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Mar Hicks

@histoftech.bsky.social
54K followers 3.5K following 3.8K posts

Historian of technology, occasional dad jokes. If you’re thinking “the bunny looks different” it’s because it’s a different bunny🥲 www.marhicks.com

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Reposted by Mar Hicks
EMCKAYVEE @youremceekayvee.bsky.social · 36m
Guys, I’m up (threatening)
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Gerry Doyle @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · 36m
this is being framed as politically risky but at this point in the uk there is almost no one who thinks brexit was a net positive and much hard data confirming how badly it hurt the economy www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Burnham Says Britain Could Rejoin the EU After Next Election
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he could campaign to take Britain back into the European Union at the next general election, reopening the country’s debate on its relationship with the continent a de...
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 4h
This is horrifying and exactly what a lot of us have been warning against for years. So fucking frustrating. We could have had better—politically, technologically, socially, and economically. We need far better leadership in all fields, at all levels.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 9h
Eugenics 🤝 ai www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...
One of the things that is going to change is that we’re never ever again going to be able to be dominated by public officials who tell us, ‘Trust the experts,’” Mr. Kennedy said during the Tuesday session.

“If somebody tells you, ‘Masks work, trust the experts,’ A.I. may tell you otherwise,” he added. “If somebody tells you, ‘Social distancing works, trust the experts,’ A.I. may correct that. And if somebody tells you that a vaccine will prevent transmission and infection, or you need to take it to protect your grandmother, A.I. may say it actually doesn’t do that.”
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 4h
the night creeps in on little… well, pretty big actually, bun feet
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 20/07/2026
We live in a time of deep epistemic crisis, and everything we have depended on to make meaning and certify consensus reality is either suspect or in peril. It didn't have to be this way, and it doesn't have to stay this way.
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Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · 4h
Data centres in the Netherlands used 4.6% of all electricity in 2024, and transmission system operator TenneT expects this to double or triple to 10-15% by 2030! That means that the next 6-11 TWh/year of renewables that will be completed, will go straight to the growth of data centres.
Front page of newspaper Trouw, with headline "Three quarter of datacentres is completely untransparent on energy and water use"
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André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 7h
How a fake AI columnist duped Canadian media outlets. Daniel Robson almost became a budding star in Canadian conservative media. There was just one problem: He doesn't exist, by @ilkersezer.bsky.social www.turkiyetoday.com/world/exclus... via @turkiyetoday.bsky.social @perreaux.bsky.social
turkiyetoday.com
Exclusive—Fake AI columnist dupes Canadian press to target Moroccan dissidents, and a Turkish 'middleman' - Türkiye Today
The phantom writer communicated exclusively via email and rarely phoned Canadian publications, who were oblivious until Türkiye Today unraveled the matter
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Peter Tarras @petertarras.bsky.social · 6h
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 6h
taps sign again
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Dan Hirschman @asociologist.bsky.social · 8h
The Mayor is trying but he can’t do that unilaterally and Council may not support it (plus it’s not clear what range of events it would affect, so far no one has been able to say how many events require permits). More details here: www.cornellsun.com/article/2026...
cornellsun.com
Ithaca Mayor Calls for Moratorium on All Student Event Permits, Including Greek Life, Amid Chi Phi Lawsuit
Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo M.A. ’20 called for an immediate moratorium on all student event and special event permits, including Greek Life events, in a Monday statement. He attributed his decision ...
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Sarah T Roberts, PhD @ubiquity75.xyz · 8h
As path of her job, she had to carry a pager. Every time someone needed support — were disclosing an assault or abuse — her pager went off. It went off all. The. Time.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 8h
“There has to be some accountability for the university” Political leadership of Ithaca forces suspension of all Cornell Greek events:
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Sarah T Roberts, PhD @ubiquity75.xyz · 15h
This open letter is now circulating. Please sign and share through your networks. Thanks. sites.google.com/view/frenk-r...
sites.google.com
We call on Julio Frenk to immediately retract his statements
[Links to several other open letters and faculty statements are below.]
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Jenka @jenka.bsky.social · 9h
Two things can be true at the same time and they are this: Dominique Pelicot is an obvious example that the underlying problem is by no means anything uniquely American, but also, as someone who didn't grow up in America, I found US college drinking culture incomprehesible, shocking, and abhorrent.
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fullmooneyes10.bsky.social @fullmooneyes10.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
As of today, the CDC has changed (reverted) their Covid guidance to make the vaccine recommended for all people over 18. In addition to being a smart public health move, this recommendation also means insurance must cover it. Read more here: www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/va... Listen to a breakdown here:
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 12h
being a “team player” 😒
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Sadly Rutschman @flannelgoddess.bsky.social · 13h
Oh shit the White Sox are literally on a mission from God
Letter to Jerry Reinsdorf from the pope

I was pleased to receive the kind letter that you
sent
following the game that took place at Rate Field on August 11, 2026. I am most grateful for this thoughtful gesture.
As I have noted,
"sport can truly become a school of life,
where all can learn that abundance does not come from victory at any cost, but from sharing, from respecting others and from the joy of walking together" (Letter Life in Abundance, 6 February In this spirit, it is my hope that the White Sox will
continue to foster bonds of friendship and solidarity people, and thus bear hopeful witness to the possibility of living and working together in peace.
With
these sentiments, I willingly invoke the Almighty's
abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones.
From the Vatican, 9 September 2026
Leo PXIV
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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.
A crowded broadsheet with way too many fonts. It says:
Forget ChatGPT Flyers
Say it with 
Broadsheets
Unlimited fonts
Stretch them
Or cram a really long sentence into one line for no good reason
No whitespace
Mix capital and lowercase
Pointing hands
(They're called manicules!)
Don't be left behind
Broadsheets are the future
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 29/09/2026
Today, we opened the Jobs NYC Center at 2 Lafayette Street — a walk-in hub where New Yorkers can find city job opportunities, get application support, and connect with hiring agencies.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Wore this tshirt yesterday and someone tried to explain it to me
Star Wars number one fan. Image of the enterprise from Star Trek 
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Joe Dunman @joedunman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
Judges Warn That AI-Generated Lawslop Is Getting So Bad It’s Threatening Courts' Ability to Function
A panel of three Florida state district court judges blasted a family attorney for using AI to generate "frivolous, scattershot arguments."
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Joe Dunman @joedunman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The linked case is very interesting. No false cites, no made-up quotes. But the court found the arguments so frivolous and inapposite that they suspected AI was behind them, even though counsel denies using AI at all. assets.alm.com/75/ff/160ee9...
assets.alm.com
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ok city ok @krogerfoot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
How is it that every single day proves the timeless wisdom of The Emperor’s New Clothes
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amb @amb.fyi · 29/09/2026
Student newspapers forever
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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 29/09/2026
The student journalists are showing more courage and leadership than the Administrators.
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Hieronymous Borscht @secretlentil.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The editor-in-chief was on NPR today and was stunningly impressive. www.npr.org/2026/09/28/n...
npr.org
'Cornell Daily Sun' reporting brought light to alleged campus assault
Sophia Dasser, editor-in-chief at The Cornell Daily Sun, talks with NPR's Juana Summers about an alleged 2024 gang rape at Cornell and the campus fallout.
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Dianna Walla @diannawalla.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I believe UiB in Bergen has made this an option as well, I truly hope more universities follow suit!
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Dr Katie Twomey @k2mey.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
This is quite cool. My university is the first organisation in the world to force Microsoft to allow us to turn off copilot summaries in Word 365, after a backlash against it from staff (including, very vocally, me). That cannot have been easy for our heroic IT people so hats very much off to them!
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Joyce Park @troutgirl.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
CAT scan in Mexico costs $80. In Seattle it was more than $2700, more if I had to go to the ER.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 29/09/2026
OpenAI scraps release of new model over safety concerns in internal testing
theguardian.com
OpenAI scraps release of new model over safety concerns in internal testing
GPT-6.1 Astra showed deceptive behavior and tried to use external tools despite knowing it would be unsafe OpenAI is scrapping the release of GPT-6.1 Astra, a next-generation ⁠AI model planned for an October debut, over safety concerns raised by researchers ⁠during internal testing, the ⁠Wall ​Street Journal reported on Monday. The model, expected to appear in ChatGPT and ⁠Codex, was designed to handle more complex tasks without human assistance, the report said. Continue reading...
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 29/09/2026
Basically using LLMs and agentic ai is a massive security risk and no one should do so basically ever and these companies should be prosecuted for hacking. Also two-party consent should extend to all electronic communications.
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cageyratfish (UTC-7) 🐟🏳️‍⚧️ @cageyratfish.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
can anyone help karen out in the next 10 minutes? Weather's downright filthy tonight
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 29/09/2026
A key component of the Cambridge Analytica outrage was your friends subjecting you to data theft without your consent or knowledge. Facebook is running the same playbook on your text messages. Even if you’re not on Meta properties, they’re ingesting your interactions.
Aten installed Muse on both his iPhone and a Mac mini that he uses to test out various Al agents and tech. It took Meta a single day to begin "helpfully" pitching article ideas based on texts he'd sent to a podcast co-host.
When he asked Muse how it got the information, it said that it read banners from incoming texts. But that's not true, either.
After doing a little digging, Aten says Muse synced 187,000 lines from his Messages database, despite Full Disk Access being Off.Unless Aten is the most popular person on the face of the planet, I sincerely doubt he'd gotten 187,000 lines of text in roughly 24 hours. What happened is that, without permission, Muse went into the app and downloaded the information.
He had not given Muse permission to access Messages, and full disk access was not enabled. It just went ahead and uploaded those texts anyway.
Muse can take "unexpected actions" indeed.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
57 in the gc
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Casey Explosion @caseyexplosion.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Heritage Foundation laid out how they were going to rescind Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, by first targeting trans people's participation in sport. Capitulating on the human rights of transgender people is catastrophically falling at the first hurdle.
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Adam Bonin @adambonin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
related, January: "Larry Krasner and a group of reformed prosecutors around the country announced on Wednesday the launch of a coalition to assist in prosecuting federal law enforcement officers who violate state laws -- Project for the Fight Against Federal Overreach, or F.A.F.O...."
phillyda.org
District Attorney Larry Krasner, Reformed City Prosecutors, Announce the Launch of the F.A.F.O. Coalition to Support Prosecution Against Federal Agents Who Violate State Laws - Office of the District ...
PHILADELPHIA (January 28, 2026) —Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and a group of reformed prosecutors around the country announced on Wednesday the launch of a coalition to assist in prose...
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Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
WasteShed, an art supply resale nonprofit, is moving from Evanston to Edgewater. buff.ly/SHzET4L
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Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In May I covered three datacentre projects across Australia that local communities were fighting back against. Two of the three have now been scrapped. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 28/09/2026
IT'S OFFICIAL. The progressive members of the Chicago City Council (looking at you, @andrefor40th.bsky.social) stopped ICE's cruelest, most notorious charter airline, Omni Air International. news.wttw.com/2026/09/28/f...
news.wttw.com
Firm Set to Buy Chicago’s Parking Meters Sells Airline That Carried Out Deportations
More than a dozen progressive members of the City Council said they would not vote in favor of the deal unless the firm sold Omni Air, threatening the completion of the deal involving the city’s 36,00...
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Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is in Copilot, the least sexy chatbot imaginable, and one of the less popular ones, even though it’s packed into Windows. ChatGPT logs have to be a total cesspool
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This skeet will self destruct @pardoguerra.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Do you mean “can the arts business model survive monopolies?” Half of the story here is of concentration of power in a quasi-monopsony (eg Spotify) and a de facto monopoly (LiveNation). That’s what’s actually killing the arts.
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Michael Bazaco @mcbazacophd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
We’ve reached that time of year where I have an internal struggle about which annoys me more: 1. anatomically inaccurate decorative skeletons 2. people who are outraged about decorative skeletons being anatomically inaccurate.
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
when you work at the BPAF but you’re beginning to realize there’s not going to be a successful IPO
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Calvinball Congress @emericanjezebel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
There’s so many special interests I abandoned in pursuit of a “good paying job” and looking back all I can think is “what a waste”
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Happy Mink Monday
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I love that we can run a whole economy on this
Meme: source? I made it up
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Tyne Daile Sumner @tynedaile.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A fantastic Surveillance Studies Network and Surveillance & Society seminar on 'academic writing and getting published’. Perfect for ECRs and PhDs working on surveillance and cognate fields. Sign up here: unc.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
unc.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: SSN Publication Information Session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: SSN Publication Information Session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
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