medievalmatt.bsky.social
I'm just this guy, you know? I'm also terrible at self-promotion. Medieval drama, manuscripts, and digital humanities. Sometimes in that order. When I can I edit the Minor Works of John Lydgate virtual archive (http://www.minorworksoflydgate.net/).
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The business meeting will be virtual, so you can still attend even if you're not at the conference.
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Anyway, long story short if you hear of anything please do pass it along. Thank you.
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It just isn't doable. So last Tuesday I let the department head know this wasn't workable for me and so I wouldn't be back next year.
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It takes me away from the work that would let me get a more permanent gig and when life issues come up, as happened last year, it means processing and dealing with those issues always takes a rather significant backseat to putting out fires for someone else.
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said I had to talk to Kara and think about it.
I did so -- called Kara and my mom both -- and I just don't see how this is a tenable solution. I don't know what is, especially in the current climate, but I'm tired of being the fungible stopgap person who papers over systemic problems.
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It was stressed this wasn't about my work, but about budget concerns (which I buy -- the faculty has a significant budget deficit, a 4% year over year cut in its operating budget, and has been scrambling to try to figure out how to fix both).
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They could finagle things so that I could teach all the classes in one term, but the actual renewal would be half-time employment.
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Which I mentioned in March as well.
I had a meeting with the head of the department on the 11th, where I was told that they could only renew my contract for half-time, with no option to teach remotely.
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The department was willing to set up a multi-year contract, but folks higher up in the chain wouldn't do it. At the same time I was being told that I shouldn't leave the country until the renewal was going through. Which was not tenable as my lease on the apartment ends at the end of this month.
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When this was first brought up in earnest last March I mentioned this Catch 22 of needing a letter I did not have to get the permit and that having to wait for the renewal each year (with the attendant cost) was a bit of an issue.
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In the interim, I have been getting a number of emails reminding me about the need to renew my work permit. Which I cannot do without the renewal letter, which I did not have. So I've been waiting for that letter before I did anything.
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(And of course I don't notice the typo until nine days later)
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And that's the fundamental difference between Sweden and Russia, right? Because based on the time frame I could see Sweden also being given some side eye. But they're not what they were. Russia is still trying to protect itself from the Mongols by being the bigger monster.
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Isn't that the damn truth. My undergraduates, who would absolutely use GPT if they thought I wouldn't notice, would at least come across more competently than this shitshow.
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So this year (and with everything that has happened) I've decided to give them gifts today and risk looking like a goober.
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So this year (and with everything that has happened) I've decided to give them today and risk looking like a goober.
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There's a piece with a captive knob you can't see where the camera screws on on the opposite side of the 60/40 "one way" acrylic I replaced the glass the shadow boxes included with.
I followed this conceptually, but built it a bit more ruggedly. Mine was not $0, though.
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The framework is two ~30cm adjustable depth shadowboxes. I added hinges and the lid stay there on the right in the second picture, then mounted the whole thing to a length of wood that I drilled holes in to attach to my camera tripod.
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I built it during COVID times when I was helping my mom out since my late father was immuno-compromised. All you need is either beamsplitter glass or (expensive) or something that approximates it (go with this), a way to hold it at an angle so it reflects the screen, and a way to cover the back.
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There was a house for sale that adjoined Lafayette Square. If I was a person with money instead of a nomadic academic I would buy it and erect a guillotine facing the White House. Fuckers need to Remember.
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Does anyone have a recommendation for a free or very cheap OCR program (ideally that is platform agnostic) so I can get this done this weekend without going down the "how much Windows malware are you going to try to load on my machine" rabbithole?
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To solve this I asked him to send me the files, thinking I could put it through an OCR program, extract the text, and save that as a .docx for him. I did not count on the enshittification of Adobe's OCR feature in the cloud, or the proliferation of fly-by-night crap offerings.
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The question at this point is not about their inability to follow his request -- he has said he can grade it either way. His concern--and I tend to agree it's hinky--is that this is a way to circumvent plagiarism and AI detection.
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I feel like "American Girl" is necessary for the narrative arc of the episode (and for Elliot's character arc in general) in a way that "Beautiful Day" wasn't.
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Needs a colon and a fancy font, but that could either be the title of a bestselling nonfiction book or an academic paper.
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Every time I eat pizza. Every time.
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I work in medieval studies, and all you have to do to note this is check out how medieval castles are situated. They are generally in positions of strategic importance, but castles in march areas like the Welsh/English border are positioned to project power as well as (or instead of) protecting.
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I feel like there's a lot of people who built their perception of sex on the internet, which has no chill and no sense of nuance. So people either present as total degenerates or moral absolutists. Nuance is dead.
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This is awesome. I'd love to find out more about it.
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Also unless I'm wrong and Gamer's Nexus used to advertise for Honey it affects a lot more people than just the people who were advertising for them, because they've got a suit alleging their affiliate links were co-opted by Honey.
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What I probably need is an impact wrench, but my access to anything but basic electronics repair tools and the aforementioned socket set is limited up here.
So tomorrow I am going to spend $70 to get a bulb swapped, because I can't get something to catch with the minimal space I have to work in.
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Now I know how to replace it, as mentioned above. But I lack a tool that can get into the space, engage with the nut for said bolt, and loosen it. I have a socket set. I bought a deep 11mm socket. But I still can't reach it.
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My side marker light burned out the Sunday I left to drive back south, and the car was at the dealer from the 18th until the 4th of January (which is another story). While it was at the dealer they did not notice or if they did notice did not choose to replace the side marker bulb.
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Crown Victorias have a side marker light that is a pain in the butt to get to. You have to undo a screw -- no big deal -- but then you also have to undo an 11mm bolt to take the side light housing off. Once you've done that you can swap the bulb relatively easily and put it all back together.
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This is a link to the completed syllabus. Hopefully I'll get to teach this class, but it was a fun exercise either way.
homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/F6Oq4V...
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My expertise is earlier and English, but I wonder if it's not a formal Secretary (or equivalent) hand with a more informal note underneath?
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And that $69 million is on the chopping block, if Project 2025 is any indication. As far as the tech lords are concerned the humanities exist to provide training materials for the AI tools they intend to replace it, badly.