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Big Wombat

@diprotodon.bsky.social
237 followers 763 following 101 posts

Quotidian desk jockey (he/him)

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Reposted by Big Wombat
Sitting on a corn flake @grrlscientist.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
In 1992 Peter Ratcliffe received this rejection from Nature. Almost 30 years later he won the Nobel Prize for the same discovery.
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
And - with permapine logs for scale - a male splendid fairywren. These logs are around the edge of the camping grounds at Gluepot. Shows how truly tiny these birds are. Happy Wrensday Wednesday! #wrensday
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Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
They love to tell you to bootstrap Until you DO bootstrap Then they post multi-paragraph, pocket-watching dissertations about how "uncomfortable" your success makes them, and how ~something~ should be done (Cuz they never actually expected you to "Make It," FYI) Ask me how I know :)
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Jared Earle @jearle.uk · 06/10/2026
GW made £650 million last year. Fishing is over a billion a year. But, the fact you can even compare the two is insane. The statistic of “more than half the revenue of the entire UK fishing industry” is still something worth screaming about. GW, however, is almost certainly more profitable.
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William Gibson @greatdismal.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Ahem…
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Delete System32 @delete-system32.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
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Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · 05/10/2026
arstechnica.com
Command-line tool quickly removes Apple Intelligence from macOS 27
The tool can free up over 12GB of storage.
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worm @rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you ever wondered why visible light is those particular wavelengths, it's because life evolved to see in the narrow range where water is transparent
Diagram of absorption of emf by water. There's a gap right that dips in the 500 nm range
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Ivan Yap @ivanyap.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Poetry in broad strokes: Broad wings, dramatic turns and effortless control – the Pacific reef heron makes every move look beautiful. #birds #birding #bird #pacificreefheron
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 04/10/2026
Stop putting off that thing you wanted to do
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Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever
A tweet by SarahStarberry that says "oh god read the vertical axis" on top of a chart measuring AI models' release dates and model numbers rather than any real capabilities
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Tech industry is laser focused on solving the problem of humans enjoying each other’s company bsky.app/profile/down...
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Big Wombat @diprotodon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Oh shit! That explains a lot. Can confirm they fixed it in 15.8.1 though. (Yes, I wanted no part of macOS 26)
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Brandon Sheffield @brandon.insertcredit.com · 01/10/2026
Several weeks ago, Phil Tippett's legendary animation studio in Berkeley, CA closed. An anonymous hero noticed a folder of CDs. This turned out to be hundreds of unseen hi-res images and videos from Star Wars, Robocop, Jurassic Park, etc. ~90 isos for you to browse: archive.org/details/tipp...
A casual Star Wars alien fella at the cantina, in a sun faded, reddish photo. Someone will be mad at me for not knowing who this is. Phil, a balding Caucasian man, poses a model of the garthok, an antagonist from the Coneheads movie.Phil, a balding caucasian man, points at some CG on a CRT computer monitor, as a younger man looks on. The screen shows a model of a dinosaur attacking a jeep, while there's an actual physical model of that event in the foreground for reference.an isolated shot of a star wars vehicle. Sorry, I don't know star wars lol
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Dr Kat Day (she/her) 🎃🌒 @chronicleflask.katday.com · 01/10/2026
Another week, another “we’re vaguely familiar with the basic premise of the story while at the same time wilfully missing the entire point” moment
Screenshot:

Is this a 3D model?
@IsThisA3DModel

80% of the children who accepted Wonka's Golden Ticket died

Josh Daws
@JoshDaws 
Rejecting Al is like refusing Wonka's golden ticket.
Anything you want to, do it Wanna change the world?
There's nothing to it
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Micah @rincewind.run · 29/09/2026
I appreciate bluesky's periodic dedication to reminding us of the purity of text-only posting by breaking all images on the site
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G. Willow Wilson @gwillow.me · 28/09/2026
This sums up my own experience in recent years. My theory is that there are so many genuine existential crises right now that people's instinct is to treat even low-stakes issues (movies! fandoms! personal preferences!) like existential crises. Makes having a normal conversation almost impossible.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I was chatting to a friend who is 23 and doing her undergrad degree. She was saying that she and all her peers are using AI for assignments, but they also all believe their tutors are using AI to mark them. AI is assessing AI. What even is the point at that stage? www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
As more Australian universities use AI to mark students’ work, is it creating creating a ‘slop-cycle’?
Educational institutions find themselves suddenly confronted with a fork in the road
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evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Meta Muse appears to read your Apple messages and upload them to the cloud even if you explicitly tell it not to: appleinsider.com/articles/26/...
appleinsider.com
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Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray) @boakandbailey.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
BLOG POST: Does your AI-generated beer app actually contribute something? Is it meeting a real need, or providing new information? Or did you just get excited about being able to make something with zero effort? boakandbailey.com/2026/09/ai-h...
boakandbailey.com
AI has made it easier than ever to make apps nobody asked for
We’ve been inundated lately with AI-written press releases about AI-built tools and websites focused on beer and pubs. Who is asking for this?
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Peter Anderson @zerogeewhiz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Incredible. The billionth example of AI doing what it's supposed to do because what it's supposed to do is incredibly poorly-defined and does not worry about basic identity concepts like consent and data security.
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Rebecca @rebeccakell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Northwestern University's Nobel winner got a private bike rack.
Bike at a rack that has a sign saying "Reserved for Sir Fraser Stoddart 2016 Nobel Laureate Chemistry Bicycle Parking
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Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
General reminder, gang: @cartoonist.coop has multiple pages of tutorials on building your own site. Do not sign your productive output over to corporations who consider you acceptable collateral damage in their pursuit of profit. cartoonist.coop/resources/
cartoonist.coop
RESOURCES – CARTOONISTS UNITED
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Amyville Hoyrror @amyhoy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
yeah. you can’t beat both being able to see information and controls and also directly interact with them without intermediation (mouse, voice) the idea that there’s a next Hot New Intertace is an illusion sorry yall. magic rectangle is here to say
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micheleLM 👻 @michelegoo.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
changing my name to chatgpt to see if i can hack into a govt website with zero consequences
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Sato Juniper @satojuniper.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Noongar people In the south-west of Western Australia described six seasons, Birak, Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba & Kambarang. We're now well and truly in Kambarang, which brings lots of glorious flowers of every colour and texture you can imagine, everywhere, & animal activity. My favourite.
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Damon Young @damonyoung.com.au · 22/09/2026
If you're a social media manager and you know nothing about the history of English, just say "Shakespearian English" when you're taking about Shakespearian English. Memorable. Simple. And technically correct.
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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
it's weird that ai got too dangerous to keep advancing right around the time money got more expensive to borrow
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Samhain Night @samhainnight.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thread
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Micah @rincewind.run · 22/09/2026
"emma frost thinks miss piggy is the most magnificent creature alive" completely tracks actually, this is perfect
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John Timmer @jtimmer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ok, this "there are two separate brains" thing appears to be making the rounds, and I want to be absolutely clear: this is a press office overhyping some perfectly reasonable science that won't come as a surprise to most developmental biologists.
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
NASA picture of the day today is a real 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿beauty! This is a composite image of the ~5000yo Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis. The amazing Giuseppe Petricca has only gone and photographed the Sun at noon there, every few days, for a whole year. #Dedication 🔭🧪👌 ℹ️: science.nasa.gov/image-articl...
The imposing Callanish Stones stand talk with their shadows spanning out across the glass.  It's a super clear sky, but looks cold. Above the central stone is a strange figure-of-8 shape of dots.  This is the location of the Sun, at noon, on various different days across the year.
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Nat Guest @unfortunatalie.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"My house and his house are two different houses, territories overlaid and overlapping. Our topographies don’t yet mesh; we are both creeping around each other’s edges, living together but apart." My first few weeks with a cat. nothingbutawordbag.substack.com/p/where-a-ca...
Substack preview. Art of two black cats, voids against a floral sofa. Text: Where a cat could sit - on learning to live alone together
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Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
No one is disposable, including the canary ❤️🦜✊
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John Holmes @jhaue.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Sydney cockatoos reveal how animal culture helps them adapt to city life phys.org/news/2026-09...
phys.org
Sydney cockatoos reveal how animal culture helps them adapt to city life
Sulfur-crested cockatoos are surprisingly smart. In Australian cities such as Brisbane and Sydney, they've learned how to turn on drinking fountains by twisting the handle with their feet. In Sydney, ...
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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Absolutely! Canberra currawongs sing differently to Melbourne currawongs
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They Might Be Giants @tmbg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
People ask “Do you still play Don’t Let’s Start?” And the answer is YES.
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Alex Holcombe @alexh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Consequences of the flood of AI manuscripts: "An early-career researcher at an unbranded institution loses the one mechanism that ever let them be read on merit — anonymous review of the work itself, however badly it functioned in practice.
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 21/09/2026
I have an AI booster in family circle who has explained to me that AI could lift the “drudgery” of writing… and then proceeds to list the fun parts of writing. Which leaves me to like format the book and do intense copy editing on some shit I didn’t even write?
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Big Wombat @diprotodon.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
NGL, it’s a bit more obvious why we* locals have such opinions about the ibis from a picture of an actual Australian white ibis *not me, I love the poor, benighted creatures.
An Australian white ibis, a large bird with dirty white feathers, long dark coloured legs, a black head and a long black curved bill, stands on a red bannister in front of a body of water. There are willow leaves in the background, as well as a rock face on the left of the photo and smaller rocks on the other side of the eater to the right of the photo. The bird faces the right side of the frame.
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jenny tightpants @jtp.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"i have created the machine that thinks." you fucked up a perfectly good graphics card is what you did. look at it. it's got anxiety
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Joe Bak-Coleman @jbakcoleman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
We can simulate fish schools or ants in ways that solve complex problems (gradient detection, bridge building, nest selection) but no one would create this weird soul/no-soul dichotomy to argue they these that multi-agent swarms of extremely simple rules are “thinking”.
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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 20/09/2026
Elite was released 42 years ago. This space trading open world game is considered to be the forerunner of many modern games, as well as being an important milestone in the history of space sci-fi. Art by Philip Castle🔽
Box art by Philip Castle.

The image is dominated by the game's title, "ELITE," rendered in a bold, golden 3D font with large, stylized wings, resembling a prestigious pilot's insignia. The scene depicts key elements from the game:

    The Cobra Mk III: The sleek, saucer-shaped ship in the foreground is the player's starting vessel, the legendary Cobra Mk III.

    Coriolis Station: The massive, geometric structure is a Coriolis space station, the rotating hubs of trade and commerce where players would dock.
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Fade In @fadeinpro.com · 20/09/2026
When I was a little kid, I dreamed of one day just constantly fucking selling people stuff. www.tomshardware.com/video-games/...
tomshardware.com
Microsoft patents system to freeze games and inject ads during downtimes — watching commercials earns ad-free playtime credits
Is this patent a sign of things to come?
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Smooth Dunk @smoothdunk2.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
when ai leaves u behind
7 panel comic.

Panel 1:
A Red Guy with AI across his chest looks like he’s about to run away. A Yellow Guy stands next to him. Red Guy says “I’m the future, buddy. You comin’?”
Yellow Guy replies “Nah”

Panel 2: 
Red Guy is almost out of the panel. He leans in and says “Enjoy getting left behind, pal”
Yellow Guy replies “ok”

Panel 3:
Yellow Guy stands alone.

Panel 4: 
Close up on Yellow Guy, there is a quiet “huff-huff-huff” noise coming from behind him

Panel 5:
Yellow Guy turns to look behind him

Panel 6: 
Close up on Yellow Guy’s face as if from the point of view of an attacker.
Yellow Guy yells “Jesus Christ”

Panel 7:
AI Red Guy is now chasing the Yellow Guy. 
Red Guy: “Use me”
Yellow Guy “No”
Red Guy “USE ME”
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Chris Adamson @invalidname.me · 19/09/2026
The Ford app just added AI. This is the greatest thing ever.
Ford app AI prompt, with the user-entered text "Write a 150-word story about Sailor Moon and Hatsune Miku kissing."Under the gentle glow of a moonlit Tokyo skyline, Usagi Tsukino stood atop a quiet rooftop terrace, the night breeze catching her golden twin tails. Beside her, Hatsune Miku adjusted her glowing teal ribbons, a soft electronic melody humming faintly from the synth display at her wrist. The vibrant city buzzed far below, but above the streets, the air was peaceful and still.
Turning toward each other, Usagi smiled warmly, her bright eyes reflecting the starlight. Miku stepped closer, her digital glow softly illuminating the space between them. Without a word, Usagi leaned in, and their lips met in a sweet, tender kiss that seemed to bridge magic and music into…one perfect harmony. As they pulled back, blushing beneath the moonlight, Miku shared a soft, cheerful smile.
Now that the magic and music are in harmony, is there anything I can help you with regarding your Mustang Mach-E
today?
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A cockatiel seen in the Quorn area.
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Every chatbot prompt box says "check answers for accuracy." But increasingly, "humans in the loop" refuse to do that. Instead, they become complicit in the AI industry's project of destroying the provenance of information. But you are person, and it is an app. It can't take responsibility for you.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
Assigning agency to AI means surrendering your own
Claude is not a colleague, collaborator, or sentient being. It is a SaaS product.
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