III Aviculae
@iiiaviculae.bsky.social
Rome had its 'Imperial freedmen', Byzantium its 'scheming eunuchs', medieval England its 'wicked advisors'. There's a long and ignoble history of indirectly criticising thin-skinned tyrants.
January 16, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Rome had its 'Imperial freedmen', Byzantium its 'scheming eunuchs', medieval England its 'wicked advisors'. There's a long and ignoble history of indirectly criticising thin-skinned tyrants.
It must be exhausting to live like that.
December 31, 2025 at 10:06 PM
It must be exhausting to live like that.
Plenty of lampposts in the world.
December 7, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Plenty of lampposts in the world.
But also, it's okey to like bad movies! Just embrace it! I would watch Pluto Nash tomorrow if it was on TV but I'm not going to insist that anyone who thinks it's total crap (it is) is doing so because they're an elitist or just didn't get it.
November 24, 2025 at 10:17 PM
But also, it's okey to like bad movies! Just embrace it! I would watch Pluto Nash tomorrow if it was on TV but I'm not going to insist that anyone who thinks it's total crap (it is) is doing so because they're an elitist or just didn't get it.
I think this also explains how a polis like Elis, which probably didn't have a particularly large population of urban poor, had a democracy strong enough to fight of a Spartan attempt to establish an oligarchy.
November 16, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I think this also explains how a polis like Elis, which probably didn't have a particularly large population of urban poor, had a democracy strong enough to fight of a Spartan attempt to establish an oligarchy.
Dammit. I was planning on being productive tomorrow.
November 12, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Dammit. I was planning on being productive tomorrow.
I imagine that if you asked him about Charles I he'd think it was a bible verse.
November 4, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I imagine that if you asked him about Charles I he'd think it was a bible verse.
It is a credit to your consistent messaging that when watching the new PTA film in a scene where a character washes his eyes with running water after exposure to tear gas my first reaction was "clean water. That's how you do it."
October 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
It is a credit to your consistent messaging that when watching the new PTA film in a scene where a character washes his eyes with running water after exposure to tear gas my first reaction was "clean water. That's how you do it."
Mostly sketches of windmills transforming into people and flour puns.
September 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Mostly sketches of windmills transforming into people and flour puns.
I think they have a fair amount of time on their hands.
September 4, 2025 at 7:11 PM
I think they have a fair amount of time on their hands.
This feels a bit like another attempt by the English right (a largely unimaginative and unoriginal lot) to import culture war issues from their American cousins. Usually this is not successful in the long run. I wonder if this will be.
September 2, 2025 at 12:13 PM
This feels a bit like another attempt by the English right (a largely unimaginative and unoriginal lot) to import culture war issues from their American cousins. Usually this is not successful in the long run. I wonder if this will be.
This is your regular reminder that the Tech Secretary has outsourced his critical thinking to OpenAI: www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
Revealed: How the UK tech secretary uses ChatGPT for policy advice
New Scientist has used freedom of information laws to obtain the ChatGPT records of Peter Kyle, the UK's technology secretary, in what is believed to be a world-first use of such legislation
www.newscientist.com
August 15, 2025 at 12:04 PM
This is your regular reminder that the Tech Secretary has outsourced his critical thinking to OpenAI: www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
This feels of a piece with the time that Nixon put the Secret Service in uniforms that were supposed to imitate European palace guards and they ended up looking like a high school marching band.
August 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
This feels of a piece with the time that Nixon put the Secret Service in uniforms that were supposed to imitate European palace guards and they ended up looking like a high school marching band.
This is key: www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
Revealed: How the UK tech secretary uses ChatGPT for policy advice
New Scientist has used freedom of information laws to obtain the ChatGPT records of Peter Kyle, the UK's technology secretary, in what is believed to be a world-first use of such legislation
www.newscientist.com
July 22, 2025 at 8:16 AM
This is key: www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
I think any of this government's tech decisions is illuminated by knowing this: www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
Revealed: How the UK tech secretary uses ChatGPT for policy advice
New Scientist has used freedom of information laws to obtain the ChatGPT records of Peter Kyle, the UK's technology secretary, in what is believed to be a world-first use of such legislation
www.newscientist.com
July 22, 2025 at 8:15 AM
I think any of this government's tech decisions is illuminated by knowing this: www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
Have you looked at Eleanor Dickey's Learn Latin from the Romans? I've been using it for a PG course (I would have reservations about using it with UGs) and it has a great selection of readings from colloquia, epigraphy, and graffiti. As well as some post classical Latin.
July 17, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Have you looked at Eleanor Dickey's Learn Latin from the Romans? I've been using it for a PG course (I would have reservations about using it with UGs) and it has a great selection of readings from colloquia, epigraphy, and graffiti. As well as some post classical Latin.
The only power we have is solidarity. If we can't manage that then we have already lost.
July 5, 2025 at 8:11 PM
The only power we have is solidarity. If we can't manage that then we have already lost.
I'm going to assume Sam Altman hasn't seen The Mission.
July 1, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I'm going to assume Sam Altman hasn't seen The Mission.
LLMs do struggle with ancient sources, especially when the author has written more than one work. Last time I checked, gbt seems to think Hesiod only wrote one text, so if you ask it a question about W&D is regurgitates a number of irrelevant citation for the Theogony, which is a bit of a tell.
May 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
LLMs do struggle with ancient sources, especially when the author has written more than one work. Last time I checked, gbt seems to think Hesiod only wrote one text, so if you ask it a question about W&D is regurgitates a number of irrelevant citation for the Theogony, which is a bit of a tell.
I have had some success (even in big courses) with essay questions that require close critical engagement with specific texts (ancient and modern). Something like "here are two articles that disagree about Spartan austerity. Evaluate the arguments. Which do you find more convincing and why?"
May 25, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I have had some success (even in big courses) with essay questions that require close critical engagement with specific texts (ancient and modern). Something like "here are two articles that disagree about Spartan austerity. Evaluate the arguments. Which do you find more convincing and why?"
He pulled a Liz Truss, you might say.
April 21, 2025 at 2:19 PM
He pulled a Liz Truss, you might say.
I'm looking forward to the upcoming court case when we find out how much hush money he paid to keep the relationship with Kusma's mother quiet.
March 2, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I'm looking forward to the upcoming court case when we find out how much hush money he paid to keep the relationship with Kusma's mother quiet.