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August 2013

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Takeaway point for me on STEM shortage/over-supply: they want a reserve labour force to push price of STEM labour down.

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Had a really good experience publishing in Neo-Victorian Studies. Going to give that a write-up soon.

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The Democracy We Do Not Want

Yesterday evening I received a letter from my MP. I reproduce it below, with my response. This is the democracy that we do not want. Dear Sir and Madam Please forgive the unsolicited email but having corresponded with me before regarding your views on certain issues, I am now seeking yours. With…

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SXSW Panel: Vote to get Open Access on the agenda

So, in conjunction with the amazing people at South End Press -- a group of people unsurpassed in my esteem -- I'm proud to be part of a proposal for the SXSW conference this year. However, we need you to VOTE FOR OUR PANEL at PanelPicker. Please do this. It takes 2 minutes. What are we planning to…

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His pre-history and contextualisation of structuralism was extremely informative from my literary studies perspective.

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And, also, some very enjoyable stuff on Foucault and Althusser, although not groundbreaking.

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Just finished reading Warren Montag's Althusser and his Contemporaries on my flight. Some interesting revisionist lineages.

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Reports from the frontline of humanities OA in Japan

This week I had the privilege of visiting Japan for the first time to speak with SPARC Japan (in Tokyo) about developments in open access for the humanities. A few interesting points on an OA-front came out of this that are worth sharing for those (much like myself) who primarily operate within an…

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Somehow the SPARC Japan library science seminar has turned to discussing Thomas Pynchon. Next speaker couldn't resist continuing a theme!

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Eduroam is pretty phenomenal. Especially when it works for me in Japan with no reconfiguration.

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Prediction: independent review will exonerate police & home office on Miranda detention. Rationale: secret material could help terrorists.

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I'm in Tokyo. Massive thunderstorm raging. Nuclear power plant leaking. US gov intimidating. UK police state forming. SNAFU.

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“@PaulLewis BREAKING: Bradley Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in jail. #Manning #Wikileaks”

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So, I left London 24hrs ago and there is now 1 hour left before I can keel over and sleep in my Tokyo hotel. Please let the hour hurry.

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Perhaps we could introduce some kind of safeguard against undue interference? Your #Miranda rights sounds catchy...

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Clichéd, but, Franklin: Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

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I've tweeted it twice already, but that Guardian editorial is extraordinary. What is the point of protecting 'freedom' if we cannot be free?

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"He was asking for memories, too young to know that memories were only memories of memories". Alan Hollinghurst

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I've just seen something too upsetting even to retweet from @EverydayAbleism. Appalled. (the thing @EverydayAbleism are showing, not them)

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Using git in my writing workflow

My two spheres of interest -- difficult works of English literature and computer programming (OK, scholarly communications and publishing, also. OK, there are lots more spheres of interest) -- only intersect occasionally. However, in recent days I have been toying with the idea of using git to…

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“@danwaterfield Q for Pynchon ppl: p512 of against the day (vintage 06) is discussion under tree nr river ref to Plato?” < not near text

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Ooh, my new third-year module has got its new internal code. Welcome to the "massive books" course, fellow learners.

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It's pretty great seeing new students excitedly changing their Twitter names to "AM GOING TO UNI". Definite emotional perk of the job.

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This morning's writing is to be split between Emily Dickinson, Jennifer Egan, DFW (if time) & some tech stuff.

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They publish some good stuff, but I'm willing to bet the reviews will now ask why I haven't cited X & Y. They weren't out when I submitted.

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A "top" journal (prestige sense) has had my article for over a year now. Still waiting for reviews. Could pull it, but am then at square one

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Antique tapestry often captures the pixellation aspect of The New Aesthetic. cc @zara_dinnen

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On International Pynchon Week

Last week saw the descent of some sixty Pynchon scholars upon the small northern city of Durham in the UK. The occasion was the International Pynchon Week conference, this year a co-sponsored event between the University of Durham and the University of Lincoln. The event was organised primarily by…

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Also, new KLF Recovered and Remastered EP -4 (Remix Project Part III) arrived. A good morning.

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Writing lecture on Emily Dickinson this morn. Hauling out faves: "Because I could not stop for death" & "My life had stood -- a loaded gun"

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(apologies to @mixosaurus for modifying the quotation slightly to fit into a tweet; it was too good not to)

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Nice mention of the Marquis de Sod from Pynchon's Vineland in Gary Thompson's paper. "He'll whip your lawn into shape!"

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“@Total_Pynchon Somewhere, through exhaustion, redirection, gusts of white noise out in the aether, this arrangement has begun to dissolve.”

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The academic phrase "speaks to" has really rocketed up in usage in the past year, in my experience. I irrationally dislike it.

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Matt Cissell using Bordieu to read Pynchon's conditions of production. Stuff on habitus reminding me of @lizith

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Really enjoying Jeff Severs' excellent re-reading & sourcing of the 62 Seattle World's Fair in Gravity's Rainbow. Not just LA. #ipw2013

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I'm also just going to put it out there that if anybody wants to get me an advanced reading copy of the new Pynchon, I'll review it for you!

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A fantastic first morning at International Pynchon Week 2013. Papers on space, religion and, now, nationalism.

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Well, since I accidentally already spoke on here today (via RSS workflow), let me recommend the #Inspiringwomen tag as deeply affirming.

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#1 comment on Facebook re. that last tweet: "I just googled to check that Inbox Zero wasn't a new Pynchon novel".

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I have Inbox Zero! And I have been invited to join HEFCE's expert panel on OA & monographs. Which is nice.

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Articles on the Guardian: GCHQ corruption, anti-fracking, Berlusconi corruption. Simon Jenkins rails against overpriced parking.

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Just to clarify, tweet re reading half of text is question @desertnaut's article poses/answers in relation to V., not a general q!

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Most interesting hypothetical part: if a reader wanted to read only 1/2 text & have it make sense, which parts should be read?

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Premise of piece is to see whether V.'s heterogeneous narratives can be mapped by unsupervised algorithms. (It can!)