Ted McCormick

@tedmccormick.bsky.social

16711 Followers 2447 Following

Historian of scientific, economic and colonial projects in early modern Britain, Ireland, and the Atlantic; books http://bit.ly/3HYwNiA & http://bit.ly/3rKdAvt; http://memoriousblog.com; views mine; he/him. Montrealer in Philly, except when I’m in Montreal

view from Snaefell on the Isle of Man
The Reformation in Tudor Ireland Political Theology and Princely Governance under Henry VIII James Leduc
Michael Scott quoting Michael Scott quoting Wayne Gretzky
History shelves and display table at a Waterstones
Masters of time and space, Spain’s dominance comes from deep-rooted principles
Perhaps, more than anything else, the Post Office scandal demonstrated a moral failing on the part of managers of large organizations to care about the consequences of their decisions or to show even the faintest empathy for the lives of the people working in those organizations. There were times, during the 2ooos, when identifying and appointing the right kind of managers, and then giving them the authority to get on and do their job and turn things around, came to be seen as the answer to any and all organizational problems. Hospitals, schools, universities and charities were all encouraged to follow the lead set by private firms, most notably the banks, to venerate and empower their managers and, as a part of this, to pay them the going market rate. The Post Office scandal showed what can happen when frameworks are created in which managers are driven by performance targets and subject to not much more than tick-box accountability.
The Times plays so many roles: as the place to go to understand the world in real time, as the primer on every subject under the sun and, lest we forget, as a convener and tastemaker that helps define the modern canon.
Gilbert was the first to realize the potential in creating definitive catalogs of culture when he and the Books desk published the “100 Best Books of the 21st Century” package in collaboration with The Upshot two years ago, inviting critics, readers and authors into the conversation. As Canon editor, Gilbert will expand on that effort. He will build a team that will work with others across the newsroom to develop canon and signature lists, while ensuring overall quality and cohesion along the way.
The Times plays so many roles: as the place to go to understand the world in real time, as the primer on every subject under the sun and, lest we forget, as a convener and tastemaker that helps define the modern canon.
When we choose the best movies of the 21st century, old favorites like “Parasite” and “Mulholland Drive” surge in popularity again. When The New York Times declares “My Brilliant Friend,” “The Warmth of Other Suns” and “Wolf Hall” the century’s very best books, it’s no surprise that their readership rises. And reservations become scarce at Kabawa, Yamada, Tatiana and other top dining spots when we choose New York City’s 100 best restaurants.
kneeling soldier protecting sleeping child from algae
neocaridina davidi, pensive
Shovel your way out of the shit with Dr. Amp's Golden Shovel
Colin Wright's cartoon of himself being left behind by his "fellow liberals'" running to the left (becoming "woke progressives") between 2008 and 2021, while both he and conservatives stay in their original positions. The woke progressive is calling him a bigot
Bart: it’s the end of civilization Homer: it’s the end of *Western* civilization
The bees build in the crevices Of loosening masonry, and there The mother birds bring grubs and flies. My wall is loosening, honey bees Come build in the empty house of the stare. We are closed in, and the key is turned On our uncertainty; somewhere A man is killed, or a house burned, Yet no clear fact to be discerned: Come build in the empty house of the stare A barricade of stone or of wood; Some fourteen days of civil war; Last night they trundled down the road That dead young soldier in his blood: Come build in the empty house of the stare. We had fed the heart on fantasies, The heart’s grown brutal from the fare, More substance in our enmities Than in our love; oh, honey-bees Come build in the empty house of the stare.
David W. Bates, An Artificial History of Natural Intelligence (Chicago, 2024)
Edward Jones-Imhotep, The Broken Machine (MIT, 2026)
Rick Dalton pointing
THE BALLOON OF THE MIND Hands, do what you're bid: Bring the balloon of the mind That bellies and drags in the wind Into its narrow shed.
Americans remain divided about whether diversity is an essential feature of the U.S.'s identity, and agreement about other aspects of the country's underlying character appears to be eroding, the survey found. Americans are less likely to see a democratically elected government as "extremely" or "very" important to the United States' identity as a nation than they were just a few years ago. About two-thirds of U.S. adults now say a democratically elected government is highly important to the U.S.'s identity as a nation, down from 80% in 2021.
Only about one-quarter of Americans say the U.S. stands above all other countries in the world, the new poll found, while 44% say it's one of the greatest countries in the world, along with some others. About 3 in 10 say there are better countries than the U.S., an increase from 19% in an AP-NORC poll conducted in June 2016.
Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane) showering in A Scanner Darkly (2006)
A Design details A.1 Prompts System Prompt for NotebookLM You are a Law School Contracts Professor. Your main knowledge source is the provided textbook chapters. Do not cite cases that are not in the source. Answer student questions as you would during office hours or after class: brief, direct, and grounded in the text. Avoid bullet points, restating the question, or using fillers. Respond naturally, not sounding like you conducted research. Keep answers between 50–108 words, ideally around 90. You may go up to 155 words only if nuance requires it. System Prompt for Gemini 2.5 Pro You are a Law School Contracts Professor. Answer student questions as you would during office hours or after class: brief and direct. Avoid bullet points, restating the question, or using fillers. Respond naturally, not sounding like you conducted research. Keep answers between 50–108 words, ideally around 90. You may go up to 155 words only if nuance requires it.
Caption: Figure 1: Overview of the evaluation process. In Stage 1 (Question Generation), instructors provided questions on contract law. In Stage 2 (Answer Generation), responses were produced either by those same instructors or by LLMs. In Stage 3 (Answer Battle), pairs of answers were blindly evaluated by instructors as judges, who indicated which response they would prefer to deliver to a student and whether any response was pedagogically harmful. Note: throughout the overview, the human is represented by a bathroom sign-style figure and the LLM by a cartoon-style robot
"The Prayer at Valley Forge" is owned by First Freedom Art Company, backed by the financial firm CAZ Investments. The group owns more than two hundred paintings by Friberg and lent "The Prayer At Valley Forge" to the Museum of the Bible. Christopher Zook founded CAZ Investments, and co-authored a bestseller called "The Holy Grail of Investing with Tony Robbins." He says what matters most is the painting's message, for Americans of all faiths.
a ten-cent bill in Canadian Tire money
Lyle Lanley explaining the etymology of “monorail” to Springfielders
drone cleaning a building
Joan Thirsk, English Peasant Farming: The Agrarian History of Lincolnshire from Tudor to Recent Times (London: Methuen, 1981; first ed. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957)
Richard Whatmore, The End of Enlightenment: Empire, Commerce, Crisis (Penguin, 2023)
Integration based on values A new approach to integration will consider both the broader immigration system and what level of immigration is tenable in maintaining a cohesive society and meeting the needs of existing communities. Government will also set out clear and firm expectations of the social contract for everyone who lives in the UK: to learn and use English, footnote 25] to respect and uphold our shared values, to participate in work and civic life, to obey the law, and to demonstrate appreciation for what it means to be a citizen of the UK, in order to enjoy the opportunities and protections offered by life in the UK. English language is a key facilitator of cohesive communities, and proficiency provides key opportunities for individuals, including improved social connections, participation, access to employment and access to essential services. footnote 26]
Teaching our values and history Young people should be aware of and understand our shared values, including how they shape and continue to benefit our country. As first steps, we will: • Mandate that citizenship is taught in both primary and secondary schools to highlight the relevance of the democratic process and constitutional principles such as the rule of law, as well as raise awareness of threats to democracy. We will ensure that vital applied knowledge and skills in financial, media and digital literacy are embedded into the revised curriculum to help young people become confident and resilient when navigating our modern world.
best of kamala harris @archivekamala .@CoryBooker: "You may disagree with her [Kamala Harris] on 10% of her views, but you let someone get in office who you disagree with on everything. You let somebody get in office who is locking up our children. You let somebody in office who is taking away our healthcare."
John Gibney, The Shadow of a Year: The 1641 Rebellion in Irish History and Memory (Wisconsin, 2013)
Leo pointing
Eric Schatzberg, Technology: Critical Hosyiry of a Concept (Chicago, 2018)
From dreams I made sentences, then what I've seen today, Then past the past of afternoons of stories like memory To seeing as a plain introduction to modes of love and reason, Then to end I guess with love, a method. to this winter season Now I've said this love it's all I can remember Of Midwinter Day the twenty-second of December Welcome sun, at last with thy softer light That takes the bite from winter weather And weaves the random cloth of life together And drives away the long black night!
r/Concordia 3mo ago ... studio- Professor Basically Admits to Slides being Al Generated I'm writing this in lecture after the prof suggested reviewing the images in the slides. He said, and I quote: "These images were produced by a generative Al, maybe.. Copilot, maybe?" He's not even sure what model he used to generate the images. And some of these images appear over and over again in subsequent slideshows. And the text that accompanies them is also likely Al generated. They are incoherent, repetitive, and full of buzzword-heavy marketing speak that delivers 0 value. They aren't even proper slides - they are vertical PDF documents that he scrolls through during lecture. I have no definitive proof the text is Al generated, obviously. Nested bullet points and em-dashes do not prove the use of Al, and Al scanners aren't necessarily reliable (GPTZero returns 100% Al when I pass a snippet of his course content through it, for what that's worth). But the fact that he openly admits to generating Al images for his course content is quite telling. As I type these words, I'm watching him recite the slides as if he's never read them before. He stumbles through a bullet point, pauses, and then re-words the point in a way that usually doesn't add value.
Guardian webpage: Middle East crisis: 'Go get your own oil, Trump tells allies in angry outburst
If you agree that your work can be included in generative Al licensing deals, click the "Review and sign" button in this email to access and sign your addendum. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us at authorrights@cambridge.org. Many thanks, Cambridge University Press
The Center will serve as a dynamic platform for: • Teaching and learning: Undergraduate and graduate courses in creative content, audience engagement and digital strategy. • Workshops and executive education: Experiential opportunities for students and professionals, from personal branding to influencer law. • Speaker series and showcases: A stage for creators, social media executives and digital entrepreneurs. • On-campus incubators and makerspaces: Mentorship and funding for student ventures. • Research and thought leadership: Sponsoring and publishing research on creator economy trends. • College athletics: Partnering with Syracuse University Athletics and the Falk College of Sport to help student-athletes and the University compete in the changing athletics landscape.
Post from Andrew A.N. Deloucas @aandeloucas.com: In line with discussion about the job market, the latest majors being closed at Syracuse University: Nine majors "sunsetting": • Classical civilization • Classics (Greek and Latin) • Digital humanities • Fine arts • German • Latino-Latin American studies • Middle Eastern studies • Modern Jewish studies • Russian ALT
Is it cake? Yes, ffs, it’s all cake now
STAY HOME AND DRINK DISHWATER
Sarah Tarlow, Ritual, Belief and the Dead in Early Modern Britain and Ireland (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
Simpsons screenshot showing aliens Kang and Kodos as Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. KANG: THE POLITICS OF FAILURE HAVE FAILED. WE NEED TO MAKE THEM WORK AGAIN.
THE FATE OF THE DEAD A Study in Folk-Eschatology in the West Country After the Reformation Theo Brown Published by D. S. Brewer Ltd and Rowman and Littlefield for The Folklore Society 1979
"There are things that are inconsistent with the discipline, but that's in the things that are missing, not in what is there," Carr said about the resulting textbook. "There is nothing there that I do not believe is the best science."
Carr said she has been attacked by colleagues throughout the state for participating in the creation of the new textbook. As she saw it, either sociologists sat at the table to help create a new textbook, or colleges and universities across the state would be forced to remove Introduction to Sociology as a core course offered to incoming students. Carr said that scenario could lead to the overall implosion of the discipline in Florida and resulting job losses for professors and graduate students. "What was put on our shoulders was saving our discipline and saving our colleagues' jobs," Carr said. "We were told if the course was cancelled, it will be very hard to get it back in as a core course. So we needed a stop-gap solution, and this is a stop-gap solution."
Halley’s “life table”
the frozen Schuylkill
I am going to create [a reading] that is so [against the grain]