Gnomon
@tronc.bsky.social
I support resistance to 'Cognitive Technology' (CT) especially in education but more widely wherever relationships drive social health. In its current form CT, by design, severely limits public participation in shaping futures.
Re-reading Postman's Technopoly. A good book tho already, & inevitably, a bit dated. But he was already describing the world of info-slop in which we live.
His name for it on ~p80 is 'the peek-a-boo' world. Content comes and goes, relevant or improbable, without reason or purpose ...
His name for it on ~p80 is 'the peek-a-boo' world. Content comes and goes, relevant or improbable, without reason or purpose ...
December 30, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Re-reading Postman's Technopoly. A good book tho already, & inevitably, a bit dated. But he was already describing the world of info-slop in which we live.
His name for it on ~p80 is 'the peek-a-boo' world. Content comes and goes, relevant or improbable, without reason or purpose ...
His name for it on ~p80 is 'the peek-a-boo' world. Content comes and goes, relevant or improbable, without reason or purpose ...
@ofcom.bsky.social
I am trying to locate the online complaints form on the OfCom website ... where the heck is it? ... here, Ofcom implies is one but no link is visible! Please advise.
www.ofcom.org.uk/make-a-compl...
I am trying to locate the online complaints form on the OfCom website ... where the heck is it? ... here, Ofcom implies is one but no link is visible! Please advise.
www.ofcom.org.uk/make-a-compl...
Get in touch by phone or post
Complain to Ofcom by phone or post
www.ofcom.org.uk
December 16, 2025 at 3:49 PM
@ofcom.bsky.social
I am trying to locate the online complaints form on the OfCom website ... where the heck is it? ... here, Ofcom implies is one but no link is visible! Please advise.
www.ofcom.org.uk/make-a-compl...
I am trying to locate the online complaints form on the OfCom website ... where the heck is it? ... here, Ofcom implies is one but no link is visible! Please advise.
www.ofcom.org.uk/make-a-compl...
26 months:
70,663 killed (~20K children)
171,139 wounded (~42K children)
792 days
~ 90 killed per day (~25 children per day)
~ 0 time to grieve
70,663 killed (~20K children)
171,139 wounded (~42K children)
792 days
~ 90 killed per day (~25 children per day)
~ 0 time to grieve
December 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
26 months:
70,663 killed (~20K children)
171,139 wounded (~42K children)
792 days
~ 90 killed per day (~25 children per day)
~ 0 time to grieve
70,663 killed (~20K children)
171,139 wounded (~42K children)
792 days
~ 90 killed per day (~25 children per day)
~ 0 time to grieve
#books
Reading Klein: Doppelganger. Great book! My Takeway: social media amplifies pre-existing beliefs, situated concerns, experiences etc. It does not enrol you in conspiracy - you were already thinking that way before you signed up! It may offer rewards and confirmation, but does not instil it.
Reading Klein: Doppelganger. Great book! My Takeway: social media amplifies pre-existing beliefs, situated concerns, experiences etc. It does not enrol you in conspiracy - you were already thinking that way before you signed up! It may offer rewards and confirmation, but does not instil it.
December 11, 2025 at 8:44 PM
#books
Reading Klein: Doppelganger. Great book! My Takeway: social media amplifies pre-existing beliefs, situated concerns, experiences etc. It does not enrol you in conspiracy - you were already thinking that way before you signed up! It may offer rewards and confirmation, but does not instil it.
Reading Klein: Doppelganger. Great book! My Takeway: social media amplifies pre-existing beliefs, situated concerns, experiences etc. It does not enrol you in conspiracy - you were already thinking that way before you signed up! It may offer rewards and confirmation, but does not instil it.
#edusky Dan Meyer on why it's too soon to implement AI in education:
(i) teaching is a hard job - there's so (too) much to do;
(ii) resources are very limited;
(iii) opportunity costs are high - so many goals to hit;
(iV) so far, weak evidence for educ benefits.
danmeyer.substack.com
(i) teaching is a hard job - there's so (too) much to do;
(ii) resources are very limited;
(iii) opportunity costs are high - so many goals to hit;
(iV) so far, weak evidence for educ benefits.
danmeyer.substack.com
Mathworlds | Dan Meyer | Substack
Building better worlds for learning math. Click to read Mathworlds, by Dan Meyer, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
danmeyer.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:53 PM
#edusky Dan Meyer on why it's too soon to implement AI in education:
(i) teaching is a hard job - there's so (too) much to do;
(ii) resources are very limited;
(iii) opportunity costs are high - so many goals to hit;
(iV) so far, weak evidence for educ benefits.
danmeyer.substack.com
(i) teaching is a hard job - there's so (too) much to do;
(ii) resources are very limited;
(iii) opportunity costs are high - so many goals to hit;
(iV) so far, weak evidence for educ benefits.
danmeyer.substack.com
Hyperscalers (google et al) are ensuring that the industry serves their infrastructure and "increases the moats around their lines of business." They are incentivised to develop massive, data-hungry, compute-inefficient models rather than efficient, decentralised systems.
www.ft.com/content/307d...
www.ft.com/content/307d...
AI poses a new antitrust problem
Washington cheered on the consolidation of the social web in the 2010s — it must not make the same mistake today
www.ft.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Hyperscalers (google et al) are ensuring that the industry serves their infrastructure and "increases the moats around their lines of business." They are incentivised to develop massive, data-hungry, compute-inefficient models rather than efficient, decentralised systems.
www.ft.com/content/307d...
www.ft.com/content/307d...
Nice line from a an article (can't recall where) about the FIFA boss Infantino and how he drools over Trump in various ways ...
He was elected some years back to get rid of massive corruption at FIFA where $millions of bribes were being passed under the table ... ... so he got rid of the table! 😁💥
He was elected some years back to get rid of massive corruption at FIFA where $millions of bribes were being passed under the table ... ... so he got rid of the table! 😁💥
December 10, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Nice line from a an article (can't recall where) about the FIFA boss Infantino and how he drools over Trump in various ways ...
He was elected some years back to get rid of massive corruption at FIFA where $millions of bribes were being passed under the table ... ... so he got rid of the table! 😁💥
He was elected some years back to get rid of massive corruption at FIFA where $millions of bribes were being passed under the table ... ... so he got rid of the table! 😁💥
Unbelievable!
And just look at the stooges standing around him - surely some of them want to tell him to shut the fuck up ... discomfort does not cover it ...
And just look at the stooges standing around him - surely some of them want to tell him to shut the fuck up ... discomfort does not cover it ...
I don’t want to be pollyannish about the past, but it was basically inconceivable twenty years ago that a president would say this publicly
Trump: "It’s a hellhole right now. And those Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her. She’s always talking about the Constitution provides me with – go back to your own country and figure out your constitution."
December 4, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Unbelievable!
And just look at the stooges standing around him - surely some of them want to tell him to shut the fuck up ... discomfort does not cover it ...
And just look at the stooges standing around him - surely some of them want to tell him to shut the fuck up ... discomfort does not cover it ...
..."[we] no longer asks what education is for, only what it can earn...
An excellent and brutal article. I don't think the situation is quite as hopeless as some of this suggests, but the challenges are enormous. Our only chance, as ever, is to hold together: bring faculty, well-meaning administrators, and especially students together: human learning for human beings.
If ChatGPT can generate student essays, complete assignments, and even provide feedback, what remains of the educational transaction?
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
December 4, 2025 at 10:09 PM
..."[we] no longer asks what education is for, only what it can earn...
The best thing, and perhaps the only thing, you can say about the Labour Government of the UK is that it is not the Tories.
But what's where it ends. If UK Labour was a genuine Social Democrat government, then this would have been gone from day 1 ...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
But what's where it ends. If UK Labour was a genuine Social Democrat government, then this would have been gone from day 1 ...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
UN experts raise concerns over homes rented out by English social landlord
Exclusive: Letter says L&Q appears to have systematically failed in its duty to provide adequate standard of living
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The best thing, and perhaps the only thing, you can say about the Labour Government of the UK is that it is not the Tories.
But what's where it ends. If UK Labour was a genuine Social Democrat government, then this would have been gone from day 1 ...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
But what's where it ends. If UK Labour was a genuine Social Democrat government, then this would have been gone from day 1 ...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
At least the UK Labour government is not the Tories. But that is the only difference.
November 29, 2025 at 3:00 PM
At least the UK Labour government is not the Tories. But that is the only difference.
Today's reads:
Amitav Ghosh: Beyond the Apocalypse - bit.ly/3LY30hf
How colonialist outlooks affect climate change 'solutions'
Naomi Klein: Surrealism Against Fascism - bit.ly/488YS6G
It's in the title!
Deepak Dennison : Holes in the Web - bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
AI loses knowledge
Amitav Ghosh: Beyond the Apocalypse - bit.ly/3LY30hf
How colonialist outlooks affect climate change 'solutions'
Naomi Klein: Surrealism Against Fascism - bit.ly/488YS6G
It's in the title!
Deepak Dennison : Holes in the Web - bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
AI loses knowledge
Beyond the Apocalypse • EQUATOR
How visions of catastrophe shape the ‘climate solutions’ imposed by aid agencies
www.equator.org
November 28, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Today's reads:
Amitav Ghosh: Beyond the Apocalypse - bit.ly/3LY30hf
How colonialist outlooks affect climate change 'solutions'
Naomi Klein: Surrealism Against Fascism - bit.ly/488YS6G
It's in the title!
Deepak Dennison : Holes in the Web - bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
AI loses knowledge
Amitav Ghosh: Beyond the Apocalypse - bit.ly/3LY30hf
How colonialist outlooks affect climate change 'solutions'
Naomi Klein: Surrealism Against Fascism - bit.ly/488YS6G
It's in the title!
Deepak Dennison : Holes in the Web - bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
AI loses knowledge
On Technofeudalism - I would like to know more about medieval monastic feudalism - can anyone recommend a good book(s) on the subject?
Thanks
By the way - good article by Varoufakis in the Guardian today:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thanks
By the way - good article by Varoufakis in the Guardian today:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
How Amazon turned our capitalist era of free markets into the age of technofeudalism | Yanis Varoufakis
Amazon Web Services owns the basic infrastructure for other businesses to operate online, turning even governments into its serfs, says the leader of MeRA25, Yanis Varoufakis
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:53 AM
On Technofeudalism - I would like to know more about medieval monastic feudalism - can anyone recommend a good book(s) on the subject?
Thanks
By the way - good article by Varoufakis in the Guardian today:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thanks
By the way - good article by Varoufakis in the Guardian today:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
'Technofeudalism' by Yanis Varoufakis is a very readable book, very stylish too. I like his notion that while there remains a large amount of (badly paid) 'proletarian' work to do (these days much of it is close to the heart of the Machine - e.g. data centers etc) we have all become cloud serfs ...
November 26, 2025 at 10:19 PM
'Technofeudalism' by Yanis Varoufakis is a very readable book, very stylish too. I like his notion that while there remains a large amount of (badly paid) 'proletarian' work to do (these days much of it is close to the heart of the Machine - e.g. data centers etc) we have all become cloud serfs ...
Surely, a key foundation of military discipline since Nuremberg is that
"... orders cannot launder conscience." (Justice Robert H. Jackson)
That is all that is being said here.
bbc.com/news/articles/cqxqwrlp7r0o
"... orders cannot launder conscience." (Justice Robert H. Jackson)
That is all that is being said here.
bbc.com/news/articles/cqxqwrlp7r0o
Pentagon announces 'thorough review' of allegations against Senator Mark Kelly
Kelly responded that attempts "to intimidate me and other members of Congress" would not work.
bbc.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Surely, a key foundation of military discipline since Nuremberg is that
"... orders cannot launder conscience." (Justice Robert H. Jackson)
That is all that is being said here.
bbc.com/news/articles/cqxqwrlp7r0o
"... orders cannot launder conscience." (Justice Robert H. Jackson)
That is all that is being said here.
bbc.com/news/articles/cqxqwrlp7r0o
Excellent essay on the hegemonic epistemology of so-called AI
bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
Generative AI has access to a small slice of human knowledge | Aeon Essays
Huge swathes of human knowledge are missing from the internet. By definition, generative AI is shockingly ignorant too
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Excellent essay on the hegemonic epistemology of so-called AI
bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
bit.ly/4oQ5I6O
A well written piece comparing Nuremberg and Tokyo war trials.
" Keitel, the soldier of obedience ... pleaded the soldier’s eternal defence – obedience to commands; [Justice Robert H.] Jackson countered that orders cannot launder conscience."
bit.ly/4oePq6r
" Keitel, the soldier of obedience ... pleaded the soldier’s eternal defence – obedience to commands; [Justice Robert H.] Jackson countered that orders cannot launder conscience."
bit.ly/4oePq6r
The long shadow of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials
In the courtrooms of Nuremberg and Tokyo, the victorious Allies declared that civilisation must not merely win wars but also judge them, leaving a legal and moral legacy that persists to this day.
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 12:18 PM
A well written piece comparing Nuremberg and Tokyo war trials.
" Keitel, the soldier of obedience ... pleaded the soldier’s eternal defence – obedience to commands; [Justice Robert H.] Jackson countered that orders cannot launder conscience."
bit.ly/4oePq6r
" Keitel, the soldier of obedience ... pleaded the soldier’s eternal defence – obedience to commands; [Justice Robert H.] Jackson countered that orders cannot launder conscience."
bit.ly/4oePq6r
Doctorow's book 'Enshittification'. Articulate, intelligent, lively, and a strategic path. Also appreciate his nod to Varoufakis' Book Technofeudalism; I have just read it: also brilliant, articulate and clear. It is also, maybe surprisingly for its subject, beautiful prose.
amzn.to/44tB7DQ
amzn.to/44tB7DQ
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism
Buy Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism Heruitgave by Varoufakis, Yanis (ISBN: 9781529926095) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
amzn.to
November 23, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Doctorow's book 'Enshittification'. Articulate, intelligent, lively, and a strategic path. Also appreciate his nod to Varoufakis' Book Technofeudalism; I have just read it: also brilliant, articulate and clear. It is also, maybe surprisingly for its subject, beautiful prose.
amzn.to/44tB7DQ
amzn.to/44tB7DQ
The rot is spreading! Christianity in the UK is following the US into the sewer ... and although Christianity as a whole has a lot to answer for, this ugly attempt to twist it further towards race hate is the work of sly demons ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why Tommy Robinson supporters are turning to Christianity
The Church of England is grappling with what to do about followers of the far-right figure embracing faith.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 11:56 AM
The rot is spreading! Christianity in the UK is following the US into the sewer ... and although Christianity as a whole has a lot to answer for, this ugly attempt to twist it further towards race hate is the work of sly demons ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
"[Trump] has ... dispensed with concepts of shame, of decency, of equality. He [is] entirely self-seeking, totally amoral, cruel by nature, and impossibly fragile. And the rewards he’s gained in the process have emboldened others to be just as unabashedly themselves as he is."
bit.ly/4ryO9Kv
bit.ly/4ryO9Kv
President Piggy
This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.
www.theatlantic.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:46 AM
"[Trump] has ... dispensed with concepts of shame, of decency, of equality. He [is] entirely self-seeking, totally amoral, cruel by nature, and impossibly fragile. And the rewards he’s gained in the process have emboldened others to be just as unabashedly themselves as he is."
bit.ly/4ryO9Kv
bit.ly/4ryO9Kv
Gaza is doomed! its final death will be in Yankee Real Estate ...
"... this week’s Security Council [approved] a U.S.-sponsored ... Board of Peace chaired by ... Trump [to engage in] ... reconstruction, security, economic recovery, [&] distribution of aid.
www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-ghf-u...
"... this week’s Security Council [approved] a U.S.-sponsored ... Board of Peace chaired by ... Trump [to engage in] ... reconstruction, security, economic recovery, [&] distribution of aid.
www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-ghf-u...
U.S. Mercenary Firm Tied to Notorious Aid Scheme Is Recruiting for New Gaza Deployment
UG Solutions, which provided security for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has been interviewing ex-soldiers for potential “robust security” operations.
www.dropsitenews.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Gaza is doomed! its final death will be in Yankee Real Estate ...
"... this week’s Security Council [approved] a U.S.-sponsored ... Board of Peace chaired by ... Trump [to engage in] ... reconstruction, security, economic recovery, [&] distribution of aid.
www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-ghf-u...
"... this week’s Security Council [approved] a U.S.-sponsored ... Board of Peace chaired by ... Trump [to engage in] ... reconstruction, security, economic recovery, [&] distribution of aid.
www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-ghf-u...
Derangement? The Amerikan State is going all-in to take federal control of all AI deployment and deny State-level autonomy. (Scroll down in the link to 'breaking news').
garymarcus.substack.com/p/mayday-the...
garymarcus.substack.com/p/mayday-the...
Mayday: The White House is attempting to circumvent Congress and crush the rights of individual states to regulate AI.
This is really not good, and just got worse.
garymarcus.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Derangement? The Amerikan State is going all-in to take federal control of all AI deployment and deny State-level autonomy. (Scroll down in the link to 'breaking news').
garymarcus.substack.com/p/mayday-the...
garymarcus.substack.com/p/mayday-the...
And, like the US, the UK also seems to think that dissipating state functions is the way to go ... aka failure
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Lack of planning has hit Labour’s efforts to fix public services, says thinktank
Keir Starmer accused of failing to adequately strategise while in opposition, leading to uncoordinated policymaking
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:50 AM
And, like the US, the UK also seems to think that dissipating state functions is the way to go ... aka failure
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Egregious and wilful destruction. No plan, no vision, just some cock-eyed ideological motive ... no-one benefits, least of all the coming generations ...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...
Trump Administration Announces Steps to Dismantle Education Department
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Egregious and wilful destruction. No plan, no vision, just some cock-eyed ideological motive ... no-one benefits, least of all the coming generations ...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...