Reposted by A. Gaastra
More concrete proof—if any were needed—that mindlessly shoehorning AI into everything, including Higher Education, causes not progress but decay.
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:19 PM
More concrete proof—if any were needed—that mindlessly shoehorning AI into everything, including Higher Education, causes not progress but decay.
Reposted by A. Gaastra
Another article uploaded - an important analysis of the many new coin finds from the Carolingian period in the Netherlands and what they reveal about 9th-century history.
Coins and Vikings: On the trail of the Scandinavians in Frisia
works.hcommons.org/records/6fym...
Coins and Vikings: On the trail of the Scandinavians in Frisia
works.hcommons.org/records/6fym...
Coins and Vikings: On the trail of the Scandinavians in Frisia
Coin finds suggest that in the ninth century the northern Dutch provinces – Friesland above all, but also Noord-Holland, Groningen and Drenthe – were different not only from the rest of Francia, but a...
works.hcommons.org
November 20, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Another article uploaded - an important analysis of the many new coin finds from the Carolingian period in the Netherlands and what they reveal about 9th-century history.
Coins and Vikings: On the trail of the Scandinavians in Frisia
works.hcommons.org/records/6fym...
Coins and Vikings: On the trail of the Scandinavians in Frisia
works.hcommons.org/records/6fym...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
Eigenlijk is het zonde om zo'n boek te herstellen, want dan zie je die oude perkamenten stroken met tekst niet meer.
Herstel is niet zo moeilijk omdat alleen de spitsels kapot zijn gegaan. Het boekblok is zo goed als nieuw.
ORLERS Beschrijvinge der Stadt Leyden, 1641.
Herstel is niet zo moeilijk omdat alleen de spitsels kapot zijn gegaan. Het boekblok is zo goed als nieuw.
ORLERS Beschrijvinge der Stadt Leyden, 1641.
November 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Eigenlijk is het zonde om zo'n boek te herstellen, want dan zie je die oude perkamenten stroken met tekst niet meer.
Herstel is niet zo moeilijk omdat alleen de spitsels kapot zijn gegaan. Het boekblok is zo goed als nieuw.
ORLERS Beschrijvinge der Stadt Leyden, 1641.
Herstel is niet zo moeilijk omdat alleen de spitsels kapot zijn gegaan. Het boekblok is zo goed als nieuw.
ORLERS Beschrijvinge der Stadt Leyden, 1641.
Reposted by A. Gaastra
USA 🇺🇸 NYC métro subway ; graffiti Blade Blade, quartier du Bronx (1982) 📷 Martha Cooper
November 16, 2025 at 7:02 PM
USA 🇺🇸 NYC métro subway ; graffiti Blade Blade, quartier du Bronx (1982) 📷 Martha Cooper
Reposted by A. Gaastra
For #FindsFriday Scandinavian objects found at Wijk bij Duurstede (Dorestad) - unsurprising given the importance of trade with Scandinavia, and Danish rule over the site for lengthy periods. Pictures: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden Leiden (RMO)
November 14, 2025 at 3:22 PM
For #FindsFriday Scandinavian objects found at Wijk bij Duurstede (Dorestad) - unsurprising given the importance of trade with Scandinavia, and Danish rule over the site for lengthy periods. Pictures: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden Leiden (RMO)
Reposted by A. Gaastra
... and Leicester... Languages, History...
It's so easy to destroy, so hard to create. So much talent. So many lives.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It's so easy to destroy, so hard to create. So much talent. So many lives.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University of Leicester to consult on redundancies
University bosses are also planning to stop a number of courses.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 10:17 PM
... and Leicester... Languages, History...
It's so easy to destroy, so hard to create. So much talent. So many lives.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It's so easy to destroy, so hard to create. So much talent. So many lives.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
Delighted to add this article to my publications available to download:
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century?
An important article setting out the reasons for retaining the traditional view that Lothar I and II ruled the whole of Frisia between 840 and 869, from the Sincfal to the Weser, not just the western ...
works.hcommons.org
November 2, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Delighted to add this article to my publications available to download:
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
Last night Trump directed the Pentagon to start testing nukes again. If that happens, it’ll be the first time the US has detonated a nuke in more than 30 years.
🔗 www.404media.co/trump-orders...
🔗 www.404media.co/trump-orders...
Trump Orders Nuclear Testing As Nuke Workers Go Unpaid
Everyone loses and nobody wins if America decides to resume nuclear testing after a 30 year moratorium.
www.404media.co
October 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Last night Trump directed the Pentagon to start testing nukes again. If that happens, it’ll be the first time the US has detonated a nuke in more than 30 years.
🔗 www.404media.co/trump-orders...
🔗 www.404media.co/trump-orders...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
This #FragmentFriday is found in De Thiende (1585), a groundbreaking #mathematical book by Simon Stevin, introducing the decimal separator (now , or . ) for fractions. It has a 19th century library binding, but retains the medieval parchment wrappers it was originally bound in.
📚💙
📜
📚💙
📜
October 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM
This #FragmentFriday is found in De Thiende (1585), a groundbreaking #mathematical book by Simon Stevin, introducing the decimal separator (now , or . ) for fractions. It has a 19th century library binding, but retains the medieval parchment wrappers it was originally bound in.
📚💙
📜
📚💙
📜
Reposted by A. Gaastra
It’s the 1200th anniversary of the “Paris Meeting of 825,” at which a group of Frankish bishops discussed the permissibility of images in Christian worship!
We are celebrating by meeting in Paris. 🎉
We are celebrating by meeting in Paris. 🎉
October 19, 2025 at 3:53 PM
It’s the 1200th anniversary of the “Paris Meeting of 825,” at which a group of Frankish bishops discussed the permissibility of images in Christian worship!
We are celebrating by meeting in Paris. 🎉
We are celebrating by meeting in Paris. 🎉
Reposted by A. Gaastra
So for-profit AI companies have trained on the world's largest collaborative volunteer project and a precious free resource, to make money for their for-profit enterprises. They have crushed traffic to the volunteer project, starving it of donors and volunteers
www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 18, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Reposted by A. Gaastra
I'm getting that old that it's getting bloody hard to scroll all the way to my date of birth when filling out online forms. Unless it is really important, I now just select 2007
October 15, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I'm getting that old that it's getting bloody hard to scroll all the way to my date of birth when filling out online forms. Unless it is really important, I now just select 2007
Reposted by A. Gaastra
For #FindsFriday some of the lovely objects in the Ilanz hoard from Switzerland, buried during Charlemagne's reign, in the early 790s. Gold Lombard and Carolingian coins, silver Carolingian, Anglo-Saxon and Arabic coins, as well as gold jewellery. See more here: raetischesmuseum.app/extras/highl...
October 10, 2025 at 10:49 AM
For #FindsFriday some of the lovely objects in the Ilanz hoard from Switzerland, buried during Charlemagne's reign, in the early 790s. Gold Lombard and Carolingian coins, silver Carolingian, Anglo-Saxon and Arabic coins, as well as gold jewellery. See more here: raetischesmuseum.app/extras/highl...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
October 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
Reposted by A. Gaastra
An age-old French nightmare — that of growing German military might — is resurfacing in a new form.
As Berlin inevitably becomes the EU’s dominant military power, our expert @mijrahman.bsky.social explains how strategic autonomy is now in Germany’s hands:
@politico.eu
As Berlin inevitably becomes the EU’s dominant military power, our expert @mijrahman.bsky.social explains how strategic autonomy is now in Germany’s hands:
@politico.eu
European strategic autonomy is in German hands
As Berlin inevitably becomes the EU's dominant military power, its billions could either build or blur Macron's vision of European defense.
www.politico.eu
October 5, 2025 at 2:30 PM
An age-old French nightmare — that of growing German military might — is resurfacing in a new form.
As Berlin inevitably becomes the EU’s dominant military power, our expert @mijrahman.bsky.social explains how strategic autonomy is now in Germany’s hands:
@politico.eu
As Berlin inevitably becomes the EU’s dominant military power, our expert @mijrahman.bsky.social explains how strategic autonomy is now in Germany’s hands:
@politico.eu
Reposted by A. Gaastra
Got my performance review.
September 27, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Got my performance review.
Reposted by A. Gaastra
🧵There's a story in the Guardian today on AI & art authentication. I've written a number of pieces criticizing the use of AI in art historical research. But I want to discuss this bc as I said publicly a ways back, the real story here is WHY this is in the news./1
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Battle of the AIs: rival tech teams clash over who painted ‘Raphael’ in UK gallery
Two studies use artificial intelligence to analyse ‘old master’ painting and return opposite verdicts
www.theguardian.com
September 27, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by A. Gaastra
I’ve always loved Japanese #netsuke and this ivory caricature of a Dutchman and his dog was too good not to share. Netsuke is a toggle. Japanese men used netsuke to suspend various pouches and containers from their sashes by a silk cord.
Period, 18th century. #VandAMuseum
📸 me
Period, 18th century. #VandAMuseum
📸 me
September 26, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I’ve always loved Japanese #netsuke and this ivory caricature of a Dutchman and his dog was too good not to share. Netsuke is a toggle. Japanese men used netsuke to suspend various pouches and containers from their sashes by a silk cord.
Period, 18th century. #VandAMuseum
📸 me
Period, 18th century. #VandAMuseum
📸 me
Reposted by A. Gaastra
In case you're wondering why AI is pushing so hard into education, that last bullet point is why. Get consumers hooked in young and they're likely to stay. And get embedded enough into classrooms and curriculum and the education system can't function without it - ie permanent consumers.
*The AI boom = one of the costliest building sprees in world history
* Past 3 years' commitments are greater than the cost of building the U.S. interstate highway system
* Consumers must spend $800 billion on AI within a few years, to justify investment from 2023-24
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-b...
* Past 3 years' commitments are greater than the cost of building the U.S. interstate highway system
* Consumers must spend $800 billion on AI within a few years, to justify investment from 2023-24
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-b...
September 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
In case you're wondering why AI is pushing so hard into education, that last bullet point is why. Get consumers hooked in young and they're likely to stay. And get embedded enough into classrooms and curriculum and the education system can't function without it - ie permanent consumers.
Reposted by A. Gaastra
Ah, yes. Full support! As @ewg118.bsky.social and I have said for almost a decade. www.forbes.com/sites/drsara...
September 18, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Ah, yes. Full support! As @ewg118.bsky.social and I have said for almost a decade. www.forbes.com/sites/drsara...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
A union that represents university professors published a guide tailored to help its members navigate social media during the “current climate.”
The advice? Lock down your social media accounts, expect anything you post will be screenshotted.
🔗 www.404media.co/union-warns-...
The advice? Lock down your social media accounts, expect anything you post will be screenshotted.
🔗 www.404media.co/union-warns-...
Union Warns Professors About Posting In the ‘Current Climate’
Academic workers are re-thinking how they live and work online after some have been fired for criticizing Charlie Kirk following his death.
www.404media.co
September 18, 2025 at 6:49 PM
A union that represents university professors published a guide tailored to help its members navigate social media during the “current climate.”
The advice? Lock down your social media accounts, expect anything you post will be screenshotted.
🔗 www.404media.co/union-warns-...
The advice? Lock down your social media accounts, expect anything you post will be screenshotted.
🔗 www.404media.co/union-warns-...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
This is no coincidence. Academic work, including that of students, means vulnerabilities through artificial competition and demands for excellence, efficiency, and productivity. That's why these products are placed there. They do not empower anyone, but fuel a race that will only produce losers ...
This technology is so clearly designed to profit off cheating and struggling students--its insidious. And yet universities keep announcing how they're allowing this company into its midst, to exploit and incapacitate our students even more
September 15, 2025 at 1:56 PM
This is no coincidence. Academic work, including that of students, means vulnerabilities through artificial competition and demands for excellence, efficiency, and productivity. That's why these products are placed there. They do not empower anyone, but fuel a race that will only produce losers ...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
"We are told that AI is inevitable, that we must adapt or be left behind. But universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically." www.ru.nl/en/research/...
September 12, 2025 at 10:45 AM
"We are told that AI is inevitable, that we must adapt or be left behind. But universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically." www.ru.nl/en/research/...
Reposted by A. Gaastra
"hobbyist research"
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News
Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 12, 2025 at 7:10 AM
"hobbyist research"
Reposted by A. Gaastra
#PostfromthePast (1 yr ago)
First page of Alexander of Aphrodisias's *On the Soul* in a Hebrew translation by Samuel ibn Tibbon based on the Arabic translation by Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn. The MS is Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Or. Oct. 332, and can be accessed here: digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/...
September 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
#PostfromthePast (1 yr ago)