Doctora Malka Older
@older.bsky.social
nerd with narrative disorder • humanitarian • sociopunk • evidence-based creativity • speculative resistance • predictive fictions • INFOMOCRACY • THE MIMICKING OF KNOWN SUCCESSES • …AND OTHER DISASTERS • GlobalVoices.org • ASU-CSI • opinions my own
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
One of the great series! Treat yourselves
Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters Book Set is 91% off at $4.99! I looooooove this series. love love love it all!
tidd.ly/4r0Gdkc
tidd.ly/4r0Gdkc
Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters Book Set Audiobook on Libro.fm
“A brilliant writer.” — New York Times Book ReviewThe bestselling and beloved Brown Sisters series, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert, now in a single volume!This bund...
tidd.ly
February 8, 2026 at 3:01 PM
One of the great series! Treat yourselves
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
And the ‘fuck off manicule”: bsky.app/profile/mars...
An early reader added a lovely gloved manicule, or pointing finger, to Sebastian Münster's 1554 Cosmography at the section on Ireland, described as a fertile land with a pleasant climate. He's not quite so complimentary about the people tho'.
February 8, 2026 at 2:59 PM
And the ‘fuck off manicule”: bsky.app/profile/mars...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Big hands, small fingers, weird gesture: bsky.app/profile/cond...
February 8, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Big hands, small fingers, weird gesture: bsky.app/profile/cond...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Manicule in the margin
BL Royal MS 6 E VII/2; James le Palmer, Omne Bonum (Jacob-Zacharias); c.1360 CE-c.1375 CE; f.435r
BL Royal MS 6 E VII/2; James le Palmer, Omne Bonum (Jacob-Zacharias); c.1360 CE-c.1375 CE; f.435r
February 8, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Meet the printed gesture: finger of contempt bsky.app/profile/drka...
February 8, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Meet the printed gesture: finger of contempt bsky.app/profile/drka...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Damn, this one is a human-machine interaction: bsky.app/profile/medm...
Mobile manicule service - 13th/14th century, Montpellier. Bibliothèque interuniversitaire, Section Médecine, H 51, f. 138r
February 8, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Damn, this one is a human-machine interaction: bsky.app/profile/medm...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
There was always the over ambitious one too: bsky.app/profile/medm...
An elaborate hand with long, bendy fingers marking parts of the manuscript that were thought to be of importance or interest - 14th century, Bancroft Library, BANC MS UCB 085
February 8, 2026 at 2:45 PM
There was always the over ambitious one too: bsky.app/profile/medm...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
This one is spooky: bsky.app/profile/hype...
February 8, 2026 at 2:42 PM
This one is spooky: bsky.app/profile/hype...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
And the foot manicule was a thing too: bsky.app/profile/shnu...
On today's #manicule news, one that, if seen upside down, would look like a foot with an unusually long toe 🦶🏼
February 8, 2026 at 2:41 PM
And the foot manicule was a thing too: bsky.app/profile/shnu...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
There is always the manicule gone wrong. Meet this one: bsky.app/profile/leoc...
Not a middle finger (finger seems really to be abstracted to line-pointer). Manicule, Mexico, 1708.
February 8, 2026 at 2:40 PM
There is always the manicule gone wrong. Meet this one: bsky.app/profile/leoc...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Very cool is also the hinting duck: bsky.app/profile/enni...
A duck is part of the decoration around the initial-word panel marking the beginning of Torah portion Mishpatim (מִּשְׁפָּטִים)
#ParashahPictures
BL Add MS 15423; Pentateuch; 1441 CE-1467 CE; Italy (Florence); f.49v
#ParashahPictures
BL Add MS 15423; Pentateuch; 1441 CE-1467 CE; Italy (Florence); f.49v
February 8, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Very cool is also the hinting duck: bsky.app/profile/enni...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Using non-human pointing gestures is another level of cool, like this fantastic crane: bsky.app/profile/dbel...
Today, let's celebrate a drawn and illuminated crane that functions as a pointing gesture to a new paragraph (in a fourteenth century manuscript). It looks like he is walking into the text, right? #bookhistory
February 8, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Using non-human pointing gestures is another level of cool, like this fantastic crane: bsky.app/profile/dbel...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
He fell asleep in 1782, took a nap while sitting at a crowded table, being surrounded by fellow humans discussing importrant things in a meeting, and eventually everyone present realized the sleeper cell among them (see the lovely "attention" hint and manicule in the image).
February 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Always useful is a big hand too, like here: bsky.app/profile/dbel...
A nota bene #manicule to rule them all. If you have important stuff to remind to, do use a big hand. #bookhistory #skystorians
![Detail of a page of "[Gregor Reisch] AEPITOMA OMNIS PHYLOSOPHIAE ... (1504)" featuring a big hand next to the text.
Source: https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/content/pageview/6045373](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wwym6cglvbd5odxfkykn2uh2/bafkreifm3pkql7hui5uqq3dsqekzp6syvcnpjdywdygepgeg4oyxouhise@jpeg)
![Detail of a page of "[Gregor Reisch] AEPITOMA OMNIS PHYLOSOPHIAE ... (1504)" featuring a big hand next to the text.
Source: https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/content/pageview/6045373](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wwym6cglvbd5odxfkykn2uh2/bafkreihttmk3wb7wzazghhjjxkb6xaiwirgqer4ophoaaftbxvbxhyagdu@jpeg)
February 8, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Always useful is a big hand too, like here: bsky.app/profile/dbel...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Here is a very long index finger to indicate the importance of the hint: bsky.app/profile/liam...
Gorgeous manicule in this manuscript collection of works by Italian Humanist writers, including Bartolomeo Facio & Giannantonio de’Pandoni (known as Porcellius), written in Italy c. 1450-1500. Given to @theulspeccoll.bsky.social by Stephen Gaselee in 1919 & now MS Add. 6188.
February 8, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Here is a very long index finger to indicate the importance of the hint: bsky.app/profile/liam...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
☞ ☞ ☞ the index finger is a pointing gesture to be found in manuscript and print traditions. It was used to draw the reader's attention to a certain part of a text or image. This slow-moving thread highlight a few of them:
February 8, 2026 at 2:27 PM
☞ ☞ ☞ the index finger is a pointing gesture to be found in manuscript and print traditions. It was used to draw the reader's attention to a certain part of a text or image. This slow-moving thread highlight a few of them:
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
I'll be tuning in to see Bad Bunny tonight! Over the years I've seen how Benito has matured from a queer-friendly provocateur challenging toxic masculinity and machísmo in Reggaetón to a symbol of anticolonial resistance for a generation of Puerto Ricans disillusioned w/ American imperial rule. #🇵🇷
February 8, 2026 at 2:18 PM
I'll be tuning in to see Bad Bunny tonight! Over the years I've seen how Benito has matured from a queer-friendly provocateur challenging toxic masculinity and machísmo in Reggaetón to a symbol of anticolonial resistance for a generation of Puerto Ricans disillusioned w/ American imperial rule. #🇵🇷
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
chez qui ? est-ce que ça se trouvera en Suisse ? (mais d'abord je termine une trilogie de Malka Older)
February 8, 2026 at 12:33 PM
chez qui ? est-ce que ça se trouvera en Suisse ? (mais d'abord je termine une trilogie de Malka Older)
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Oh this is an amazing deal on a wonderful series
Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters Book Set is 91% off at $4.99! I looooooove this series. love love love it all!
tidd.ly/4r0Gdkc
tidd.ly/4r0Gdkc
Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters Book Set Audiobook on Libro.fm
“A brilliant writer.” — New York Times Book ReviewThe bestselling and beloved Brown Sisters series, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert, now in a single volume!This bund...
tidd.ly
February 5, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Oh this is an amazing deal on a wonderful series
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Pressure building on govt to come clean about Mandelson's role in bringing US spy-tech firm Palantir into the heart of our NHS.
The fingerprints of Mandelson and his lobbying firm are all over these deals.
The rot goes to the heart of this Labour govt
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
The fingerprints of Mandelson and his lobbying firm are all over these deals.
The rot goes to the heart of this Labour govt
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals
Opposition MPs urge Labour to pause public contracts with the US tech firm after attempts to examine deals blocked
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Pressure building on govt to come clean about Mandelson's role in bringing US spy-tech firm Palantir into the heart of our NHS.
The fingerprints of Mandelson and his lobbying firm are all over these deals.
The rot goes to the heart of this Labour govt
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
The fingerprints of Mandelson and his lobbying firm are all over these deals.
The rot goes to the heart of this Labour govt
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
New on FT website:
Downing Street has refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer knew Palantir was a client of Peter Mandelson’s lobbying firm when they both visited the company in Washington last February — ahead of it winning a £240mn UK government contract.
www.ft.com/content/5bba...
Downing Street has refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer knew Palantir was a client of Peter Mandelson’s lobbying firm when they both visited the company in Washington last February — ahead of it winning a £240mn UK government contract.
www.ft.com/content/5bba...
Starmer faces questions over visit to Palantir office alongside Mandelson
Former ambassador was also shareholder in lobbying group that counted US tech firm as a client
www.ft.com
February 7, 2026 at 8:20 AM
New on FT website:
Downing Street has refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer knew Palantir was a client of Peter Mandelson’s lobbying firm when they both visited the company in Washington last February — ahead of it winning a £240mn UK government contract.
www.ft.com/content/5bba...
Downing Street has refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer knew Palantir was a client of Peter Mandelson’s lobbying firm when they both visited the company in Washington last February — ahead of it winning a £240mn UK government contract.
www.ft.com/content/5bba...
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Called my senators. Reminded them that they swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and since ICE is a foreign enemy of the Constitution, I want them to abolish it, not fund it.
February 6, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Called my senators. Reminded them that they swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and since ICE is a foreign enemy of the Constitution, I want them to abolish it, not fund it.
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
I know that they will always do the cruelest thing and the most racist thing, but the extent to which these particular fuckers will also do the stupidest thing.
Fire up the phones. Make every fucking member of the GOP own this.
Fuck them.
Fire up the phones. Make every fucking member of the GOP own this.
Fuck them.
BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
DHS has requested expedited deportation proceedings against family of Liam Conejo Ramos
The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
www.mprnews.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:56 AM
I know that they will always do the cruelest thing and the most racist thing, but the extent to which these particular fuckers will also do the stupidest thing.
Fire up the phones. Make every fucking member of the GOP own this.
Fuck them.
Fire up the phones. Make every fucking member of the GOP own this.
Fuck them.
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
They're trying to tell us that they always get what they want. That there is nothing so hideous that they won't do it, even if it's kidnap a five year old child and then, when they lose, really try even harder to make him suffer more.
Fuck them.
Fuck them.
BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
DHS has requested expedited deportation proceedings against family of Liam Conejo Ramos
The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
www.mprnews.org
February 6, 2026 at 3:53 AM
They're trying to tell us that they always get what they want. That there is nothing so hideous that they won't do it, even if it's kidnap a five year old child and then, when they lose, really try even harder to make him suffer more.
Fuck them.
Fuck them.
Reposted by Doctora Malka Older
Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”
It Turns Out Waymos Are Being Controlled by Workers in the Philippines
During a Congressional hearing, Waymo's chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, was grilled over the company's reliance on overseas workers.
futurism.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”