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James Cummings

@jamescummings.bsky.social

1.7K followers 2.6K following 490 posts

Reader in Digital Textual Studies and Late Medieval Literature at @newcastleuni.bsky.social jamescummings on former birdsite Long-term contributor to the Text Encoding Initiative #TEI, interested in digital scholarly editions #DH #medieval #drama #HTR #AI

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · Nov 13

Having an avalanche of new followers, (probably Twitter dying more and the creation of more Starter Packs), here is a short bio with more detailed interests.

I'm into late #medieval #drama, #digital #scholarly #editions, #TEI, #digitaltext, #HTR, #LLMs, and sensible #AI at #NCL #Newcastle uni.

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Reposted by James Cummings

Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 15h

This makes me so angry. These people view all life as training for lifelong servitude/work. There's no room for interest, enjoyment, and culture in their bleak vision of education. At least she'll never be in power to see it through. Though Reform are probably worse.

Badenoch: Curb students taking "rip-off" degrees such as English. The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 3h

The creative industries in 2023 produced about 124 BILLION for the UK economy. Beaten only by the energy sector. So even on a purely financial stance the right wing anti-arts&Humanities is economically stupid. It has nothing to do with 'value', but their ideology of controlling the poor.

Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 8h

The reason the Right are so invested in the myth that the arts have no value isn’t because the arts don’t generate wealth (they do); it’s that studying the arts teaches people to imagine better ways of judging the value of an idea than by counting how much money it makes…

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 1d

Expensive to go in there these days.

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 1d

Ah, that makes more sense, just me misreading the spreadsheet. I should have asked it to gloss it. 🤣

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 1d

AI telling you that you are so bad at getting enough sleep that you need to go to bed before supper. 🤣

Lucienne Cummings @lucimcummings.bsky.social · 1d

When your health app lives in a different time zone to you...

A screenshot of AI health advice to go to bed between 5.50pm and 7.20pm for a better night's sleep.

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 2d

Interesting study! Did it include so many works by you because you've written (& been quoted) on the topic so much, or because you are the user? If prompt was changed specifically to attempt to get more international balance would that be different or not? (Wondering how it decides what to include.)

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 4d

The problem with the redefinition of woke is that the concept of facts are now 'woke'. When the truth is woke and you are politically anti-woke then any repository of actual knowledge, like Wikipedia, is the enemy.

It is the same hatred they have of universities and libraries.

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 4d

And yet people seem to think that introducing digital IDs and age verification with photos of your documents or face given to third-party games companies will somehow keep us all safe.

They are wrong.

The Verge @theverge.com · 4d

Discord customer service data breach leaks user info and scanned photo IDs

An “unauthorized party” may have accessed the names of users, the last four digits of credit card numbers, and more.

buff.ly

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 5d

I think if I commuted by train rather than metro I would use it more. Maybe even become a member to use the WiFi. 😉 It is just in the wrong direction for me.

And yes, lovely and properly bonkers is an apposite description.

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 5d

The @litandphil.bsky.social is a lovely place. I should make more excuses just to go and do work in there.

Ian Johnson @youcanandyouwill.bsky.social · 5d

A-reading and a-editing (and a-posing) in local book fortress @litandphil.bsky.social

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 5d

Some funny stuff here, always good when you feel the world is going to shit.

Lucienne Cummings @lucimcummings.bsky.social · 5d

Really chuffed that something of mine was included in the news-poking fun this week.

Congrats to everyone else who contributed to this episode!
#satire #comedy

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Noising Up - 03/10/2025 - BBC Sounds

An uproarious mix of topical comedy sketches.

www.bbc.co.uk

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 5d

I remember once using a meeting timer/stopwatch app where you put in the approx salaries of everyone there and instead of counting time it counts up in money. Focuses the mind.

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Reposted by James Cummings

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Newcastle Uni @hassfacultyncl.bsky.social · 6d

We had the pleasure of attending an event celebrating the talented Sandra Kerr and to hear some fantastic performances from our Music students 🎼

Read about Sandra and the history of our music studies at Newcastle University in this article from the alumni team
>> bit.ly/42IA4iP

Music lecture theatre renamed in honour of inspirational retired lecturer and ‘Bagpuss’ songwriter

Newcastle University recently welcomed retired academic Sandra Kerr back to campus to celebrate the opening of a lecture theatre and performance space named in her honour.

bit.ly

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 6d

And sadly here also extra scared.

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 6d

WTF?! Who thinks AIs are virgins? Has the fetishization of chastity returned to such a degree that we've forgotten what virginity is?

And also, ewwww. Whoever wrote that blurb (AI or human) needs their psyche cleansed.

Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 6d

I'm sorry: "if I wish to see a virgin on-screen"?

My Favorite Actress Is Not Human
Tilly Norwood doesn’t need a hairstylist, has no regrettable posts, and if you wish to see a virgin on-screen, this is one of your better chances. That’s because she’s AI.

A picture of some AI girl standing on an AI landscape with an AI monster behind her. I'm gonna be so real: she looks about 14

By Tyler Cowen

Reposted by James Cummings

Newcastle Uni Special Collections & Archives @ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social · 6d

Did you know our collections of poetry books and archives span nearly 400 years, from the 17thC to the present day?

Here are two pages from a 1656 poetry collection by William Drummond.

Find the whole book on CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

#NationalPoetryDay

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 6d

When police reports talk about terrorists it inflames things more when they specify ethnic background. To say that the terrorist is a "British citizen of Syrian descent" is an attempt to shift blame by othering him. He was a British citizen, full-stop. This provokes more RW extremist 'retribution'.

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 6d

I'm trying to keep away from students, but they will keep wanting to talk to me...

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 6d

Je ne l'ai lu qu'en anglais. Ce serait une bonne pratique pour moi de le lire en français, mais j'ai tendance à privilégier la version originale pour les œuvres lorsque c'est possible (par exemple, les films en version originale avec sous-titres).

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 6d

I doubt my trivial academic articles will result in any useful claim even though some of them are in the dataset.

Reposted by James Cummings

Lucienne Cummings @lucimcummings.bsky.social · 7d

I'm taking a break from my latest "impossible" jigsaw to read the stories again in print.

Thanks again to @therelphian.bsky.social for working so hard to get this fantastic anthology out!

Get yours at: mybook.to/WhatComesToL...

#shortfiction

A copy of the short fiction anthology "What Comes to Light", laying on an unfinished jigsaw.

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 7d

Soon: how can we ever be sure...

(Imagines handwritten commonplace journals where the content is dictated to a student by the AI on their phone...)

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 7d

Merci pour l'explication – je relirai également la série (en Anglia 😉)!

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James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 7d

Is that cuz they have a LLM assisting them?

James Cummings @jamescummings.bsky.social · 7d

Est-il vraiment masculin? Je l'ai toujours perçu comme de genre non-binaire. Je vais devoir lire le livre!

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