Dan Diffendale
@diffendale.bsky.social
archaeologist, at the moment studying volcanic tuff as a building material but interested in all old trash
ΟΣΟΝ ΖΗΣ ΦΑΙΝΟΥ
he/him
Pisa
🥖🌹
simultaneously more and less fun than profile suggests
ΟΣΟΝ ΖΗΣ ΦΑΙΝΟΥ
he/him
Pisa
🥖🌹
simultaneously more and less fun than profile suggests
Pinned
Dan Diffendale
@diffendale.bsky.social
· Nov 10
diffendale's collections on Flickr
The safest and most inclusive global community of photography enthusiasts. The best place for inspiration, connection, and sharing!
www.flickr.com
my collection of about 14,000 photos (and growing) of ancient Mediterranean (broadly construed) archaeological subjects with Creative Commons license available here:
www.flickr.com/photos/dandi...
www.flickr.com/photos/dandi...
I'm generally pretty calm, and I try to give people benefit of the doubt, but the time I just spent trying to provide constructive feedback in a peer review before arriving at the references and realizing that many were simply invented out of thin air, surely from use of genAI, has me hopping mad
November 12, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I'm generally pretty calm, and I try to give people benefit of the doubt, but the time I just spent trying to provide constructive feedback in a peer review before arriving at the references and realizing that many were simply invented out of thin air, surely from use of genAI, has me hopping mad
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
My piece out now in the new PMLA: Marxism, Cultural Studies, and the Rise of Indigenous Studies
Marxism, Cultural Studies, and the Rise of Indigenous Studies | PMLA | Cambridge Core
Marxism, Cultural Studies, and the Rise of Indigenous Studies - Volume 140 Issue 3
www.cambridge.org
October 29, 2025 at 9:19 PM
My piece out now in the new PMLA: Marxism, Cultural Studies, and the Rise of Indigenous Studies
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
November 11, 2025 at 6:15 PM
ever since I learned about three-cueing I've developed infinitely more patience for replies on social media. mfers literally do not know how to read. people are walking around conjuring random meanings into words they don't know, and they don't know a lot of words. it's crazy
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
i have concluded that frecciarossa executive class is hilarious and we need it urgently on amtrak:
-huge evil villain chairs
-next seat is two counties over
-big stupid conference room you can book
-food is good enough
-chairs can swivel, recline, etc.
-bizarrely cheap
-huge evil villain chairs
-next seat is two counties over
-big stupid conference room you can book
-food is good enough
-chairs can swivel, recline, etc.
-bizarrely cheap
November 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
i have concluded that frecciarossa executive class is hilarious and we need it urgently on amtrak:
-huge evil villain chairs
-next seat is two counties over
-big stupid conference room you can book
-food is good enough
-chairs can swivel, recline, etc.
-bizarrely cheap
-huge evil villain chairs
-next seat is two counties over
-big stupid conference room you can book
-food is good enough
-chairs can swivel, recline, etc.
-bizarrely cheap
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
Call me controversial, but technology that leads vulnerable people into crisis and even holds their hand as they die by suicide should not be endorsed by schools and universities, we should not be giving discounted subscriptions to this monstrous tech to young people AT ALL
The boyfriend of a friend of my son's has spent several weeks in a psych ward due to Chat GPT induced psychosis. He isn't suicidal but AI encouraged him down a toxic and paranoid wormhole until he became completely delusional. Evil stuff.
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Call me controversial, but technology that leads vulnerable people into crisis and even holds their hand as they die by suicide should not be endorsed by schools and universities, we should not be giving discounted subscriptions to this monstrous tech to young people AT ALL
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
Nuremburg trials is the moderate position
He said that the agents would throw food at them to eat. The agents threatened to withhold food for a week and to beat him up if he didn't sign deportation papers. He said he saw others refuse and get beaten/receive no food. He signed because he was afraid.
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Nuremburg trials is the moderate position
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
One of the many (silly, nonsensical) arguments that anti-repatriation folks have is that if we return all of the stolen artefacts, our museums would be empty.
Meanwhile, artefacts dug up by metal detectors in this country are being sold off…wonder where their outrage is? 🤔
Meanwhile, artefacts dug up by metal detectors in this country are being sold off…wonder where their outrage is? 🤔
Today's news:
What happens when museums can't afford to buy coins...
'Auctioneer, David Guest said the "stunning" coins were sold to "bidders from all over the world and exceeded my expectations".'
Bidders.
From.
All.
Over.
The.
World.
😡
#Archaeology 🏺 #Detecting
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
What happens when museums can't afford to buy coins...
'Auctioneer, David Guest said the "stunning" coins were sold to "bidders from all over the world and exceeded my expectations".'
Bidders.
From.
All.
Over.
The.
World.
😡
#Archaeology 🏺 #Detecting
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
New Forest hoard of 70 coins dug up in lockdown fetch over £380k
The 69 gold coins and one silver were found in a garden in Milford on Sea in April 2020.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 7:57 AM
One of the many (silly, nonsensical) arguments that anti-repatriation folks have is that if we return all of the stolen artefacts, our museums would be empty.
Meanwhile, artefacts dug up by metal detectors in this country are being sold off…wonder where their outrage is? 🤔
Meanwhile, artefacts dug up by metal detectors in this country are being sold off…wonder where their outrage is? 🤔
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
question, especially for USians, but all contributions welcome: if you have a university degree (or intend to pursue one), and have an interest in but don't work in archaeology or a related field, what sort of archaeology courses do you wish had been/would be offered where you went to school?
🏺
🏺
November 4, 2025 at 4:23 PM
question, especially for USians, but all contributions welcome: if you have a university degree (or intend to pursue one), and have an interest in but don't work in archaeology or a related field, what sort of archaeology courses do you wish had been/would be offered where you went to school?
🏺
🏺
question, especially for USians, but all contributions welcome: if you have a university degree (or intend to pursue one), and have an interest in but don't work in archaeology or a related field, what sort of archaeology courses do you wish had been/would be offered where you went to school?
🏺
🏺
November 4, 2025 at 4:23 PM
question, especially for USians, but all contributions welcome: if you have a university degree (or intend to pursue one), and have an interest in but don't work in archaeology or a related field, what sort of archaeology courses do you wish had been/would be offered where you went to school?
🏺
🏺
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
lol no they absolutely will not, for so many reasons
I'd bet everything I own that in 20 years there will never be more than 1000 people in space at any one time. (It'll probably be well under 100.) Nobody will be living there with their kids.
Tech billionaires don't know a damn thing about tech.
I'd bet everything I own that in 20 years there will never be more than 1000 people in space at any one time. (It'll probably be well under 100.) Nobody will be living there with their kids.
Tech billionaires don't know a damn thing about tech.
Jeff Bezos Says He Doesn't Understand Why Anybody Alive Now Would Be 'Discouraged'—Because Soon, 'Millions Of People Will Be Living In Space'
Jeff Bezos says the future is so bright, he "doesn't see how anybody can be discouraged who is alive right now." Speaking at Italian Tech Week 2025 earlier this month with Ferrari and Stellantis chair...
tech.yahoo.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM
lol no they absolutely will not, for so many reasons
I'd bet everything I own that in 20 years there will never be more than 1000 people in space at any one time. (It'll probably be well under 100.) Nobody will be living there with their kids.
Tech billionaires don't know a damn thing about tech.
I'd bet everything I own that in 20 years there will never be more than 1000 people in space at any one time. (It'll probably be well under 100.) Nobody will be living there with their kids.
Tech billionaires don't know a damn thing about tech.
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
Kat Abu seemingly has broken the news of her own indictment by the DOJ for protesting near an ICE facility
I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
October 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Kat Abu seemingly has broken the news of her own indictment by the DOJ for protesting near an ICE facility
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
October 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM
New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
Once again urging archaeologists to critically assess the AI push into archaeology. There is a huge swath of problematic ethical issues that come with the AI tech & tech lords & we don't have to make it easier for them to insert themselves in archaeology by welcoming them in. Don't be complicit.
🏺
🏺
October 29, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Once again urging archaeologists to critically assess the AI push into archaeology. There is a huge swath of problematic ethical issues that come with the AI tech & tech lords & we don't have to make it easier for them to insert themselves in archaeology by welcoming them in. Don't be complicit.
🏺
🏺
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
despite all the fear mongering about trans people and the attempts to abandon and actively harm us from both political parties in the US, transitioning is still the greatest decision i’ve ever made, only regret i have is not doing it younger, and that it has only made my life infinitely better
October 27, 2025 at 9:45 PM
despite all the fear mongering about trans people and the attempts to abandon and actively harm us from both political parties in the US, transitioning is still the greatest decision i’ve ever made, only regret i have is not doing it younger, and that it has only made my life infinitely better
professor/lecturer/whatever IN or AT the Faculty of Whatevertydo... ?
my (northeast US English) instinct is strongly for IN, but I have been tasked with proofing for UK English, and I can find examples of AT... opinions?
my (northeast US English) instinct is strongly for IN, but I have been tasked with proofing for UK English, and I can find examples of AT... opinions?
October 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM
professor/lecturer/whatever IN or AT the Faculty of Whatevertydo... ?
my (northeast US English) instinct is strongly for IN, but I have been tasked with proofing for UK English, and I can find examples of AT... opinions?
my (northeast US English) instinct is strongly for IN, but I have been tasked with proofing for UK English, and I can find examples of AT... opinions?
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
may i present for your edification, the pictish beast and the nebra sky disc in pumpkin moonshine form. i will post pics of them lit up this evening after it gets dark too
October 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM
may i present for your edification, the pictish beast and the nebra sky disc in pumpkin moonshine form. i will post pics of them lit up this evening after it gets dark too
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
Hey Homerists, What’s the convention with the suitors in the Odyssey? Are we capitalizing them? “The Suitors did X” or “The suitors did x”?
I’ve now typed the word so many times it no longer looks like English. Help?
I’ve now typed the word so many times it no longer looks like English. Help?
October 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Hey Homerists, What’s the convention with the suitors in the Odyssey? Are we capitalizing them? “The Suitors did X” or “The suitors did x”?
I’ve now typed the word so many times it no longer looks like English. Help?
I’ve now typed the word so many times it no longer looks like English. Help?
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
tl;dr this is, as I've been screaming into the wind about for a week now, not just illegal as shit but fundamentally means the Constitution as written is no longer in effect
That said if you want an even deeper dive on the subject than I've done, this is a very good thread
That said if you want an even deeper dive on the subject than I've done, this is a very good thread
Trump's mechanism to pay the troops during the shutdown is by far the most illegal budgetary action he's taken as POTUS, potentially setting the stage to break everything.
It's also needless because Congress would easily pass a troop pay bill if Johnson were willing to gavel in.
Long thread.
It's also needless because Congress would easily pass a troop pay bill if Johnson were willing to gavel in.
Long thread.
October 15, 2025 at 7:52 PM
tl;dr this is, as I've been screaming into the wind about for a week now, not just illegal as shit but fundamentally means the Constitution as written is no longer in effect
That said if you want an even deeper dive on the subject than I've done, this is a very good thread
That said if you want an even deeper dive on the subject than I've done, this is a very good thread
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
I suppose if the question here is 'why don't these fields produce new discoveries at the same rate as the sciences' the answer is a pretty obvious, 'because they're not funded like the sciences.'
We could do a lot of archaeology with, say, a few billion dollars a year!
We could do a lot of archaeology with, say, a few billion dollars a year!
October 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I suppose if the question here is 'why don't these fields produce new discoveries at the same rate as the sciences' the answer is a pretty obvious, 'because they're not funded like the sciences.'
We could do a lot of archaeology with, say, a few billion dollars a year!
We could do a lot of archaeology with, say, a few billion dollars a year!
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
I'd argue "the sciences" also are much, much slower than most people think.
Advancement is kind of related to news and SciComm taking incemental, often mutually exclusive studies as definitive answers instead of particular moments in an argument.
Advancement is kind of related to news and SciComm taking incemental, often mutually exclusive studies as definitive answers instead of particular moments in an argument.
I suppose if the question here is 'why don't these fields produce new discoveries at the same rate as the sciences' the answer is a pretty obvious, 'because they're not funded like the sciences.'
We could do a lot of archaeology with, say, a few billion dollars a year!
We could do a lot of archaeology with, say, a few billion dollars a year!
October 13, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I'd argue "the sciences" also are much, much slower than most people think.
Advancement is kind of related to news and SciComm taking incemental, often mutually exclusive studies as definitive answers instead of particular moments in an argument.
Advancement is kind of related to news and SciComm taking incemental, often mutually exclusive studies as definitive answers instead of particular moments in an argument.
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
Mods are asleep post brassicas
October 13, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Mods are asleep post brassicas
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
"People will only really understand what’s happened in Gaza after the genocide stops; it is far beyond what we know, both in terms of the casualties and the atrocities committed."
The Hind Rajab Foundation on the long road ahead for accountability. www.vashtimedia.com/hind-rajab-f...
The Hind Rajab Foundation on the long road ahead for accountability. www.vashtimedia.com/hind-rajab-f...
“It’s a task for a whole generation”: how the Hind Rajab Foundation pursues Israeli war criminals around the world
A conversation with HRF chairman Dyab Abou Jahjah
www.vashtimedia.com
October 12, 2025 at 12:39 PM
"People will only really understand what’s happened in Gaza after the genocide stops; it is far beyond what we know, both in terms of the casualties and the atrocities committed."
The Hind Rajab Foundation on the long road ahead for accountability. www.vashtimedia.com/hind-rajab-f...
The Hind Rajab Foundation on the long road ahead for accountability. www.vashtimedia.com/hind-rajab-f...
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
What middle and upper class cis het white people need to understand is that they only have as many rights as the most vulnerable do. You have only the rights trans people and immigrants do.
Do you really have any rights if they are openly saying they will just make up reasons to detain you?
Wow. Greg Bovino admits on camera that his agents can detain people if you look scared, change your demeanor, or grip a steering wheel too tight.
As his unmasked agents walk around with large guns to scare you, they may arrest you just for that — even if you're a U.S. citizen.
As his unmasked agents walk around with large guns to scare you, they may arrest you just for that — even if you're a U.S. citizen.
October 10, 2025 at 4:43 PM
What middle and upper class cis het white people need to understand is that they only have as many rights as the most vulnerable do. You have only the rights trans people and immigrants do.
Reposted by Dan Diffendale
We know more about the massive military-style raid on a Chicago housing complex thanks to the reporting of @southsideweekly.bsky.social, @blockclubchi.bsky.social, and neighborhood resident Eboni Watson who chronicled the event. Among the emerging questions: what's real estate's role in this?
October 8, 2025 at 5:26 PM
We know more about the massive military-style raid on a Chicago housing complex thanks to the reporting of @southsideweekly.bsky.social, @blockclubchi.bsky.social, and neighborhood resident Eboni Watson who chronicled the event. Among the emerging questions: what's real estate's role in this?