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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · 15d

it’s been three and a half years since I left, but I honestly still miss living in Gyeongju so much that even just looking at a map of the city makes my heart ache 🥲

Gyeongju Tower, near Bomun Lake, at twilight

our favourite pizza restaurant in Gyeongju, Domi, with the golden hour sun streaming in the windows

colourful passageways at Bulguksa Temple

Cheomseongdae, the oldest observatory in East Asia, which is often used as a symbol of the city

Reposted by Beth

Rethink Mental Illness @rethinkcharity.bsky.social · 17d

Mental illness is not a trend.

A reminder that just because more people are speaking up doesn’t mean it’s fashionable.

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · 23d

Assuming this image was also created using AI? Immediately rang alarm bells because of the use of emojis and the fact that the link in the image contains a character not on most people's keyboards. All for responsible use of AI but not sure this is it

Reposted by Beth

Louis Coiffait-Gunn @louiscoiffait-gunn.bsky.social · 28d

What do we want? Investment in #AILiteracy. When do we want it? About 3 years ago.
AI chatbots are the ‘go to’ for millions of children | Internet Matters

New report reveals how risky and unchecked AI chatbots are the new ‘go to’ for millions of children

AI chatbots are the ‘go to’ for millions of children | Internet Matters. Report reveals that the majority of children are using AI chatbots.

www.internetmatters.org

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Reposted by Beth

Richard Carr @richardcarr.bsky.social · Sep 10

AJP Taylor: not a referencing guy

Extract from Taylor’s Course of German History:

“It will be apparent. no doubt, to the reader that I have written this book by lifting facts from a great many other books and, from a few, even ideas.
The American method, in such cases, is to list all the books that have been pilfered; I prefer the English method of mentioning none. If the reader does not accept my credentials, he will not be induced to do so by a display of the sources from which my plumes are borrowed.”

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Sep 10

I am now on a self-imposed book-buying ban but here is a selection of recent purchases ✨📚💙

8 books laid out in a 3x2 grid. The top row, left to right, is Father Figure by Emma Forrest, Emma by Jane Austen, and Nearly Departed by Lucas Oakeley. The bottom row, left to right, is The Millstone by Margaret Drabble, Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh, and Autofiction by Hitomi Kanehara.

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Reposted by Beth

Classical Studies Memes for Hellenistic Teens @csmfht.bsky.social · Sep 8

Serenity now!

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Sep 8

was this graphic created using AI?

Reposted by Beth

Caroline Dodds Pennock @carolinepennock.bsky.social · Aug 18

Absolutely shocking to hear that @sheffcitycouncil.bsky.social are forcing trans staff to use repurposed disabled toilets, imposing a discriminatory policy which effectively makes trans staff out themselves (and reduces disabled provision). Important reporting from @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social.

Exclusive: Trans council staff told to use converted disabled loos

Plus, a Rotherham hacker jailed and a ridiculously lavish £3m home for sale

www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Aug 18

got a whole tuck shop going in my desk drawer at work

an open desk drawer holding a variety of food and drinks, including tea, coffee, and snacks

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Aug 17

made myself go out into town earlier this afternoon as a break from the game... and ended up in Waterstones

Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Aug 17

accidentally lost about half of my weekend to Tiny Bookshop

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Aug 9

this ad makes me die a little inside because you know there are medical staff out there doing this 😭 please do not put any sensitive or confidential information into ChatGPT or any other AI platforms!

A reddit ad for ChatGPT encouraging its use to summarise patient notes. The caption on the ad reads “AI that supports clinical operations - from summarising notes to finding answers faster. Learn more today.”

Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jul 30

we spent a long weekend in Amsterdam 🇳🇱 I went on so many family holidays to the Netherlands as a kid (my mum grew up there) and it has always felt like a second home - currently trying to work out how we might go about moving there 🚲

a patch of grass by the edge of a waterway. tall buildings can be seen on the other side.

a colourful building on a street corner in Amsterdam, near Nieuwmarkt

houseboats on a canal in Amsterdam, with trees and buildings in the background. the photo is taken from a bridge across the waterway.

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jul 22

recent book purchases 📚 have also been dipping a toe into annotation - mostly particularly striking passages or quotes ✨

a copy of The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner and a copy of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (the Penguin Modern Classics edition with a non-weird cover design), and some pastel-coloured book tabs

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Reposted by Beth

Tim Harford @timharford.ft.com · Jul 11

We all know about the hallucination problem but it's quite extraordinary to see it invent such a detailed, plausible fabrication. I'm in the privileged position of being able to saunter into the Bodleian Library and check - most people could be forgiven for believing the machine.

Tim Harford @timharford.ft.com · Jul 11

Still trying with GPTo3. I asked it to help me confirm and find a half-remembered anecdote from philosopher Jonathan Glover probably his brilliant book "Humanity".
GPT found it, gave me page refs in 2 editions, and listed other sources. Impressive! Only problem: the story is not in the book.

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Reposted by Beth

Standplaats Kraków @standplaatskrk.pl · Nov 7

liminal dachshund

a dachshund is standing in a hotel or hospital hallway, staring intently at a spot on the wall

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jul 3

disclaimer: I have not watched SVD and have no desire to - my limit is the Terrifier series - but I have read enough about it to know that I’m better off never touching it

Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jul 3

honestly hilarious that Stuart Heritage’s editor equated the video nasties of the ‘80s with the absolute depravity of 2006’s Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, of all things, and had the poor guy watch it for what amounted to a relatively brief mention in the finished article

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jul 3

Was Thatcher right to ban ‘video nasties’? I binged Zombie Flesh Eaters and Slaughtered Vomit Dolls to find out

The ‘obscene’ movies once banned in the UK are now mostly freely available. Are these tales of cannibals and the undead antiquated schlock or genuinely repellent?

www.theguardian.com

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jul 2

have already read an ebook version of the Jacqueline Wilson but I loved her books growing up so it’s nice to have a physical copy!

Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jul 2

turned 30 a couple of weeks ago and got some waterstones vouchers from friends who know me well - spent some of them in the paperback sale online and they arrived today 💙📚

a book stack featuring Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson, The New Me by Halle Butler, and You Are Here by David Nicholls - they are on a coffee table with a desk and kitchen in the background

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Reposted by Beth

Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · Jul 1

Girls Aloud were far more important to music than Oasis in the 00's - the girls were changing pop music for boy/girl groups from dreary ballads to inventive and catchy songs like Biology and Love Machine. Meanwhile Oasis were doing dreary ballads like Let There Be Love.

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jun 30

I was on a roll with my book reviews - so here's what I read this month! 📚💙
open.substack.com/pub/bethgilc...

What I read in June

I had a good month for reading this June - partially as an escape from work!

open.substack.com

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jun 30

I am very very late with this (will be writing my June round-up very soon!), but here's what I read in May and some brief, unedited thoughts on each 📚💙
open.substack.com/pub/bethgilc...

What I read in May

I’m quite late with the previous month’s update of recently-read books - pretend it’s not the last day of June!

open.substack.com

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Beth @bethgilchrist.substack.com · Jun 30

I grew up in Bradford and have many happy memories of reading through the children's section at Shipley Library - in a city with such a high rate of child poverty and deprivation, it's sad to see funding cut where it is so needed

Louis Coiffait-Gunn @louiscoiffait-gunn.bsky.social · Jun 27

Want to tackle the reading crisis? Invest in library staff, spaces and stock www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Bradford library book budget falls to regional low of 31p a head

The amount is 73p less than the national average and a regional low, according to a new report.

www.bbc.co.uk

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