Ika Willis
@ikax.bsky.social
I'm an education-focussed academic & Head of School, Culture & Communication, at the Uni of Melbourne. Talk to me about decolonising education, inclusive pedagogy, workload models, process mapping, and management as praxis. Views mine not my employer's.
Hm hmm apparently no one has thought to pass a law against BLOCKING OUT THE SUN. Thoughts:
1. I hate it here
2. I propose VONNEGUT’S LAW aka the Do Not Build The Torture Nexus Act which is a blanket ban on anyone doing anything planetarily stupid because they read it in a SF novel
1. I hate it here
2. I propose VONNEGUT’S LAW aka the Do Not Build The Torture Nexus Act which is a blanket ban on anyone doing anything planetarily stupid because they read it in a SF novel
The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming
A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat. The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
www.politico.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Hm hmm apparently no one has thought to pass a law against BLOCKING OUT THE SUN. Thoughts:
1. I hate it here
2. I propose VONNEGUT’S LAW aka the Do Not Build The Torture Nexus Act which is a blanket ban on anyone doing anything planetarily stupid because they read it in a SF novel
1. I hate it here
2. I propose VONNEGUT’S LAW aka the Do Not Build The Torture Nexus Act which is a blanket ban on anyone doing anything planetarily stupid because they read it in a SF novel
Reposted by Ika Willis
Tl;dr many ND people develop systems to cope with their challenges, and when the systems work they don't notice the challenges anymore, but maintaining the systems can be exhausting and when they break down the functions they were supporting break down too.
November 26, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Tl;dr many ND people develop systems to cope with their challenges, and when the systems work they don't notice the challenges anymore, but maintaining the systems can be exhausting and when they break down the functions they were supporting break down too.
See this kind of thing (and analyses of large corpora) is what I wanted LLMs to do! This is great (and the tl;dr is perfect: “use AI, not too much, mostly to connect with other human minds, not AI”)
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org
November 25, 2025 at 8:14 PM
See this kind of thing (and analyses of large corpora) is what I wanted LLMs to do! This is great (and the tl;dr is perfect: “use AI, not too much, mostly to connect with other human minds, not AI”)
Reposted by Ika Willis
somebody who is good at the economy please help them budget this, their bullshit factory is dying
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates on.ft.com/4ij0yh8
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates
A burning platform
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:49 PM
somebody who is good at the economy please help them budget this, their bullshit factory is dying
Edge of Darkness is the best thing that has ever been on the telly
As one of the BBC’s most extraordinary series returns to iPlayer to mark its fortieth anniversary, Jude Rogers speaks to several key members of the team who made the ecologically minded crime thriller
Why #EdgeOfDarkness makes so much sense in 2025
buff.ly/nIF9mdh
Why #EdgeOfDarkness makes so much sense in 2025
buff.ly/nIF9mdh
November 24, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Edge of Darkness is the best thing that has ever been on the telly
The kerning here is off and it took me longer than I should have not to read this as “une edit” (? First aid as an edit of the wounded body?)
November 24, 2025 at 4:33 AM
The kerning here is off and it took me longer than I should have not to read this as “une edit” (? First aid as an edit of the wounded body?)
Reposted by Ika Willis
Home Alone makes changes to the Die Hard formula that render it hard for me to enjoy. The McClain character should feel overawed. And in theory having Kevin be a child versus adults achieves that. But the thing is: Kevin is a god. It's not just Tom & Jerry. This is some random punks versus Anansi.
November 23, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Home Alone makes changes to the Die Hard formula that render it hard for me to enjoy. The McClain character should feel overawed. And in theory having Kevin be a child versus adults achieves that. But the thing is: Kevin is a god. It's not just Tom & Jerry. This is some random punks versus Anansi.
Reposted by Ika Willis
Reposted by Ika Willis
Absolutely delighted to say that I'll be next year's Guest of Honour at #Novacon 55, 6-8 November 2026! See you in Buxton!
novacon.uk
novacon.uk
Novacon – The UK's longest-established science fiction convention
novacon.uk
November 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Absolutely delighted to say that I'll be next year's Guest of Honour at #Novacon 55, 6-8 November 2026! See you in Buxton!
novacon.uk
novacon.uk
I used to teach a first-year English Lit course themed around “the best” and we read James Joyce’s The Dead and Kelly Link’s Magic For Beginners in the short story module
In this new subscriber essay, Priya Sridhar looks at two Kelly Link short stories, and what makes them so utterly intriguing on a re-read.
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 20, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I used to teach a first-year English Lit course themed around “the best” and we read James Joyce’s The Dead and Kelly Link’s Magic For Beginners in the short story module
Reposted by Ika Willis
the only good thing about genAI is that it got me to really love seeing bad art, because I know a person put in time and effort, made themselves vulnerable by showing it to others, and is trying to improve. I value that more than anything now
November 20, 2025 at 12:51 AM
the only good thing about genAI is that it got me to really love seeing bad art, because I know a person put in time and effort, made themselves vulnerable by showing it to others, and is trying to improve. I value that more than anything now
Hey Bluesky quick question, was Douglas Adams tall?
November 20, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Hey Bluesky quick question, was Douglas Adams tall?
This is great and kinda decolonial
The First, Forgotten Operating System
An obvious realisation behind every urban challenge - housing, congestion, digital addiction, sprawl, vibe collapse - and the maddening inconsistency of cities and organisations to act on it.
challengercities.substack.com/p/the-first-...
An obvious realisation behind every urban challenge - housing, congestion, digital addiction, sprawl, vibe collapse - and the maddening inconsistency of cities and organisations to act on it.
challengercities.substack.com/p/the-first-...
The First, Forgotten Operating System
An obvious realisation behind every urban challenge - housing, congestion, digital addiction, sprawl, vibe collapse - and the maddening inconsistency of cities and organisations to act on it.
challengercities.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
This is great and kinda decolonial
Reposted by Ika Willis
Right?! I yelled my way through it.
I’m currently obsessed w this piece.
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/h...
I’m currently obsessed w this piece.
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/h...
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
November 15, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Right?! I yelled my way through it.
I’m currently obsessed w this piece.
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/h...
I’m currently obsessed w this piece.
anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/h...
Reposted by Ika Willis
Alice Wong taught us that disabled people don’t just leave memories behind—they leave infrastructure. Lineages of care. Methods of collectivity, survival. She named the connective tissue that holds our communities together, even across death, even across the losses that come too fast and too often.
November 16, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Alice Wong taught us that disabled people don’t just leave memories behind—they leave infrastructure. Lineages of care. Methods of collectivity, survival. She named the connective tissue that holds our communities together, even across death, even across the losses that come too fast and too often.
Reposted by Ika Willis
During #TransAwarenessWeek2025 we are featuring the wonderful Campbell X on the podcast. Campbell is an amazing trans filmmaker whose recent work focus on anticolonial reckonings, #LandBack and trans bodies. The podcast is also conducted by 2 trans folks, Han and me.
queer-as.org/a-podcast/ca...
queer-as.org/a-podcast/ca...
Campbell X
Campbell X Campbell X’s work deals with queer memory, desire and Blackness across the African diaspora through filmmaking, theatre and curation. He directed the award-winning queer urban roma…
queer-as.org
November 16, 2025 at 12:15 AM
During #TransAwarenessWeek2025 we are featuring the wonderful Campbell X on the podcast. Campbell is an amazing trans filmmaker whose recent work focus on anticolonial reckonings, #LandBack and trans bodies. The podcast is also conducted by 2 trans folks, Han and me.
queer-as.org/a-podcast/ca...
queer-as.org/a-podcast/ca...
we very much need @dieworkwear.bsky.social to weigh in on this but neither Hercule Poirot nor James Bond ever wore a fedora to my knowledge
Louvre heist 'fedora man' Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux says the inspiration behind his vintage look includes Agatha Christie's famed detective Hercule Poirot and James Bond.
Louvre heist ‘detective’ Pedro reveals inspirations behind viral look
Louvre heist 'fedora man' Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux says the inspiration behind his vintage look includes Agatha Christie's famed detective Hercule Poirot and James Bond.
www.abc.net.au
November 12, 2025 at 6:58 AM
we very much need @dieworkwear.bsky.social to weigh in on this but neither Hercule Poirot nor James Bond ever wore a fedora to my knowledge
Read this, on software, maintenance, political community, Ursula Le Guin, and the public good. You will be pleased that you did!
Sparks fly up
Once you’ve seized the tools of political life to build communal power, it’s hard to forget what a hammer feels like in your hand.
www.wrecka.ge
November 12, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Read this, on software, maintenance, political community, Ursula Le Guin, and the public good. You will be pleased that you did!
Reposted by Ika Willis
Autistic people need two types of accommodations:
Type #1: Ear defenders, quiet workstations, note taking apps
Type #2: Decolonized workplaces, justice for all, truly sustainable work
Employers freak out about #1 and never even see #2 coming.
Type #1: Ear defenders, quiet workstations, note taking apps
Type #2: Decolonized workplaces, justice for all, truly sustainable work
Employers freak out about #1 and never even see #2 coming.
November 11, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Autistic people need two types of accommodations:
Type #1: Ear defenders, quiet workstations, note taking apps
Type #2: Decolonized workplaces, justice for all, truly sustainable work
Employers freak out about #1 and never even see #2 coming.
Type #1: Ear defenders, quiet workstations, note taking apps
Type #2: Decolonized workplaces, justice for all, truly sustainable work
Employers freak out about #1 and never even see #2 coming.
omg this looks amazing, read the thread
New art video just dropped! The 7 Trillion Dollar Seance 🔮 This is meant to be performed live, recited in front of the video at conferences, museums, public events. It got a standing ovation at Tech Together in NYC. Your phone works but best on your largest screen.
vimeo.com/1116289621
🧵
vimeo.com/1116289621
🧵
The 7 Trillion Dollar Seance
Şerife Wong The 7 Trillion Dollar Seance 2025 Original score by Jeromey Cooks (rikuwru) This video is part of Icarus Salon. It is intended to be viewed in…
vimeo.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:08 PM
omg this looks amazing, read the thread
😭😭😭😭😭
Nearly 25 years ago I wrote a long Tolkien fanfiction about Faramir and Éowyn and what happened after the fairy-tale. I posted chapters as I was writing them: it became my first full-length novel…
November 1, 2025 at 10:48 PM
😭😭😭😭😭
Hello #Naarm #Melbourne! Any fans of Jenny Pausacker (jennypausacker.com) might like to hear to the Brunswick Brotherhood next week or so, she’s just culled seven boxes of her obscure children’s lit collection
November 1, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Hello #Naarm #Melbourne! Any fans of Jenny Pausacker (jennypausacker.com) might like to hear to the Brunswick Brotherhood next week or so, she’s just culled seven boxes of her obscure children’s lit collection
TREATY
October 31, 2025 at 12:25 PM
TREATY
This is FASCINATING
If you want a perfect example of the aging up of YA fiction to appeal to adult readers at the exclusion of teen readers, it's getting rid of any references to the specific ages of the teen characters in the Six of Crows duology. www.tumblr.com/vilecemetery...
Post by @vilecemetery · 2 images
💬 70 🔁 987 ❤️ 1691 · leigh bardugo has massively edited and rewritten the six of crows books and no one has noticed · or has for some reason decided not to mention it at all or let anyone else kn…
www.tumblr.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:11 AM
This is FASCINATING