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Burkhard Schafer

@burkhardschafer.bsky.social

710 followers 560 following 78 posts

Intellectual nomad grazing across the borders of law and computer science, University of Edinburgh. Corrupting the youth since 1996. Re-skeeting = unconditional love https://www.law.ed.ac.uk/people/professor-burkhard-schafe .. more

Law 32%

Political science 28%

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Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · 15d

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!

Len Pennie @lenniesaurus.bsky.social · 22d

🚨LOW TICKET WARNING🚨 there are 8 tickets left for my event in Glasgow with Denise Mina on Tuesday, so if you want a ticket, nows your chance! www.waterstones.com/events/len-p...

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · 20d

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

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · 20d

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....

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Len Pennie @lenniesaurus.bsky.social · 22d

🚨LOW TICKET WARNING🚨 there are 8 tickets left for my event in Glasgow with Denise Mina on Tuesday, so if you want a ticket, nows your chance! www.waterstones.com/events/len-p...

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · 25d

This is brilliant news, and what a great project!

Patrick James Errington @pat-err.bsky.social · 25d

🎉 Thrilled to share that I've received a @ukri.org #FutureLeadersFellowship for our transdisciplinary, participatory, & practice-partnered project #RewritingWor(l)ds @re-writer.bsky.social/ rewriting-worlds.ed.ac.uk researching #poetry, creative engagement, & #wellbeing for young people

Rewriting Wor(l)ds

Rewriting Worlds is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project researching young people's creative engagement with poetry at the University of Edinburgh.

rewriting-worlds.ed.ac.uk

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Patrick James Errington @pat-err.bsky.social · 25d

🎉 Thrilled to share that I've received a @ukri.org #FutureLeadersFellowship for our transdisciplinary, participatory, & practice-partnered project #RewritingWor(l)ds @re-writer.bsky.social/ rewriting-worlds.ed.ac.uk researching #poetry, creative engagement, & #wellbeing for young people

Rewriting Wor(l)ds

Rewriting Worlds is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project researching young people's creative engagement with poetry at the University of Edinburgh.

rewriting-worlds.ed.ac.uk

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Isobelle Clarke @issyclarke.bsky.social · 25d

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'.

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.

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Sep 10

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

YouTube video by Eleanor Morton

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · Sep 7

Last week at @4sweb, I got the honour of being on a on Disability Access, Infrastructure, & Technoableism panel w/ @chartblay.bsky.social , @ashleyshoo.bsky.social, & Raquel Velho, learning from & speaking w/ them & @disabilitystor1.bsky.social & @besswww.bsky.social, as commenters & interlocutors…

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Privacy International @privacyinternational.org · Sep 1

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...

Why Privacy Matters to People with Disabilities

Privacy is a universal right, but for people with disabilities, it’s often compromised in the very systems designed to support them. Accessing essential services and benefits frequently requires the…

privacyinternational.org

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Rob Marchant, Burkhard Schäfer , and 1 more Joanna Bryson, Rob Marchant, Burkhard Schäfer, Julian Schrader

Christian Kost @kostchristian.bsky.social · Sep 1

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

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · Aug 26

"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...

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Aug 26

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.

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Aug 22

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...

Sign the Petition

Convince Audible to revise it's New Royalty Model

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Len Pennie @lenniesaurus.bsky.social · Aug 22

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)

Reposted by Margaret Mitchell, Burkhard Schäfer

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · Aug 21

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.

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · Aug 20

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...

Island School
George Mackay Brown

A boy leaves a small house
Of sea light. He leaves
The sea smells, creel
And limpet and cod.

The boy walks between steep
Stone houses, echoing
Gull cries, the all-around
Choirs of the sea,

Ship noises, shop noises, clamours
Of bellman and milkcart.
The boy comes at last
To a tower with a tall desk

And a globe and a blackboard
And a stern chalk-
smelling lady. A bell
Nods and summons.

A girl comes, cornlight
In the eyes, smelling
Of peat and cows
And the rich midden.

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

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Canongate @canongate.co.uk · Aug 20

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...

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…

projects.handsupfortrad.scot

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Aug 5

This sounds absolutely excellent!

Meredith Rose @mrose.ink · Aug 5

Got my tentative schedule for DragonCon, and FOLKS...

"POKELAW - speculative ethics of Pokemon" - SUNDAY at 1:00 PM.
Panelists: Meredith Rose, Lucas Matos Hernandez, Will Harris, Jess Eppstein, Ryan Consell
Description: Capturing wild animals for bloodsport, using unsupervised preteends for fieldwork, how did any of this get ethics clearance?

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Meredith Rose @mrose.ink · Aug 5

Got my tentative schedule for DragonCon, and FOLKS...

"POKELAW - speculative ethics of Pokemon" - SUNDAY at 1:00 PM.
Panelists: Meredith Rose, Lucas Matos Hernandez, Will Harris, Jess Eppstein, Ryan Consell
Description: Capturing wild animals for bloodsport, using unsupervised preteends for fieldwork, how did any of this get ethics clearance?

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · Aug 4

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...

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 …

codeactsineducation.wordpress.com

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Aug 1

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 😆

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Aug 1

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

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Jul 30

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

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

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Jul 30

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

Burkhard Schafer @burkhardschafer.bsky.social · Jul 30

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.

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Len Pennie @lenniesaurus.bsky.social · Jul 29

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

they infuriate me. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙

YouTube video by Miss PunnyPennie

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Kori Michele @korimichele.bsky.social · Jul 27

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

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.

Reposted by Tim Bale, Burkhard Schäfer, Rebecca Sear

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · Jul 25

The trans rights stitch-up: How the government plans to silence parliamentary debate on the most far-reaching restriction of minority rights in our lifetime open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

Reposted by Burkhard Schäfer

Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · Jan 7

it wis January
and a gey dreich day
the first day Ah went to the school…

—Liz Lochhead, “Kidspoem/Bairnsang”
published in A CHOOSING: The Selected Poems of Liz Lochhead (Polygon 2017)

Kidspoem/Bairnsang
Liz Lochhead

it wis January
and a gey dreich day
the first day Ah went to the school
so my Mum happed me up in ma
good navy-blue napp coat wi the rid tartan hood
birled a scarf aroon ma neck
pu’ed oan ma pixie an my pawkies
it wis that bitter
said noo ye’ll no starve
gie’d me a wee kiss and a kid-oan skelp oan the bum
and sent me aff across the playground
tae the place Ah’d learn to say
it was January
and a really dismal day
the first day I went to school
so my mother wrapped me up in my
best navy-blue top coat with the red tartan hood
twirled a scarf around my neck
pulled on my bobble-hat and mittens
it was so bitterly cold
said now you won’t freeze to death
gave me a little kiss and a pretend slap on the bottom
and sent me off across the playground
to the place I’d learn to forget to say
it wis January
and a gey dreich day
the first day Ah went to the school
so my Mum happed me up in ma
good navy-blue napp coat wi the rid tartan hood
birled a scarf aroon ma neck
pu’ed oan ma pixie an ma pawkies
it wis that bitter.

Oh saying it was one thing
but when it came to writing it
in black and white
the way it had to be said
was as if you were posh, grown-up, male, English and dead.