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Neville Morley

@nevillemorley.bsky.social

3.9K followers 1.5K following 3.4K posts

Classics & Ancient History at Exeter, Leverhulme Major Research Fellow; much Thucydides, Marx and decadence, but also beer, cats and obscure European jazz. STILL trying to keep the blog going: https://thesphinxblog.com.

thesphinxblog.com.

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · Jul 26

One like, one Thucydides opinion.

Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · Jul 25

One like, one history opinion

Kerstin Hall @kerstinhall.bsky.social · Jul 25

one like, one writing opinion.

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Bo Jacobs Strom @bojs.bsky.social · 3h

Headlines going to the English requirements but I'd completely missed this part of the plans, yet another act of idiotic self harm. Completely incompatible with the government's stated aims on housebuilding, growth, etc.

The immigration skills charge is being raised by 32%

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jaythechou.bsky.social @jaythechou.bsky.social · 1d

I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1673

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 2h

Labour really are determined to park their tanks on the Tories’ lawn, including seizing their mantle as The Stupid Party.

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 7h

Yes. My only quibble is the term 'hallucinations', which may have become established usage but in my view involves unhelpful anthropomorphism.

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 8h

Even with a smoking gun - invented quotes, fake references - it’s impossible to *prove* that it’s GenAI (the response they have all learned to use: My notes must have got confused), and all that happens anyway is they have to rewrite the work and I have to remark it. Pointless. Low mark it is.

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 10h

Yes, and the ones who have actually bothered to come and talk to me and it’s clear that they have listened and tried to follow advice.

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 10h

Oddly enough, I’ve rarely been asked for references by students whom I’ve taught, and almost only by those with whom I’ve had a really positive relationship. The boilerplate requests tend to come from personal tutees whom I generally haven’t taught and so wouldn’t know about any AI use.

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 10h

I liked this: “If you’re using AI for the work…you probably aren’t the only student in your class using AI for the work. And if you think you know the right tricks for making your work sound like it wasn’t AI generated…you probably aren’t the only student in your class who knows those same tricks.”

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 10h

A really excellent Open Letter to Students on using GenAI, which I came across over on Mastodon: librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/a...

An open letter to students considering submitting AI generated work

“We have concluded a Faustian pact with our science and technology generally, and with the computer in particular. So it seems to me. And in such a pact with Mephistopheles both partners gain somet…

librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 13h

The British Chambers of Commerce believe in the Magic Money Tree and have fully committed to Cakeism.

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 1d

Hector, offered new catnip-infused felted wool ball: Meh.

Hector, seeing Olga playing with the new catnip-infused felted wool ball: That is the greatest toy ever and it is MINE. Gimme! [thumps her, chases her off, plays with ball for thirty seconds and then gets bored]

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 1d

That’s both versions of The Vanishing; the original because it taps into my worst nightmare, and the remake for the absolutely dreadful new ending.

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 1d

“Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you’ll never watch again, and one song you can’t stand”

Boiled eggs

The Vanishing

We All Stand Together

Phil Edwards @philedwards.bsky.social · 1d

Brussels sprouts

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Hotel California

Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 1d

“Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you’ll never watch again, and one song you can’t stand”

sea urchins

that werewolf movie with Gregory Hines

Lady In Red

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 9d

Possibly a side-effect of finishing a draft of a paper on nostalgia, decadence and mos maiorum for a trip to Bloomington, though the Roman Republic faced more dangerous threats than giant insects.

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 9d

I have suddenly had a powerful flashback to the Airfix ‘giant praying mantis rampaging through city’ kit I constructed and painted once, which was completely brilliant. I have no idea why.

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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 10d

*googling 'can I trademark K Lamity?'* www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Next Tory leader? Rise of Katie Lam reflects rightward shift on migration

Shadow Home Office minister who tweets in language of hard-right populism is talked of as future of conservatism

www.theguardian.com

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 11d

On the Anthropic plagiarism and intellectual theft settlement.

thesphinxblog.com/2025/10/03/c...

Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya, Man!

So, all the books I’ve ever written or edited appear on the LibGen pirate website (among others) – I haven’t bothered to check for books to which I’ve contributed a chapter – and theref…

thesphinxblog.com

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Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 12d

Instead of the Authors Guild and the plaintiffs working to include as many writers as possible in the settlement, they agreed on arbitrary and minimal definitions of which books would be included. They wanted a quick win even if they screwed over most authors. 11/

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Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 12d

What's left unsaid is that most countries don't require official copyright registration to receive protect and the ability to sue for damages. The USA is evidently the only country to require this. 9/

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 12d

🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 CAT

Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 12d

Just so long as you’re synergistically aligned.

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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 12d

I think this might be a problem of not knowing what a median is

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 13d

There is a complete absence of any evidence here for this set of assertions that the median voter feels they would be called racist when Nigel Farage is called racist (or, in this case, when Farage isn't called racist but jumps up to claim that he has been)

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Will Jennings 🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 12d

What company to keep. What a journey.

It's really something to read Goodwin's 'impact case study' from REF2014. Far right extremism: against it before he was for it.
impact.ref.ac.uk/casestudies/...

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 13d

The median voter doesn't identify with Reform + doesn't see Reform as racist or not racist, but does think they have problems with racism, so why would they "feel attacked" by an attack on Reform

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Neville Morley @nevillemorley.bsky.social · 13d

"The cult of lethality captures a central conviction of Hegseth’s school of thought (if it can be called as much): that the key to victory is killing people. Reciprocally, that defeat can be explained by failure to kill enough people."

Phil Klay @philklay.bsky.social · 13d

‘The appeal to the mystical image of the “warfighter” is that it avoids having to discuss war in concrete terms. It sells the attractive myth that by doing more of the parts of war that look cool and really make you feel like a man, you can actually win wars.‘

www.deadcarl.com/p/clausewitz...