Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Tim Hector

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jun 19

I suspect that fact that the vast majority of LLM users don’t seem to have received this (really very simple!) message is because the AI companies have a vested interest in us not understanding it. “ChatGPT is smart, it just makes mistakes sometimes” is much more marketable than the truth.

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jun 19

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jun 18

Thank you for the feedback :) and I will try to look up your work on HCI situations, sounds interesting

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jun 18

Danke, das wünsche ich Dir auch, und eine gute Reise! Das aus Kassel wäre ja wohl auch tauglich als Titelbild :)

Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jun 18

ja! und das Schöne ist ja, das Bild hab ich am DB-Fundbüro am Wuppertaler Hauptbahnhof aufgenommen. :)

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Internet Archive @archive.org · Jun 18

As one of the most popular IRC (Internet Relay Chat) clients, mIRC brought real-time online communities to life in the ’90s. Today, mIRC still serves a dedicated base of developers, hobbyists, & open-source communities.

Explore web history with the #WaybackMachine ➡️ xttps://web.archive.org/

Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and Now."
Below is a Wayback Machine capture of the mIRC website from December 21, 1996, alongside a capture from June 1, 2025

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jun 16

New publication: In this open access article in AI&Society, I introduce the concept of “joint journeys” to show how voice assistants become gradually embedded in everyday life – where linguistic practices, domestic routines and global connectivity intersect.
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s001...

Joint journeys: the linguistic domestication of smart speakers and their users in interaction - AI & SOCIETY

This article develops the concept of joint journeys as a metaphor to analyze how smart speakers become embedded in everyday domestic life and to trace the reciprocal, linguistically-mediated processes...

link.springer.com

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Wikimedia Foundation @wikimediafoundation.org · Apr 17

Before Wikipedia was in your pocket, it was on a CD 💿

Today in 2007, the Wikimedia Foundation released Wikipedia Version 0.5 – a compact disc with almost 2,000 articles. Read the original, archived 2007 press release ➡️ w.wiki/DPDw

Two CDs stacked, with the bottom one inserted into a clear cover. Text says: In 2007, the Wikimedia Foundation released Wikipedia Version 0.5, a CD collection of selected articles intended to make the free encyclopedia available to those without internet access.

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Wikimedia Foundation @wikimediafoundation.org · Mar 14

Over 7,000 languages are spoken around the globe, and the vast majority of them are oral and never written 🌏

OpenSpeaks Archives, an open and public digital language multimedia archive, focuses on recording these lesser-resourced languages. Learn how ➡️ w.wiki/DKhD

Close up photo of an older woman shaded in blue. Text says: Our community. Open speaks/archives.

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Reposted by Tim Hector

Ervin Malakaj @ervinmalakaj.bsky.social · Feb 18

My comrade and drag mom @kyfrack.bsky.social and I are hosting a workshop on queer media theory at the Auerbach Institute of the University of Cologne this summer. Reach out if you are interested in participating. Glad to brainstorm with you. 🌈

Poster with following text against pink and yellow background:

CfP: Queer Media Theories Workshop
Erich Auerbach Institute for Advanced Studies
University of Cologne
June 26, 2025

This one-day and in-person workshop seeks to bring together scholars working at the intersection of queer studies and media theory. It is inspired by two interrelated dynamics. First, we recognize a resurgent interest to theorize media practice among scholars working in varying disciplinary contexts. Drawing on a robust history of thought about the characteristics of media and their relation to culture, recent scholarship has brought to bear insights about media operations’ relationships to historically and structurally marginalized communities. Second, the last three decades have seen the emergence of extensive lines of inquiry in queer studies grounded in analyses of media. From discussions animated by an interest in global cultural engagement to microhistories of media usage, scholars have charted a rich cultural terrain of queer media practices. Devised as a venue in which participants can continue to think about the intersection between queer studies and media theory, the Queer Media Theories workshop seeks to catalyze existing interests with a focus on theoretically-oriented projects whose themes and methods have thus far been underexplored.

There are no geographic, period, or disciplinary limitations for the workshop. The organizers welcome submissions by scholars working at any stage of their career. If you are interested in the project and would like to brainstorm how best you can contribute, reach out to the organizers, who would be glad to help you participate.

$Limited funds are available to offset some of the cost of participation in the workshop for participants. If you would like to draw on these funds, please indicate your request in the email with as many details as possible. The organizers welcome proposals for 20–30-minute presentations in either English or German related to the workshop theme. The proposal should have a title, an abstract (ca. 250 words), and a bio (ca. 100 words). Please submit this information in an email to both organizers by: March 28, 2025. Acceptance emails will be sent by April 4, 2025. Organizers & Contacts Kyle Frackman (University of British Columbia): kyle.frackman@ubc.ca Ervin Malakaj (University of British Columbia/Erich Auerbach Institute): ervin.malakaj@ubc.ca Sponsorship The Erich Auerbach Institute of the University of Cologne The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation$

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jan 31

If you're by any chance interested in writing a review, feel free to drop me a line for a review copy...

#VoiceAssistants #HumanMachineInteraction #PrivacyMatters #AIResearch #SurveillanceStudies #OpenAccess #DataEthics

Book cover of a paper-copy of "Voice Assistants in Private Homes", edited by Stephan Habscheid, Tim Hector, Dagmar Hoffmann, David Waldecker. Dark blue background, white letters, blue-filtered photo of a smart speaker next to a smartphone, which displays "Welcome Home"

Table of contents of the book in a photo of a paper copy (part 1)

Table of contents of the book in a photo of a paper copy

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jan 31

The volume includes contributions from Christoph Lutz (@lutzid.bsky.social), Niklas Strüver (@enriya.bsky.social), Nikolai Horn (@irightsinfo.bsky.social), Caja Thimm et al., Didem Leblebici, Netaya Lotze, Florence Oloff, Carsten Ochs, Markus Kienscherf, Anouk Mols, Jasper Vermeulen and many others

Bluesky

rightsinfo.bsky.social

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jan 31

The volume explores the integration of voice assistants into daily life with an interdisciplinary approach. The chapters deal with the exchange between humans and machines, emerging linguistic practices, plattform-capitalism, privacy and data protection, the GDPR and other related questions.

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Jan 31

Happy to announce the open-access volume "Voice Assistants in Private Homes. Media, Data and Language in Interaction and Discourse", edited by Stephan Habscheid, @dagmarhoffmann.bsky.social, David Waldecker and myself. You can download it here: www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-7...

Cover of the book "Voice Assistants in Private Homes. Media, Data and Language in Interaction and Discourse" (Stephan Habscheid, Tim Hector, Dagmar Hoffmann, David Waldecker, eds.), dark blue theme, white letters, blue-filtered picture of a voice assistant and a smartphone.

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Brian L. Due @briandue.bsky.social · Dec 13

Humans are increasingly assembling with sensory AI technology. People with impairments may benefit significantly from this development. I am seeking a postdoc researcher to join me and Barry Brown. It will explore the intersection of digital and human senses.
jobportal.ku.dk/alle-opslag/...

Postdoctoral position in communication research at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen

jobportal.ku.dk

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Dec 13

Congratulations Iuliia, this is wonderful news!

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Katharina Nocun @kattascha.bsky.social · Dec 12

An der Uni Duisburg-Essen gibt es gerade ein spannendes Forschungsprojekt zum Thema „Misogynie in Chat-Kommunikation" - es werden anonymisierte Einsendungen gesucht. / via @maximiliankrug.bsky.social www.uni-due.de/kowi/mukom/m...

Forschungsprojekt "Misogynie in Chat-Kommunikation"

Misogynie in Chat-Kommunikation

www.uni-due.de

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Transformationen des Populären @sfb1472.uni-siegen.de · Nov 25

Good News! 🍾

Die DFG hat der Verlängerung des SFB 1472 „Transformationen des Populären“ zugestimmt 🥂

In der zweiten Förderperiode werden wir die soziale, kulturelle und politische Problematik der Verteilung von Beachtung in den Fokus nehmen.

Hier das Statement von @nielswerber.bsky.social
👇

Zweite Förderperiode (2025–2028) bewilligt - SFB 1472 „Transformationen des Populären“

sfb1472.uni-siegen.de

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Theresa Heyd @theresaheyd.bsky.social · Nov 5

Gelegentlich braucht es doch mal gute Nachrichten: die DFG fördert in den kommenden Jahren das Netzwerk Queerlinguistik (Sprecher*innen: Miriam Lind und Lars Vorberger). Frischer Wind für die deutsche Linguistik und wir freuen uns sehr, in Heidelberg mit dabei zu sein! 🎉

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Konstanze Marx @konstanzemarx.bsky.social · Oct 29

#jobs #medienlinguistik #Phd im wunderschönen Innsbruck beim großartigen @dpfu.bsky.social

#BLinguistik

Universitätsassistent:in - Dissertationsstelle

Chiffre PHIL-KULT-14598

lfuonline.uibk.ac.at

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Tim Hector @timmoritz.bsky.social · Oct 14

Bis ich zum Studium nach Münster gegangen bin, war mir die dialektale Färbung meiner eigenen Ausdrucksweise - geprägt durch das Rheinland und das Bergische - kaum bewusst. In Westfalen hingegen wurde das schnell bemerkt, was ich sehr spannend fand.

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Niels Werber @nielswerber.bsky.social · Oct 14

Der Herbst bleibt spannend in Siegen. Nach der instruktiven und herausfordernden Jahrestagung des @sfb1472.uni-siegen.de folgt unsere Tagung zum "Reiz des Populären", die Thomas Hecken gebührend feiern wird. Die Gästeliste ist klasse, keine Türsteher.

sfb1472.uni-siegen.de/veranstaltun...

Programm der Festtagung "Reiz des Populären"

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Cringe: Ästhetik und diskursive Praxis der Schamlust @uebercringe.bsky.social · Oct 10

now on LinguistList: call for papers,
Ueber Cringe:
Ambivalent Affects and Everyday Aesthetics,
Heidelberg University,
July 7 – July 9, 2025

LINGUIST List 35.2783 Calls: UEBER CRINGE. Ambivalent Affects and Everyday Aesthetics

The LINGUIST List, International Linguistics Community Online.

linguistlist.org

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Niklas Strüver @enriya.bsky.social · Oct 2

Super happy to have been part in the organising of this years program for the CRC's lecture series "Media Environments: Between Capture and Surveillance". Come and pay us a visit, if you're interested in any of the talks and discussions. :)

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Nicole Holliday @mixedlinguist.bsky.social · Sep 5

Grammar is not the “rules” you were taught in school. It’s what your brain does to make sense of the linguistic input it’s exposed to.

The “rules” you were taught are a hidden curriculum designed to maintain a social hierarchy. Before you learned them, you were already an expert at your language.

Encephalophagy 🎃 @encephalophagy.bsky.social · Oct 14

What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?

I'll start: Amazon makes more money out of their Cloud services than out of their e-commerce platform.

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Theresa Heyd @theresaheyd.bsky.social · Jul 24

interesting pronoun thing I learned yesterday: in Fascist Italy, one goal of purist language policy was the abolition of lei, the 3rd person singular feminine, as a polite 2nd person plural form. Lei was ideologically positioned as a foreign and feminizing threat to national identity.

historical signage with the Italian flag, it says: ley (crossed out), si usi tu e voi

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