The Surrealist Fridge
@surrealistfridge.bsky.social
Self-parody non-prof account. In Memoriam The Surrealist Fridge 1988-1989. Donnington Bridge Road.
Pinned
The Campus Cafe at the End of the University
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
This is also the concern with ‘AI in education’, because it’s good at producing school-shaped textual artefacts but won’t teach you how to do the thing by yourself.
October 27, 2025 at 8:13 AM
This is also the concern with ‘AI in education’, because it’s good at producing school-shaped textual artefacts but won’t teach you how to do the thing by yourself.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
The UK (English really) system is bad in different ways. Ridiculous early specialisation (three A-Levels, seriously come on), the sausage conveyor belt progression ratchet with no do-overs/change of mind/side projects, high stakes because of high fees.
December 9, 2025 at 10:14 PM
The UK (English really) system is bad in different ways. Ridiculous early specialisation (three A-Levels, seriously come on), the sausage conveyor belt progression ratchet with no do-overs/change of mind/side projects, high stakes because of high fees.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
tbh the skill that you learn by taking a compulsory iambic pentameter course when you actually wanted to study chemical engineering is "how to shut tf up and do what you're told", which is a useful and transferable skill and American universities seem very good at inculcating it in the middle class
December 9, 2025 at 10:19 PM
tbh the skill that you learn by taking a compulsory iambic pentameter course when you actually wanted to study chemical engineering is "how to shut tf up and do what you're told", which is a useful and transferable skill and American universities seem very good at inculcating it in the middle class
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
You'll never maximize your Q4 sales of Info-Nuggets and Knowledge-Bites with that attitude. Get those numbers up.
a close up of a man in a suit and tie looking at the camera .
ALT: a close up of a man in a suit and tie looking at the camera .
media.tenor.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:19 PM
You'll never maximize your Q4 sales of Info-Nuggets and Knowledge-Bites with that attitude. Get those numbers up.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Some just want a degree that qualifies them for the job they want. Half of my professors were abject idiots with tenure.
December 9, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Some just want a degree that qualifies them for the job they want. Half of my professors were abject idiots with tenure.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
At a rough estimate, there are two million+ people in GB with an Irish-born parent. The Irish state defines them as Irish from birth. Any of them may now be at risk of deportation. (1) Good luck with that, morons; (2) if we're not welcome, maybe we'll walk. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
All criminals with dual nationality must be deported, say Tories
The Conservative party’s policy also includes stripping people of their British citizenship when they are found guilty of a crime
www.thetimes.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:33 PM
At a rough estimate, there are two million+ people in GB with an Irish-born parent. The Irish state defines them as Irish from birth. Any of them may now be at risk of deportation. (1) Good luck with that, morons; (2) if we're not welcome, maybe we'll walk. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
An estimate of the energy cost of producing one single 10 second Sora video: one kilowatt hour.
- Deplete and then recharge your iphone 17 68 times
- 10% of daily German household use
- 5.5 hours of Netflix
- ~4hrs of gaming
This is probably a huge underestimate
www.linkedin.com/posts/alista...
- Deplete and then recharge your iphone 17 68 times
- 10% of daily German household use
- 5.5 hours of Netflix
- ~4hrs of gaming
This is probably a huge underestimate
www.linkedin.com/posts/alista...
December 3, 2025 at 1:25 PM
An estimate of the energy cost of producing one single 10 second Sora video: one kilowatt hour.
- Deplete and then recharge your iphone 17 68 times
- 10% of daily German household use
- 5.5 hours of Netflix
- ~4hrs of gaming
This is probably a huge underestimate
www.linkedin.com/posts/alista...
- Deplete and then recharge your iphone 17 68 times
- 10% of daily German household use
- 5.5 hours of Netflix
- ~4hrs of gaming
This is probably a huge underestimate
www.linkedin.com/posts/alista...
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Each semester I offer students an extra credit assignment where they can make memes based on class content. This year they offered up some solid ones, including a spot-on meme about my macabre taste in movies:
December 3, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Each semester I offer students an extra credit assignment where they can make memes based on class content. This year they offered up some solid ones, including a spot-on meme about my macabre taste in movies:
They pipe up
December 3, 2025 at 7:04 PM
They pipe up
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Oh I see that the University and College Union totally failed to make the turnout threshold for industrial action: the numbers voting fell below 40%. Predictable: everyone is just exhausted, alienated and beaten down. Employers can do as they wish now.
December 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Oh I see that the University and College Union totally failed to make the turnout threshold for industrial action: the numbers voting fell below 40%. Predictable: everyone is just exhausted, alienated and beaten down. Employers can do as they wish now.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”
― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
December 1, 2025 at 6:25 PM
“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”
― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
the single defining “new technology” of the 21st century is in fact nothing more than the subscription, an early modern innovation
November 30, 2025 at 1:41 PM
the single defining “new technology” of the 21st century is in fact nothing more than the subscription, an early modern innovation
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Cambridge is quietly nasty - particularly in key subjects like philosophy- Oxford likewise.
November 30, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Cambridge is quietly nasty - particularly in key subjects like philosophy- Oxford likewise.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Cyber Monday is a terrible name but @columbiaup.bsky.social is a great press and my book will be on sale for %50 off. All the slow motion for half the price!
cup.columbia.edu
cup.columbia.edu/book/downtim...
cup.columbia.edu
cup.columbia.edu/book/downtim...
Downtime | Columbia University Press
Slow motion has become perhaps the least special effect in film and media, a stylistic technique for showing violence, dream sequences, and flashbacks or oth... | CUP
cup.columbia.edu
November 29, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Cyber Monday is a terrible name but @columbiaup.bsky.social is a great press and my book will be on sale for %50 off. All the slow motion for half the price!
cup.columbia.edu
cup.columbia.edu/book/downtim...
cup.columbia.edu
cup.columbia.edu/book/downtim...
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Engaging my students for a three-hour seminar has never been easy for me -- I had to learn how to do it, and now I do feel like I am having to learn how to do it all over again with this cohort. That is one of those complicated topics, but one factor I don't see mentioned enough is... 4/
November 29, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Engaging my students for a three-hour seminar has never been easy for me -- I had to learn how to do it, and now I do feel like I am having to learn how to do it all over again with this cohort. That is one of those complicated topics, but one factor I don't see mentioned enough is... 4/
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
One is that teaching university students *well* requires much more work (and frankly, compassion) now than it did when I started nine years ago. 2/
November 29, 2025 at 4:20 PM
One is that teaching university students *well* requires much more work (and frankly, compassion) now than it did when I started nine years ago. 2/
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
We assume that students come to us ready-baked with certain skills like taking a set of notes. My experience is they really don't, and yes that smartphones are a part of why. But also laptops are expensive and it's not obvious how to annotate a PDF. So yes, train a skill then reward it.
November 28, 2025 at 1:05 PM
We assume that students come to us ready-baked with certain skills like taking a set of notes. My experience is they really don't, and yes that smartphones are a part of why. But also laptops are expensive and it's not obvious how to annotate a PDF. So yes, train a skill then reward it.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
"Minimum wage graduates could make student loan repayments by 2030"
Minimum wage graduates could make student loan repayments by 2030
The Chancellor froze student loan repayment thresholds until 2030 on plan 2, meaning more low earners will start repaying 9% of their salary sooner.
www.thisismoney.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:45 PM
"Minimum wage graduates could make student loan repayments by 2030"
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
AI use is gonna be like plastic surgery: when it's obvious and over the top will incur some stigma, when done well, you won't even know.
You can, but it's going to be demo and social network based. There's definitely going to be a major stigma towards being a Clippy addict in a lot of white collar professional circles.
November 26, 2025 at 6:16 PM
AI use is gonna be like plastic surgery: when it's obvious and over the top will incur some stigma, when done well, you won't even know.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
Remembering like 2006 where every party was people showing each other YouTube videos of stoned guys arguing about Pokémon that were constantly buffering. That feels like the enlightenment now.
November 24, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Remembering like 2006 where every party was people showing each other YouTube videos of stoned guys arguing about Pokémon that were constantly buffering. That feels like the enlightenment now.
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
“Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.”
- Doris Lessing
- Doris Lessing
November 23, 2025 at 12:34 AM
“Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.”
- Doris Lessing
- Doris Lessing
Reposted by The Surrealist Fridge
LLMs don't "understand". They generate an illusion of personhood through probabilistic text extrusion but there's no ghost in the machine.
November 21, 2025 at 4:18 PM
LLMs don't "understand". They generate an illusion of personhood through probabilistic text extrusion but there's no ghost in the machine.