Tim Cowlishaw
@timcowlishaw.co.uk
PhD-ing @ UOC DARTS (Design Research + STS + Environmental Humanities + Digital Waste).
Teaching @ UDIT y Elisava.
Working @ greenweb.org & FabLab BCN.
Anglès a Tarragona (sempre guiri, antigament pixapí, mai "expat")
https://www.timcowlishaw.co.uk
Teaching @ UDIT y Elisava.
Working @ greenweb.org & FabLab BCN.
Anglès a Tarragona (sempre guiri, antigament pixapí, mai "expat")
https://www.timcowlishaw.co.uk
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Genuinely didn't think this would happen. Good.
BREAKING: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been formally reported to the police over allegations he was involved in the trafficking of a woman to the UK for sex in 2010
February 3, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Genuinely didn't think this would happen. Good.
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
"Ooo, it's all connected! Spoooky!" Well I'm sorry, but it fucking is, isn't it?
February 3, 2026 at 10:14 AM
"Ooo, it's all connected! Spoooky!" Well I'm sorry, but it fucking is, isn't it?
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
It's 1998. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
February 2, 2026 at 7:06 AM
It's 1998. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2001. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2025. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
It's 2026. Peter Mandleson has resigned in disgrace from Labour.
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Epstein’s economic power among academics was made possible by a capitalist system that makes higher education dependent on the charity economy rather than a public good supported by taxing the rich
February 1, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Epstein’s economic power among academics was made possible by a capitalist system that makes higher education dependent on the charity economy rather than a public good supported by taxing the rich
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Truly the thickest man alive, and a glaringly obvious warning that we’ve organised our economic system in the wrong way
February 1, 2026 at 12:57 PM
Truly the thickest man alive, and a glaringly obvious warning that we’ve organised our economic system in the wrong way
Ya se nota en el aula - la similitud con el primer año pospandemia en términos de energía e involucro es inquietante.
Cada día que pasa más convencido de que el uso de la IA en el ámbito educativo va a ser, al menos para esta generación de chavales, mucho peor que la pandemia.
January 29, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Ya se nota en el aula - la similitud con el primer año pospandemia en términos de energía e involucro es inquietante.
Coincidentally I've been spending the week with some MA UX design students basically trying to convince them that what gets counted as an "emerging technology" is entirely politics, and this example is the one that really got through to them (1/2)
Here’s the thing about self checkout. Companies have determined that it is more cost effective to take the loss from theft that automation eases than it is to pay people to work in their stores. When one puts it like that, the quality of the tech or the apparent convenience* are beside the point.+
January 29, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Coincidentally I've been spending the week with some MA UX design students basically trying to convince them that what gets counted as an "emerging technology" is entirely politics, and this example is the one that really got through to them (1/2)
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Here’s the thing about self checkout. Companies have determined that it is more cost effective to take the loss from theft that automation eases than it is to pay people to work in their stores. When one puts it like that, the quality of the tech or the apparent convenience* are beside the point.+
January 29, 2026 at 1:38 PM
Here’s the thing about self checkout. Companies have determined that it is more cost effective to take the loss from theft that automation eases than it is to pay people to work in their stores. When one puts it like that, the quality of the tech or the apparent convenience* are beside the point.+
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Pues nada, un augurio genial desde co-star para el dia en què viajo a la ciudad capital, con la cual ya tengo una relación complicada
January 26, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Pues nada, un augurio genial desde co-star para el dia en què viajo a la ciudad capital, con la cual ya tengo una relación complicada
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
I heard there is a funny clown
Who with the circus came to town
What sadness that you have I’m sure he’d cure ya
It goes like this,
You’ll go
You’ll see
But doctor, you’re describing me!
The clown that you prescribe, is Pagliacci!
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Who with the circus came to town
What sadness that you have I’m sure he’d cure ya
It goes like this,
You’ll go
You’ll see
But doctor, you’re describing me!
The clown that you prescribe, is Pagliacci!
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
January 25, 2026 at 6:19 PM
I heard there is a funny clown
Who with the circus came to town
What sadness that you have I’m sure he’d cure ya
It goes like this,
You’ll go
You’ll see
But doctor, you’re describing me!
The clown that you prescribe, is Pagliacci!
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Who with the circus came to town
What sadness that you have I’m sure he’d cure ya
It goes like this,
You’ll go
You’ll see
But doctor, you’re describing me!
The clown that you prescribe, is Pagliacci!
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
My course syllabi now contain a link to this document, "why Professor Holliday Doesn't Use Generative AI". Feel free to share/repurpose or just check out the links for your own reference. It won't stop some of them, but I want students to know why. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Why Professor Holliday Doesn’t Use Generative “AI”
Why Professor Holliday Doesn’t Use Generative “AI” This is a (very) incomplete list of journalistic and scholarly sources that provide information about limitations and documented drawbacks of variou...
docs.google.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:28 PM
My course syllabi now contain a link to this document, "why Professor Holliday Doesn't Use Generative AI". Feel free to share/repurpose or just check out the links for your own reference. It won't stop some of them, but I want students to know why. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"Here we see something that was intended as a strategy for the reduction of cognitive overload threatening to become one of its main drivers."
"Here we see something that was intended as a strategy for the reduction of cognitive overload threatening to become one of its main drivers."
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"But such absolute reliability is rare."
"But such absolute reliability is rare."
"It's something else entirely isn't it?"
January 21, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence.
"Here we see something that was intended as a strategy for the reduction of cognitive overload threatening to become one of its main drivers."
"Here we see something that was intended as a strategy for the reduction of cognitive overload threatening to become one of its main drivers."
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Very keen to play some new places this year. Who’s putting on good stuff in your town? Where should we play?
January 19, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Very keen to play some new places this year. Who’s putting on good stuff in your town? Where should we play?
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
10 000 euros para que te enseñen a usar herramientas que roban y hacen peor tu trabajo y que te van a quitar el trabajo. Lo del máster de IA del centro universitario de artes y diseño de Barcelona es una putísima vergüenza.
January 18, 2026 at 11:16 AM
10 000 euros para que te enseñen a usar herramientas que roban y hacen peor tu trabajo y que te van a quitar el trabajo. Lo del máster de IA del centro universitario de artes y diseño de Barcelona es una putísima vergüenza.
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
cat's oot the bag then!
Life Without Buildings will reunite to perform their 2001 album Any Other City in full this November to mark fifty years since Rough Trade opened its first record store; tickets on sale from 16 January!
Life Without Buildings to reform for one-off show to celebrate Rough Trade's 50th anniversary
Glasgow art-rock band Life Without Buildings reunite to perform their 2001 album Any Other City in full to mark fifty years since Rough Trade opened its first record store.
buff.ly
January 13, 2026 at 4:08 PM
cat's oot the bag then!
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Great question!
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.
January 13, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Great question!
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
I think about this quote from the Luddite movement all the time
January 11, 2026 at 12:12 AM
I think about this quote from the Luddite movement all the time
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
I don’t think we should have ceded control quite so quickly and without so much as a fight.
January 10, 2026 at 2:52 AM
I don’t think we should have ceded control quite so quickly and without so much as a fight.
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
The Guardian doing inexplicable voluntary free public relations work for a corporation profiting from sexual abuse by headlining this as the image gen being "turned off". It isn't off: they've just monetised it. What the fuck are we doing here people, come on.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery
X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action
www.theguardian.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:18 AM
The Guardian doing inexplicable voluntary free public relations work for a corporation profiting from sexual abuse by headlining this as the image gen being "turned off". It isn't off: they've just monetised it. What the fuck are we doing here people, come on.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Some work news - My last nine or so months with the Green Web Foundation have been mostly working on carbon.txt, a proposed standardised approach for websites to publicise their sustainability commitments and data, and we've just released a new version! www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/carbont...
Carbon.txt version 0.4 - Green Web Foundation
www.thegreenwebfoundation.org
January 8, 2026 at 7:42 AM
Some work news - My last nine or so months with the Green Web Foundation have been mostly working on carbon.txt, a proposed standardised approach for websites to publicise their sustainability commitments and data, and we've just released a new version! www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/carbont...
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
You call this a glitch?
January 7, 2026 at 11:00 PM
You call this a glitch?
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
Happy New Year from the Oslo Center for Environmental Humanities! 🌿
We’re kicking off 2026 with a busy January. From the "ecosemiotics" of sacred remains to the politics of global climate action, we have some deep dives planned.
Check out the thread below for details! 👇 🧵
We’re kicking off 2026 with a busy January. From the "ecosemiotics" of sacred remains to the politics of global climate action, we have some deep dives planned.
Check out the thread below for details! 👇 🧵
January 6, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Happy New Year from the Oslo Center for Environmental Humanities! 🌿
We’re kicking off 2026 with a busy January. From the "ecosemiotics" of sacred remains to the politics of global climate action, we have some deep dives planned.
Check out the thread below for details! 👇 🧵
We’re kicking off 2026 with a busy January. From the "ecosemiotics" of sacred remains to the politics of global climate action, we have some deep dives planned.
Check out the thread below for details! 👇 🧵
Reposted by Tim Cowlishaw
looking forward to winter book events for public data cultures in coming months ❄️📗💜✨
jonathangray.org/2026/01/05/b...
including with @digitalmethods.net @digitalgoodnet.bsky.social @internetarchive.eu @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social @cimethods.bsky.social @mctd.bsky.social #dmi26
jonathangray.org/2026/01/05/b...
including with @digitalmethods.net @digitalgoodnet.bsky.social @internetarchive.eu @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social @cimethods.bsky.social @mctd.bsky.social #dmi26
winter book events for public data cultures ❄️📗
Looking forward to some winter book events for public data cultures in coming weeks and months. ❄️📗
jonathangray.org
January 5, 2026 at 3:02 PM
looking forward to winter book events for public data cultures in coming months ❄️📗💜✨
jonathangray.org/2026/01/05/b...
including with @digitalmethods.net @digitalgoodnet.bsky.social @internetarchive.eu @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social @cimethods.bsky.social @mctd.bsky.social #dmi26
jonathangray.org/2026/01/05/b...
including with @digitalmethods.net @digitalgoodnet.bsky.social @internetarchive.eu @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social @cimethods.bsky.social @mctd.bsky.social #dmi26