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Bats in Lavender

@batsinlavender.bsky.social
927 followers 2.5K following 255 posts

Librarian in higher ed. Product Manager, @kcommons.bsky.social. Lover of kaiju and monster movies. Listener of EBM, industrial, postpunk, shoegaze, punk, indie, and goth.

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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is my nightmare. Right here.
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
OpenAI and Microsoft admitted LLMs are predatory tech built on “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said AI has created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
404media.co
‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Many "existing peer-reviewed studies that say AI is an effective learning tool are based on flawed methodologies and analyses that rely on misapplied, miscalculated or misinterpreted statistics." Good to see the severe limits of research on AI in education covered in IHE here.
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 09/09/2026
"We are not a 'school.' We are a hospital system with a football team. We collect grants from the federal government, payouts from insurance companies, and licensing revenue from television networks. That is our raison d’être." buff.ly/DUbh42r
mcsweeneys.net
We Are Not a “School”—We Are a Hospital System with a Football Team
“At our core, we are devoted to learning. Specifically, we want to learn how to extract as much value as possible from everyone and everything we interact wi...
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Hell yeah! Congratulations @ojcollective.bsky.social !!
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Woohoo! Come join me and earn some brand new badges on your Knowledge Commons profile!
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AAUP @aaup.org · 04/08/2026
“By embarking on a campaign of censorship, Texas A&M has abdicated its responsibility to support students’ right to learn & faculty’s right to teach. A university that censors Plato & other texts abandons its obligation to truth, free inquiry, & the public trust.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP president 5
aaup.org
AAUP President Todd Wolfson: An Institution That Censors Plato is Not a Serious Institution of Higher Learning
Censoring Plato is an academic absurdity and a textbook violation of academic freedom. Barring a foundational philosopher who is a cornerstone of Western thought because his work touches on race or ge...
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t0ussaint ☭黑人问号脸 @t0ussaint.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
someone PLEASE make Nightrider 2030 where the ai is stupid as fuck like real ai is and it gets micheal in all sorts of trouble. i would make it appointment tv
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
IMPACT: that company that was offering to buy books for AI companies’ training data — and probably destroy them in the process — says it will no longer offer this service following 404 Media’s exposure of it www.404media.co/ai-company-t...
404media.co
Company Offering Printed Books to Train AI Stops After 404 Media Coverage
Citing backlash, ISBNdb removed its webpages about training AI, denied ever buying, scanning, or selling a book for AI training, and said the site was a "test of market interest."
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 31/07/2026
Companies are all in on selling folks the idea that it’s in your best interest for your products to “know you” as if you are getting a dedicated servant but what you are really getting is a spy.
cnbc.com
GM to launch its own in-vehicle AI system later this year
General Motors plans to launch a proprietary in-vehicle artificial intelligence system that's better tailored for its customers later this year.
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Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 17/07/2026
A federal judge ruled that President Trump's administration cannot rely on a White House budget office regulation to terminate billions of dollars in grants because they are inconsistent with his priorities reut.rs/4yrXLK9
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Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 17/07/2026
JUST IN: Trump administration cannot cancel grants for disfavored causes, US judge rules reut.rs/4yrXLK9
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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 12/07/2026
The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
When people ask me what the phrase "artificial intelligence" means, my short answer is, it means "venture capitalists, give me some money". But OUP asked me for a longer answer, given here and summarized in the section headings: doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Screencap of page for linked article, reading: 

Contents
Introduction
AI Is a Research Field
AI Is an Approach to Cognitive Science
AI Is a Parlor Trick
AI Is an Ideology
AI Is a Way to Hide and Devalue Human Labor
AI Is a Way to Shift Accountability
AI Is a Way to Centralize Power
Conclusion
Notes
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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 25/06/2026
The thing to know about the elderly is that they lose the ability to sense heat with age. So they are likely cooking to death before they realize they are hot. It's why you often find dead elderly heat stroke victims with the windows closed and no AC on. It's why check ins are so important
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NPR @npr.org · 19/06/2026
While some enslaved people did not know about Lincoln's order, many learned of it while the fighting was still ongoing through informal networks, rumors and sometimes from slaveholders themselves.
n.pr
Juneteenth: How news of the Emancipation Proclamation spread through the South
While some enslaved people did not know about Lincoln's order, many learned of it while the fighting was still ongoing through informal networks, rumors and sometimes from slaveholders themselves.
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Mislaid Books @mislaidbooks.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I'm proud to announce that through Mislaid Books, we'll be publishing Edith Nesbit's lost novel THE MARDEN MYSTERY. It only exists in newspaper format, so may be abridged - however, unless a copy of the novel turns up, we'll never know. This will be reprinted alongside other lost short stories.
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Library of Congress @librarycongress.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
This printing, the first with all of names of the original signers printed on it, was produced after the Continental Congress fled from Philadelphia to Baltimore. By including her name, Goddard bravely aligned herself with the same risks the signers had undertaken. www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_nD...
youtube.com
The Goddard Declaration of Independence
YouTube video by Library of Congress
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Library of Congress @librarycongress.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
There's a lot of talk about Founding Fathers lately, but what about Founding Mothers? One name for consideration: Mary Katharine Goddard, the Baltimore printer whose name appears on the second printing of the Declaration of Independence, commissioned in January 1777 by the Continental Congress. 🧵⬇️
A cropped and zoomed-in image of the Goddard Declaration of Independence with Mary Katharine Goddard's name highlighted at the bottom
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Whitby Gothic @whitbygothic.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
+++ #OTD 45 years ago, the 19th of June 1981, 'Juju' the fourth studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees, was released via Polydor +++ Two singles were released from Juju: "Spellbound" & "Arabian Knights" #Siouxsieandthebanshees #postpunk #newwave #altrock #juju #goth #gothic #gothicrock #altpop
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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
To George and Laura, Bill and Hillary — we're grateful for your friendship, counsel, and devotion to this country. And to Joe and Jill, thank you for being on this journey with us.
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Sparrow / Liz @untonuggan.myatproto.social · 19/06/2026
Looking for a fun way to celebrate Pride month virtually? Consider learning ASL with from Queer ASL : You can learn to share your English pronouns in ASL! Work your way up to signing "I'm going to a queer dance party!" Classes start this coming week, but there's still available spots!
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I love when my family heritage collides with my work. My grandmother passed down the tradition of tarot reading, & this paper by @finbarre.com caught my eye on KCWorks: Tarot Reading as Living Heritage: Documenting Contemporary Rider-Waite-Smith Practice in the UK works.hcommons.org/records/9t8h...
works.hcommons.org
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GorgonGoddess_The @avngmedusa.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Ableism is, among other things, ignorance of privilege.
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
@finbarre.com I saw your paper on Knowledge Commons and just wanted to say that it's fun when my work collides with my background. My family has for generations read tarot and other sorts of decks. My first was the Rider-Waite. I don't read as much as I used to, but enjoyed your paper very much!
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
And finally a new band that @mickmercer.bsky.social brought to my attention through his Substack - Black Rain. youtu.be/WIirSp0Q-ug?... #WorldGothDay #music #goth
youtu.be
INSIDE
YouTube video by Black Rain - Topic
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Along with Bauhaus, let's have a little Rosetta Stone. youtu.be/xEi9gvR9H6Q?... #WorldGothDay #music #goth
youtu.be
Rosetta Stone - The Witch (from the Director, who filmed the video)
YouTube video by ShadowFilmsUK
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Happy World Goth Day! Just wanted to say hello to my fellow bats and drop my favorite Bauhaus song: youtu.be/Nubd9-V7DAc?... #WorldGothDay #music #goth
youtu.be
Bauhaus Dark Entries HD
YouTube video by Beggars Banquet Records
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Dex Anderson @dexanderson.com · 21/05/2026
they see us as big stupid kittens without fur.
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dr. meg smith @megsmith.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Today I am grateful for people who share their book proposals on @kcommons.bsky.social, which mostly means I am grateful to @eve.gd! Process documents are super useful and so hard to find.
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Alive And Able @aliveandable.com · 13/04/2026
Digital Accessibility: Upcoming Compliance Deadlines for Public Institutions, and Considerations for Private Institutions | Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC - JDSupra alive.ws/OnHgj #Disavbled #Disabilities #SpecialNeeds #Accessibility #AliveAndAble
alive.ws
Digital Accessibility: Upcoming Compliance Deadlines for Public Institutions, and Considerations for Private Institutions | JD Supra
Public entities, including public colleges and universities, face near‑term obligations to address and update accessibility standards for all digital...
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Joe Deville @joedeville.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
1/ This feels like a watershed moment to me. @rluk.ac.uk's Collections Strategy Network has posted new guidance on the criteria Research Libraries should use when making their investment decisions on #OpenAccess monographs, inc. recommending @openbookcollective.bsky.social as one model to consider
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Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 19/03/2026
"we coped, but only just". This is survivor bias. We didn't cope for the hundreds of thousands of people who died. The people with inappropriate Do Not Resuscitate orders who died - did we "only just cope" for them? Nowhere near. covid19.public-inquiry.uk/reports/modu...
covid19.public-inquiry.uk
Module 3 Report ‘In Brief’ summary – The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the healthcare systems of the United Kingdom - UK Covid-19 Inquiry
The independent public inquiry to examine the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK
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Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her) @moudhy.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
There's a broken cuneiform tablet from the Old Babylonian period, nearly 4,000 years ago, which preserves a tiny portion of a dialogue between two friends. It feels a bit like the conversations I've been having for the past week, so I wanted to share it.
Photo of a cuneiform tablet fragment shaped a bit like an irregular diamond. It preserves nearly 20 incomplete lines of text separated by a horizontal ruling
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 18/03/2026
Every time someone wants to sue over multiple pages of “similarities” like “our heroes are both sexy” “our heroines are both from the same state,” I always say that it is a bad idea and you will lose and it will cost you a lot of money.
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
This is a great explainer on why you should be VERY careful using AI agents and browsers, even if you're not using it for code. Good mitigation suggestions here. Don't Use Any AI Agents or Browsers Until You Watch This www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdHg... #cybersecurity #artificialintelligence
youtube.com
Don't Use Any AI Agents or Browsers Until You Watch This
YouTube video by Internet of Bugs
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Omg. WTF is Happening? @lalahaenzy.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue
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Knowledge Commons @kcommons.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
We are pleased to announce that Knowledge Commons has recently received a $20,000 donation from @digitalscholar.bsky.social to support our platform! We offer our sincere thanks to Digital Scholar for their generous donations and continued support. You can read more on our blog 💙
about.hcommons.org
Digital Scholar Donates $20,000 to Knowledge Commons (and Why that Gift Matters) – About Knowledge Commons
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honor sachs @drhonor.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Please circulate and share this important resource: thepanorama.shear.org/2025/04/09/t...
thepanorama.shear.org
The Early Republic Tracker
The Early Republic Tracker documents instances where the federal government is removing facts and stories essential to the public’s understanding American history from public historical sites, muse…
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I feel seen: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care... #highered
insidehighered.com
Academic Staff Expertise Is Largely Invisible (opinion)
Universities are set up to recognize classification, not contribution—rendering the intellectual contributions of academic staff largely invisible.
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American Museum of Natural History @amnh.org · 03/02/2026
It's Trilobite Tuesday! Pictured is the Lower Cambrian Bristolia insolens—distinguished by the uniquely angled genal spines that emerge from its head. While specimens with disarticulated head shields are relatively common finds throughout the Western United States, complete examples are rare.
A photo of fossilized trilobites; one individual pictured is a complete specimen.
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Once again I have to say how proud I am to work on this project and how much it means to be that others see what we're trying to do and the ways in which we're trying to enact our organization's values into our platform. #opeanaccess #repositories
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Thanks @investinopen.bsky.social! So proud to be part of this work. If you haven't yet checked us out what are you waiting for? Come join us!
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Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 28/01/2026
So, another cool thing that we make and maintain, here at @kcommons.bsky.social, is the open-source, open-collaborative review platform, Pilcrow. I have been using it, with others, to comment on a document we are working on. It's working really smoothly!
A picture of a threaded discussion in Pilcrow
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Knowledge Commons @kcommons.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
We hope that you’ll consider becoming a KC Champion, and that you’ll let us know if you have ideas for additional benefits that would be meaningful for your use of the platform!
media.tenor.com
a man in a black jacket holds a wrestling belt
Alt: a man in a black jacket holds a wrestling belt
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Bats in Lavender @batsinlavender.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Knowledge Commons provides free tools for scholars, students, and independent researchers but we can't do that without community support. Check out our new program below and become a part of the future of scholarly communications.
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Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Annual reminder of how many days there are in each month.
Mnemonic
 
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
Unless a leap year is its fate,
February hath twenty-eight.
All the rest hath three days more,
excepting January,
which hath six thousand,
one hundred and eighty-four.


Brian Bilston
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Knowledge Commons @kcommons.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
We’re excited to share that Knowledge Commons has a fresh new look! 🎨✨ Our updated theme on hcommons.org brings a cleaner design, improved navigation, and a more welcoming experience for our community. Same mission, new coat of paint — take a look! 🔗 buff.ly/VfAg9Uz
Screenshot of the new Knowledge Commons homepage
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