Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
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silphcolapras.bsky.social
Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
@silphcolapras.bsky.social
370 followers 380 following 73 posts
PhD Student at UArk in "what if history, but video game?" (Cultural Studies, but predominantly DH and Archaeology)
MA DH
Melodic Death Metal Leftist #TesticularCancerSurvivor they/them
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
kmanriffs.bsky.social
FULL FORCE FRIDAY:🆕October 24th 4⃣7⃣🎧

EPISTULUM - Cantiga Psychotica 🇳🇱💠

2nd album from Leiden, Dutch Melodic Death Metal outfit💠

BC➡️epistulum.bandcamp.com/album/cantig...💠

#Epistulum #Cantiga #MelodicDeath #FFFOct24 #KMäN
October 24, 2025 at 3:36 AM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
Peeking my head out of my hovel: comps are completed and I passed! Nice to be that much closer to being done with my Ph.D. Now to write the prospectus and defend it before the end of the semester 🙃
October 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
animalarchaeology.com
📜 Also in a little over a month, I’ll be talking about my work with communities at Museum Development North’s Transforming Collections online event!

You can book at the link below.

www.museumdevelopmentnorth.org.uk/event/transf...
Transforming Collections Programme: Co-creating Collections, 20 November 2025, online via zoom – Museum Development North
www.museumdevelopmentnorth.org.uk
October 15, 2025 at 10:03 AM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
Was not expecting to see the Tomb of the Diver on a symphonic black metal album
But hey, I'm here for it
kmanriffs.bsky.social 𝕶𝕸ä𝕹𝕽𝖎𝖋𝖋𝖘 @kmanriffs.bsky.social · Oct 10
FULL FORCE FRIDAY:🆕October 10th 2⃣7⃣🎧

STARER - Ancient Monuments & Modern Sadness 🇺🇸💠

4th album from Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S Symphonic Black Metal outfit💠

BC➡️adirondackblackmass.bandcamp.com/album/ancien...💠

#Starer #Ancient #SymphBlackMetal #AdirondackBlackMass #FFFOct10 #KMäN
October 10, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
brandon.insertcredit.com
Folks who create videos about games on the internet: I have questions for you if you'd be so kind. I'm trying to determine the relationship between traditional media and those who create videos about games and have never worked for the games press. Sharing is appreciated!

forms.gle/cG3BEkGqwuoh...
Games influencer press relationship query
I'm trying to determine to what extend people who create videos about games engage with "traditional" press as a source for what games to cover. Please only answer these questions if you are someone w...
forms.gle
October 1, 2025 at 11:10 PM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
"History Professor makes 'accurate' AI model about the past!"
It still shows exclusively white people
This is beyond frustrating and honestly so embarrassing for the academics involved
scitechdaily.com/is-this-the-...
Is This the Future of the Past? AI Meets Ancient Rome
A Roman centurion in sneakers and sunglasses? That is the kind of playful distortion AI image generators sometimes produce when depicting the past. To address this, scholars in classical studies have ...
scitechdaily.com
September 26, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
roopikarisam.bsky.social
🚨 Please be very alarmed. Data errors? Extrajudicial deportation? Unaccounted “self-deportation”? Worse? Or all of the above? Not seeing this in most mainstream media but this is an incredibly bad sign for the 1,200 missing. www.democracynow.org/2025/9/23/he...
Miami Herald: Two-Thirds of Immigrants Held at “Alligator Alcatraz” in July Have Disappeared
In immigration news, hundreds of people who were once detained at the troubled immigration jail in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” have disappeared. The Miami Herald reports about t...
www.democracynow.org
September 25, 2025 at 12:44 AM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
Kilmeade said the most vile, disgusting remark I've heard in the past weeks. Literal, actual nazi shit
phillewis.bsky.social Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · Sep 13
In a shocking on-air moment, a “Fox and Friends” co-host said homeless people suffering from mental health issues who refuse help should be killed
'Just Kill 'Em': Fox Host Makes Shocking Comment On Homeless People
"Fox and Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade made a jaw-dropping remark while discussing homelessness and mental health.
www.huffpost.com
September 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
roxanegay.bsky.social
It’s an absolute shame that DC fired Gretchen Felker- Martin for exercising free speech and then @bsky.app suspended her account. Every writer here should be decrying this because we have to stand up for each other! This is ridiculous.
September 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
rogueclassicist.bsky.social
Tarquinia, major archaeological discovery: Etruscan chamber tomb found intact
www.finestresullarte.info/en/archaeolo...
Tarquinia, major archaeological discovery: Etruscan chamber tomb found intact
The first excavation campaign in the Tarquin necropolis of Monterozzi has concluded. An Etruscan chamber tomb that remained intact was discovered. Traces of red and yellow color emerged, traceable to ...
www.finestresullarte.info
September 4, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
rogueclassicist.bsky.social
Man Caught Smuggling Hundreds of Egyptian Antiquities Through JFK Airport
hyperallergic.com/1039134/man-...
Man Caught Smuggling Hundreds of Egyptian Antiquities Through JFK Airport
The 52-year-old Brooklyn resident allegedly falsified provenance documents to conceal the artifacts' illicit origins.
hyperallergic.com
September 4, 2025 at 6:57 PM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
Genuinely one of the best articles I've read in some time on this matter! Its helping me think about little more about how I will make the game for my own dissertation.
florencesn.bsky.social Florence Smith Nicholls @florencesn.bsky.social · Sep 3
I wrote a piece for the Guardian games newsletter this week on my PhD research into preserving play experiences, and why I think that the most archaeological games are those that that actually make you *think* like one 🏺

www.theguardian.com/games/2025/s...
Forget Tomb Raider and Uncharted, there’s a new generation of games about archaeology – sort of
In this week’s newsletter: an archaeologist (and gamer) on why we love to walk around finding objects in-game and in real life
www.theguardian.com
September 3, 2025 at 7:50 PM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
Yesterday, my university (U of Arkansas, Fayetteville) experienced what Villanova and USC have experienced in the past week: an active shooter hoax.
I still am not sure what levels of angry, frustrated, and terrified I am, personally, let alone my students.
August 26, 2025 at 2:26 PM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
Surprisingly, I knew thus before getting into black metal
And
Just
You know
Didn't listen to the fucking Nazis and keep myself vigilant to not give nazis money

Don't toss out the genre because of the fascist freaks, unless you're willing to do the same with Country
August 25, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
anforsorrow.bsky.social
Ok guys, I made a little cave painting simulator! This is a little minigame where you can draw on a cave wall, using colors inspired by the pigments used on cave art. You can also paste stickers based on famous cave paintings!

www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/...
Cave Painter
Small cave painting simulator
www.newgrounds.com
August 16, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
wf-games.itch.io
ArchaeOS by @mtrc.bsky.social: illomens.itch.io/archaeos
August 4, 2025 at 6:02 PM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
As someone who has worked heavily with VR devices since 2022: please shut up. Just... just shut up. We are no where close to Cyberpunk 2077 (their benchmark) and absolutely no one should want us to become that society.
I like VR, but this tech-optim-fetishism drives me bonkers
August 1, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
zzeljkokos.bsky.social
I’ve been working on this game alone for a long time, and now it’s finally time to share it. 🌋

Pompeii: The Legacy releases in Early Access on September 16!

Please Wishlist on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2632240/...
#CityBuilder #Pompeii #indiedev
youtu.be/RQqLH4p9Pqk?...
Pompeii: The Legacy – Release Date Reveal
YouTube video by Siscia Games
youtu.be
July 18, 2025 at 10:46 AM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
I'm just so tired
Screencap of a Men's Journal article entitled "Archaeologist says He's gound Atlantis in Groundbreaking Discovery"
July 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
rogueclassicist.bsky.social
theonion.com/new-evidence...
New Evidence Reveals Ancient Greeks Immediately Regretted Inventing Theater
OXFORD, ENGLAND—Providing insight into the culture of early Western civilization, historians from the University of Oxford announced Friday the discovery of new evidence revealing that ancient Greeks ...
theonion.com
July 11, 2025 at 3:20 PM
silphcolapras.bsky.social
Business Insider continues show its purposelessness with an essay from someone moving from DC to BENTONVILLE thinking they'd save money (Bentonville has the highest cost of living in the STATE)
Screencap from a Business Insider article saying "Bentonville wasn't the money-saving haven I thought"
June 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
drnwillburger.bsky.social
New discovery: Archaeologists have uncovered an extraordinary #Roman mosaic in Alès in the Gard department.

france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/occitanie/ga...

🏺 #archaeology
Photo of the mosaic showing geometric patterns in white, black l, yellow, and red.
June 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
unburntwitch.com
Yknow what? I’ve been sitting on this for a decade because I’m not into punching laterally but I AM FINE with punching far right lunatics.

Just a handful of short weeks before GamerGate started, Briana Wu, who I spoke to 0 times before this, sends me this *wild* ass email. 🧵
An email from Briana Wu, dated May 3, 2014 (about 3 months before the start of GamerGate) 11:39 ... Drinking the Mountain Dew B Brianna Wu May 3, 2014 to zoe v •.• Hey Zoe, You I hope this will stay between us. But, I did want to share something with you. The first time I really heard about you, and Depression Quest, a mutual gamede friend of ours in Boston was complaining about Depression Quest. They had counseled you to take the money from big pharma. They were talking all kinds of shit about how shortsighted it was of you to not do this - but you'd stood your ground and said no. They thought you were a total fool. I didn't know about your reality show, but I did read about the aftermath. And what really impressed me about the situation was you did the exact same thing. A situation was anathema for you, and you said no. You were willing to burn your bridges with an entire production company over the situation. You and I are similar people in that we really care about women in games and calling out the sexism in the industry. But, the truth is - I'm a pragmatist. And, if I were being embarrassingly honest with you, I probably would have taken the money from big pharma. And, I would have drank the Mountain Dew on camera. But, here you are today, and you're doing just fine. 11:39 •.• You and I are similar people in that we really care about women in games and calling out the sexism in the industry. But, the truth is - I'm a pragmatist. And, if I were being embarrassingly honest with you, l probably would have taken the money from big pharma. And, I would have drank the Mountain Dew on camera. But, here you are today, and you're doing just fine. You stood your ground, you made your choices and you still won. There's been a situation at GSK that's been really bad for us and bad for the company. And, I can't go into it just like you can't go into the reality show stuff - but I can tell you, I drank the Mountain Dew on camera for far too long. I have dealt with a really awful, humiliating situation for far too long. It finally ended this week. I don't know you that well, but - I have been thinking about your integrity a lot lately, and how going forward I need to be less of a pragmatist and more of a Zoe Quinn in leading my company. I want to let you know - that's something I really intend to follow through on. I hope that doesn't seem emo, but it is true. And, I think when other women in the industry inspire us, l think we should let them know it. All the best, Bri VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE + Reply → Forward
June 25, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Mike "Silph" Hall, PhD arc
flaviansophist.bsky.social
Here we go - #archaeogaming finds to look out for from this #SteamNextFest! I have only played the demo for a few of these, so if you are interested check them out this weekend and make sure to wishlist.
June 14, 2025 at 3:56 AM