Sophia McDougall
@sophiamcdougall.bsky.social
Pronounced like the disappointingly heterosexual Nerina Pallot song.
Writer -- ROMANITAS (modern Roman empire) MARS EVACUEES & SPACE HOSTAGES (kids & robots in space!) various scripts for Big Finish plus a movie you can't see yet.
Writer -- ROMANITAS (modern Roman empire) MARS EVACUEES & SPACE HOSTAGES (kids & robots in space!) various scripts for Big Finish plus a movie you can't see yet.
Pinned
It's hard to believe, but 2025 means Romanitas has been in print for 20 years. A modern world where the Roman Empire never fell. If that sounds good to you, the ebook's just £0.99 for the anniversary all this month! www.amazon.co.uk/Romanitas-1-...
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
Saw some folks reposting this — it means Wikipedia editors found/suspect LLM text and they’re trying to fix the article.
It does NOT mean Wikipedia is “allowing” LLM-generated articles or text. The opposite, in fact.
It does NOT mean Wikipedia is “allowing” LLM-generated articles or text. The opposite, in fact.
First time seeing this large language model text notice on Wikipedia.
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerryma...
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerryma...
November 10, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Saw some folks reposting this — it means Wikipedia editors found/suspect LLM text and they’re trying to fix the article.
It does NOT mean Wikipedia is “allowing” LLM-generated articles or text. The opposite, in fact.
It does NOT mean Wikipedia is “allowing” LLM-generated articles or text. The opposite, in fact.
Today alone I have been forbidden from reading this post, and reprimanded for having the nerve to search the words "4am". I love being "kept safe" online, don't you?
November 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Today alone I have been forbidden from reading this post, and reprimanded for having the nerve to search the words "4am". I love being "kept safe" online, don't you?
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
In my inbox this morning, and email that begins: "Dear $Firstname, I have been a fan of yours for many years".
November 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
In my inbox this morning, and email that begins: "Dear $Firstname, I have been a fan of yours for many years".
that... that wasn't what I asked ...?
November 10, 2025 at 1:07 AM
that... that wasn't what I asked ...?
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
It's fucking dysfunctional on a global scale that our culture, media, businesspeople, polticians, everyone, aren't hanging on every energy-related innovation like it means life or death, instead of having the stank of crapulous AI rubbed all over us by grinning twerps.
Wild. They are figuring out how to store electricity in ... concrete.
Concrete “battery” developed at MIT now packs 10 times the power
New concrete and carbon black supercapacitors with optimized electrolytes have 10 times the energy storage of previous designs and can be incorporated into a wide range of architectural forms.
news.mit.edu
November 9, 2025 at 11:19 PM
It's fucking dysfunctional on a global scale that our culture, media, businesspeople, polticians, everyone, aren't hanging on every energy-related innovation like it means life or death, instead of having the stank of crapulous AI rubbed all over us by grinning twerps.
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
I thought this was photoshopped but no, oh no indeed. Someone spray painted a goat for last year's #Respectival.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-n...
That's their idea of a "poignant tribute".
Wow.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-n...
That's their idea of a "poignant tribute".
Wow.
November 9, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I thought this was photoshopped but no, oh no indeed. Someone spray painted a goat for last year's #Respectival.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-n...
That's their idea of a "poignant tribute".
Wow.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-n...
That's their idea of a "poignant tribute".
Wow.
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
'I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
‘Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive'
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
‘Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive'
At the Cenotaph, by Siegfried Sassoon
I saw the Prince of Darkness, wit…
Standing bare-headed by the Cenot…
Unostentatious and respectful, the…
He stood, and offered up the follo…
‘Make them forget, O Lord, what t…
www.poeticous.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:54 PM
'I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
‘Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive'
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
‘Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive'
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
My kid just had an exam in school that involved being assigned some chapters, summarizing them, then having an open-book test on the details. The teacher encouraged them to use AI to prepare. This paragraph does a great job explaining why I found it so disturbing.
www.ru.nl/en/research/...
www.ru.nl/en/research/...
November 9, 2025 at 10:25 AM
My kid just had an exam in school that involved being assigned some chapters, summarizing them, then having an open-book test on the details. The teacher encouraged them to use AI to prepare. This paragraph does a great job explaining why I found it so disturbing.
www.ru.nl/en/research/...
www.ru.nl/en/research/...
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
Where does @remembrancewatch.bsky.social stand on this?
Always thought it tasted of Deep Heat but now it’ll be Poppy flavoured?
Always thought it tasted of Deep Heat but now it’ll be Poppy flavoured?
November 9, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
I fully believe in the corporate death penalty and believe we would be a better world if OpenAI lost its corporate charter and was forcibly dissolved.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
ChatGPT encouraged college graduate to commit suicide, family claims in lawsuit against OpenAI | CNN
A 23-year-old man killed himself in Texas after ChatGPT ‘goaded’ him to commit suicide, his family says in a lawsuit.
www.cnn.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).
Rosalind Franklin and the damage of gender harassment
Spurred by a recent report on sexual harassment in academia, our columnist revisits a historical case and reflects on what has changed—and what hasn’t
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
I see James Watson has died.
What did Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin's lab notes.
Only we spell it 'S-T-E-A-L' these days.
What did Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin's lab notes.
Only we spell it 'S-T-E-A-L' these days.
November 7, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I see James Watson has died.
What did Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin's lab notes.
Only we spell it 'S-T-E-A-L' these days.
What did Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin's lab notes.
Only we spell it 'S-T-E-A-L' these days.
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
🏊♀️The women who swim at Kenwood Ladies Pond have already made their decision.
In 2024, almost 900 members voted to keep their trans-inclusive policy - a policy that has worked peacefully since 2019.
Now, a small campaign group is seeking to overturn that democratic decision through the courts.
1/5
In 2024, almost 900 members voted to keep their trans-inclusive policy - a policy that has worked peacefully since 2019.
Now, a small campaign group is seeking to overturn that democratic decision through the courts.
1/5
November 7, 2025 at 9:06 AM
🏊♀️The women who swim at Kenwood Ladies Pond have already made their decision.
In 2024, almost 900 members voted to keep their trans-inclusive policy - a policy that has worked peacefully since 2019.
Now, a small campaign group is seeking to overturn that democratic decision through the courts.
1/5
In 2024, almost 900 members voted to keep their trans-inclusive policy - a policy that has worked peacefully since 2019.
Now, a small campaign group is seeking to overturn that democratic decision through the courts.
1/5
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
USING BULLETS TO CURE DEATH
November 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM
USING BULLETS TO CURE DEATH
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
Can you imagine if someone released a computer game, or a musical album, or *whatever*, that was designed to sexual groom children, or encourage them to commit suicide or any of the things LLMs are doing on a daily basis, how quick the media and political condemnation would be?
Oh my god I’m crying
November 7, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Can you imagine if someone released a computer game, or a musical album, or *whatever*, that was designed to sexual groom children, or encourage them to commit suicide or any of the things LLMs are doing on a daily basis, how quick the media and political condemnation would be?
The planet-burning, artist-exploiting, brain-rotting slop machine that also brings back Victorian pseudoscience
bro are you fucking kidding me
November 6, 2025 at 7:36 PM
The planet-burning, artist-exploiting, brain-rotting slop machine that also brings back Victorian pseudoscience
Stil a lot of time to get this for only £0.99!
It's hard to believe, but 2025 means Romanitas has been in print for 20 years. A modern world where the Roman Empire never fell. If that sounds good to you, the ebook's just £0.99 for the anniversary all this month! www.amazon.co.uk/Romanitas-1-...
November 6, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Stil a lot of time to get this for only £0.99!
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
It was already on "warn" for me but you may want to check your settings. (I left it on "warn" because I absolutely want to see what they're doing with this. If I ever get labeled "rude" please tell me, it will make my ENTIRE day)
If you aren't seeing skeets from some of your fave people, they might have been labeled "Rude" by bsky mods. Idk what they are thinking, I don't need a mommy to tell me who to be buddies with. Anyway, go into Settings > moderation > bluesky moderation (advanced) and turn Rude off.
November 6, 2025 at 2:31 PM
It was already on "warn" for me but you may want to check your settings. (I left it on "warn" because I absolutely want to see what they're doing with this. If I ever get labeled "rude" please tell me, it will make my ENTIRE day)
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
Every year we get closer to this happening on the news
November 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Every year we get closer to this happening on the news
Uuuuurgh do there have to be fireworks ON THE ROOF
November 5, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Uuuuurgh do there have to be fireworks ON THE ROOF
Reposted by Sophia McDougall
I’m just saying, I directed a movie for basically no money that debuted in the 90s on rotten tomatoes and got distribution with no stars attached, I did not get a single call and couldn’t even find a rep as a director. This was not the case for any of the male directors I went to AFI with.
She's absolutely right. As a producer with several films in development with female directors, I can say it is an absolute uphill battle to get execs to fund their projects. Great scripts are sitting on shelves while a generation of our most talented women sit idle.
www.avclub.com/kristen-stew...
www.avclub.com/kristen-stew...
Kristen Stewart declares "state of emergency" over gender inequality in film
Kristen Stewart declares "state of emergency" over gender inequality in film
www.avclub.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:26 PM
I’m just saying, I directed a movie for basically no money that debuted in the 90s on rotten tomatoes and got distribution with no stars attached, I did not get a single call and couldn’t even find a rep as a director. This was not the case for any of the male directors I went to AFI with.