Darren S. Layne
@funkyplaid.bsky.social
Historian of 18th-century Scotland focused on Jacobite Studies and Digital History. Curator of JDB1745. Chair, Jacobite Studies Trust. PhD via University of St Andrews. In love with a swan and two cats. Currently watching the leaves in Portland, OR.
Pinned
Darren S. Layne
@funkyplaid.bsky.social
· Aug 20
First post on Bluesky as a brief intro:
Hi folks, I'm Darren, an historian in the PNW interested in 18thC British & Vast Early American history, with a focus on Jacobite studies and the social and cultural identity of plebeian Scots during the Jacobite era. Looking forward to connecting with you!
Hi folks, I'm Darren, an historian in the PNW interested in 18thC British & Vast Early American history, with a focus on Jacobite studies and the social and cultural identity of plebeian Scots during the Jacobite era. Looking forward to connecting with you!
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
November 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
Holy moly, what a piece from Audrey Watters on grief and AI.
"We grieve because we love. We grieve because we care. We grieve because we know that the machines do not, and that the community we try to foster -- on campus, in the classroom, in our scholarly works -- is threatened with erasure."
"We grieve because we love. We grieve because we care. We grieve because we know that the machines do not, and that the community we try to foster -- on campus, in the classroom, in our scholarly works -- is threatened with erasure."
AI Grief Observed
These remarks were delivered this evening at the Creatively Critical Tech Speaker Series at Illinois State University.
"There is no good way to say this."
These are the opening words of Yiyun Li’s l...
2ndbreakfast.audreywatters.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Holy moly, what a piece from Audrey Watters on grief and AI.
"We grieve because we love. We grieve because we care. We grieve because we know that the machines do not, and that the community we try to foster -- on campus, in the classroom, in our scholarly works -- is threatened with erasure."
"We grieve because we love. We grieve because we care. We grieve because we know that the machines do not, and that the community we try to foster -- on campus, in the classroom, in our scholarly works -- is threatened with erasure."
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
we need a department of kerning
November 13, 2025 at 2:54 AM
we need a department of kerning
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Normal person in a liberal constitutional democracy: "The state should be judicious in how it uses physical force and these actions seem like overreaches."
MAGA: "Any state actions that constrain MY behavior or the behavior of people like me is tyranny, but it can do whatever it wants to THEM."
MAGA: "Any state actions that constrain MY behavior or the behavior of people like me is tyranny, but it can do whatever it wants to THEM."
November 13, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Normal person in a liberal constitutional democracy: "The state should be judicious in how it uses physical force and these actions seem like overreaches."
MAGA: "Any state actions that constrain MY behavior or the behavior of people like me is tyranny, but it can do whatever it wants to THEM."
MAGA: "Any state actions that constrain MY behavior or the behavior of people like me is tyranny, but it can do whatever it wants to THEM."
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Such an imaginative lead for heritage in Scotland. I saw similar graphic novel artists used to illustrate the Ad Gefrin Anglo Saxon museum in Northumberland in May. A hugely effective new way to communicate archaeology 👏👏
www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
Archaeologists and Game Designers Collaborate to Create “Basically the Best Book on the Picts Ever Written” - Dig It!
Carved in Stone: A Storyteller’s Guide to the Picts is an illustrated and comprehensive book for anyone interested in Scotland’s past, including those who play tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs). Fol...
www.digitscotland.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Such an imaginative lead for heritage in Scotland. I saw similar graphic novel artists used to illustrate the Ad Gefrin Anglo Saxon museum in Northumberland in May. A hugely effective new way to communicate archaeology 👏👏
www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
www.digitscotland.com/archaeologis...
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
I asked about this, and one of our excellent librarians discovered that in fact AI summaries/"Research Assistant" can be switched off at the level of the library. Something to request. support.proquest.com/s/article/Eb...
November 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
I asked about this, and one of our excellent librarians discovered that in fact AI summaries/"Research Assistant" can be switched off at the level of the library. Something to request. support.proquest.com/s/article/Eb...
h/t @threadinburgh.scot for flagging up this new release about the medieval coal mine beneath the Forth. One day during some volunteer work at Culross Palace garden, we trudged out at low tide to see what we could see. It's still there, after all these hundreds of years.
November 12, 2025 at 12:33 AM
h/t @threadinburgh.scot for flagging up this new release about the medieval coal mine beneath the Forth. One day during some volunteer work at Culross Palace garden, we trudged out at low tide to see what we could see. It's still there, after all these hundreds of years.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Call for Papers for 5th World Congress of Scottish Literatures is out:pleased to be giving keynote,'Burns along the New Silk Road' @iassl.bsky.social @asls.org.uk @scroll-scotlit.bsky.social @sahavoice.bsky.social @glasgowburns.bsky.social @paulinemackay.bsky.social scotlit-iassl.org/2025/11/11/c...
Call for Papers: 5th World Congress of Scottish Literatures: Scotland Along the New Silk Road (17-20 June 2027)
The Fifth World Congress of Scottish Literatures will be held at Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China, on 17-20 June 2027. Being China’s first city designated as a “UNESCO City of Literature…
scotlit-iassl.org
November 11, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Call for Papers for 5th World Congress of Scottish Literatures is out:pleased to be giving keynote,'Burns along the New Silk Road' @iassl.bsky.social @asls.org.uk @scroll-scotlit.bsky.social @sahavoice.bsky.social @glasgowburns.bsky.social @paulinemackay.bsky.social scotlit-iassl.org/2025/11/11/c...
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Who made this and why are you choosing nerd violence? ✍️ I mean, it is true, but still.
November 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Who made this and why are you choosing nerd violence? ✍️ I mean, it is true, but still.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
I know it’s been here a while but for those who don’t know, you are able to leave your unwanted coats here for those who may need one this winter #MorrisonSt #Edinburgh #WallofKindness ❤️
November 9, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I know it’s been here a while but for those who don’t know, you are able to leave your unwanted coats here for those who may need one this winter #MorrisonSt #Edinburgh #WallofKindness ❤️
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide.
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages
Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.
futurism.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:35 AM
I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide.
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Shouldn’t we be asking “where is all that money DOGE saved us?” Billions slashed from agency budgets, but that funding was already appropriated. Where’s the billions in funding congress directed under the bipartisan infrastructure bill? Where’s that? It’s all papering accounts, but where is it?
November 8, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Shouldn’t we be asking “where is all that money DOGE saved us?” Billions slashed from agency budgets, but that funding was already appropriated. Where’s the billions in funding congress directed under the bipartisan infrastructure bill? Where’s that? It’s all papering accounts, but where is it?
I've been lucky to have interacted with many, but one of the standouts was and continues to be Paul Monod, recently of Middlebury. Always with a kind word to say, always constructive and supportive discussion, and always egoless enthusiasm for the work and initiatives of others who are not him.
Right, enough of James Watson - who's a senior academic you've met who's been an utter delight?
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
November 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I've been lucky to have interacted with many, but one of the standouts was and continues to be Paul Monod, recently of Middlebury. Always with a kind word to say, always constructive and supportive discussion, and always egoless enthusiasm for the work and initiatives of others who are not him.
Huge thanks to @agdanrayfield.bsky.social and team for leading the charge to protect our city and all Oregonians. This might not stand for long, but any 'permanent barring' of cruel and fascistic actions is a good barring in my book.
A federal judge has permanently barred the Trump Administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland, following a long back-and-forth battle. Oregon leaders are celebrating the decision, but DOJ lawyers are already discussing an appeal.
Federal Judge Rules Against Trump, Barring Him from Deploying National Guard to Oregon
US District Judge Karin Immergut ruled Friday, November 7, that the Trump administration is permanently barred from deploying the National Guard to Oregon. The decision was a long-awaited ruling in a ...
www.portlandmercury.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Huge thanks to @agdanrayfield.bsky.social and team for leading the charge to protect our city and all Oregonians. This might not stand for long, but any 'permanent barring' of cruel and fascistic actions is a good barring in my book.
Give this man his Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump on nuclear weapons: "We could blow up the world 150 times. There's no need for this."
November 7, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Give this man his Nobel Peace Prize.
I see NYT going for the ‘hard-hitting’ stuff, however obvious and far, far too late. How many of their daily columns are aided or entirely written with AI, tho?
A.I. search tools, chatbots and social media are associated with lower cognitive performance, studies say. It's ushered in an era of “brain rot.”
How A.I. and Social Media Contribute to ‘Brain Rot’
A.I. search tools, chatbots and social media are associated with lower cognitive performance, studies say. What to do?
nyti.ms
November 6, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I see NYT going for the ‘hard-hitting’ stuff, however obvious and far, far too late. How many of their daily columns are aided or entirely written with AI, tho?
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
North Bridge in Edinburgh, circa 1880, possibly viewed from the old Calton jail.
November 6, 2025 at 9:16 AM
North Bridge in Edinburgh, circa 1880, possibly viewed from the old Calton jail.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Mamdani got a humanities degree.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
November 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Mamdani got a humanities degree.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
Two weeks of autumnal flux lead to the moment we wait for each year in our backyard. In two more, it will be no more, but at this moment it’s difficult to be anything but reverential of our relative peace and privilege. Small shifts with big results. Progress. Exhale.
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Two weeks of autumnal flux lead to the moment we wait for each year in our backyard. In two more, it will be no more, but at this moment it’s difficult to be anything but reverential of our relative peace and privilege. Small shifts with big results. Progress. Exhale.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
CFP for Slavery North conference on "Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution" @umassamherst.bsky.social 7/9-7/12/2026, abstracts due 12/19/2025 #vastearlyamerica slaverynorth.com/event/call-f... 🗃️
Call for Abstracts: Academic Conference - Slavery North
Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution Call for Abstracts: Academic Conference Dates: Thursday, July 9 to Sunday, July 12, 2026 Location: Univers...
slaverynorth.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:27 PM
CFP for Slavery North conference on "Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution" @umassamherst.bsky.social 7/9-7/12/2026, abstracts due 12/19/2025 #vastearlyamerica slaverynorth.com/event/call-f... 🗃️
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Just nice to see an American progressive leader who is unafraid and victorious. Really no more to it than that. What a beautiful fucking sight.
November 5, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Just nice to see an American progressive leader who is unafraid and victorious. Really no more to it than that. What a beautiful fucking sight.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
The billionaires can buy the newspapers and buy social media and buy attack ads, but they can't buy their way out of how much we fucking hate all of them.
November 5, 2025 at 5:27 AM
The billionaires can buy the newspapers and buy social media and buy attack ads, but they can't buy their way out of how much we fucking hate all of them.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
If you’re wondering what the future of the Democratic Party looks like, watch the young, brown democratic socialist on the TV right now.
November 5, 2025 at 4:41 AM
If you’re wondering what the future of the Democratic Party looks like, watch the young, brown democratic socialist on the TV right now.
Reposted by Darren S. Layne
Impossible to overstate how exciting field conferences are for academics. We spend 11.95 months a year with people only understanding 5-15% of our jokes and references, but then for three glorious days 😍😍😍
November 5, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Impossible to overstate how exciting field conferences are for academics. We spend 11.95 months a year with people only understanding 5-15% of our jokes and references, but then for three glorious days 😍😍😍