Steve Hammett @bitflips@social.cleverlibre.org

I stand in solidarity with our 70,000 colleagues in the British academe, which include academic support staff at 150 universities across the UK, comprising lecturers, librarians, researchers, teachers, support staff and other members of the University and College Union.

Diminishing pay, lack of tenurial security, declining working conditions & pension cuts have caused untold hardships on our friends & colleagues at this time of economic turmoil & uncertainty.

#ucu #ucurising #ucustrike

Email translations:

“I was under the impression”
Translation: I’m furious

“As per my email”
Translation: I’m furious

“With respect”
Translation: I’m furious

“Whilst I appreciate”
Translation: I’m furious

“As I’m sure you’re aware”
Translation: I’m furious

#UCURising #UCU #UCUStrike Oxford picket

Happy #strike day to all in UK higher education! #Cambridgeuniversity pickets are strong. #UCU

#UCU #UCUrising Solidarity one and all!!

✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼

More than 70,000 UK university staff go on strike over pay and pensions https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/nov/24/more-than-70000-uk-university-staff-go-on-strike-over-pay-and-pensions?CMP=share_btn_tw

UK university staff are on action short of strike as of today, and on strike this week and next. If you would like to know why we are fighting for better pay, working conditions and pensions, follow @ucu or the #UCURising hashtag, or look at signing the picket line pledge https://www.ucu.org.uk/supportthestrikes.

There's a digital picket as well so I am going to stop posting work-related items. I may post more strike-related content so please feel free to unfollow/mute as not everything will have a CW.

A moving #TransDayofRemembrance ceremony yesterday in the #RoyalHolloway chapel. Thank you to the Students Union for hosting this event and reading the names of those lost to violence and systemic oppression. 🏳️‍⚧️

Just to clear, action short of a strike (ASOS) is *working to contract*. So it's literally doing the jobs we've been asked to do.

If VCs dock pay for ASOS, it just goes to show how much the sector relies of overwork and underpay; and how rattled they are. Keep up the fight! #UCUrising

A battery filled with algae is somehow managing to power this computer for months: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2319584-computer-powered-by-colony-of-blue-green-algae-has-run-for-six-months/

No-one's quite sure what's going on. Possibly the algae is serving as the medium catalyzing the interaction between the anode and cathode in the battery.

Except research shows the anode isn't degrading, which suggests ...

... the *algae* is producing the electrons.

Some thoughts on this in my blog post here, item 6: https://clivethompson.medium.com/lavaforming-ai-writes-heavy-metal-and-drones-that-deliver-hamburger-helper-59b9bcfda9a8

'Minus is a finite social network where you get 100 posts—for life. While you can reply to a post as often as you like, every time you add to the feed, it subtracts from your lifetime total. When you reach 0 posts left, that’s it. No exceptions.' https://minus.social/

£36bn thrown away on a test-and-trace program that didn't test or trace: FINE. ALL FINE.

£10k shredded by a comedian highlighting the hypocrisy of the super-rich in the process: HOW DARE YOU!!!!

Do I have this right.. the same people spouting “vox populi, vox dei” don’t believe the president should be elected via a popular majority?

The two largest US oil companies have raked in more than $30 billion in the last three months.

Don't tell me inflation is being driven by government spending or workers asking for better wages.

The amazing folks at @sdetsup are going to support us to get a group of us together to attend this vigil in Folkestone from London 🥰

Pls share & sign up if you plan to come so we can get an idea of numbers & see if we should go by train, coach or what 😃 https://forms.gle/VzdDbmLJ1MdfA7es6

We all want to believe that if we left our homes & made an odyssey journey to find a place to build a new life, we would be treated with kindness and finally find safety.

This govt has deliberately mismanaged the asylum system so that safety is out of reach.

How many dark days?

Perspectives.

As I attempt to go back off grid for the first time in decades, this time with a family in tow, I'm struck by just how much the solar, and by extension renewable energy, industry has changed.

What once was geared towards people living an alternative lifestyle is now centered around making yuppies in the suburbs believe that they're saving the world if they grid-tie some solar panels on their roof and charge their Tesla at home. It's populated by "business managers" who are only interested is seeing how many shoddily done jobs they can slap up in a short amount of time who mask that fact by pretending to care about the environment to their customers.

I have yet to have a positive interaction with anyone in the industry about actual self-sustainability. They just don't care. It's all so....corporate and phony now.

This is a real disappointment in my current life. Can't even drop out of society effectively anymore.