James Gifford
@giffordjames.mas.to.ap.brid.gy
Professor & Press Director ¶ solo dad ¶ sing opera ¶ cut my own hair ¶ he/him ¶ own my views (views my own) ¶ typos pletniful And since I have more room here […]
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mas.to/@GiffordJames, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mas.to/@GiffordJames, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
I live up the street from an e-scooter shop. E-scooters are not legal on roads, sidewalks, bike-lanes, parks, or school grounds in my municipality. Every child has one….
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/e-scooters-rules-safety-9.7009066
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/e-scooters-rules-safety-9.7009066
December 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
I live up the street from an e-scooter shop. E-scooters are not legal on roads, sidewalks, bike-lanes, parks, or school grounds in my municipality. Every child has one….
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/e-scooters-rules-safety-9.7009066
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/e-scooters-rules-safety-9.7009066
Well, that's unambiguous…
December 10, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Well, that's unambiguous…
Well, it looks like I'm firing up the ol' coal-powered web log… Before a new piece this month, here's some CNF first published in The Quarantine Review. It's about #adoption, academic travels in northern #bc, and discovering a beloved childhood author was an abuser […]
[Original post on mas.to]
[Original post on mas.to]
December 9, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Well, it looks like I'm firing up the ol' coal-powered web log… Before a new piece this month, here's some CNF first published in The Quarantine Review. It's about #adoption, academic travels in northern #bc, and discovering a beloved childhood author was an abuser […]
[Original post on mas.to]
[Original post on mas.to]
Reposted by James Gifford
Erin Allday: Older adults are slowly abandoning this hobby — but the health payoff is huge.
"Reading is associated with reductions in stress and improved mood. And though the actual science is limited, scientists generally agree that reading can boost brain health by essentially working it like […]
"Reading is associated with reductions in stress and improved mood. And though the actual science is limited, scientists generally agree that reading can boost brain health by essentially working it like […]
Original post on mstdn.social
mstdn.social
December 7, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Erin Allday: Older adults are slowly abandoning this hobby — but the health payoff is huge.
"Reading is associated with reductions in stress and improved mood. And though the actual science is limited, scientists generally agree that reading can boost brain health by essentially working it like […]
"Reading is associated with reductions in stress and improved mood. And though the actual science is limited, scientists generally agree that reading can boost brain health by essentially working it like […]
Reposted by James Gifford
I just realized the current stable version of Python is 3.14.1, which makes it Pi-thon
December 4, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I just realized the current stable version of Python is 3.14.1, which makes it Pi-thon
RE: https://worldkey.io/@LibrarianRA/115615889765601197
The single greatest moment in television history. Moon landings and #got, eat your hearts out.
The single greatest moment in television history. Moon landings and #got, eat your hearts out.
worldkey.io
November 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
RE: https://worldkey.io/@LibrarianRA/115615889765601197
The single greatest moment in television history. Moon landings and #got, eat your hearts out.
The single greatest moment in television history. Moon landings and #got, eat your hearts out.
Reposted by James Gifford
I recently attended a presentation by people from Anthropic at work about their large language models. One undercurrent in the presentation was that thinking is hard - wouldn't it be nice if it was easier? I'm sorry to say, but that's your job […]
Original post on scholar.social
scholar.social
November 25, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I recently attended a presentation by people from Anthropic at work about their large language models. One undercurrent in the presentation was that thinking is hard - wouldn't it be nice if it was easier? I'm sorry to say, but that's your job […]
My kids: “You wouldn’t understand. It’s Discord, Unc.”
Me: “I remember in 2015, when you were learning to speak, working with a team of septuagenarians on how Discord offered options different from a listserv that was literally built from Pine.” {beat} “Newbs…”
Me: “I remember in 2015, when you were learning to speak, working with a team of septuagenarians on how Discord offered options different from a listserv that was literally built from Pine.” {beat} “Newbs…”
November 24, 2025 at 9:10 AM
My kids: “You wouldn’t understand. It’s Discord, Unc.”
Me: “I remember in 2015, when you were learning to speak, working with a team of septuagenarians on how Discord offered options different from a listserv that was literally built from Pine.” {beat} “Newbs…”
Me: “I remember in 2015, when you were learning to speak, working with a team of septuagenarians on how Discord offered options different from a listserv that was literally built from Pine.” {beat} “Newbs…”
Reposted by James Gifford
#fediverse #socialweb #canada News!
mastodonserver.ca is now thesocialweb.ca
Its Fediverse handle should be updated automagically (i think?) to @directory
All servers and instances in Canada are welcome to get in touch and have their server listed on the webpage!
#mastodon #peertube #lemmy […]
mastodonserver.ca is now thesocialweb.ca
Its Fediverse handle should be updated automagically (i think?) to @directory
All servers and instances in Canada are welcome to get in touch and have their server listed on the webpage!
#mastodon #peertube #lemmy […]
Original post on mstdn.chrisalemany.ca
mstdn.chrisalemany.ca
November 19, 2025 at 10:34 PM
#fediverse #socialweb #canada News!
mastodonserver.ca is now thesocialweb.ca
Its Fediverse handle should be updated automagically (i think?) to @directory
All servers and instances in Canada are welcome to get in touch and have their server listed on the webpage!
#mastodon #peertube #lemmy […]
mastodonserver.ca is now thesocialweb.ca
Its Fediverse handle should be updated automagically (i think?) to @directory
All servers and instances in Canada are welcome to get in touch and have their server listed on the webpage!
#mastodon #peertube #lemmy […]
I've reviewed Peter Midgley's chapbook 20/15 for the Poetry In Canada Newsletter. Midgley's poetry is fabulous, and the newsletter announces the 2026 Phyllis Webb Memorial Award:
https://www.poetrycanada.org/s/poetryincanada-newsletter-3.pdf#page=2
https://www.poetrycanada.org/s/poetryincanada-newsletter-3.pdf#page=2
November 17, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I've reviewed Peter Midgley's chapbook 20/15 for the Poetry In Canada Newsletter. Midgley's poetry is fabulous, and the newsletter announces the 2026 Phyllis Webb Memorial Award:
https://www.poetrycanada.org/s/poetryincanada-newsletter-3.pdf#page=2
https://www.poetrycanada.org/s/poetryincanada-newsletter-3.pdf#page=2
Reposted by James Gifford
They had me at the headline: AI isn’t replacing jobs. AI spending is
"From Amazon to General Motors to Booz Allen Hamilton, layoffs are being announced and blamed on AI. Amazon said it would cut 14,000 corporate jobs. United Parcel Service (UPS) said it had reduced its management workforce by […]
"From Amazon to General Motors to Booz Allen Hamilton, layoffs are being announced and blamed on AI. Amazon said it would cut 14,000 corporate jobs. United Parcel Service (UPS) said it had reduced its management workforce by […]
Original post on infosec.exchange
infosec.exchange
November 9, 2025 at 8:41 PM
They had me at the headline: AI isn’t replacing jobs. AI spending is
"From Amazon to General Motors to Booz Allen Hamilton, layoffs are being announced and blamed on AI. Amazon said it would cut 14,000 corporate jobs. United Parcel Service (UPS) said it had reduced its management workforce by […]
"From Amazon to General Motors to Booz Allen Hamilton, layoffs are being announced and blamed on AI. Amazon said it would cut 14,000 corporate jobs. United Parcel Service (UPS) said it had reduced its management workforce by […]
I’m glad Tesla is acknowledging what we all already know about Twitter…
“Tesla did not respond to CBC's questions about Nasser's experience. However, xAI provided what appeared to be an automated reply, stating, ‘Legacy media lies.’”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/tesla-grok-mom-9.6956930
“Tesla did not respond to CBC's questions about Nasser's experience. However, xAI provided what appeared to be an automated reply, stating, ‘Legacy media lies.’”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/tesla-grok-mom-9.6956930
October 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I’m glad Tesla is acknowledging what we all already know about Twitter…
“Tesla did not respond to CBC's questions about Nasser's experience. However, xAI provided what appeared to be an automated reply, stating, ‘Legacy media lies.’”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/tesla-grok-mom-9.6956930
“Tesla did not respond to CBC's questions about Nasser's experience. However, xAI provided what appeared to be an automated reply, stating, ‘Legacy media lies.’”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/tesla-grok-mom-9.6956930
I just opened the article “Critical Reading in Higher Education: A Systematic Review” and the database’s #ai automatically blurred the text under it to offer an auto-summary of the content. Allegory is alive and well, but I feel like I’m in a learned helplessness experiment… #reading #education […]
Original post on mas.to
mas.to
October 17, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I just opened the article “Critical Reading in Higher Education: A Systematic Review” and the database’s #ai automatically blurred the text under it to offer an auto-summary of the content. Allegory is alive and well, but I feel like I’m in a learned helplessness experiment… #reading #education […]
Okay, I’m going to say it. I have kids, so I see YouTube too much, and YouTube today is just America’s Funniest Home Videos but without Bob Saget’s deadpan disappointment in all his viewers for watching.
October 17, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Okay, I’m going to say it. I have kids, so I see YouTube too much, and YouTube today is just America’s Funniest Home Videos but without Bob Saget’s deadpan disappointment in all his viewers for watching.
Reposted by James Gifford
Today is the closing day for submissions to our CFP on Slavery and Abolition in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy for a workshop at Emory University May 13-15, 2026! See above and please consider joining us; we expect to have sufficient funding for lodging and travel support for participants who […]
Original post on c18.masto.host
c18.masto.host
October 15, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Today is the closing day for submissions to our CFP on Slavery and Abolition in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy for a workshop at Emory University May 13-15, 2026! See above and please consider joining us; we expect to have sufficient funding for lodging and travel support for participants who […]
Reposted by James Gifford
From FDU What's New: "FDU Press Announces New Co-Publishing Partner, Latest Books" #universitypress #universitypresses #publishing #academic #books https://www.fdu.edu/news/fdu-press-announces-new-co-publishing-partner-latest-books/
FDU Press Announces New Co-Publishing Partner, Latest Books
www.fdu.edu
October 14, 2025 at 5:18 AM
From FDU What's New: "FDU Press Announces New Co-Publishing Partner, Latest Books" #universitypress #universitypresses #publishing #academic #books https://www.fdu.edu/news/fdu-press-announces-new-co-publishing-partner-latest-books/
We saw Tai Amy Grauman's "You Used to Call Me Marie…" lat night at the Olympic Village Stage. Fabulous production! It runs through tomorrow. https://artsclub.com/shows/2025-2026/you-used-to-call-me-marie
YOU USED TO CALL ME MARIE…, Olympic Village Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre - Arts Club Theatre Company
AN EPIC MÉTIS LOVE STORY
artsclub.com
October 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM
We saw Tai Amy Grauman's "You Used to Call Me Marie…" lat night at the Olympic Village Stage. Fabulous production! It runs through tomorrow. https://artsclub.com/shows/2025-2026/you-used-to-call-me-marie
My chair, Matthieu Boyd, keeping himself out of trouble… He’s published a new translation of the early Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, “The Cattle-Raid of Cooley.” #irishlit #translation https://www.fdu.edu/news/professor-publishes-new-translation-of-irelands-national-epic/
Professor Publishes New Translation of Ireland’s National Epic
FDU Professor translates Táin Bó Cúailnge for the first time since Ciarán Carson in 2007.
www.fdu.edu
October 7, 2025 at 10:49 PM
My chair, Matthieu Boyd, keeping himself out of trouble… He’s published a new translation of the early Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, “The Cattle-Raid of Cooley.” #irishlit #translation https://www.fdu.edu/news/professor-publishes-new-translation-of-irelands-national-epic/
Reposted by James Gifford
Apparently theres a new wave of people joining mastodon, and with them a new wave of self-appointed cops "welcoming" them with long lists of mostly fictitious "rules" they need to follow.
This is a social media platform, with many of different ways to use it. It's fine. Mostly, just try to be […]
This is a social media platform, with many of different ways to use it. It's fine. Mostly, just try to be […]
Original post on federate.social
federate.social
October 6, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Apparently theres a new wave of people joining mastodon, and with them a new wave of self-appointed cops "welcoming" them with long lists of mostly fictitious "rules" they need to follow.
This is a social media platform, with many of different ways to use it. It's fine. Mostly, just try to be […]
This is a social media platform, with many of different ways to use it. It's fine. Mostly, just try to be […]
First opera performed in the Alix Goolden Hall was John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. #victoria https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/imagining-the-future-of-victoria-s-troubled-pandora-avenue-1.7649912
October 5, 2025 at 7:43 PM
First opera performed in the Alix Goolden Hall was John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. #victoria https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/imagining-the-future-of-victoria-s-troubled-pandora-avenue-1.7649912
Reposted by James Gifford
I made the blogger's mistake of thinking those relationships were real. I did buy everyone's books, if I liked them online. I came to their Zoom book release parties, and attended their talks on panels. I even read their books, and shared them with students! But I think it was because my […]
Original post on c18.masto.host
c18.masto.host
October 5, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I made the blogger's mistake of thinking those relationships were real. I did buy everyone's books, if I liked them online. I came to their Zoom book release parties, and attended their talks on panels. I even read their books, and shared them with students! But I think it was because my […]
Giving this conference paper for #vicfa in less than an hour, and I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun while working out something challenging…
“Pamela Dean, Allusion, and the Word Incarnate The Mythic Method in Modern Fantasy and Its Modernist Frame”
“Pamela Dean, Allusion, and the Word Incarnate The Mythic Method in Modern Fantasy and Its Modernist Frame”
September 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Giving this conference paper for #vicfa in less than an hour, and I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun while working out something challenging…
“Pamela Dean, Allusion, and the Word Incarnate The Mythic Method in Modern Fantasy and Its Modernist Frame”
“Pamela Dean, Allusion, and the Word Incarnate The Mythic Method in Modern Fantasy and Its Modernist Frame”
Reposted by James Gifford
📚 **Are books a hobby or a necessity for wellbeing? New research shows the link between reading and better mental health**
"_Of the adults surveyed, 37% said that reading had helped them learn something new, and 16% reported that books made them feel less lonely. One in four adults also […]
"_Of the adults surveyed, 37% said that reading had helped them learn something new, and 16% reported that books made them feel less lonely. One in four adults also […]
Original post on qoto.org
qoto.org
September 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
📚 **Are books a hobby or a necessity for wellbeing? New research shows the link between reading and better mental health**
"_Of the adults surveyed, 37% said that reading had helped them learn something new, and 16% reported that books made them feel less lonely. One in four adults also […]
"_Of the adults surveyed, 37% said that reading had helped them learn something new, and 16% reported that books made them feel less lonely. One in four adults also […]
Reposted by James Gifford
Today, we’re ready to show you the upcoming quote posts feature in more detail. We’ve put together a blog post with examples of how quote posts will work on Mastodon, ahead of early access on our own servers next week 💬 Full launch to come, in Mastodon v4.5 […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
September 11, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Today, we’re ready to show you the upcoming quote posts feature in more detail. We’ve put together a blog post with examples of how quote posts will work on Mastodon, ahead of early access on our own servers next week 💬 Full launch to come, in Mastodon v4.5 […]