iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 29/09/2026

Based on my own reporting on OpenAI's audited financials from 2025, it appears that Anthropic was a worse business (at least in that year), spending $2.75 make $1 versus OpenAI spending $2.60 to make $1. So many people told me this company was "more profitable"! www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-op...

OpenAl Lost $38.5 Billion In 2025
2025 — OpenAl Had $13.07 Billion In Revenue, $34 Billion In Costs and Expenses, and $20.92 Billion In Losses, with a net loss attributable to the company of $38.53 Billion
• Revenue: $13.07 billion
• Cost of Revenue: $7.5 billion
• Research and Development: $19.18 billion
• Sales and Marketing: $5.73 billion
• General and Administrative: $1.57 Billion
• Total Costs and Expenses: $34 billion
• Loss from Operations: $20.92 billion

The Al lab spent $7.33 billion on compute and infrastructure last year, a threefold surge from 2024, accounting for more than half of its
$12.65 billion in total operating expenses.

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UCU Edinburgh @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Day 1 of our strike at the University of Edinburgh while senior management shrugs and says 'crisis, what crisis?' at the complaints about the inevitable falling educational standards and job losses.

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UCU Edinburgh @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Day 1 of the strike by the workers of UCU Edinburgh against the manufactured deficit (which is not really a deficit), and against a senior management earning millions while staff disappear and education suffers. Solidarity against this parasitical form of management of our higher education.

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I think these phrases would work nicely when communicating with senior management in universities (and beyond). My favorite are the third and fifth ones.

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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

“The logic of other venue owners joining Kraft in banning Macklemore over concerns about antisemitism is hard to follow while Kanye West — who released a song entitled “Heil Hitler” just 18 months ago — continues to tour unabated.”

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Yup. Did the conference circuit with it. Sold a lot of very bad data back to universities (based on the HESA submissions that universities themselves submitted...). Had exponential curves in the most high-on-their-own-ignorance way possible. (Mark Corver = DataHE guy. Focusing on buildings)

screenshot of a tweet from Sall Burtonshaw from 5 November 2019. Mark Corver [head of DataHE] looking at projections for 18 year old university entrants each year. 100,000 per year compared to what we have now by 2030. Implications for teaching buildings, accommodation, and teaching staff. Failure to do so will frustrate the potential of a generation.

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Folks @edinburghuni.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk your vice-principal was bonding with Exeter's Regsitrar, who also moonlights as a Nous promoter, at the following conference last summer: www.humane.eu/events/resid... Coincidence that both our unis instigated these cuts within a year? #DefendUKUnis

humane.eu

Programme | HUMANE

This is the programme for the 2025 HUMANE Summer School

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It takes a special skill to make your first contribution on an actual "culture" issue in 11 months and have it be defending Ed Sheeran.

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Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Dubai's "home transaction volumes in May were roughly half the levels of a year earlier, according to data from local research and consultancy firm ValuStrat, as the war hit market sentiment and left sellers reluctant to sell at steep discounts. www.ft.com/content/3d6b...

ft.com

Middle East war tests Dubai’s island dreams

Ailing luxury developments on emirate’s man-made archipelago reflect strains on wider real estate sector

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Geoffrey Hughes @geofffhughes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

All the dooming has me thinking back to my misspent youth reading Asimov stories where the first law of robotics is that they can't harm humans. Too bad that turns out to be a non-starter as the main thing all these companies want is to get in on those sweet, sweet, no-bid defense contracts...

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Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I know all university leaders hate trades unions but at Brighton they’re about to find out what happens when their workforce doesn’t have a structure and negotiating team to represent them and to head off trouble. It won’t be pretty. Employees won’t submit - they’ll resist in unpredictable ways.

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Jon Hoover @jhoover04.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

New article by Behnam Zolghadr on the logician Afdal al-Din al-Khunaji in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. plato.stanford.edu/entries/al-k...

plato.stanford.edu

Afḍal al-Dīn al-Khūnajī (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

'Numerous universities have begun employing staff through subsidiaries in a bid to cut pension costs. Institutions are not required to submit to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) pay data relating to such staff, whereas they are for directly employed staff.' Adding insult to injury.

timeshighereducation.com

Subsidiary companies leading to ‘skewed’ gender pay gap reporting

Universities are not obliged to report to Hesa salary details of staff employed by wholly owned companies, leading to fears of misleading figures

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

It's always hedge funds/private equity when you follow the paper trail and money. Acquired by Chatham Asset Mgmt, then push for AI (undoubtedly to help Chatham's other stock and equity interests), now layoffs, possibly later shutdown and disposal of fixed assets to make money.

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Good lord www.poynter.org/business-wor...

executive ncer micnael
Applegate. The Miami Herald, which had 20 layoffs and eliminated 10 vacant positions, lost its city of Miami and city of Miami Beach beats, said deputy investigations editor Carol Marbin Miller.

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Ditto. But the loss is real. & though there are no compulsory redundancies, from word of mouth, it seems we may have lost upwards of 100+ FTE academic staff to early retirement (2/3 of original target). This when most dept were already understaffed (except in the fantasy land of snr mgmt)

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

It's good that this story is getting attention, but it would be equally outrageous if the people whose doors were being hammered on actually were asylum seekers. It's not just a problem because they're international cricketers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Group entered hotel of Pakistan cricketers mistaken for migrants

Protesters congregated at a Portsmouth hotel after false rumours that a coach of migrants had arrived.

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Alex Prichard @profalexp.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Incredible mobilisation across the institution, in all faculties and PS divisions. This is a resounding statement of industrial strength. Now we have to decide what to do with it!! 😂 With compulsory redundancies off the table already, tomorrow’s EGM will be interesting. There’s power in the Union! ✊🏻

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His Bark Materials🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌌 @oneiriccanid.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Whales and dolphins have language, reasoning, and cultural trends. Discovering that hasn’t changed how humans see ourselves. Allowing for the sake of argument that they can, why on earth should machines thinking do so?

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Geoffrey Hughes @geofffhughes.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Classic: lead with half measures because you assume the US and Israel will go nuclear. Yet surely they'll go nuclear anyway and then the argument for rowing this back is already right there: these are symbolic moves anyway so it's just not worth it...

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Geoffrey Hughes @geofffhughes.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Obviously, the correct response to someone who always takes a hysterical, maximalist position is just to do what you want rather than negotiating with yourself until you do what they want. But the West never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity when it comes to restraining Israel.

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Sophie Lewis on Gloria Steinem.

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Lisa DeBruine @debruine.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I love the concrete examples of how to avoid anthropomorphism in this article: artificial intelligence → probabilistic automation image recognition → image labeling speech recognition → automatic transcription shows bias → reflects bias hallucination → undesirable output goal → success condition

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Matt @differentmatt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I've had the exact same experience! THEM: "Of course we value the humanities! Where would we be without them?" ME: "That's great, so anyway I'm a historian of technology and—" THEM: [eyes narrowing so quickly it makes an audible sound]

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

@exeterucu.bsky.social proposed during the "consultation process" that senior management making more than 130k reduce their pay. The VC's response was these people are mobile and will leave and we need it for talent. Lack of talent has been obvious throughout the process, so if they leave--savings!!

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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 07/09/2026

Universities are cutting jobs and courses while senior pay rises and management chases new campuses and shiny buildings. UCU vice president Mark Pendleton is right: while lower-paid staff face stagnant pay and insecure contracts, “that is not what is being experienced at the top of the sector”.

inews.co.uk

The seven elite universities losing millions of pounds… while bosses' pay rises

Russell Group universities are axing jobs and cutting courses as the sector faces a financial crisis fuelled by a drop in international students

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Always need to follow the money. Very likely all the admin (and former admin, like the Dartmouth person and AHA for the Chronicle) are in bed with consultants, who have AI companies with them (along with other bad actors).

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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Writing a textbook is both thrilling & daunting. Thrilling b/c you get to draw up your own new synthesis of your field. Daunting, for the same reason. So, I'm checking passages I wrote 2 years ago to see if they hold up to the latest work. A: they do! Link to this #OpenAccess textbook in link. 🧪🗃️

Selection from a textbook, explaining how the Black Death pandemic may have played out differently, depending on how we imagine when and where new strains of the pathogen developed. Source: Monica H. Green, The Black Death: The Medieval Plague Pandemic Through the Eyes of Ibn Battuta, History for the 21st Century (H21) Project, 01 Sep 2025, https://doi.org/10.17613/qeznz-tcx61.

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Geoffrey Hughes @geofffhughes.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Very normal and healthy situation where debates about military aid to Israel inevitably lead to opponents being asked to disavow a long line of provocateurs while it's considered uncouth to point out that the guy who made this political ad is a member of the Israeli cabinet.

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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I’ve suggested that this imperialist grab is similar to those of the British Empire. There a big difference though. Investors like Goldie (Nigeria), Mackinnon (East Africa) & Rhodes (South Africa) elicited govt help. Trump needs to elicit investors’ help. www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

thetimes.com

Pentagon ‘given stake in Venezuelan oil deal’ after secret talks

The agreement was made after American oil companies were seemingly reluctant to invest their own money

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

An outbreak of Mpox is unfolding in Guinea Bissau. Madagascar is also experiencing its first ever outbreak. I would argue that Mpox never left. We have not made the necessary investments in global surveillance and targeted immunization. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

theguardian.com

Mpox is back – and in new countries. How can this outbreak be contained?

The public health emergencies in 2022 and 2024 saw the virus reported in 145 countries, but in the new cases children appear particularly affected

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

If anyone is in Karachi, I will be giving a talk on ishq (lovesickness), based on my recent publication (link to the publication in the next message), at Habib University on September 3rd. The talk is open to the public, but please register beforehand. #histmed #medievalSky #MENAstorians

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Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Student visa slump ‘raises serious questions’ on university funding. Number of student visas granted falls by more than 40 per cent in three years. China, India, Pakistan and Nigeria all down year-on-year. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

researchprofessionalnews.com

Student visa slump ‘raises serious questions’ on university funding - Research Professional News

Number of student visas granted falls by more than 40 per cent in three years

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jericho jennifer nelson @henkaipantomime.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I really enjoyed teaching part of Şen's book last fall. really inspiring in terms of the standard of the work and informative to anyone interested in the topic

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Years ago, while at ND, when Bush Jr won his second term, I commented, "People have chosen to safeguard the rights of the unborn over those of the living." MAHA takes that to a complete other level!!!

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Lincoln Bishop University taken into the private sector by its lender, Global University Systems. As trailed here, there'll be much more of this coming up as creditors seek to secure their assets by taking them in-house. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/gus-com...

timeshighereducation.com

GUS completes takeover of Lincoln Bishop University

Public institution to become autonomous company within wider private education group

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Nahyan Fancy @fancynahyan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

What is even more problematic is that no actual financial predictions of impact on research income (QR and/or grant) with loss of staff was even attempted by the DVC research and UEB. And when DVC was confronted, the defense was: how can we calculate not knowing who will leave?

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Alex Prichard @profalexp.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

As someone who has spent the summer doing this negotiating work too, I can confirm the same processes across the sector. HE is run as an informal cartel, and needs to be a formal one that is properly regulated by gov, and fully accountable to staff and the public purse

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Alex Prichard @profalexp.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This is absolutely true. What’s more concerning is that Uni finance heads continue regardless. No one, and I repeat NO ONE, knows how much it costs to deliver a module or a programme at Exeter. We have shown them their errors, offered more realistic data, but agreeing with UCU would ruin accounting.

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Aidan McGlynn @aidanmcglynn.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This whole thread about Exeter is worth reading, but this point jumped out - the justification for enormous salaries was based on leadership capacities, and we're now watching them all pay a further fortune for cookie-cutter recommendations from external consultants (often the same consultants).

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

If you think or know your university has Nous or its ilk, watch the Four Corners video, and keep an eye on what's up at Wollongong University. When Australian HE sneezes, UK HE....

youtube.com

Universities $1.8 billion consultancy spending under wraps | Four Corners Documentary

YouTube video by ABC News In-depth

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Alex Prichard @profalexp.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

A thread on the dispute at Exeter Uni. #ucu #defendexeteruni @ucu.org.uk On 15 June HR called Exeter UCU into a confidential meeting and informed us they would be putting over 500 colleagues at risk of redundancy and expected to loose around 200 staff. The number of c.150 you’ll have seen is FTE.

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Elias G Saba @egsaba.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I found it! It was indeed a Geniza fragment. Goitein's translation: "I inform my lord, the Kohen, may God, the exalted, give him success, that Mūsā, after some days of absence, entered the school while a boy was reading before me. I said to him: Take the par[āshā and read it a few times] ...

Fragment from the Cairo Geniza in Arabic, shelfmark T-S Ar. 38.1.

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Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Some colleagues received 5 minutes notice for their online at risk meeting and had not yet received their letter informing them they were at risk. Executive staff did not bother to turn up to the meeting. This is the true face of executive leadership at the University of Dundee.

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