Richard A Carter
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richardacarter.bsky.social
Richard A Carter
@richardacarter.bsky.social
Academic in Digital Culture, University of York, UK. Exploring digital art, literature, and storytelling; ecology, materiality, and the more-than-human. Glider pilot. https://richardacarter.com/
Interrupting your gloomy timeline with some unassailable brightness, courtesy of the lakeside view at York's Campus East, just now.

#sun #photography #york #nature
November 25, 2025 at 8:56 AM
A curiosity - preparing for tomorrow's teaching session on image generating AIs, I've noticed that Nano Banana Pro appears to dump out altered stock images (at near full resolution too) vs. generating them whole cloth (at a smaller size) - see e.g. below. Even the filename reads 'licensed image'.
November 24, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Stills from 20 minutes of observing
November 24, 2025 at 12:13 PM
The ocean of air was myriad shades of grey today until it was my turn to fly - deep pinks and golds all around at altitude. Scuds of cloud even running below the glider, during two very pleasant sorties.

#gliding #aviation #soaring #autumn
November 22, 2025 at 4:45 PM
A package from Japan, Stage 3 - Wow. What you're looking at is a gift from a Japanese calligraphic artist, Mika Ando, whose recent work has built directly off my 'alien poetry' collection 'Signals'. This is an entirely hand brushed painting - it's just beautiful and I'm staggered by this generosity.
November 18, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Stage 2 - I rather like the accidental poetry of Google translate
November 18, 2025 at 2:03 PM
A package from Japan!
November 18, 2025 at 12:12 PM
ELIZA visualisation routine now working for tomorrow's lesson - it is surprisingly robust, even when faced with my efforts at nonsense dialogue...
November 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Working furiously on tomorrow's lesson, which is a precis on AI text generation from 1950s to LLMs - from Strachey to 'Agents'. Put together a bunch of live 'visualisation' demos of early systems like ELIZA + basic principles of processes like Markov Chains. Now, ambitiously (foolishly?) LLMs too...
November 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Working on some print design for a (paid!) project. At present, the fun bit - layouts and visuals. An afternoon's toil has delivered this colourful tile generator for borders and dividers.
November 13, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Critical Drone Studies: Drones in Society, Politics, and Culture
25-26 June 2026 at University of Cambridge.

CFP Link: www.centrefordronesandculture.com/blog/confere...
November 10, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Dad sent these photos from the shores of home this evening, and, honestly, I find it harder to be away from it during the Autumn more than anything else - the light is something to behold.
November 6, 2025 at 11:01 PM
And there it is! Agentia unfortunately doesn't render very well on the demo systems - essentially a closed Steam browser - so perhaps a blessing that few will ever try to play it, but it is nice to have it here 😅
November 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Waiting patiently for a seat at the Games Lab - Agentia is there!

#gameDev #indieDev #soloDev #gaming
November 5, 2025 at 2:56 PM
I'm now an Official Game Developer* at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival! I will be giving a talk shortly on "Agentia" before using Developer privilege to see the game in situ later today.

*Question is, do I get to retain this status after the festival is over?

#gameDev #gaming #indieDev #games
November 5, 2025 at 11:09 AM
I know, if I had it my way, that I would probably never write another academic article ever again, and would instead explore and articulate ideas with forms that are not only more durational in their expression, but are seasonal - changing with each passing day, responsive to tides and the planets.
November 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
This week! "Agentia" will be available in the Games Lab at the
Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York! I'm planning to speak on Wednesday as part of the Makers Forum too. asff.co.uk/games-and-vr... #gameDev #indieDev #indieGame #soloDev #poetry #nature #gaming
November 3, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Enjoying a peaceful morning 🦢

#photography #nature #swan #autumn
November 2, 2025 at 10:55 AM
One more from today - the low sun made still photography difficult, but this one, early on in the tow, worked out quite well.

#photography #aviation #gliding #nature #autumn #sky
November 1, 2025 at 10:11 PM
5/ Landing! Runway 23 at Rufforth is never the most comfortable of approaches, but the pilot, Mark Blades, makes it look easy in the big DG505. I very much enjoyed the chance just to sit back and take in the view. I hope you also enjoyed the ride! 🛩️
November 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
4/ A straightforward "sled ride" towards the airfield, and we get a good view of York in the distance. We're still looking for lift, even now, just in case we can keep the flight going for a little longer.
November 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
3/ Releasing from the tow plane, we head straight for what looks like a promising cloud (unfortunately proves a little too far away to reach, and there is too little lift in its immediacy for clinging on, so back home we go).
November 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
2/ Tow to 2,800 is equally smooth and uneventful (unlike my earlier flight today, where I was bouncing to and fro, raising my heart rate significantly!) The large loops of the tow offer a good chance to see how the late Autumn skies over York are best characterised as a dance of light and shadow.
November 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
1/ A rare chance for me to fly as a passenger today, so why not ride along with us, as we search for lift on a fine Autumn evening. First of all - takeoff! We're using the trusty Eurofox towplane and there is a good headwind to get us off the runway smoothly.

#gliding #aviation #sky #sun #autumn
November 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Love the light and shadow of late Autumn. Not a fan of the cold and the wind, mind...
November 1, 2025 at 12:11 PM