Alasdair Stewart
@abestew.bsky.social
Sociologist | Socialist | Neurodivergent | Linux & FLOSS advocate | he/they
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
How big tech is creating its own friendly media bubble to ‘win the narrative battle online’
How big tech is creating its own friendly media bubble to ‘win the narrative battle online’
At a time when distrust of big tech is high, Silicon Valley is embracing an alternative ecosystem where every CEO is a star
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
How big tech is creating its own friendly media bubble to ‘win the narrative battle online’
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
We're back with 5 more apps up for adoption at our fundraiser:
- LabPlot: A powerful data analysis and visualization tool that accepts data in many formats.
- Okular: View all kinds of documents. Okular supports annotations, digital signing, and more.
kde.org/fundraisers/...
- LabPlot: A powerful data analysis and visualization tool that accepts data in many formats.
- Okular: View all kinds of documents. Okular supports annotations, digital signing, and more.
kde.org/fundraisers/...
November 28, 2025 at 9:56 PM
We're back with 5 more apps up for adoption at our fundraiser:
- LabPlot: A powerful data analysis and visualization tool that accepts data in many formats.
- Okular: View all kinds of documents. Okular supports annotations, digital signing, and more.
kde.org/fundraisers/...
- LabPlot: A powerful data analysis and visualization tool that accepts data in many formats.
- Okular: View all kinds of documents. Okular supports annotations, digital signing, and more.
kde.org/fundraisers/...
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
I am tremendously grateful for open source, as it’s had such a huge impact on my career. That’s one of the reasons I’m so happy that Posit has committed to the @opensourcepledge.com. Read about our contributions to non Posit projects at posit.co/blog/posit-o....
Posit’s progress and renewed commitment to the Open Source Pledge - Posit
Posit continues its Open Source Pledge, investing heavily to support the open-source data science ecosystem.
posit.co
November 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I am tremendously grateful for open source, as it’s had such a huge impact on my career. That’s one of the reasons I’m so happy that Posit has committed to the @opensourcepledge.com. Read about our contributions to non Posit projects at posit.co/blog/posit-o....
Abstract submitted for conference, returning to an idea for a paper I first started on nearly... 15 years ago.
November 28, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Abstract submitted for conference, returning to an idea for a paper I first started on nearly... 15 years ago.
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
The fight to end child poverty goes on. But today we must celebrate. It will make a real, lasting difference to families the breadth of the UK and I’m so grateful to everyone in @changingrealities.bsky.social & @cpaguk.bsky.social who have advocated tirelessly for its full abolition
www.changingrealities.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The fight to end child poverty goes on. But today we must celebrate. It will make a real, lasting difference to families the breadth of the UK and I’m so grateful to everyone in @changingrealities.bsky.social & @cpaguk.bsky.social who have advocated tirelessly for its full abolition
Think 2026 is going to be the year of setting up self-hosted alternatives to proprietary apps I pay for but hate & only use due to lack of decent alternatives with non-self-hosted syncing - then donate what I've been paying in proprietary app subscriptions across the FLOSS apps I use and love.
November 27, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Think 2026 is going to be the year of setting up self-hosted alternatives to proprietary apps I pay for but hate & only use due to lack of decent alternatives with non-self-hosted syncing - then donate what I've been paying in proprietary app subscriptions across the FLOSS apps I use and love.
If looking for an Android tasks app, seriously give Tasks.org a look.
From quick tests it does everything Todoist can and more. Many things it does better than Todoist - £36.33 a year & increasing due to AI bullshit being added. Only exception is it doesn't (yet) have per list/filter view settings.
From quick tests it does everything Todoist can and more. Many things it does better than Todoist - £36.33 a year & increasing due to AI bullshit being added. Only exception is it doesn't (yet) have per list/filter view settings.
November 27, 2025 at 9:32 AM
If looking for an Android tasks app, seriously give Tasks.org a look.
From quick tests it does everything Todoist can and more. Many things it does better than Todoist - £36.33 a year & increasing due to AI bullshit being added. Only exception is it doesn't (yet) have per list/filter view settings.
From quick tests it does everything Todoist can and more. Many things it does better than Todoist - £36.33 a year & increasing due to AI bullshit being added. Only exception is it doesn't (yet) have per list/filter view settings.
Update on binning Todoist.
Tasks.org - fork of the forever missed Astrid - for recurring daily/household tasks, which it does better than Todoist.
TaskWarrior for everything else. The TaskWarrior Android app available via F-Droid nightly repo supports the new taskchampion sync server.
Tasks.org - fork of the forever missed Astrid - for recurring daily/household tasks, which it does better than Todoist.
TaskWarrior for everything else. The TaskWarrior Android app available via F-Droid nightly repo supports the new taskchampion sync server.
November 27, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Update on binning Todoist.
Tasks.org - fork of the forever missed Astrid - for recurring daily/household tasks, which it does better than Todoist.
TaskWarrior for everything else. The TaskWarrior Android app available via F-Droid nightly repo supports the new taskchampion sync server.
Tasks.org - fork of the forever missed Astrid - for recurring daily/household tasks, which it does better than Todoist.
TaskWarrior for everything else. The TaskWarrior Android app available via F-Droid nightly repo supports the new taskchampion sync server.
This couldn't come at a better time! Family member having increasing difficulties with Windows & the dark patterns - & outright scammer tactics - it uses to try get them to pay for Office. Going to install Linux Mint and this on their laptop.
www.collaboraonline.com/blog/press-r...
www.collaboraonline.com/blog/press-r...
Press Release: Bringing Collabora Online to the Desktop
Same look. Same code. Your files, your device. Nov 26, 2025 at 12.00 pm GMT / 13.00 pm CET / 7.00 am ET / 4.00 am PT Cambridge, November 26, 2025 – Today, Collabora Productivity is excited to share th...
www.collaboraonline.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
This couldn't come at a better time! Family member having increasing difficulties with Windows & the dark patterns - & outright scammer tactics - it uses to try get them to pay for Office. Going to install Linux Mint and this on their laptop.
www.collaboraonline.com/blog/press-r...
www.collaboraonline.com/blog/press-r...
Ok doing very rough word count, this semester I have written... around 59,000 words.
That's not including some draft additional bonus content pages.
May need to start paying someone to review my plans and tell me when I am severely underestimating the amount of work involved.
That's not including some draft additional bonus content pages.
May need to start paying someone to review my plans and tell me when I am severely underestimating the amount of work involved.
That's the last of the main changes pushed to our quants lab workbook webpages as part of the "small" refresh of content.
How "small" was the refresh this week? Ended up writing 5,605 words.
Now the true torture of being dyslexic begins, hours and hours of proofreading.
How "small" was the refresh this week? Ended up writing 5,605 words.
Now the true torture of being dyslexic begins, hours and hours of proofreading.
November 25, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Ok doing very rough word count, this semester I have written... around 59,000 words.
That's not including some draft additional bonus content pages.
May need to start paying someone to review my plans and tell me when I am severely underestimating the amount of work involved.
That's not including some draft additional bonus content pages.
May need to start paying someone to review my plans and tell me when I am severely underestimating the amount of work involved.
That's the last of the main changes pushed to our quants lab workbook webpages as part of the "small" refresh of content.
How "small" was the refresh this week? Ended up writing 5,605 words.
Now the true torture of being dyslexic begins, hours and hours of proofreading.
How "small" was the refresh this week? Ended up writing 5,605 words.
Now the true torture of being dyslexic begins, hours and hours of proofreading.
November 25, 2025 at 12:18 PM
That's the last of the main changes pushed to our quants lab workbook webpages as part of the "small" refresh of content.
How "small" was the refresh this week? Ended up writing 5,605 words.
Now the true torture of being dyslexic begins, hours and hours of proofreading.
How "small" was the refresh this week? Ended up writing 5,605 words.
Now the true torture of being dyslexic begins, hours and hours of proofreading.
Not a fan of the automated tags added to lecture videos exposing my overuse of "[et] cetera", "sort", "lot [of] ways folk", "[one] aspect", "things", and emphasise "the importance of ..." too often.
I know of these bad habits, but didn't realise it was so bad that AI treats it as the key content.
I know of these bad habits, but didn't realise it was so bad that AI treats it as the key content.
November 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Not a fan of the automated tags added to lecture videos exposing my overuse of "[et] cetera", "sort", "lot [of] ways folk", "[one] aspect", "things", and emphasise "the importance of ..." too often.
I know of these bad habits, but didn't realise it was so bad that AI treats it as the key content.
I know of these bad habits, but didn't realise it was so bad that AI treats it as the key content.
Annoys me no end how with Todoist you can't manually sort tasks within a filter. You can manually sort within the Today view (but can't filter) or within individual projects, but not within filters.
Any recs for alternatives that support manual sorting within filters?
Any recs for alternatives that support manual sorting within filters?
November 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Annoys me no end how with Todoist you can't manually sort tasks within a filter. You can manually sort within the Today view (but can't filter) or within individual projects, but not within filters.
Any recs for alternatives that support manual sorting within filters?
Any recs for alternatives that support manual sorting within filters?
This is also example of one reason I hate stereotyped view that ADHD = procrastination. My "time-management" 🤮 issues are often due to committing to tasks having spectacularly underestimated the time required that can't then back out of by time it's made painfully clear the actual time required.
Lovely example of how I fail to estimate time required for tasks.
Decided this year to do a 'small' refresh of our quants lab workbook. Below is a visual overview of the changes for lab 9 after spending... 7 hours on the 'small' refresh.
Effectively wrote 4,768 words for a 'small' refresh...
Decided this year to do a 'small' refresh of our quants lab workbook. Below is a visual overview of the changes for lab 9 after spending... 7 hours on the 'small' refresh.
Effectively wrote 4,768 words for a 'small' refresh...
November 18, 2025 at 1:13 PM
This is also example of one reason I hate stereotyped view that ADHD = procrastination. My "time-management" 🤮 issues are often due to committing to tasks having spectacularly underestimated the time required that can't then back out of by time it's made painfully clear the actual time required.
Lovely example of how I fail to estimate time required for tasks.
Decided this year to do a 'small' refresh of our quants lab workbook. Below is a visual overview of the changes for lab 9 after spending... 7 hours on the 'small' refresh.
Effectively wrote 4,768 words for a 'small' refresh...
Decided this year to do a 'small' refresh of our quants lab workbook. Below is a visual overview of the changes for lab 9 after spending... 7 hours on the 'small' refresh.
Effectively wrote 4,768 words for a 'small' refresh...
November 18, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Lovely example of how I fail to estimate time required for tasks.
Decided this year to do a 'small' refresh of our quants lab workbook. Below is a visual overview of the changes for lab 9 after spending... 7 hours on the 'small' refresh.
Effectively wrote 4,768 words for a 'small' refresh...
Decided this year to do a 'small' refresh of our quants lab workbook. Below is a visual overview of the changes for lab 9 after spending... 7 hours on the 'small' refresh.
Effectively wrote 4,768 words for a 'small' refresh...
Why is it always whenever you are slightly later than usual uploading a recorded lecture that is the day the university servers decide it's going to take 60+ minutes rather than 10-20 to process it? Lecture uploaded on time, yet now technically late as still "processing".
November 17, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Why is it always whenever you are slightly later than usual uploading a recorded lecture that is the day the university servers decide it's going to take 60+ minutes rather than 10-20 to process it? Lecture uploaded on time, yet now technically late as still "processing".
OK after some initial research new side-project for Xmas break: "Using txtai framework to make a NotebookLM-like app without the bullshit"
In other words, a local running app that focuses primarily around semantic search, with minimal - and optional - inclusion of a LLM, & none of the gimmicks.
In other words, a local running app that focuses primarily around semantic search, with minimal - and optional - inclusion of a LLM, & none of the gimmicks.
Text embeddings still remain best general purpose example I've come across of way AI models can be used as a tool rather than delegate.
Within Obsidian, I'm able to have a panel that surfaces any of my own notes that are similar to - but not already linked with - whichever note I have open.
Within Obsidian, I'm able to have a panel that surfaces any of my own notes that are similar to - but not already linked with - whichever note I have open.
November 17, 2025 at 11:52 AM
OK after some initial research new side-project for Xmas break: "Using txtai framework to make a NotebookLM-like app without the bullshit"
In other words, a local running app that focuses primarily around semantic search, with minimal - and optional - inclusion of a LLM, & none of the gimmicks.
In other words, a local running app that focuses primarily around semantic search, with minimal - and optional - inclusion of a LLM, & none of the gimmicks.
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
This is what many of us have been saying. Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is based on a myth: that we don't have enough homes because wildlife and green spaces are protected. It will solve nothing, and inflict terrible harm on our remaining ecosystems
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds
Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:12 PM
This is what many of us have been saying. Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is based on a myth: that we don't have enough homes because wildlife and green spaces are protected. It will solve nothing, and inflict terrible harm on our remaining ecosystems
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
"The theory of monotropism frames the difference in cognitive functioning between autistic and non-autistic people in a value-neutral way. However, the broader autism literature has traditionally described focused interests in a negative light"
@aimeespeaks.bsky.social & Sarah Dantas, Neurodiversity
@aimeespeaks.bsky.social & Sarah Dantas, Neurodiversity
Focused Interests, Motivation, and Museum/Gallery Attendance – A Mixed-Methods Survey Exploring Autistic Adults’ Experiences and Wellbeing Outcomes - Sarah Dantas, Aimee Fletcher, 2025
Focused interests are characterised by high attention and focus, and are commonly experienced by autistic people. While some research frames these interests as ...
journals.sagepub.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:09 PM
"The theory of monotropism frames the difference in cognitive functioning between autistic and non-autistic people in a value-neutral way. However, the broader autism literature has traditionally described focused interests in a negative light"
@aimeespeaks.bsky.social & Sarah Dantas, Neurodiversity
@aimeespeaks.bsky.social & Sarah Dantas, Neurodiversity
Text embeddings still remain best general purpose example I've come across of way AI models can be used as a tool rather than delegate.
Within Obsidian, I'm able to have a panel that surfaces any of my own notes that are similar to - but not already linked with - whichever note I have open.
Within Obsidian, I'm able to have a panel that surfaces any of my own notes that are similar to - but not already linked with - whichever note I have open.
November 16, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Text embeddings still remain best general purpose example I've come across of way AI models can be used as a tool rather than delegate.
Within Obsidian, I'm able to have a panel that surfaces any of my own notes that are similar to - but not already linked with - whichever note I have open.
Within Obsidian, I'm able to have a panel that surfaces any of my own notes that are similar to - but not already linked with - whichever note I have open.
NotebookLM stealthily released a non-gimmicky feature. When clicking on references it now opens the source at the referenced section.
If that was its main feature, I wouldn't have many caveats recommending it to students.
If that was its main feature, I wouldn't have many caveats recommending it to students.
November 16, 2025 at 12:50 PM
NotebookLM stealthily released a non-gimmicky feature. When clicking on references it now opens the source at the referenced section.
If that was its main feature, I wouldn't have many caveats recommending it to students.
If that was its main feature, I wouldn't have many caveats recommending it to students.
Is there an easy way to figure out where I've messed up lua syntax in large files? Losing hours to misplaced curly braces and commas.
I will never understand why people hate Python and YAML for having the good sense to design the language in a way that avoids such horrors.
I will never understand why people hate Python and YAML for having the good sense to design the language in a way that avoids such horrors.
November 15, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Is there an easy way to figure out where I've messed up lua syntax in large files? Losing hours to misplaced curly braces and commas.
I will never understand why people hate Python and YAML for having the good sense to design the language in a way that avoids such horrors.
I will never understand why people hate Python and YAML for having the good sense to design the language in a way that avoids such horrors.
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
New analysis with @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social and @kittyjstewart.bsky.social: If we are serious about trying to reduce child poverty we cannot rely on employment alone. We need serious investment in social security.
largerfamilies.study/publications...
largerfamilies.study/publications...
Benefit changes and larger families
We are a group of university-based researchers investigating how families with more than two children are coping with the benefit cap or the two-child limit.
largerfamilies.study
November 12, 2025 at 1:38 PM
New analysis with @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social and @kittyjstewart.bsky.social: If we are serious about trying to reduce child poverty we cannot rely on employment alone. We need serious investment in social security.
largerfamilies.study/publications...
largerfamilies.study/publications...
That bosses love AI despite it not living up to its promises isn't surprising. Before AI bosses were already trying to replace workers with shitty over-priced endlessly frustrating cloud 'solutions'; swooned by companies that spend vastly more on their marketing than programming team.
November 13, 2025 at 12:51 PM
That bosses love AI despite it not living up to its promises isn't surprising. Before AI bosses were already trying to replace workers with shitty over-priced endlessly frustrating cloud 'solutions'; swooned by companies that spend vastly more on their marketing than programming team.
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
The International Criminal Court is ditching Microsoft Office, saying it’s too dependent on US tech, in favor of Open Desk, a German open source alternative.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
International Criminal Court to ditch Microsoft Office for European open source alternative | Euractiv
The court will move its internal work environment to Open Desk, a German-developed open source software
www.euractiv.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM
The International Criminal Court is ditching Microsoft Office, saying it’s too dependent on US tech, in favor of Open Desk, a German open source alternative.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.