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B.S.W. Barootes

@barootes.bsky.social

460 followers 370 following 2.2K posts

Medievalist. Asst. Prof. of English at MUN, Grenfell. Articles on final -e, the Pearl-poet, and monkish burps. Wm Beauchamp fanboy. Cursed by Artemis. (he/him/his) bswbarootes.com

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B.S.W. Barootes @barootes.bsky.social · Jun 3

I'm absolutely heartbroken.

Farewell, Stinky.

Goodbye, my sweet girl.

I love you, Biscotte.

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B.S.W. Barootes @barootes.bsky.social · 3m

I mean, Eton is notoriously filled with assholes, including the faculty....

Reposted by B.S.W. Barootes

Pat Sobkowski @patsobkowski.com · 1h

Rights aren’t rights if the government can take them away.

-George Carlin

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1h

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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Plenary Popehat Power @kenwhite.bsky.social · 33m

The White House Antifa Roundtable is one of the best displays I’ve seen of this-is-how-bad-it’s-gotten — just a sewer of open fascism, dementia, morons and freaks, and incoherent rage.

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B.S.W. Barootes @barootes.bsky.social · 20h

Like Skywalker doesn't fuck around

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 1d

IN HONOR OF FRIENDSHIP MONTH:

djt: "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey."

Epstein: "Yes we do, come to think of it."

djt: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday- and may every day be another wonderful secret."

And by "wonderful secret", he means raping children.

#PedoPrez

Reposted by B.S.W. Barootes

Esther Schindler @estherschindler.bsky.social · 1d

I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.

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Alexa Ray Corriea @alexaray.bsky.social · 1d

It’s boiling in October because you’re using ChatGPT to write your emails, Janice.

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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 2d

There are so few people actually asking, “is this any good for what we do?” Instead people give lip service to “responsible use” while plowing ahead with punching “AI” into everything. This isn’t just about selling a product; it’s about co-opting humanities researchers to train “AI” models.

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 2d

ACLS statement against White House “compact”: THIS IS SOVIET SHIT

Screenshot from statement “Universities and colleges have one mission: to advance knowledge. Faculty carry out the mission by conducting research and teaching students. The knowledge they produce and circulate is independently assessed by professional peers. Interfering with that process by forcing knowledge to pass through a political filter is a tactic adopted by the Soviet Union and other authoritarian states. The White House is dressing up its compact as a reasonable corrective to what it views as problems in campus culture. Let no one be deceived. This proposal imposes government censorship on academia. It is anti-American, and it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise.”

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Cdn Society of Medievalists/Société Canadienne des médiévistes @canmedievalists.bsky.social · 2d

The CSM Online: Tune in Wednesday 5 Nov. 2025, at 11am EST to hear 2025 Boyle Prize Winner Laura Moncion talk about her dissertation, "Being a Recluse is No Small Thing: Late Medieval Women’s Reclusion in Theory and Practice."

Register for the Zoom link: forms.gle/n6LJh7JYKvRD...

Laura Moncion – Boyle Prize Presentation / Colloque du prix Boyle - REGISTRATION / INSCRIPTION

On 5 Nov. 2025 at 11h00 (EST), the Canadian Society of Medievalists will hold its second annual Boyle Prize Online Presentation, when Laura Moncion, the winner of the Society's Leonard E. Boyle Prize ...

forms.gle

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Kristen Thomasen @kristenthomasen.bsky.social · 2d

The consultation is structured to a pre-determined outcome: yes, more AI. Very much agree with @anabrandusescu.bsky.social 👇🏻

(I‘m also offended by how much effort so many stakeholders put into trying to make the AIDA process better only to be ignored again. As Ana says, it’s no way to build trust)

Ana Brandusescu @anabrandusescu.bsky.social · 6d

I wrote a short essay about refusing to participate in Canada's public consultation on AI.

On refusal and reaching the limits to engage

This is an essay about the importance of refusal. As a researcher, I hardly write anymore this way, but I thought I should, in this moment, where the need to document our descent into fascism is cr…

www.anabrandusescu.com

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 2d

Another gem - literally speaking this time - from today's trip to Sorø. The ring found in the grave of Archbishop Absalon of Lund (r.1177-92). The stone is a Sri Lanka sapphire, testifying to the wide reach of Afro-Eurasian trade networks in the Middle Ages.

A gold ring with a flat pyramidical top in which is inlaid a violet sapphire.

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B.S.W. Barootes @barootes.bsky.social · 1d

Isn't there a Johnny Cash song about that?

Reposted by B.S.W. Barootes

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 2d

I’m sure this is just me, but cat trees look like printing presses?

A cat tree that looks like a printing press.

A printing press that looks like a cat tree.

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Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · Jul 30

Again: Marginalized people are disproportionately harmed by the spread of "AI" because the people who use it are essentially being trained to think the machine is "like us" & can speak "for us," even as it simultaneously pressures you to disbelieve *Actual Us* when we tell you "it's not & it cant."

Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) @autisticadvocacy.org · Jul 29

Generative AI changes what things mean because it focuses on words, not the meaning. It adds words, changes meaning, and makes "plain language" that is not accessible. We know, because we tested it. Generative AI has no place in plain language. autisticadvocacy.org/2025/07/asan...

Dark grey textured background. There’s a lighter grey box with text that reads: Artificial intelligence is when a computer program does things that normally need to be done by humans. We call artificial intelligence “AI” for short. There are lots of different kinds of AI.
The way AI works is by using data from people. Data is information a computer can read. AI programs read data made by people to understand what to do.
Generative AI is a specific kind of AI. Generative AI can use data to make new things.
Generative AI can create many kinds of new things, like:
text
images
music/movies
and more
People have already started using generative AI to write plain language.

Grey textured background. Text reads: In our statement, we explain the reasons why people should not use generative AI to write in plain language. Plain language is an important part of making things accessible for people with disabilities. Using generative AI makes “plain language” that is not actually accessible. We hope anyone who writes in plain language will not use generative AI.
Here are the reasons we talk about in our statement:
Generative AI changes what things mean
Plain language is an idea that is too new for generative AI to understand
Generative AI focuses on words, not ideas
Generative AI has discrimination built-in
Plain language is by and for disabled people
Read our full statement to learn more about each of these reasons.

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B.S.W. Barootes @barootes.bsky.social · 3d

Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland

B.S.W. Barootes @barootes.bsky.social · 3d

Look who's the 2025 Grenfell English Horseshoes champion! Hosrshoe
🧲🏆

And an unprecedented four (4) ringers in the final!

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The French Republican Calendar @sansculottid.es · 4d

Today is Tridi the 13th of Vendémiaire in the year 234.
Vendémiaire is the month of vintage.
Today we celebrate winter squash.#JacobinDay

More information on winter squash