Rebecca Hirsch
@bibliobeka.bsky.social
Tech and libraries and books and stuff. California transplant in Edinburgh by way of Connecticut.
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Why can't they just analyse their data? Why is any computation or statistics called AI now?
Major UK project launched to tackle drug-resistant superbugs with AI. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Major AI project to tackle drug-resistant superbugs
The UK turns to artificial intelligence (AI) to reverse the rising numbers of infections that shrug off antibiotics.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Why can't they just analyse their data? Why is any computation or statistics called AI now?
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Save the date for this year's CDCS Annual Lecture! Dorothy Berry will discuss the development of JPCA Explore and how it reflects wider issues around creating human-scale digital projects.
Refreshments will be provided.
📆 Wed 10 Dec
🔗https://edin.ac/48Ss1DS
Refreshments will be provided.
📆 Wed 10 Dec
🔗https://edin.ac/48Ss1DS
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Save the date for this year's CDCS Annual Lecture! Dorothy Berry will discuss the development of JPCA Explore and how it reflects wider issues around creating human-scale digital projects.
Refreshments will be provided.
📆 Wed 10 Dec
🔗https://edin.ac/48Ss1DS
Refreshments will be provided.
📆 Wed 10 Dec
🔗https://edin.ac/48Ss1DS
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
PAN submitted for demolition of Argyle House and mixed-use redevelopment of the site - hotel, residential & office use: bit.ly/4oTnsOV. Project architects are Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM).
November 11, 2025 at 7:38 PM
PAN submitted for demolition of Argyle House and mixed-use redevelopment of the site - hotel, residential & office use: bit.ly/4oTnsOV. Project architects are Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM).
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
I dunno man, if you can’t keep 20% of the people you lead to hold the line, maybe you’re not up for the job?
SCOOP: Schumer privately fought to extend government shutdown
Scoop: Schumer privately fought to extend government shutdown
"We let him know what we were doing," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).
www.axios.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:18 AM
I dunno man, if you can’t keep 20% of the people you lead to hold the line, maybe you’re not up for the job?
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Today’s fun tax tip…
(It’s a similarly daft situation that railways pay tax on fuel/energy but airlines don’t pay any tax on their aviation fuel, a huge hidden subsidy)
youtu.be/dr9MH0NuUtg?...
(It’s a similarly daft situation that railways pay tax on fuel/energy but airlines don’t pay any tax on their aviation fuel, a huge hidden subsidy)
youtu.be/dr9MH0NuUtg?...
Private jets don't pay fuel tax. Now I don't either.
YouTube video by Oli Frost
youtu.be
November 9, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Today’s fun tax tip…
(It’s a similarly daft situation that railways pay tax on fuel/energy but airlines don’t pay any tax on their aviation fuel, a huge hidden subsidy)
youtu.be/dr9MH0NuUtg?...
(It’s a similarly daft situation that railways pay tax on fuel/energy but airlines don’t pay any tax on their aviation fuel, a huge hidden subsidy)
youtu.be/dr9MH0NuUtg?...
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
The failure of the “blue no matter who” crowd to rally behind Mamdani really just lays the reality of that position bare, doesn’t it?
November 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The failure of the “blue no matter who” crowd to rally behind Mamdani really just lays the reality of that position bare, doesn’t it?
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
If you are looking for a PhD in the UK, please check out the LIDo program - www.lido-dtp.ac.uk/apply.
If you are interested in viruses and making genetically edited salmon, please look up my icase project.
International students are welcome to apply!
Please reach out if you have questions.
If you are interested in viruses and making genetically edited salmon, please look up my icase project.
International students are welcome to apply!
Please reach out if you have questions.
November 4, 2025 at 11:14 AM
If you are looking for a PhD in the UK, please check out the LIDo program - www.lido-dtp.ac.uk/apply.
If you are interested in viruses and making genetically edited salmon, please look up my icase project.
International students are welcome to apply!
Please reach out if you have questions.
If you are interested in viruses and making genetically edited salmon, please look up my icase project.
International students are welcome to apply!
Please reach out if you have questions.
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
every year the myriad of teams that make up the University of Edinburgh's Library do amazing things, and every year we get a little bit better at communicating about those things.
Very happy to see ReConnect 2025, our annual report, go public today
library.ed.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
Very happy to see ReConnect 2025, our annual report, go public today
library.ed.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
October 30, 2025 at 8:57 AM
every year the myriad of teams that make up the University of Edinburgh's Library do amazing things, and every year we get a little bit better at communicating about those things.
Very happy to see ReConnect 2025, our annual report, go public today
library.ed.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
Very happy to see ReConnect 2025, our annual report, go public today
library.ed.ac.uk/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
WELL HOW ABOUT THAT
"A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state."
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state."
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts
A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...
www.bloomberg.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:22 PM
WELL HOW ABOUT THAT
"A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state."
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state."
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
The fact that they can't get a random sampling of citizens from any city to indict people for interfering with ICE seems more informative than any political poll, tbh
A federal grand jury declined to indict two people charged with assaulting law enforcement agents outside a suburban Chicago ICE facility, an attorney for one of the defendants said, Megan Crepeau and @benjaminpenn.bsky.social report
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Grand Jury Declines to Indict Two Chicago-Area ICE Protesters
A federal grand jury declined to indict two people charged with assaulting law enforcement agents outside a suburban Chicago ICE facility, an attorney for one of the defendants said.
news.bloomberglaw.com
October 8, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The fact that they can't get a random sampling of citizens from any city to indict people for interfering with ICE seems more informative than any political poll, tbh
It's been great to see the close collaboration between our Digital Collections Project Team and the UX team on this!
We've been working on our new Digital Collections Platform - launching formally in 2026. Thanks @emmahorrell.bsky.social for all your UX guidance and support!
blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-comm...
blogs.ed.ac.uk/website-comm...
How usability testing guided user-centred improvements of the Digital Collections Platform – Website and Communications Blog
blogs.ed.ac.uk
October 8, 2025 at 9:40 AM
It's been great to see the close collaboration between our Digital Collections Project Team and the UX team on this!
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
From the noted anarchists at the Financial Times. archive.is/2025.09.23-0...
September 23, 2025 at 2:23 PM
From the noted anarchists at the Financial Times. archive.is/2025.09.23-0...
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
I don't get how people don't realize that a technology that replaces junior and entry level positions in a field destroys that field.
There's no skipping steps. You have to be a junior before you can be a senior, and if you don't have senior people, you don't have a field.
There's no skipping steps. You have to be a junior before you can be a senior, and if you don't have senior people, you don't have a field.
Remember, kids: A real big goal of "AI" is to entirely sever capital from labor, and no, there will be no universal basic income, you can all just starve and die, thanks
www.axios.com/2025/08/26/a...
www.axios.com/2025/08/26/a...
AI is already taking jobs away from entry-level workers
Software and customer service are most at risk right now and could be the canary in the coal mine.
www.axios.com
September 1, 2025 at 4:03 AM
I don't get how people don't realize that a technology that replaces junior and entry level positions in a field destroys that field.
There's no skipping steps. You have to be a junior before you can be a senior, and if you don't have senior people, you don't have a field.
There's no skipping steps. You have to be a junior before you can be a senior, and if you don't have senior people, you don't have a field.
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
you could solve a lot of parking issues by switching the whole system so that you are only allowed to park where there are bays marked, rather than having to have lots of lines to show where you can't
July 28, 2025 at 8:19 AM
you could solve a lot of parking issues by switching the whole system so that you are only allowed to park where there are bays marked, rather than having to have lots of lines to show where you can't
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Always worth reading Rabbi Danya
p.s. Mamdani never said globalize the intifada, so don't respond with the notion that he did. READ THE THREAD.
p.s. Mamdani never said globalize the intifada, so don't respond with the notion that he did. READ THE THREAD.
A Jew was mad re: Mamdani & 'globalize the intifada' and this is what I said (more context downthread, read the whole thing before responding):
Original context of conversation here and next skeet
Original context of conversation here and next skeet
I feel like I'm losing my mind. Here is the transcript of what Zohran Mamdani actually said about the phrase "globalize the intifada." This is his "refusal to disavow it." This is what has people terrified. Just fucking read it.
Source: podscripts.co/podcasts/the...
Source: podscripts.co/podcasts/the...
June 30, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Always worth reading Rabbi Danya
p.s. Mamdani never said globalize the intifada, so don't respond with the notion that he did. READ THE THREAD.
p.s. Mamdani never said globalize the intifada, so don't respond with the notion that he did. READ THE THREAD.
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
not the main issue here but i'd really appreciate it if democratic politicians spoke out in support of big-city life and culture with the same energy and reverence that all politicians have for small towns
los angeles is "real america" and so are all the other big cities the president hates
los angeles is "real america" and so are all the other big cities the president hates
June 8, 2025 at 10:48 PM
not the main issue here but i'd really appreciate it if democratic politicians spoke out in support of big-city life and culture with the same energy and reverence that all politicians have for small towns
los angeles is "real america" and so are all the other big cities the president hates
los angeles is "real america" and so are all the other big cities the president hates
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
you know I'm beginning to think that these people aren't 100% on the up and up.
SCOOP: The Antisemitism Awareness Act — up for vote in Senate committee tomorrow — now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements by Christian conservatives.
New added language in the bill clarifies First Amendment protections.
More ⬇️
forward.com/fast-forward...
New added language in the bill clarifies First Amendment protections.
More ⬇️
forward.com/fast-forward...
Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
The Antisemitism Awareness Act's added language says it would not infringe on religious liberty to protect the claim that Jews killed Jesus.
forward.com
April 29, 2025 at 11:28 PM
you know I'm beginning to think that these people aren't 100% on the up and up.
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Gavin Newsom, a schmuck who has spent every waking moment the last 10 years of his life thinking about political optics, getting dogwalked by a guy half the country didn't even know existed like 5 days ago
April 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Gavin Newsom, a schmuck who has spent every waking moment the last 10 years of his life thinking about political optics, getting dogwalked by a guy half the country didn't even know existed like 5 days ago
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Whenever listening to someone in the tech world talk about the inevitable dominance of some tech or product, it's helpful to remember that 5 years ago every single one of them said that we were on the verge of everyone wearing VR headsets for work and play.
April 17, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Whenever listening to someone in the tech world talk about the inevitable dominance of some tech or product, it's helpful to remember that 5 years ago every single one of them said that we were on the verge of everyone wearing VR headsets for work and play.
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
one thing that Democratic politicians should take note of is that the overlap between “great political optics” and “actual morally good stuff” is really big right now
April 18, 2025 at 5:20 AM
one thing that Democratic politicians should take note of is that the overlap between “great political optics” and “actual morally good stuff” is really big right now
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
April 15, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
You’d think that with the US making itself a lot less attractive to international students that the UK government could see the obvious opportunity. But no…
The UK government is proposing to finally finish off its universities by further tightening the terms of the graduate visa route. The stupid fools. Playing with dangers they don't even understand. www.ft.com/content/f441...
UK Home Office’s reform of graduate visas runs into opposition
[FREE TO READ] Education department at odds with plan to curb number of overseas students allowed to stay in Britain
www.ft.com
April 8, 2025 at 7:46 AM
You’d think that with the US making itself a lot less attractive to international students that the UK government could see the obvious opportunity. But no…
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
We're delighted to announce @natlibfi.bsky.social has joined the Consortium. The Library has recently begun a 2-year project to implement IIIF across several of the Library’s systems. You can learn more about the project on our website: iiif.io/news/2025/04...
IIIF Consortium Welcomes National Library of Finland
The International Image Interoperability Framework Consortium is delighted to announce the National Library of Finland has joined as a full member.
iiif.io
April 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
We're delighted to announce @natlibfi.bsky.social has joined the Consortium. The Library has recently begun a 2-year project to implement IIIF across several of the Library’s systems. You can learn more about the project on our website: iiif.io/news/2025/04...
I don’t really have anything productive to add to this discourse but I felt moved to say I went to grad school on a scholarship funded by the IMLS called the “Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.”
SCOOP: DOGE notified the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS) today that the entire staff is being put on administrative leave effective immediately, I’ve learned from an agency source.
They’ll be cancelling huge swaths of grants/contracts and starting a Reduction in Force (RIF).
They’ll be cancelling huge swaths of grants/contracts and starting a Reduction in Force (RIF).
March 31, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I don’t really have anything productive to add to this discourse but I felt moved to say I went to grad school on a scholarship funded by the IMLS called the “Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.”
Reposted by Rebecca Hirsch
Congestion pricing is an unqualified triumph. One of the most immediately, strikingly successful public policies of my lifetime.
“The MTA as a whole is averaging 448K more public transit riders per day this year…The MTA ridership growth since congestion pricing went into effect is almost 50% larger than the total ridership of America’s next-largest subway system.” bettercities.substack.com/p/congestion...
Congestion Pricing is a Policy Miracle
Which is exactly why Trump wants to get rid of it
bettercities.substack.com
March 21, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Congestion pricing is an unqualified triumph. One of the most immediately, strikingly successful public policies of my lifetime.