iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alex McLean

@yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy

207 followers 6 following 582 posts

Non-academic #UKRIFLF research fellow at non-profit org @thentrythis, working on algorithmic patterns (@alpaca). Instigator of @tidalcycles, and co-founder of @algorave […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ post.lurk.org/@yaxu, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

Posts Replies Media

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

If LLMs make us stupid because you can just pay them to do stuff without thinking, does that mean rich people have always been stupid

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

I've been wondering, what if we think about LLMs as a solution rather than a problem? like, there are problems with LLMs, but consumers are paying for them because they genuinely solve problems. Maybe it's better to focus on the problems they're solving? The kinds of problems I'm thinking about […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Am I losing my mind or is the website and code for littlefed very muchi LLM-generated? The website says it's made by hand, but the copyright holder says they didn't write the code, a group of people called the 'little computer people' did, and then trasferred copyright to him. This group is […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

My current research project finishes in two years and a bit, and I'm starting to think about what to do next... If you have any ideas, e.g. about funding applications etc that you'd be up for collaborating on, let me know !

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Found footage from the first @tidalcycles workshop, in Barcelona July 2013 photos.app.goo.gl/2qmstQDW1qNaQnJW8

photos.google.com

New video · Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 🎬

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

Ok so car windows are sometimes called "automatic windows" if they are controlled via a button, but pedantic types will say that's wrong because they don't operate automatically, you have to press a button for them to move. But then they do often have an automatic mechanism where they reverse […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

What's the latest new type of music?

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

We are live from Algorave Decelerate London www.youtube.com/eulerroom/live

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

Getting quite a lot of plausible emails from LLMs, it's impossible to tell what is a real person now. Just replied to an unsolicited but apparently well-researched question with: "Due to the growth of LLMs I'm afraid I can't spend time on unsolicited comms without more info about your […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

My general feeling at the moment is that forums / social networks / messaging systems with open signup is becoming impossible to manage post-AI, and we'll have to give up on them soon.

Reposted by Alex McLean

TOPLAP @toplap.social.toplap.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

With the current lack of admin/moderation time, and increasing strain from LLMs etc, the following TOPLAP services will be sunset and shut down by April 2027: * social.toplap.org - this mastodon server * forum.toplap.org - TOPLAP discourse server * eulerroom.com - […]

social.toplap.org

Original post on social.toplap.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

Academic idea of an open access conference: You have to pay £££ to attend online or in-person, even if you are one of the speakers (actually you'll often have to pay more then), and often can only talk if you travel to it in-person (even if that means a transatlantic flight, etc), and have to […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

We (sheffield pattern club) rarely advertise event on social media, we just focus on our email newsletter. You can subscribe here: newsletter.patternclub.org/subscrip… We recently moved it from mailchimp to self-hosted listmonk - much cleaner and snappier ! We're now using […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Reposted by Alex McLean

Dave Griffiths @nebogeo.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

@TodePond was folded into a slub score (although I think of more recent vintage)

Scribbled notes and diagrams on crumpled plain paper

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

Here's a sneak peak of the @alpaca festival (on algorithmic patterns in the creative arts) open call for performances, workshops and conference talks: alpaca.cc/call Would really love feedback on it, whether it speaks to you, and whether you have any confusions/technicalities/etc .

Open call – Alpaca Festival

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

How cool would it be if glastonbury festival ended.. it would create room for SO many smaller, more interesting festivals in the UK, creating a massive wave of creativity

Reposted by Alex McLean

Then Try This @thentrythis.social.thentrythis.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Meet the newest member of our studio! Lucy is joining the @alpaca project for a couple of years, helping to figure out the best ways to share the research online, with a focus on community building and marginalised groups. This is part of @yaxu's […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

Text says Welcome to the Then Try This gang: Lucy Cheesman, alongside a photo of a person smilling

Text reads: Lucy Cheesman has joined us to work part-time on the UKRI funded Alpaca project. She'll be looking at better ways to share research online, informed by permacomputing principles.

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

"It’s up to you… If you see yourself as white there’s no hope for you. If you see yourself as white, I’m forced to see myself as Black” - James Baldwin

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2026

Streaming live from Sheffield Pattern Club livecode showcase, first performance in ~ 18 mins! youtube.com/eulerroom/live

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

If you see any live coders arguing online, please tell them to stop procrastinating and finish their @incolico submissions

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026

Disappointing to see so many high ranking UK academics sign this petition in support of white supremacist academic Nathan Cofnas johnarmstrongmaths.com/openletters/… I've written to the two Sheffield-based signatories, sharing this counter letter which is […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/08/2026

I've been working on an auto-scheduler for an upcoming, wildly overbooked algorave.. It tells people where to set up, which inputs to plug in, and shows a db meter for them to line check (thanks to xair mixers having an OSC api). It will also automatically […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Textmode display showing an algorave line-up with indication of who is playing and setting up, and db meters useful for line checking

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026

I have a nice second hand HDMI matrix (can switch 4 inputs around 8 outputs..) and am OVERJOYED to discover it has an old school protocol. Like you can plug in an ethernet cable and then telnet to it to control it remotely. I'm not really sure why it makes me so happy […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Reposted by Alex McLean

Wieferich Prime @pikesley.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2026

OK stopping fiddling with Little Fluffy Clouds on #Strudel now, @gilesdring […]

Original post on mastodon.me.uk

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026

Organising conferences I've tended to do a call for full papers but it's always felt awkward. Like why require people to write 4+ pages to apply to do a talk? Especially when it's unpaid work (sometimes even pay-to-speak), and when people generally don't just read out their paper anyway so the […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026

Do any AYAB-hacked knitting machine people fancy trying out a collaborative live coding interface for knitting, e.g. today or tomorrow? #knittingmachine #ayab

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Reposted by Alex McLean

James Smith 💾 @floppy.org.uk · 15/08/2026

“Black academic hounded to death by the press for plagiarism allegations started by a known racist” versus “AI companies owned by white billionaires pushing industrial plagiarism machines down everyone’s throats whether they want them or not” I don’t see the lawyers or academics who let and LLM […]

Original post on mastodon.me.uk

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026

Epiploke (lucy cheesman + me making shifty algorithmic dance music) have a gig in Birmingham UK on 15th Oct and Bath UK on 17th Oct. Basically we're looking for a gig somewhere in between/around Bristol and Birmingham on the 16th Oct.. Maybe Cardiff or Newport? Also potentially looking for […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026

I'm going back to that London for a party 16th Sept 2026, it's going to be really good gel.now/events/849 Top lineup of live coders! Too many in fact so we decided to make some software to switch between them automatically so we stay EXACTLY on time, 20 minute sets each. Then this […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

Really looking forward to a conference in London next month, but I struggle to understand how contributing to a two day conference costs the contributor around £500. Academic conferences seem to be getting more and more expensive, where does the money go? As far as I know, they are volunteer run […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

np: www.65daysofstatic.com/live-from-pa… Banging set from @polinski as part of a top notch pattern club algorave back in June '24 !

65daysofstatic.com

Live From Pattern Club

Another drop from Polinski! This time a live set recorded at Pattern Club, Sheffield, amongst a night of computer-wrangling, glitch-harnessing and beat-shuffling. There's more information over at The Komoy Noise Research Project (Paul's/Polinski's ongoing newsletter/centre for sonic weirdness). Or take a listen

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026

London! More details to follow but tickets now available for this Algorave at the carpet shop in Peckham on Weds 16th Sept ! gel.now/events/849

Algorave // decelerate

grassroots events london

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026

With recent news I'm curious about what a plagiarism detector would say about my thesis, but as a non-academic I don't have access to the tools.. Do you just upload a pdf to them? If anyone has access to one I'd be interested in what it says ! slab.org/writing/thesis.pdf

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Reposted by Alex McLean

Algorave @algorave.social.toplap.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/08/2026

London UK call for performers! Algorave: deceleration 16th September 2026, Carpet Shop Peckham A celebration of 17 years of uzulangs on the birthday of TidalCycles Call for performers - live coding musicians/visualists and their collaborators. Live coding music will have a focus on uzulangs […]

social.toplap.org

Original post on social.toplap.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/08/2026

Lots of disruption on the train network getting to the London Pattern Club unweaving workshop I'm running.. My key advice for train travel in the UK and Europe - *trust no-one*, especially people in uniform telling you which train to catch. People working for train companies are really great at […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

Thinking about earlier days of free software, I guess GPL was designed for a world where you might get a program on tape, floppy disk, or downloaded from a local BBS. You might have an address to write to a human to get the source code off them, or find them and ask for it in-person. I guess the […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/07/2026

I spent a while trying to work out when Tidal was born, but eventually realised it didn't have a birthday, it slowly emerged and came into focus over an extended, continuous series of experiments, events and collaborations.. However I did my first talk on live coding something like an uzulang […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/07/2026

What's your favourite music with less than five supporters on bandcamp?

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026

Still can't quite believe I've managed to wangle Switch Angel, Tim Exile, and badcirculation on to the same bill but this is happening on Thurs 30th July in Sheffield: www.tickettailor.com/events/pattern…

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026

Thinking of hosting a 'permacomputing meetup'. What's a permacomputing meetup and what happens at them?

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

Music is a great way to find friends with the same energy as you www.reddit.com/r/sheffield/comments…

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

Hopefully coding will become a lot easier post-AI, because all those corporate 'open source' frameworks will become even more unusable, and straightforward+minimal low/no dependency handmade code the norm.

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 20/07/2026

[Andy Burnham] www.youtube.com/shorts/ri4FsInjHAk

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

UK non-academic researchers! UK Research and Innovation have one research funding programme - 'Future Leaders Fellowships' - which allow and support applications from non-academic researchers, i.e. those hosted by business including non-profits. It's well funded, over 4 years, extendable to 7 […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026

TOPLAP is the *Temporary* Organisation for Live Algorithm Programming, but is 22 years old and still going. I think it was actually disbanded at some point over 10 years ago but it carried on by mistake. The problem with vaguely anti-hierarchical and distributed organisations is that they're […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Reposted by Alex McLean

Darius Kazemi @darius.friend.camp.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026

There are a lot of reasons I've been in a creative funk recently but one of them is the chilling effect where I think about the inevitable LLM plagiarism that will occur and I think, huh, do I really want to release anything publicly? I feel myself more drawn to making stuff that never goes on […]

Original post on friend.camp

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2026

Classic man stuck in bin scenario www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFkXmhnT5Jo

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/06/2026

Maintaining a project on microsoft/azure github seems as bad as maintaining a profile on X It's bonkers that we let the free/open source community get so comprehensively captured by closed source, inhumane corporate tech. If your community on there doesn't have an exit plan, it might be worth […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 15/06/2026

Court of appeal on Palestine Action: “It is not, as it claims, a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the suffragettes operating transparently in the open. It is a covert organisation that operates using secret cells to avoid the detection and prosecution of those using violence […]

Original post on post.lurk.org

Reposted by Alex McLean

Dan Stowell @danstowell.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/06/2026

The first trillionaire is such a sad moment in the history of humanity - that after so many eras, so many stories, institutions, dreams, our species has arrived at such an *idiotic* mis-allocation of resources. Our entire species. Everything we have. This is where we are.