Alasdair Stewart
@abestew.bsky.social
Sociologist | Socialist | Neurodivergent | Linux & FLOSS advocate | he/they
Amazing title for this open letter:
"Open letter: retract your unscientific AI hype"
www.euractiv.com/news/stop-ov...
"Open letter: retract your unscientific AI hype"
www.euractiv.com/news/stop-ov...
Stop overhyping AI, scientists tell von der Leyen | Euractiv
Open letter criticises the Commission President for remarks earlier this year – when she anticipated AI would “approach human reasoning” in 2026
www.euractiv.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Amazing title for this open letter:
"Open letter: retract your unscientific AI hype"
www.euractiv.com/news/stop-ov...
"Open letter: retract your unscientific AI hype"
www.euractiv.com/news/stop-ov...
Grammarly's rapid descent into an outright plagiarism tool continues. Grammarly will now misleadingly report text rewritten by its AI 'humanize' feature as "Typed by a Human".
www.plagiarismtoday.com/2025/11/06/h...
www.plagiarismtoday.com/2025/11/06/h...
How Grammarly Launders AI-Generated Content
Grammarly’s Authorship tool is billed as a powerful way to prove that your words are authentic. Even though it allows you to easily launder AI-generated text.
www.plagiarismtoday.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Grammarly's rapid descent into an outright plagiarism tool continues. Grammarly will now misleadingly report text rewritten by its AI 'humanize' feature as "Typed by a Human".
www.plagiarismtoday.com/2025/11/06/h...
www.plagiarismtoday.com/2025/11/06/h...
In NVivo training I always emphasise that with any issues encountered "It's not you, it's NVivo".
Today an NVivo bug that is a perfect example of this - and I thought was long gone - came up at a training event today.
This bug causes NVivo to crash because... NVivo doesn't like your printer...
Today an NVivo bug that is a perfect example of this - and I thought was long gone - came up at a training event today.
This bug causes NVivo to crash because... NVivo doesn't like your printer...
November 11, 2025 at 7:13 PM
In NVivo training I always emphasise that with any issues encountered "It's not you, it's NVivo".
Today an NVivo bug that is a perfect example of this - and I thought was long gone - came up at a training event today.
This bug causes NVivo to crash because... NVivo doesn't like your printer...
Today an NVivo bug that is a perfect example of this - and I thought was long gone - came up at a training event today.
This bug causes NVivo to crash because... NVivo doesn't like your printer...
How do folk survive commuting to work everyday? Had to leave house at 7am today and just got back 11 and half hours later and feeling half dead.
November 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
How do folk survive commuting to work everyday? Had to leave house at 7am today and just got back 11 and half hours later and feeling half dead.
No idea why I slept on it for so long, but finally decided to give lazygit a go - and it has immediately surpassed my prior git workflow of relying on random aliases I created over the years & praying Control+R can find lesser used commands from my terminal history.
github.com/jesseduffiel...
github.com/jesseduffiel...
GitHub - jesseduffield/lazygit: simple terminal UI for git commands
simple terminal UI for git commands. Contribute to jesseduffield/lazygit development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 AM
No idea why I slept on it for so long, but finally decided to give lazygit a go - and it has immediately surpassed my prior git workflow of relying on random aliases I created over the years & praying Control+R can find lesser used commands from my terminal history.
github.com/jesseduffiel...
github.com/jesseduffiel...
Impossible Challenge - Find a pro-genAI journal article that doesn't read like genAI was used at least in part to write it.
There are some decent articles, yet they still have scattering of genAI phrases. Come across a few though that are questionable & won't be surprised if they end up retracted.
There are some decent articles, yet they still have scattering of genAI phrases. Come across a few though that are questionable & won't be surprised if they end up retracted.
November 9, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Impossible Challenge - Find a pro-genAI journal article that doesn't read like genAI was used at least in part to write it.
There are some decent articles, yet they still have scattering of genAI phrases. Come across a few though that are questionable & won't be surprised if they end up retracted.
There are some decent articles, yet they still have scattering of genAI phrases. Come across a few though that are questionable & won't be surprised if they end up retracted.
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
Very much enjoyed reading this. Perfectly timed since I'd assigned the ChatGPT short story as a reading for an AI lecture this week.
Literature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities | Los Angeles Review of Books
Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis.
lareviewofbooks.org
November 8, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Very much enjoyed reading this. Perfectly timed since I'd assigned the ChatGPT short story as a reading for an AI lecture this week.
Initial work on visual refresh of the SGSSS NVivo Guidance pages now done.
sgsssonline.github.io/nvivo-guidan...
sgsssonline.github.io/nvivo-guidan...
November 9, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Initial work on visual refresh of the SGSSS NVivo Guidance pages now done.
sgsssonline.github.io/nvivo-guidan...
sgsssonline.github.io/nvivo-guidan...
There is disturbing number of journal articles promoting LLMs as making quantitative analysis 'more accessible', removing need for students to learn how to code, and similar arguments.
My response - "Have you never heard of snippets?"
My response - "Have you never heard of snippets?"
November 6, 2025 at 9:43 AM
There is disturbing number of journal articles promoting LLMs as making quantitative analysis 'more accessible', removing need for students to learn how to code, and similar arguments.
My response - "Have you never heard of snippets?"
My response - "Have you never heard of snippets?"
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
Amid misinformation, Wikipedia's volunteer community stands out. Editors uphold neutrality, verify sources, and log every edit.
Without corporate ads, its scale and transparent governance make it a beacon of trust. Learn more ➡️ w.wiki/7zfT
Without corporate ads, its scale and transparent governance make it a beacon of trust. Learn more ➡️ w.wiki/7zfT
November 5, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Amid misinformation, Wikipedia's volunteer community stands out. Editors uphold neutrality, verify sources, and log every edit.
Without corporate ads, its scale and transparent governance make it a beacon of trust. Learn more ➡️ w.wiki/7zfT
Without corporate ads, its scale and transparent governance make it a beacon of trust. Learn more ➡️ w.wiki/7zfT
Proposal for new coding convention - a "slop" folder that is included within .gitignore and instructing LLMs via Agents-md file that it cannot edit the main code base but it can spit out example code & explanations into the "slop" folder.
November 5, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Proposal for new coding convention - a "slop" folder that is included within .gitignore and instructing LLMs via Agents-md file that it cannot edit the main code base but it can spit out example code & explanations into the "slop" folder.
Giving quickemu a try. Images for both downloaded OK, though macOS refused to work after installing so trying again. Windows couldn't find hard drive, but seems to be installing now after copy/paste of bash script from GitHub.
November 4, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Giving quickemu a try. Images for both downloaded OK, though macOS refused to work after installing so trying again. Windows couldn't find hard drive, but seems to be installing now after copy/paste of bash script from GitHub.
Linux folk - what is best option these days for running Windows and MacOS virtual machines. Was using VirtualBox, but MacOS image hasn't worked for couple years and now Windows image crashes randomly after 15-20 minutes.
November 4, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Linux folk - what is best option these days for running Windows and MacOS virtual machines. Was using VirtualBox, but MacOS image hasn't worked for couple years and now Windows image crashes randomly after 15-20 minutes.
Unexpected 'benefit' of being dyslexic - higher GitHub contribution stats due to any major commit being followed by "fixed typos", "fixed more typos", "yet more typos", etc commits. 273 contributions in 2025 so far, and at least half is fixing my horrendous spelling/grammar.
November 3, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Unexpected 'benefit' of being dyslexic - higher GitHub contribution stats due to any major commit being followed by "fixed typos", "fixed more typos", "yet more typos", etc commits. 273 contributions in 2025 so far, and at least half is fixing my horrendous spelling/grammar.
Progress on my first attempt at knitting.
November 3, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Progress on my first attempt at knitting.
GenAI coding is over-hyped & nowhere near as good as claimed. It's decent for short scripts - but only when the code quality doesn't matter that much.
Screenshot is output from Python script to identify whether and when best to open windows to ventilate.
Screenshot is output from Python script to identify whether and when best to open windows to ventilate.
October 26, 2025 at 7:36 AM
GenAI coding is over-hyped & nowhere near as good as claimed. It's decent for short scripts - but only when the code quality doesn't matter that much.
Screenshot is output from Python script to identify whether and when best to open windows to ventilate.
Screenshot is output from Python script to identify whether and when best to open windows to ventilate.
Are clothing sizes now done to make people feel better about themselves? Using tape measure I'm 31-32 inch waist, yet trouser waist size that best fits me is... "29" inch waist.
October 20, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Are clothing sizes now done to make people feel better about themselves? Using tape measure I'm 31-32 inch waist, yet trouser waist size that best fits me is... "29" inch waist.
As well as randomly deciding to subject me to intense pain for no clear reason, my stomach also likes to punish me by holding onto and not digesting everything eaten. This creative torture method produces the delightful experience of being full yet shaky and weak from hunger at the same time.
October 14, 2025 at 8:47 AM
As well as randomly deciding to subject me to intense pain for no clear reason, my stomach also likes to punish me by holding onto and not digesting everything eaten. This creative torture method produces the delightful experience of being full yet shaky and weak from hunger at the same time.
Giving a 15 year old tea a try today.
So heavily compacted gave up trying to break it apart and instead steeping whole tuo for *very* short amounts of time and slowly peeling it apart in layers after each steep.
So heavily compacted gave up trying to break it apart and instead steeping whole tuo for *very* short amounts of time and slowly peeling it apart in layers after each steep.
October 10, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Giving a 15 year old tea a try today.
So heavily compacted gave up trying to break it apart and instead steeping whole tuo for *very* short amounts of time and slowly peeling it apart in layers after each steep.
So heavily compacted gave up trying to break it apart and instead steeping whole tuo for *very* short amounts of time and slowly peeling it apart in layers after each steep.
22 items received so far and only things not going back is the Clarks shoes, which despite the decrease in quality over the years - especially for the price - at least you can depend on their sizing once find right size.
October 4, 2025 at 6:46 PM
22 items received so far and only things not going back is the Clarks shoes, which despite the decrease in quality over the years - especially for the price - at least you can depend on their sizing once find right size.
Ok this is getting ridiculous. Ordered 31 inch chinos. Arrived today and they are significantly larger in waist than my old 32 inch chinos and are even larger than my old 32 inch jeans. Have all clothes sizes inflated?
October 4, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Ok this is getting ridiculous. Ordered 31 inch chinos. Arrived today and they are significantly larger in waist than my old 32 inch chinos and are even larger than my old 32 inch jeans. Have all clothes sizes inflated?
With another "small" jacket arriving that would need to be above average height to fit, it's looking like my only option is going to be buying a sowing machine... Can't end up looking any worse making my own clothes than look with mix of 10+ year old clothes and clothes that look 2 sizes too big...
Buying new clothes - or trying to - is reminder of why I never buy anything. Men's "small" jacket & it's a tent on me with sleeves nearly fully covering hands. "Small" seems to mean 5ft 10inch at the least. This is why I have a 25 year old jacket thats falling apart that I've been unable to replace.
October 3, 2025 at 11:32 AM
With another "small" jacket arriving that would need to be above average height to fit, it's looking like my only option is going to be buying a sowing machine... Can't end up looking any worse making my own clothes than look with mix of 10+ year old clothes and clothes that look 2 sizes too big...
Buying new clothes - or trying to - is reminder of why I never buy anything. Men's "small" jacket & it's a tent on me with sleeves nearly fully covering hands. "Small" seems to mean 5ft 10inch at the least. This is why I have a 25 year old jacket thats falling apart that I've been unable to replace.
October 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Buying new clothes - or trying to - is reminder of why I never buy anything. Men's "small" jacket & it's a tent on me with sleeves nearly fully covering hands. "Small" seems to mean 5ft 10inch at the least. This is why I have a 25 year old jacket thats falling apart that I've been unable to replace.
Reposted by Alasdair Stewart
We can build a people's railway for the 21st century 🛤️
September 12, 2025 at 10:10 AM
We can build a people's railway for the 21st century 🛤️
My slides from today's AI Symposium CoSS Breakout Session:
"Prompting Against the Grain - Generating Learning in AI Interactions"
A polemic on critically engaging with genAI in teaching to deflate hype & challenge claims of an inevitable genAI future.
sgsssonline.github.io/genai-guidan...
"Prompting Against the Grain - Generating Learning in AI Interactions"
A polemic on critically engaging with genAI in teaching to deflate hype & challenge claims of an inevitable genAI future.
sgsssonline.github.io/genai-guidan...
Critical GenAI Literacies – Prompting Against the Grain
sgsssonline.github.io
September 10, 2025 at 3:32 PM
My slides from today's AI Symposium CoSS Breakout Session:
"Prompting Against the Grain - Generating Learning in AI Interactions"
A polemic on critically engaging with genAI in teaching to deflate hype & challenge claims of an inevitable genAI future.
sgsssonline.github.io/genai-guidan...
"Prompting Against the Grain - Generating Learning in AI Interactions"
A polemic on critically engaging with genAI in teaching to deflate hype & challenge claims of an inevitable genAI future.
sgsssonline.github.io/genai-guidan...