obvious errors, including made-up names. AI sucks.
This ai list is so bad and full of errors that I am giving it to my Planetary Geology students as an activity - find the mistakes! Everyone knows it was Tom Hanks that walked on the Moon during Apollo 13! Silly ai. 😂
This will sound stupid, but I had a frightening dream overnight and now I'm worried that I'll be scared of heights. They've never bothered me because my grandparents lived on the sixth floor of a tower block and I used to enjoy standing on the balcony. But after last night, I think that's changed.
Image showing illustration for the first verse from the Song of Songs: a minstrel playing before Solomon (15th century Rothschild Mahzor). With text: Black/Beautiful: Meanings of Blackness in a Biblical Verse. RHS Lecture with Professor Miri Rubin (QMUL) Royal Historical Society Lecture 6pm, Wednesday 13 May 2026
On 13 May, we will be in Aberystwyth to meet with historians at the university & wider region.
The visit ends with a public guest lecture by Prof Miri Rubin (QMUL) on 'Black/Beautiful: Meanings of Blackness in a Biblical Verse' bit.ly/4b6cfpz
In-person booking now open / all welcome #Skystorians
An early incarnation of Dennis: a boy with a spiky mop of black hair and bandy, knobbly-kneed legs, walks down a street carrying a tin of red paint, watched suspiciously by a policeman
It’s the 75th anniversary of a man in Dundee called David Law creating the “world’s wildest boy”, who lived in the pages of The Beano, and later that same year acquired a stripy jumper which he never again took off – and in 1968 got a dog as disciplined as its owner: Gnasher 🧵
Maya Forstater @MForstater 8h The Lies They Tell @sarahstua... 13h Join me tonight as I cover live the thrills and spills of the Trans Mission Live concert. Turns include Zack Polanski, Beth Ditto and a bunch of people you've never heard of. Literally hundreds of pe... 70 547 27.4K A Rosie Duffield MP @RosieDuffield1 Replying to @MForstater Excellent work agent Forstater! Descriptive alt text Alt text Save 2000 Follow
Even for them this is beyond embarrassing. I'm sorry you've never heard of Sugababes, Sophie Ellis-Bextor or Wolf Alice, you fucking weirdos
My friend Kelly has a similar checklist when opening the pub, only hers involves more coffee and omits the last item. It's usually down to me to turn the sign round - often as late as two hours after they open. Most people stroll in anyway, and they all laugh when I turn the sign on my way in.
![MAN STOLE TERRY THOMAS'S £2,000 HOLDER – POLICE
THE £2,000 cigarette holder belonging to Terry-Thomas, the comedian, was mentioned at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court today when two men were remanded on bail until March 21. James J. Tarbuck (20), comedian, of Queen’s Drive, Liverpool, was accused of stealing a diamond studded cigarette holder, worth £2,000, belonging to Thomas Terry Hoare Stephens (Terry Thomas), on February 27, and Alan Williams (28), unemployed salesman, of Stockville Road, Liverpool, was accused of receiving two diamonds, total value £40, on March 11. Mr. J. W. Bonner, prosecuting, said Terry-Thomas was appearing in midnight variety performance at the Odeon Cinema, London Road, Liverpool. [subheading] Left in room. At 1.15 a.m. he went on the stage, leaving his cigarette holder in his dressing room. When he returned at 3.20 a.m. it was missing. Williams was seen yesterday by detectives Exley and Hammond in Whitechapel, Liverpool. Told that it was vas believed he had some diamonds, he was said to have replied: "I've only got two." It was alleged that he brought out from his pocket a jewel box containing two diamonds and said: "A man asked me to sell them for him." [subheading] ‘It was me’ Later the same day, Tarbuck was questioned by the detectives about stolen diamonds. He was alleged to have replied: "You seem to know all about it. It was me who took Terry-Thomas's cigarette holder." The detectives went with Tarbuck to his home, and there, the court was told, found hidden in a rolled-up carpet in the hall, were 40 diamonds and pieces of gold setting.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/bafkreiddbmakqqoxwb7aafviorua3htkagpiqhrmqdfz3feeuym7hq7i24)
MAN STOLE TERRY THOMAS'S £2,000 HOLDER – POLICE THE £2,000 cigarette holder belonging to Terry-Thomas, the comedian, was mentioned at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court today when two men were remanded on bail until March 21. James J. Tarbuck (20), comedian, of Queen’s Drive, Liverpool, was accused of stealing a diamond studded cigarette holder, worth £2,000, belonging to Thomas Terry Hoare Stephens (Terry Thomas), on February 27, and Alan Williams (28), unemployed salesman, of Stockville Road, Liverpool, was accused of receiving two diamonds, total value £40, on March 11. Mr. J. W. Bonner, prosecuting, said Terry-Thomas was appearing in midnight variety performance at the Odeon Cinema, London Road, Liverpool. [subheading] Left in room. At 1.15 a.m. he went on the stage, leaving his cigarette holder in his dressing room. When he returned at 3.20 a.m. it was missing. Williams was seen yesterday by detectives Exley and Hammond in Whitechapel, Liverpool. Told that it was vas believed he had some diamonds, he was said to have replied: "I've only got two." It was alleged that he brought out from his pocket a jewel box containing two diamonds and said: "A man asked me to sell them for him." [subheading] ‘It was me’ Later the same day, Tarbuck was questioned by the detectives about stolen diamonds. He was alleged to have replied: "You seem to know all about it. It was me who took Terry-Thomas's cigarette holder." The detectives went with Tarbuck to his home, and there, the court was told, found hidden in a rolled-up carpet in the hall, were 40 diamonds and pieces of gold setting.
In showbiz news today, it’s the 66th anniversary of gap-toothed comedian Jimmy Tarbuck robbing gap-toothed comedian Terry-Thomas backstage at a theatre in Liverpool. He nicked a “custom-made cigarette holder ... decorated with 42 diamonds and a gold spiral band. It was insured for £2000” 🧵
Possibly the most Tufton Street thing that could happen to me as I stroll along Tufton Street to get my lunch is to be overtaken by a man in his 20s smoking a pipe.
This is so much fun.
Trafic de fossiles: un expert suisse accusé (Fossil trafficking: a Swiss expert is accused). Photo shows the Rolling Stones.
Meanwhile in Switzerland, an expert is accused of smuggling fossils (pictured).
11.06 BAYEUXWATCH Mitch and the team have to deal with a crowd of violent Frenchman who have arrived on the beach. Meanwhile, CJ rushes to the aid of a man who has been struck in the eye with an arrow.
What an unusual time to schedule this one. Or is it?
Hi Tom The books arrived safely this morning, thank you. If you are looking for the top of your pen, I have it! Cheers, Diane
Wondering, instead of the standard procedure of including quotes by celebs and newspapers on the jacket of my next book, printing a selection of comments and reviews by readers on there instead. I think this one is an absolute must.
I told my partner I was fluent in French on our first date. Five years later, we're moving to Lyon for his job. I've spent £2,000 on intensive tutoring in the last three weeks. I'm currently at 'The cat is under the table' level. I am terrified.
Yesterday I had no internet for a few hours and ate an apple. It felt like an extremely minor insight into what it's like to live as a horse.
Tweet by Philip Proudfoot saying Switzerland stopped being neutral after condemning U.S.–Israeli attacks on Iran as a violation of international law, quoting an Al Jazeera Breaking News headline.
A Swiss kick in the ass.
What a tragedy.
Gladsaxe replaced its standard white LED fixtures with specialized red LED streetlights along Frederiksborgvej. The installation was strategically placed near a known bat colony to mitigate the impact of artificial light on the nocturnal ecosystem. dailygalaxy.com/2026/03/denm...
3.6 Relationships As discussed in Section 3.5, for many participants, the basic income increased their ability to socialise and take part in activities with others, and this was perceived to have improved their relationships. Furthermore, participants frequently recounted spending their basic income on others and financially supporting them when they were struggling: ‘I was more willing to go out and do things and, you know, sometimes cover people's bills, and it just being able to do that, you know, it did... it made me happy.’ (YP62 - End of Pilot) ‘...it's indirectly helped my family at points as well at some points when I was on the income pilot, because there was points where my eldest brother was really struggling because he wasn't on much money with Universal Credit, and he was barely getting by each month, so he started asking to lend off money, but then my mum couldn't help as much or my sister, because they were struggling themselves, so I was able to help...’ (YP89 - End of Pilot) For the participants offering these examples, there was clearly a sense that being able to support those around them in this way was rewarding; they valued being able to spend on their loved ones. As one participant put it, being fortunate to be on the pilot meant “...you want to give as someone who hasn't had” (YP51 - End of Pilot).
Love this too. For many, the basic income increased their ability to socialize and take part in activities with others, and this improved their relationships. They also frequently recounted spending their basic income on others. As one person said, "You want to give as someone who hasn't had."
Mary Wollstonecraft, who published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, is often called the mother of modern feminism.
But her ideas were far more radical than many realise.
#IWD2026
@eastangliabylines.co.uk
‘I had never the intention of working a job, and when I got into the pilot, you'd think that that would convince me even more not to work, because why do I need to work, right? I've got the money coming in. But when the pilot came through, I thought, “Well, if I work, then I can save all the money from the pilot and maybe some from the job as well,” and if I'd never been tempted by the pilot weirdly enough to go and do more work to get more money, then I never would have become more social and gone out of the house, and just developed as a person as I have over the past 2 years.. it made me happy. It changed how I acted quite a lot’ (YP62 - End of Pilot)
Love this experience by one of the basic income pilot participants in Wales. They got £1,290 a month after tax for two years (about $1,862/mo), and at first they planned to not get a job, but then after getting into the pilot, they changed their mind, because why not do more to get more money?
Listening to 'Fernando' by ABBA in the pub, it crossed my mind to wonder why a Swedish pop group from the 1970s decided to write a song about a member of the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.
