Dr Syd

My recent book AI and Consciousness: A Skeptical Overview is free online today and tomorrow (through Oct 19, presumably UK time). I don't think the hard copy is available yet. Get it while it's free! www.cambridge.org/core/element...

KITTEN ADOPTION KLAXON Gravy needs a home in the Baltimore/DC area ASAP, preferably one with other young cats. After the sudden death of her only sister, she really craves playtime with other kittens. Gravy is fully vaccinated and spayed, cuddly and playful, and learns what is ok and not ok fast.

ChatGPT is adding the signatures of real New Yorker cartoonists to its AI-generated images. So far, I've found the signatures of more than 15 contributors. "It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...

STOP SCROLLING Why I’m sounding the alarm: VoteSafe. org is run by Elon Musk’s America PAC, the same political operation working to turn out Republican voters in the midterms. The site collects voter and political info, and allows your information to be shared or sold to business partners.

Holy shit I did not know this Incredible insight into Western Higher Education, going back to Oxford and Cambridge and still seen today from @harikondabolu.bsky.social

**Lights Out Alert Sunday & Monday Nights** Birdcast is estimating 300-400 million birds will be in flight.

Amtrak didn’t tell us about this exposure, so heads up: if you took an Amtrak train last week through Chicago or anywhere on the Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight, or California Zephyr routes like we did, you may have been exposed to measles! Please let the train people in your life know about this

Very interesting research - this NYT article discussing it focuses in particular on academic career trajectories. @jessicacalarco.com has done a lot as well in recent years to help graduate students navigate these challenges. ⤵️ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/b...

Are we accidentally training ourselves to be Blade Runners? My pal Andy and I look back at an experiment in LLM misuse from 2023, the "Blade Runner" moment, when we'd have to spend the rest of our lives wondering whether we're talking to robots. Andy notes that AI slop teaches us to spot fakes.

This is not right. I can’t explain why, but hot sauce bottles must be tall. (Both 12 oz bottles) Still love the wood cap, Cholula.

This blueberry cuppa cake was crazy easy to make and DAMN delicious

To say I'm frustrated would be a massive understatement. vickyweberbooks.substack.com/p/the-publis...

If you have a small drawer in your home, and a lot tea, what is stopping you from making a Tea Library? Possibly my greatest kitchen innovation. (Helps to have someone in your household who enjoys organizing small things)

Today I made an unannounced visit to ICE’s facility in Scarborough, Maine. What I heard was unacceptable: no body cameras, no training, and no accountability. Johan Guerrero should be alive. Congress must act. Abolish ICE. End qualified immunity.

Was in NYC this week, so I took a yellow cab, as one does. Then explained how back in the Before Times professional taxi drivers didn’t have GPS and just *knew* how to get places in the city. (Had a better cabbie in the return trip) I guess I’m now an Old Timer who misses the Old Ways™ 🚕

It would be cool if the lesson from all this was “Progressives should stop always elevating the deeply flawed white male savior draped in red flags when better ppl are right there.” But it probably won’t be. The Nazi tattoo should have been enough. 🚩

It would be difficult for me to care less about the #WorldCup, but I hope Cape Verde wins

Happy Writing a Sternly Worded Letter to the King Day, to all who celebrate.

I'm one of the critics interviewed in this article about the latest abomination in animal agriculture. Should we take over the minds of animals? No, we definitely should not. #bioethics #AnimalEthics #neuroethics

A little birthday present for me, and a birthday F you to a shite human and garbage POTUS.

My fantastic department, the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Upstate Medical University, is growing and hiring for two TT positions! careers.upstate.edu/jobs/associa... careers.upstate.edu/jobs/associa... #bioethics #MedicalHumanities #ClinicalEthics

Expectation vs reality. Still tasty tots.

We have bebe groundhog quadruplets!!!

The number of times this week I've been told that the hantavirus outbreak is "not Covid" makes me MORE not less inclined to think it is more Covid-like I would otherwise think. Doesn't help that the entire US federal public health system is led by (*checks notes*) Covid deniers.

I am inspired by many of my colleagues fighting the good fight here in Texas, but wrote this for the rest of y'all: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Love this idea

I used to be a big fan of Mel Gibson and his movies. I cannot imagine writing something like this about him. I feel the loss of not being able to enjoy Road Warrior like I used to (and glad for post-gibson Road Warrior movies)

We’re on strike today! Support our fight for a fair contract by NOT visiting the @propublica.org website or engaging with ProPublica stories today. Tell ProPublica’s management you won’t cross the picket line: actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...

The problem with Daredevil: Born Again s2 is the same as the problem with #Daredevil. Too. Much. Fisk. A tediously boring villain, now more current eventsy bc corrupt just like the tedious, grotesque POTUS. I like my trenchant escapism more escape-y, please. #DaredevilBornAgain

"if the rate of 65 publications with at least one invalid reference out of some 4,000 publications analysed holds across the academic literature, it would suggest that more than 110,000 of the 7 million or so scholarly publications from 2025 contain invalid references."

I want to thank our Allies for telling Trump to go fuck himself over the Iran war. You have to punch a bully in the face.

the “combing through and finding weird little details that interest me” part of research is so crucial

Tapping the sign

Oh, Bob. No. No nonononooooo.

Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People https://theonion.com/archaeological-dig-uncovers-ancient-race-of-skeleton-pe-1819565415/

Democrats put 9 bills forward to fund TSA. Trump and Republicans blocked every bill because they want to tie TSA workers’ paychecks to billions in more unchecked funding for ICE. The answer is clear: fund TSA and not ICE.

@nytimes.com with the hardhitting news that exposes the true costs of war

Civil Rights icon, @doloreshuerta, made a brave move today, revealing a secret she had been holding for 60 years for the sake of the Farm Workers movement. You can read her letter here: medium.com/@dolores_hue...

It is the anniversary of the My Lai massacre today. I'd say that even more than most years, it's important to remember what happened. And the role Hugh Thompson, an active serviceman, played in both stopping and publicising it. Despite enormous military, political and public pressure to stay quiet.

‘Hey’ came before ‘hi,’ and ‘hi' came before ‘hello.’ ‘Hi’ is most likely a variant of ‘hey.’ ‘Hello’ is not related to either. Goodbye.