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ianjsimpson

@ianjsimpson.bsky.social
190 followers 397 following 143 posts

Photos | Books | Music | Film | Comics | Libraries Occasional reviewer for Strange Horizons Manager in Liverpool Central Library Lives in Macclesfield Often in the Peak District

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Reposted by ianjsimpson
Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
The last review of the SH week is from @ianjsimpson.bsky.social, and focuses on Jacy Morris's We Like It Cherry (@tenebrouspress.bsky.social). "Morris is writing about tradition and belief and survival; about the Other both within and outside of our immediate experiences." Spoilers, obvs:
strangehorizons.com
We Like It Cherry by Jacy Morris
Morris is writing about cultural destruction due to climate change—and how the “west” cares little for any other people or their traditions
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Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Despite the headline it’s not George RR Martin personally going for them cos he’s rich and famous. It’s all of us. The test case used his work, but it’s about the plain-as-day issue that ANY generative AI ignores and infringes copyright, by passing off. That’s a win for basic law.
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Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror) @sadiehartmann.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
It's Banned Books Week! Here are some Horror (and adjacent) books that are often banned and/or frequently challenged. I have read most of them but I chose Bless Me, Ultima to read & enjoy. See if your public/school libraries have these books! Read Banned Books
The Exorcist
Beloved
Exquisite Corpse
The Hunger Games
Carrie
Rosemary's Baby
The Witches
Bless Me, Ultima
Lord of the Flies
Kindred
The Handmaid's Tale
Lovecraft Country
100 Years of Solitude
When the Reckoning Comes
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Lottery
Perfume
Tipping the Velvet
In the Miso Soup
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own. Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week. Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Mandatory ID cards are a terrible, terrible idea iandunt.substack.com/p/id-cards-a...
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L.R. Lam @lrlam.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Hi, can I interest you in some fantasy written by a nonbinary author? With trans and intersex characters? Not based on a franchise by a transphobic author! Dragonfall, Emberclaw, and my rewritten debut, Pantomime, are out now, and I could very much use some help getting the word out about them. 💖
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
And on my last day, at 12.05, my last piece of formal work is complete...
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Cameron L. Mitchell @cameronlmitchell.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
The Librarians review – the heroic women battling against book bans and censorship #movies #documentaries
theguardian.com
The Librarians review – the heroic women battling against book bans and censorship
Kim A Snyder’s documentary highlights the defenders of young readers’ rights to see their lives in print facing rightwing attacks
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Three Shires Head, Derbyshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire #waterfallwednesday
Long exposure photograph of Three Shires Head which is 2 main short falls in the distance under a small stone bridge and a series of smaller cascades in the foreground. The sky is filled with wispy white clouds and a winter tree is on the upper left.
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
In one week I'll be back in public libraries...
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Louie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
This is NOT just america. This is happening here. Local coverage of it, if you can bear the pop up ads.... www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2548259... #UKKidlit #Edusky
dorsetecho.co.uk
Row erupts over 'inappropriate and shocking' books being read by students
A ROW has broken out over the choice of books being read by Weymouth secondary school students which has 'shocked and appalled' some parents.
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Libraries Connected @librariesconnected.org.uk · 23/09/2025
Public #Libraries are 'essential for more equitable access to books, texts and digital resources', a new report from Literacy Lab @edinburghuni.bsky.social on the future of books and reading notes. blogs.ed.ac.uk/literacylab/... #Reading
A woman and child read a picture book in a library.
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Alicia Spencer-Hall @aspencerhall.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
What the fuck. Are there any decent alternatives?
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Dr Dean Burnett @drdeanburnett.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Daily life in 2025. #AI #Tech #JustLetMeBe #FFS
The tuba meme, where a schoolgirl has her head pressed against the wall by another girl wielding a tuba, pushing it right up to her face, suggesting and intense, unavoidable onslaught of sensory information

Girl against wall:Me trying to do a basic ask I've managed Jo do every day Without incident for many years 

Girl with tuba: EVery organisation on Earth 

Tuba: AI
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
The Labour MP for East Thanet, Polly Billington MP, has written to the Reform Leader of Kent County Council to express her concern about Reform in Kent’s "continued endorsement of anti-science organisations and conspiracy theories" in a new motion on climate change (🧵)
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Come to Aston and do my job... Head of Content and Digital Transformation - Jobs at Aston jobs.aston.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... Closing date: Monday 29 September 2025. #AcademicSky #HigherEd #Skybrarians
jobs.aston.ac.uk
Job Vacancy at Aston University: Head of Content and Digital Transformation
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the dedicated and forward-thinking Library Leadership Team (LLT) at Aston University as Head of Content and Digital Transformation.In this strategic leadersh...
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Nicholas Whyte 白怀珂 @nwhyte.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Your occasional reminder that Ursula K. Le Guin and Philip K. Dick were in the same year in the same high school, liked each other’s writing, but never met in person.
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Iwan Rhys Morus @irmorus.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Entirely agree.
theguardian.com
How AI is undermining learning and teaching in universities | Letter
Letter: Prof Leo McCann and Prof Simon Sweeney say student misuse of generative artificial intelligence is widespread and we must be sceptical of its usefulness
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
My latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books. p.s. I have a new book of cartoons out soon: www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2
Panel One:
 A woman sits in a chair reading happily in a book-filled room.
 A voice offstage says
"You can't survive on books alone"
The woman replies
"Maybe I can!"

Panel Two:
"How?" asks the voice
"I don't know yet, but I'm sure the answer will be in one of my books." Says the woman

Panel Three:
Caption: However 
The book is filled with yet more books.
A skull sits on the chair. It says
"I regret nothing!"
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
My cartoon for the @theguardian.com books autumn reads special.
Panel 1
A figure lies on a lounger as a hot, orange sun sets, saying
"The holiday's over."

Panel 2
Now wheeling a suitcase towards a plane in  warm eveniong light
"It's nice to sit around in the sun reading all day."

Panel 3
The plane rises amongst the clouds
"But all good things must come to an end."

Panel 4
The figure deplanes with the suitcase in drizzle
"Coming home has its own pleasures."

Panel 5
The rain is harder. The figure shelter under an umbrella and looks into a shop window containing a selection of books and a sign reading
"New books for autumn!"

Panel 6
The figure now sits at home by an open fire, happily reading a new book. The suitcase has not yet been unpacked.
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Strange Horizons @strangehorizons.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Strange Horizons published our first issue 25 years ago this month! 🎉 Thank you to everyone who has ever read, shared, submitted, donated! We wouldn't be here without you and we hope you'll continue to support us into the future!
Happy 25th Birthday to Strange Horizons
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
This accessible, local service is saving Brits £1,473 a year. www.better.org.uk/news/this-ac... Love your #library
better.org.uk
This accessible, local service is saving Brits £1,473 a year.
Better leisure centres, libraries, swimming pools, gyms, spas, pitches and other community spaces. Find you nearest centre and join the movement.
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Hugh Jones @hbsj.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
That was "Unfunded hobbyist research", the latest single from President Malcolm Press
John Peel, legendary Radio1 DJ, at a mixing deck
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
2 weeks to go...
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Last summer at Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire #waterfallwednesday
Long exposure photograph of several short waterfalls coming over a very green rocky area
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Jeroen Sondervan @jeroenson.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
What might seem like a small announcement—it’s just one institution—actually carries substantial weight and has a strong symbolic meaning. @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social, has taken another bold step: it won't renew its Web of Science license. www.uu.nl/en/news/acce...
uu.nl
Access to Web of Science will end on 1 January 2026
The university library has decided not to renew the licence for access to the Web of Science citation database (including Journal Citation Reports).
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Part of the problem with social media and podcasts is I invariably add a book every day or two to my tbr pile thanks to recommendations, but I read a book on average every 2 weeks. So the maths suggests I will never be able to read everything I want to.
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Art class From the latest Private Eye, out now.
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Tade "Will Eat Your Heart in the Marketplace" Thompson @tadethompson.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Yep.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
‘AI tech shows promise writing emails or summarizing meetings. Don't bother with anything more complex.’ I’ll ask again: What is the trillion dollar problem that this trillion dollar technology is supposed to solve? A difficulty writing emails?
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Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
On the same day in the Telegraph:
The Telegraph

Rayner tax scandal - £40k tax dodge - Statement

Angela Rayner dodges £40,000 stamp duty

Deputy Prime Minister reduces tax bill for Hove flat by declaring it as her main residence

[Photo: Angela Rayner pictured at the weekend in Hove, where she has just bought a flat Credit: Dan Charity/The Sun on Sunday]

Robert Mendick Chief Reporter. Amy Gibbons Political Correspondent

29 August 2025 8:57am BSTThe Telegraph

Money > Property > Second homes

How to avoid tax on your second home

From stamp duty to council tax, shield your wealth from Labour's tightening net

[Photo of houses around a bay - Areas such as Cornwall have added a premium to council tax bills for second homes Credit: iStockphoto]

Fran Ivens Senior Money Writer

29 August 2025 1:21pm BST
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Laura Woods @woodsiegirl.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Skybrarians and infosec/ online safety folks: I'm sure a little while ago one of you clever lot shared (maybe wrote??) a very useful looking book for parents about how to talk to your kids about social media without shaming/fearmongering. Can't find it now! Does this ring any bells for anyone? 📚
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Kate Watson @loreandordure.com · 03/09/2025
A classic thread demonstrating in hair-tearing detail the ways in which ChatGPT can’t do literature review, or research, or summarise. It can only appear to be doing those things, by generating statistically plausible sentences that might resemble the answer.
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priscilla page @priscillapage.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
once again tapping the sign
screenshot of my old tweet: a post from The Sun (sorry, I know) that reads "Snowflake students claim Frankenstein's monster was 'misunderstood' - and is in fact a VICTIM" with my caption "but that's........that's the book. that's what the book is about"
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Niki Seth-Smith @nikisethsmith.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Any science feature writers? We pay £350-450, send your pitches today or tomorrow!
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Are you young, highly educated and driven, and want to contribute to our stagnant economy with its aging population and low productivity? Well out you go
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Adil Ray @adilray.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Let’s be honest. Carswell is not alone. You don’t tweet unless you know it’s a popular belief. There are many in public roles, in pubs and at dinner tables who believe this. This is a persecution of Muslims in the UK and anyone with any sense of humanity, who cares about Britain must call this out .
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Sarah T Roberts, PhD @ubiquity75.xyz · 25/08/2025
lol, economists.

Panos Mourdoukoutas @PMourd... • 14h
Amazon Should Replace Local Libraries to Save Taxpayers Money via @forbes forbes.com/sites/panosmou...

Gwen
Fun fact about getting books from Amazon:
You have to pay money for them.
Anyway, I'm off to pick up my library holds.

Panos Mourdoukoutas @PMourdo... • 6h v
But you don't have to pay taxes!

Gwen
Cost to individually buy the six books I have on hold this week: $70
Amount the Altadena Library Special Parcel
Tax cost me this week: 75¢
Someone help me budget this, I'm not chair of an economics department.
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North West Bylines @northwestbylines.co.uk · 29/08/2025
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/educati...
northwestbylines.co.uk
The reading crisis: How to help children rediscover books
Reading offers valuable insights and life lessons, and if it doesn’t come naturally to your children, you can help them discover a love for it
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
"the current state of universities seems like a very bad deal for those involved, bad for society and ultimately unsustainable" www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/has-ma... #AcademicSky
timeshighereducation.com
Has massification driven UK higher education to the end of the road?
A university participation rate of more than 50 per cent did not prevent the Soviet Union’s collapse. With UK participation at a similar level 30 years on, the sector is in meltdown and politicians ar...
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
This time in a month I'll have left HE behind. Because its bloody rubbish, isn't it...
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Strange Horizons @strangehorizons.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Hex Supply Customer Support Log by Elis Montgomery @elismontgomery.bsky.social "oh shit you’re not a witch at all you’re just a freaking bot a chat AI from hex? the gall yeah that explains a lot" Link ⬇️ strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po... #poetry #speculativepoetry #specpo #witches
POETRY

by Elis Montgomery
Hex Supply Customer Support Log

Quote
oh shit you’re not a witch at all
you’re just a freaking bot
a chat AI from hex? the gall
yeah that explains a lot

25 August 2025
Strange Horizons
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Me: this is great, glad to see authors ripped off by AI getting their due. Me after using the search tool: I am one of these ripped off authors. Academics, it only takes a minute. Seven of my papers are in this and I had no idea.
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ianjsimpson @ianjsimpson.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Can we stop using 'sunsetting' in terms of closing a service or practice please? Sunsets are beautiful things to behold.
A sunset of oranges and golds as viewed from Shining Tor in the Peak District with the exposed rocks on the right and the tor sweeping down to the left.
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Uncanny Magazine @uncannymagazine.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine is OPEN to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! We can't wait to read your stories!!! buff.ly/xB0IZOX
Space Unicorn!
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Dr Heidi Colthup @heidi-colthup.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
UK universities are in crisis, they've been in a bad place for a long time. I began as an hourly paid (zero hours) lecturer in 2008. SEVEN YEARS LATER I finally got a permanent, but part-time contract. I was promoted, but still part-time. Moved uni in 2018 - STILL PART-TIME. #AcademicSky
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Danie Ware @danacea.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
#goodnews
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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 20/08/2025
This is eye-opening. I had no idea there were so many.
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Monica Byrne @monicabyrne13.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
😌🥲😇
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