Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Az

Laura @lauropea.bsky.social · 16h

tories have this duality where they will thunder about humanities degrees being rip-off waste of time but will tell starry-eyed how you Boris Johnson is a genius because he memorised the first six lines of the Iliad in Greek, which you can in fact do without even knowing Greek

2 7 52

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 15h

This memo brought to you by having spent More Than A Year in a full-time non-academic job, a feat not achieved since I was 22.

Amusingly, the extension opportunities / brain candy I’m now strategising to reach were the promotion pathway skills in the job I had at 22 - but I didn’t stick around 😂

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 17h

Oh joy oh frabjous day. About a month ago I emailed my boss with a draft Instruction Document for [minor process] and got agreement that I can create more of them.

Me: okay here’s this TRICKY ONE it’s still a draft though I need feedback

2

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 16h

But if I can get to even knowing _who talks to the software people_ I will know things not usually known at my rank, and be able to ask better questions and come up with better local kludge solutions and thus my odds of being called on in _future_ Software Situations and go up.

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 16h

I might not get to solve _this_ problem by contacting the Software People and requesting new options (totally possible within the software, but I have a hunch that software might be phased out soon therefore customising it further might not be a priority).

1

Reposted by Az

Curb Your Malthusiasm 2.0 @manucleardevice.bsky.social · 1d

"This Whole Thing Smacks Of Gondor," i holler as i overturn my uncle's funeral pyre and turn the 4th Age of Man into the 4th Age of Shit

15 760 2.5K

Reposted by Az

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

I would absolutely read this book.

Phoebe Barton 🚀🇺🇳 @phoebebarton.bsky.social · 1d

Tumblr poster: Why is the Fantasy Protagonist's Cool Animal Companion always a wolf, a bird of prey, or something cool? If you live in a medieval-ish society, even if you have cool powers to bond with an animal, it's probably going to be a farm animal.

What about a fantasy book where the heroine's Spirit Companion Animal is a pig. And not a cute piglet, but a huge fucking sow. As clever as a human, but absolutely as ruthless as pigs can be.

And the protagonist is like "should I quit eating pork? Does it disturb you, that milk piglet could have been yours." And the pig is like "bitch first of all the difference is that it *isn't* mine, and don't fucking pretend that - given the chance - I wouldn't eat a human child."

keuhkopussirotta: "What are we going to do with him?"
"I propose murder."
"Where would we put the body?"
"I volunteer."
"Are you suggesting we should kill him *because* you want to eat his corpse?"
"I'm sure there are plenty of other good reasons to kill him here, I just can't think of them all right now."

23 50 270

Reposted by Az

Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social · 1d

Listen, the other thing rattling around in my head is "Flat bottomed woks you make induction stovetops work"

2 8

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 17h

I took this as an opportunity to ask More Questions and now am one step closer to possibly, eventually, getting to talk to the software Product Owner who must exist somewhere out there.

As a bonus I have also been looped in to the early user change management group for windows 11 roll-out.

1 1

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 17h

This week

Grand-boss: hey how do we stop [x] happening?
Boss: funnily enough Az just sent me a draft process document that might fix that

1

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 17h

Oh joy oh frabjous day. About a month ago I emailed my boss with a draft Instruction Document for [minor process] and got agreement that I can create more of them.

Me: okay here’s this TRICKY ONE it’s still a draft though I need feedback

1 2

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

Workplace question of the week:

“Can I send a paper clip to a prison?”

A: Best not

B: Why are we sending people paper clips in the post anyway?

Reposted by Az

Jared Pechaček @vandroidhelsing.bsky.social · 1d

[catherine of siena voice] all of it

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 2d

What foods do you love that you fully acknowledge make you a pervert for loving them?

1 6 24

Reposted by Az

wormbuxx @wormbuxx.bsky.social · 1d

Now I’m falling asleep and she’s calling a cob

44 670 3.7K

Reposted by Az

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

i've roasted a canada goose before and it was delicious, so, this checks out

Voltaireon - 5 caustic French philosophers in a trenchcoat @shaidorsai.bsky.social · 1d

I had a book on waterfowling back in the day and I will always remember the sentence “The best reason to kill and eat a goose is that a goose would absolutely kill and eat you, given the opportunity.”

10 10 130

Reposted by Az

Voltaireon - 5 caustic French philosophers in a trenchcoat @shaidorsai.bsky.social · 1d

People talk about how smart pigs are and how close to humans they are and I’m like “Yes, and have you MET humans? That’s not an endorsement!”

1 7 48

Reposted by Az

neongrey @neongrey.bsky.social · 2d

all discourse aside, there is one machine with consciousness. it's printers. they are alive and conscious and they hate you and they'd take your arm clean off if you let them. never trust a printer.

130 3.9K 8.7K

Reposted by Az

austin @aparker.io · 2d

I have a modest proposal to address the Bluesky toxicity crisis.

First, we find a big boat.

Second? We get it stuck in a canal.

20 76 520

Reposted by Az

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 1d

Proof whatever the author's intentions, a reader can miss them.

Paul Haine @paulhaine.bsky.social · 1d

Kemi Badenoch claiming Terry Pratchett as her favourite author is wild

5 32 100

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

Addendum: Lord Baden-Powell, noted for recruiting children to Empire, and also for noting that People Don’t Look Up:

did he ever notice that children Look Up more?

I am inclined to believe @nome.bsky.social over LBP based on my own experience but I would like to know whether LBP sorta noticed…

Nome @nome.bsky.social · 1d

That's actually something I saw too while working at a kid's bookstore.

I'm a second generation clown, and like my father before me I can make giant (15' long or so) bubbles, and I'd get up on the roof during farmers markets and let them fly.

Kids would stare, amazed. They'd point. Adults would /

1

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

He’s vindicated on very few things, but this one recurrs.

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

Lord Baden-Powell vindicated again

Nome @nome.bsky.social · 1d

3) Adults don't look up, so signs above eye level are functionally meaningless.

Adults will stand there wall-eyed while someone under a massive sign saying "Standard Screening, Enter Here" repeats it out loud to them "Yes, standard screening, here," while their kids get it instantly.

1 2

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

Memo to later me: I have thought about this before but was too In Academia.

I am bothering my workplace because I Want To Help (with, e.g. software change)

… i should sign up to freelance How To Docs for @dreamwidth.org , or something similar.

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

The stakes are One Tech Libertarian Guy in his spare time and One Woman Who Is Experienced, Strategic and Disabled.

In fact this is the BEST use of my subscription money, I will cut Google drive and Zotero before I cut that one, because I’m relying on Some Very Invested Nerds.

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t even know what that is but someone remind me to look it up

rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 1d

hello please allow me to once again praise our lord and savior social graph distance sentiment analysis (in other words: the sentiment analysis alone is not always enough, but setting different thresholds for it based on how far away the person is from you can be a 10x multiplier)

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

The stakes are One Tech Libertarian Guy in his spare time and One Woman Who Is Experienced, Strategic and Disabled.

In fact this is the BEST use of my subscription money, I will cut Google drive and Zotero before I cut that one, because I’m relying on Some Very Invested Nerds.

Az @amisamileandme.bsky.social · 1d

Or to put it another way: I have not always loved @rahaeli.bsky.social ‘s Takes, but net benefit from reading them.

I have _very occasionally_ had cause to wonder about site culture etc, in very niche DW contexts. The stakes are much less viral, but…

1