emmatonkin.bsky.social
emmatonkin.bsky.social
emmatonkin.bsky.social
@emmatonkin.bsky.social
Researcher, sometimes lecture - currently digital health, data ethics, misc other. Charity swimathons. Ink, fiction, occasional yarn. Zombologiste à temps partiel. Citoyenne de nulle part. Franglaise. πόλλ’ ἠπίστατο ἔργα, κακῶς δ’ ἠπίστατο πάντα.
Reposted by emmatonkin.bsky.social
in *2018*
JK Rowling's team invited Jeffery Epstein to the deathly hallows play and to a Harry potter dinner.

www.justice.gov/epstein/file...

www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
www.justice.gov
February 1, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by emmatonkin.bsky.social
Not everybody was kung fu fighting. I saw a little thumb wrestling, too.
January 30, 2026 at 12:28 PM
I found this post pretty interesting. The "gen ai as slot machine" analogy is used quite often and this post discusses that idea - calls the state of concentration engendered "dark flow" or "junk flow", and refers to "a misguided feeling of agency". www.fast.ai/posts/2026-0...
Breaking the Spell of Vibe Coding – fast.ai
Sinister variations on the positive state of flow
www.fast.ai
January 31, 2026 at 11:04 PM
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EVERY TIME YOU READ A BOOK, A TECH BILLIONAIRE CRIES
January 16, 2026 at 9:19 AM
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i was actually shocked to see the numbers on new research from Global Energy Monitor on new gas projects in the US: nearly 100 gigawatts of power—enough to power tens of millions of homes—are currently in development explicitly to power data centers. At the end of 2023 that number was 4 gigawatts
Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom
Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.
www.wired.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:38 PM
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As a side note, it’s funny to see so many of these emails with thirsty academics repeatedly enact Marx’s bit in the 1844 Manuscripts about the power of money. “Oh Mr Epstein, your house in New York is enormous and, unrelatedly, your questions at dinner were so intelligent, so insightful, so deep.”
January 31, 2026 at 4:05 PM
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this one seems pretty universal
January 29, 2026 at 6:55 PM
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tag yourself i’m I AM MANOEUVRING WITH DIFFICULTY
January 29, 2026 at 6:41 PM
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I wonder if people who are smarter than this kind of thing than me have written anything about the digitial 'turn' (whatever we're there) in humanities and its fragility re: the British Library hack? @calthalas.bsky.social and/or @etreharne.bsky.social, I'm thinking here?
January 29, 2026 at 12:16 PM
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It always makes me laugh, because my small experiences of working with big firms to explain storytelling were so universally bizarre. They really don't want to be told that the nuance is a factor...
January 29, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Reposted by emmatonkin.bsky.social
In which we learn what happens when you combine the effectiveness of online learning with the efficiency of UK government, the academic rigour of management consultancy, and the fundamental honesty of purpose of ChatGPT.
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
AI Skills Boost - AI Skills Hub
aiskillshub.org.uk
January 29, 2026 at 7:51 AM
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How? How do you double-check the accuracy, if you're not already an expert? Ask a different GenAI? Or do you, you know... Have to go and do the research you would have done anyway, pre-AI? Because I'm buggered if I can think of how you do that in a way where the GenAI saved you time.
January 28, 2026 at 1:12 PM
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7. THE RURAL ART SCENE
January 28, 2026 at 8:51 AM
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"the strip-mining of all of humanity’s expression" is quite the phrase
January 28, 2026 at 2:15 PM
I am reminded of that YouGov survey in which 12% of men vs 3% of women claimed to believe that they could win a point in a tennis match against Serena Williams.
I would say this findings shows women are more AI literate than men, because the majority of non-magical beings have no innate ability to "judge truthfulness"
January 28, 2026 at 1:46 PM
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As an ex e-learning developer, I can confidently say this will be a terrible learning experience. I cannot wait to rip it to shreds.

Here's what the Free AI Training will look like 🧵

1/
BREAKING: Free AI training will be offered to every adult in the UK, with short courses to teach people how to use simple AI tools effectively in the workplace.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall tells #BBCBreakfast about the scheme
January 28, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by emmatonkin.bsky.social
Just logged into Instagram to be presented with an option to pay and go ad free, or to keep it free and Meta can use my information for ads.

Logged into Facebook, exactly the same message.

How is it fair that I have to pay for the right to say whether people can use my information?!
January 27, 2026 at 8:27 PM
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Not content with flogging off our data for years, Meta is now going down the blackmail route which is entirely in keeping with the "enshittification" of the Internet
Now their game is pay up or be bombarded by ads
The article below best describes the practices
www.theguardian.com/science/2024...
January 14, 2026 at 12:12 AM
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January 27, 2026 at 2:49 PM
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Pulp scholarship is political.
January 27, 2026 at 5:17 PM
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*fully restores your HP as you scroll past*
January 27, 2026 at 4:20 AM
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I and many others predicted this long ago. VPNs now headed for UK age gating. Amendment 94a is also massive, given its potential scope. reclaimthenet.org/uk-house-of-...
UK House of Lords Votes to Extend Age Verification to VPNs
The vote marks a stunning turn, pulling VPNs and private platforms into an age-check regime once unthinkable in a democracy.
reclaimthenet.org
January 26, 2026 at 11:39 PM
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TD Cowen had a data center themed analyst letter today that said that Oracle may lay off 20-30,000 people or sell Cerner to keep up with the debt on the data centers it’s building for OpenAI.
January 27, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Reposted by emmatonkin.bsky.social
Reform is basically a suburban petrol station's DVD bin of Tory politicians.
January 26, 2026 at 1:04 PM