apinae @apinae@qoto.org

It was J.R.R. #Tolkien himself, born #OnThisDay in 1892, who used "dwarves" instead of "dwarfs" in his runaway success, "The Hobbit." But it wasn't without controversy.

The editors at Allen and Unwin, Toklien's publisher, said the plural according to the Oxford English Dictionary should be "dwarfs." Tolkien retorted that he helped WRITE that dictionary and he could decide on his own plurals, thank you very much.

#writing #writingcommunity @writing @writingcommunity #linguistics @linguistics

He talked about electric cars. I don't know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

Then he talked about rockets. I don't know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software and Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit anyone's ever said, so when people say he's a genius I figured I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets.

@futurebird What weirds me out is that email has been decentralised with multiple ‘instances’ for decades, and nobody thinks that’s strange. Why can’t people see that such a model is also completely possible for social media? 🤷
#mastodon
#JohnMastodon

Several weeks ago I wrote in CJR that the key issue for any #journalist using #Twitter , was the dilemma presented by working on a platform where the owner actively hates and works against journalism. Nothing at all about the past week is surprising, or out of character for #Musk - maybe that the proof of concept happened so decisively. For all platforms how their ownership treats #pressfreedom is a key determining factor. (🙏 for #JohnMastodon and his well documented support of reporters….)

If you enjoy someone's post on #Mastodon go ahead and click the star. If someone tells you that's meaningless because there's no #algorithm, ignore them. Sure, boost the post too if you want others to also see the post, but don't think telling someone you like what they posted is somehow unimportant. In real life I don't tell someone, "good job," or "well said," or "I love that," for the sake of some algorithm, I do it because I'm human and they are too. It's fundamental to being truly social.

Open registration begins for the 2023 session of my annual anti-statistics course focusing on causal inference & Bayesian data analsysis & fully coded examples. Lectures will be free online, so no need to register unless you want to join discussions. All details at link: https://github.com/rmcelreath/stat_rethinking_2023/blob/main/README.md

ICYMI: important figures from a recent report that should be widely shared.

Global CO₂ emissions & the challenges ahead... #ClimateChange

+ Global Carbon Budget: https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/
+ Summary of report: https://carbonbrief.org/analysis-global-co2-emissions-from-fossil-fuels-hit-record-high-in-2022/
+ Published Study: https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/4811/2022/
+ More graphics: https://robbieandrew.github.io/GCB2022/

Have you ever seen an oak tree dance?

Britain is full of 'lost' rainforests, predominantly in the southwest and northwest of England, west Wales and the west coast of Scotland. There are other areas where the conditions are perfect too, like this one in the Peak District National Park.

When the rain starts and the cloud base drops into the rainforest, the trees come alive. Everywhere you look, there is magic and mystery.

#photography #woodland #trees #rainforest

They're calling it a new kind of social media because its feed is chronological. That just sounds like what Facebook and Twitter was. These things don't start big and evil, but they all get there.

They'll build critical mass and then they'll find a way to monetize you or they'll get swallowed up by some larger media corporation who will find a way to monetize you. The ads will come. The engagement boosting algorithm will come. You and your data will always be food for them.

Don't fall for it again. You've already found the better way.

📢 The "International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture" (GCSC, Uni Giessen) is offering several 3 year PhD scholarships! 🎓

Especially interesting for those involved in
#narratology #memorystudies #Performativity #epistemology #politicsofspace #decoloniality or #cultures of #knowledge, #ecology or #media

Check it out here 👇

https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/faculties/ggkgcsc/graduateprogrammes/gcsc/doctoral-programme/scholarships/announcement

@sociology @histodons @philosophy @politicalscience @anthropology @sts

I've tracked down videos and GIFs not working on mastodon.social and mastodon.online to a rate-limit issue with our object storage provider and have raised a support ticket with them #devops

My boss, Matt Mullenweg, the boss of Automattic, owner of Tumblr, is looking for ex-Twitter employees for Tumblr, saying,

"we're putting on a fast track to see how they can help super-charge Tumblr. We can't absorb thousands of people, but I'd be open to hiring entire teams if they already work great together."

He's photomatt on Twitter, or look here too: https://automattic.com/work-with-us/

Boost for visibility, please? Spread the word!

#Twitter #JobFairy #Automattic #Tumblr

I posted something the other night, rather lighthearted, about the perks of online academic talks and being able to eff and jeff freely when you're annoyed at the speaker. Since then, I've experienced something for the 'cons' column - an attendee screenshotting my slides, cropping them to take the institution logo off, and dropping them in their own powerpoints without permission, acknowledgement or credit. Just don't do that shit folks, it's theft. #AcademicChatter

As appendix to my #Introduction and catalyst for possible collaborations in the field, I would like to #boost our recent #DrugDiscovery effort in the modulation of the #CCL20/#CCR6 axis to identify new #inhibitors for #IBD and other #diseases depending on the same axis.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0223523422006055