iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 2h

Let's see that breach-response process kick-in that they built into the system as part of their Data Protection by Design and by Default practices. [We know they don't have one. Ed.]

Another portion from the article:

"The CPR system is a cornerstone of Denmark’s highly digitised public sector. Every resident is assigned a unique 10-digit CPR number that is widely used to identify individuals when dealing with government agencies, banks and healthcare providers. While Denmark has a population of about six million, the register contains records on roughly 11 million people, including those who have died or moved abroad."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 2h

Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase tell me that all those "you should need a government ID to access the internet" people are rethinking this position now. [We know they aren't. Ed.]

The first two paragraphs of the linked-to story:

"Denmark has suffered a major data breach that has given unauthorised individuals access to names, addresses and personal identification numbers belonging to about 8.8 million people registered in the country’s central population database.

"The breach occurred after unidentified individuals misused a private Danish company’s legitimate access to search the Central Person Register (CPR), the government said in a statement Monday."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 7h

On the 7th October 2014, our car at the time got to 166,666 km. I posted it with the note "only 500,000 to go". We didn't quite get there, though; we ended up trading it in a little over 2 years later at about 183,000 km.

The odometer of the car, showing 166,666km. It also shows that it was 9 degrees (Celcius) out, that the tank had enough fuel for 726 km and that I took the picture at 14:53.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 29/09/2026

So. What's "Upskilling"? Is it learning how to cheat like this and *not* get caught?

A retraction notice for an article with the title "AI and the crisis of the author" by Anchit Sathi:

"Editor's note (September 21,2026): We have removed this essay. AI was used in its preparation. The TLS editorial guidelines prohibit the use of AI in the writing and editing process. The author states that he was unaware of the policy."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 29/09/2026

"Don't make me cross. You wouldn't like it if you made me cross."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 28/09/2026

Reviewing my notes for lectures I attended recently. Don't think I was fully engaged that week.

A screenshot of my notes:

"
* Week 2
- Yadda yadda on Collective Action Problems.
-
"

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 28/09/2026

This isn't just a sacking offence. It might be enough for the ICC to issue an arrest warrant. From "FAI president Paul Cooke: 'I worked in media for 35 years and thought journalists were meant to be balanced and reflect both sides'" in the Irish Examiner www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer...

A screenshot of the linked-to article: "Dating back to last November, Cooke and his board were adamant Ireland would fulfil games against a country found guilty of genocide by the United Nations."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 23/09/2026

Like, I wrote about this 17.5 years ago. www.gibiris.org/eo-blog/post...

A screenshot of the blog post I wrote from 24th February:

'Is there anyway that we can get people to stop using the term "Ireland Inc."?

It's disgusting.

It suggests that the responsibility of the government is to maximise profit.

It suggests that spending is irresponsible, unless it can be shown to be maximising profit.

It suggests that those who don't agree shouldn't be considered.

Ireland is a country. It's not a company. The how and why of running it is, and should be, completely different to a company.

Stop it.

Please.'

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 16/09/2026

... are all required to believe that IG was *designed* to be harmful, and so are other social media services. 8/XX) *BUT*, what if the press and the campaigners had been honest? What if, instead of spreading a misreading/lie, they said something like "Meta did research ...

A screen shot of another slide of the same leaked deck that presented the research. Accessible from https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Instagram-Teen-Annotated-Research-Deck-1.pdf.

"For teens, it is followed by body image issues

We ranked issues by each category reach, intensity, IG impact and expectation, to generate a composite average rank such that lower average indicate that the issue should be higher on out list.

* Based on composite ranked scores, social comparison still ranked highest for IG teens.
* For teens, body image (an issue related to and exacerbated by negative social comparison) ranks second.
* Opportunity: Negative social comparison and related issues with body image are especially crucial to tackle given the high ranging among teens.
* Opportunity: There is opportunity to understanding social comparison and the role it plays in impacting body image issues of teen girls."

There then a table showing the scores and that "Social Comparison" has an overall rank of "1" and "Body Image" scores "2" (as does "Lonliness"). Let me know if you want to see the full table in accessible form.

Facebook adds some notes later on the slide: "Facebook annotation: The overall ranking is based upon a combination of proportions and means seen in previous slides. It does not take into account differences in who responds to parts of the survey or adjusts for other research design features. We are taking away from the research that social comparison/body image issues are important issues for users and this is informing out path forward with respect to out product as we consider ways to help teens cope with these hard life moments."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 16/09/2026

... a positive experience from it, a small cohort didn't; 3) That research was part of the leak from Frances Haugen; 4) The press and the campaigners latched onto to, and removed the "most" and "positive" from the story, and told us only about the findings of negative experience; 5/12) The press ...

A screenshot of a story on the matter (accessible at https://www.techdirt.com/2022/11/28/contrary-to-popular-opinion-most-teens-get-real-value-out-of-social-media/):

'For example, lots of people rely on the reporting around the Frances Haugen leaks from inside Facebook to argue that “Facebook knew” that Instagram causes “body image issues” for children (and then most people leapt to the belief that the company then ignored and downplayed that finding). But, as we noted, the actual study told a very, very different story. As we pointed out at the time, the study was an attempt to do the right thing and understand if social media like Facebook was actually causing negative self-images among teenagers, and the study found that for the most part, the answer was absolutely not.

It looked at 12 different potential issues, and surveyed teenaged boys and girls, and found that in 23 out of 24 categories, social media had little to no negative impact, and quite frequently a mostly positive impact. The only issue where the “negative impact” outweighed the “positive impact” was on “body image issues” for teenaged girls, and even then it was less than one-third of the teen girls who said that it made it worse for them. And the whole point of the study was to find out what areas were problematic, and which areas could be improved upon. But, again, in every other area, “made it better” far outranked “made it worse.”'

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 05/09/2026

He offered me a spare copy some years ago. I rang the number once; no answer (but I left a message). I got really nervous then and never called again.

A twitter DM conversation between Frank McDonald and myself:

Frank: Éibhear, I've got a spare copy of The Destruction of Dublin and you'd be welcome to it. Best, Frank

Me: Hi Frank, That is extremely kind of you. Thank you very much. I would be delighted. How would I be able to get it?

Frank: No problem, just call me on [REDACTED] and we'll arrange something, Frank

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 05/09/2026

My favourite use of mine of the rule-of-three was a flippant out of office autoresponse in September 1999 that was escalated to nearly the highest level in Oracle Corporation (as a matter of curiosity, rather than anything bad).

The autoreply. It was in plain text, including plain-text formatting, so here it is in full:

"Subject: Oh well...

Hi,

It is with a sense of great sadness and regret that I say now that I
am unable to respond to your mail immediately. It is with greater sadness, etc. that I tell you I'm on holiday until the 22nd of September. And it is with the greatest bla, bla, that I ask you to contact my manager [Name omitted] at [e-mail address omitted] if you require urgent assistance.

Go raibh maith agat,

Éibhear

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Éibher Ó hAnluain,
SGI/MIPS Tools PLD, Tel: +353 1 8033xxx
Oracle Corporation, Fax: +353 1 8033xxx
European Porting Centre,
Block C, Maretimo Court,
Temple Road, Blackrock, All mammals have hair.
Co. Dublin, IRELAND. Whales are mammals.
Therefore, whales have hair.
E-mail: eohanlua@ie.oracle.com Shave the whales.
http://sulla.ie.oracle.com/ -Dogbert

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 04/09/2026

The response you got from AGS is fascinating in its childishness. www.ontheditch.com/comment-a-re... [Citation needed], like.

“As a matter of fact, the commissioner,” continued the email, gives “the expert view of An Garda Síochána based on extensive national and international experience that the de-criminalisation of illegal drugs ultimately benefits organised crime groups, who are engaged in murder, intimidation, slavery and people trafficking.”

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 03/09/2026

I just got a "you need to buy a licence for this service" error message that contained this graphic, and I am left wondering not how to buy that licence but why these people aren't wearing any clothes.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 25/08/2026

Beautiful! I nearly posted this one, but it's not the last picture I took, so to have done so would have been cheating. (So I'm taking the opportunity now)

My pic of the eclipse from Cantabria in Northern Spain, about 2 to 5 minutes before totality. I missed totality due to the rolling cloud cover :-(

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 25/08/2026

No cheating. Share the last picture of the sky from your camera roll.

A photo of the moon I took in Dublin on the night of the 23rd August 2026. Genuinely not cheating: this was the last photo I took that incorporated any part of the sky.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 24/08/2026

Let not your right hand know what your far right hand is doing.

A screenshot from my Bluesky timeline. It show two posts from the Irish Times account (@irishtimes.com).

The first has the byline picture of Michael McDowell, he who is responsible for the 2004 racist referendum removing the birthright citizenship in Ireland. His op-ed headline is "Political violence was the decisive factor in the creation of the Irish Free State".

The second post has the byline picture of Stephen Collins, who seems to have taken the opportunity to wash his face between Fine Gael brown-nosing sessions. The headline of his op-ed is "State must stop promoting the myth Irish independence was achieved through violence".

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 19/08/2026

"Did you write up that objective report on AI and #copyright?" "Sure did, boss, including that objective sentence the neoliberal, copyright maximalising capitalists asked me to put into it." "What?"

A screen-shot of the start of section 3 of the report "Generative AI
and Copyright. Training, Creation, Regulation" by Policy Department for Justice, Civil Liberties and Institutional Affairs Directorate-General for Citizens’ Rights, Justice and Institutional Affairs (at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2025/774095/IUST_STU(2025)774095_EN.pdf). The text is:

"3. LEGAL STATUS OF AI-GENERATED OUTPUTS (OUTPUT SIDE)

KEY FINDINGS:

Human Authorship is Central: EU copyright law only protects works that are the result of a human’s intellectual creation. Fully autonomous AI-generated outputs—without meaningful human input—are excluded from protection.

AI-Assisted vs. AI-Generated: Legal eligibility depends on the degree of human involvement. AI tools used under human creative control may lead to protectable works; outputs created by AI alone do not.

No Copyright for Prompts Alone: Merely providing a prompt to an AI model does not amount to authorship. Human contributions must shape the expressive aspects of the output.

Public Domain by Default: Outputs with no human authorship fall into the public domain. This promotes openness but may undermine investment and raise competition issues.

No Legal Recognition of AI as Author: Unlike UK or business-oriented approaches, EU law rejects the concept of non-human or legal person authorship.

Risk of Infringement Still Applies: Even if AI-generated content isn’t protectable, it may still infringe existing copyrights—especially when outputs reproduce or resemble training data.

Emerging Policy Options: Scholars propose tiered authorship models or sui generis rights to address grey areas, but legislative reform remains politically and conceptually difficult."

I have the "... but mat undermine investment and raise competition issues" bit under "Public Domain by Default" part highlighted (because it's arrant bollocks).

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 19/08/2026

Has to be the Texan bar. I expect it was pulled for a good reason, though.

Two Texan bars. One in it's wrapper and the other out of it, laid onto the first one at an angle and with a bite taken from it. The bar is flattish, with a nougat/caramel middle and milk chocolate shell. The wrapper is mostly yellow and has the word "Texan" written in classic 1980s stylised american font. The top of each letter is blue ("American flag blue" lol) with a white star; the middle of each letter is plain white and the bottom of each letter has red stripes.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 18/08/2026

Dear webmasters (if that's a real role anymore), I recommend you review all links contained in copy that it sent to you for publication over e-mail. The "safelinks.protection.outlook.com" addresses that are unique to your organisation are (probably) not intended to be used on webpages.

A screenshot of a web page showing a link to a "new training programme" which, as shown by hover-over text that appears at the bottom of the browser, points to a https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https... address.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 17/08/2026

I think Big Jim might be following me.

A screenshot of the bottom of my post where it says it has 8 reposts, 5 quotes, 26 likes and 1 save. I have highlighted the "1 save".

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 14/08/2026

Given the week they're having here, I think they should plan on selling the coolest shoes instead.

A window sign on a premises on Neal Street, London. "London's hottest shoe store is coming."

And then "Covent Garden" in smaller print.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 04/08/2026

"What?! Don't talk nonsense. I'm not parked *in* the space!"

A Kia Sorento SUV, number plate 242-D-16689, parked outside "The Yard Florist" and the "Vernon Medical Clinic". While both wheels of the SUV are outside the "wheelchair access" parking space that is almost certainly there for the patients of the medical clinic, some of the SUV is over a corner of the space. Someone would argue that the space is technically not blocked, but it is as good as, because a driver would have to be very careful squeezing in between the SUV and the van parked in the next space to get into the wheelchair-access space, and it would only be a small car that could do it.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 27/07/2026

Posted in the last 20 minutes (i.e. I confirmed about 20 minutes ago that the correction notice wasn't there.)

A screenshot of the bottom of the original story: "Correction: An original version of this article referred in error to Syria. This reference has now been corrected to read 'the political party Saoradh'. We apologise for the inadvertent error."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 27/07/2026

Goose chasing man meme: "What outlet? What fucking outlet, guys?!?!"

A screenshot of a portion of the story: "An initial report from one outlet present at the hearing reported that the defendant had spent time in Syria; an online version of the article has since been corrected to say that she had spent time in Saoradh.

The claim has since been repeated online and by international media."

I have the "one outlet" portion highlighted in the screenshot.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 10/07/2026

Depends on what you regard as "England" at the time. Mind you, there's wasn't much of English spoken by the ruling class at the time.

A portion of the wikipedia page for the Bayeux Tapestry (including a detail picture of the tapestry featuring William The Bastard's brother, Odo):

"Origins

The earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral, but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy.

French legend maintained the tapestry was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda, William the Conqueror's wife, and her ladies-in-waiting. Indeed, in France, it is occasionally known as La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde ("The Tapestry of Queen Matilda"). However, scholarly analysis in the 20th century concluded it was probably commissioned by William's half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who, after the Conquest, also became Earl of Kent and, when William was absent in Normandy, regent of England.

The reasons for the Odo commission theory include:

1) three of the bishop's followers mentioned in the Domesday Book appear on the tapestry;
2) it was found in Bayeux Cathedral, built by Odo;
3) it may have been commissioned at the same time as the cathedral's construction in the 1070s, possibly completed by 1077 in time for display on the cathedral's dedication.

Assuming Odo commissioned the tapestry, it was probably designed and constructed in England by Anglo-Saxon artists (Odo's English power base being by then in Kent); the Latin text contains hints of Anglo-Saxon; other embroideries originate from England at this time; and the vegetable dyes can be found in cloth traditionally woven there. Howard B. Clarke has proposed that the designer of the tapestry (i.e., the individual responsible for its overall narrative... "

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 10/07/2026

From: @news.rte.ie I wonder did BlueSky and Mastodon get a letter from the EU Commission? www.rte.ie/news/busines...

A screen shot from the story: "Meta should disable features such as autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introduce effective screen-time breaks and make its recommendation system less focused on driving engagement, the Commission said."

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 07/07/2026

I'm staying TF away from the Irish Times. They could go to the Active Travel Collision Tracker (www.collisiontracker.ie), where people can have recorded their incidents (like mine) already for others (like the IT) to review and report on.

A screenshot from the Active Travel Collision Tracker showing my report. It's a portion of a map (https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=53.339443&mlon=-6.239593#map=18/53.339443/-6.239593) showing Grand Canal Quay and the dot representing my collision. It also shows the details:
- My report: "Car pulled out in front of me on wet, cobblestoned road. Braked, losing control of bike. I fell off; broke 2 bones in my foot"
- Other details: "Collision", "Outcome: Serious injuries", "Thu. January 24, 2013 at 5:40 PM", "Reported by Victim".

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 06/07/2026

... as the blocking screen on mu.social that asks for my date of birth, and as the only explanation for requiring this is "[t]o give [me] an age-appropriate experience..." (i.e. *not* a legal req.) I similarly won't use mu.social. 3/5

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 03/07/2026

The humo[u]r is not childish enough for the workplace:

A portion of the screen I get when I go to that site from my work desktop:

"Sorry, you don't have permission to visit this site.

Website blocked

Not allowed to browse Mature Humor category

You tried to visit: ..." following by the URL.

I'm inclined to raise an objection to the spelling of "Humor", but the people who make decisions like these are probably not going to get the joke.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 02/07/2026

"... catalogue of missed payments that caused financial hardship and martial difficulties" Was she also fighting a war?

A screenshot of the story with the typo mentioned in the post: "Company fails to appear to defend catalogue of missed payments that caused financial hardship and martial difficulties"

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 30/06/2026

There's probably not a lot they can do directly, but I wrote to my TDs all the same.

The first half of my e-mail to my TDs Tom Brabazon, Barry Heneghan, Cian O'Callaghan, Naoise Ó Muirí and Denise Mitchell:

"A chairde,

I am looking forward to the 12th August. On that day, there will be a total solar eclipse visible from continental Europe (mostly Spain), and I plan to travel to catch it. It will be my second total solar eclipse (my first been in December 2003, which I caught when I was in Australia), but I have seen/experienced all solar eclipses in Ireland since 1984.

Do you know who else is looking forward a stellar event on the 12th August in Ireland? Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and Palantir, who will host more than 200 of his best "friends" in Powerscourt Hotel to talk in secret about all the things of interest to billionaires like how to help run world war three when it comes, and whether money (something most of these people have way too much of) could buy happiness.

You are likely aware of Peter Thiel, but I would like to point out that while he is not as well known as Elon Musk, he is far more dangerous to the world, mostly because he is in far greater control of his mouth and his actions. Mr. Thiel rejects democracy (see his 2009 essay /The Education of a Libertarian/ in Cato Unbound, https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian/), and even suggests that granting women a right to vote damaged the notion of "capitalist democracy" (which, even if it's true, may not necessarily be a bad thing). Mr. Thiel founded Palantir, a global surveillance company, which -- among other very shady things -- has been used by the government of Israel in its genocide in Gaza (see https://www.thenation.com/article/world/nsa-palantir-israel-gaza-ai/)."

"I am also sure you are aware that some are calling for the event on the 12th August to be cancelled (the meeting in the Powerscourt Hotel, that is; not the eclipse). I am not terribly sure that its cancellation can be forced, but I am quite certain that cancelling it would be counter-productive. Mr. Thiel and his excessively rich, extractive, human rights destroying buddies and their sycophantic supporters have a right to meet wherever they want, as long as they are not engaged in illegal activities (such as conspiring to violently overthrow the government or to fix prices, neither of which I would put past that crowd).

It's good, however, that we know that this secret meeting is taking place, that we know who the invitees are and what the agenda is. This affords journalists, and politicians like you, the opportunity to pose questions like "What were you talking about there?" and advise them that to be taken seriously, they need to be transparent about their attendance at these secret meetings.

... and this is what I expect from my TDs. I believe you should make it clear that secret meetings of oligarchs and their hangers-on are dangerous to the democratic process, and that you will not trust anyone who has attended such meetings unless they are fully open (with everybody!!!) about their reasons for doing so (and only if such openness can be corroborated). I believe your policy positions and your votes in the Oireachtas should reflect this. And I believe I am justified in advising friends and family not to vote for those who think such secret meetings are fine and dandy to stay secret until it's too late for us to do anything about it, which is Mr. Thiel's expectation.

Is mise,

Éibhear Ó hAnluain,"

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 30/06/2026

Hi @thejournal.ie, protests are *not* a "National Security" matter.

A screenshot of my #RSS reader (yay! for RSS) showing the story I am quoting. I see the story headline ("Top garda pledges 'robust enforcement action' if protesters try to disrupt EU Presidency"), where the story is from ("TheJournal.ie") and when it dropped ("30 minutes ago"), the story category ("National Security") and the story introduction that TheJournal.ie posted in the RSS feed ("Commissioner Justin Kelly said the EU Presidency will be the biggest security operation in the history of the State."). We also see the various interaction buttons offered by my RSS reader (respectively, "Mark read/unread", "Star/unstar", "Share", "Tags" and "Open story URL").

I have highlighted "... protesters ..." of the headline and "National Security" category with red ovals, and I have drawn a red arrow going from the former to the latter and I have hand-written "??!" beside that arrow.

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Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 26/06/2026

"Wolfhound features on new ‘unmistakably Irish’ passport" ... and don't worry about all the high-tech, intrusive, surveillance embedded in the document because look at all the pretty pictures. www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...