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Ian Kirk

@ianpkirk.bsky.social
329 followers 1K following 1.3K posts

The views expressed here are not necessarily my own

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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This looks a bit like ants carrying leaves to their nest, but is in fact people transporting wind turbine blades Source: YouTube share.google/GsfHcDt7SzOP...
share.google
How a giant wind turbine blade navigates mountain roads
Watch this massive feat of engineering: a wind turbine blade measur...
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
'You don't get fit by watching sport' is a brilliant line. Reading scores plummet as ‘digital distraction’ harms students - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
giftarticle.ft.com
Reading scores plummet as ‘digital distraction’ harms students
Widespread access to AI and social media has set back educational attainment across the world, study shows
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Has anyone called our AI era 'the autocomplete of history'?
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Tropical Brutalism! Biblioteca Central Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB) Brasil @brutalismbot.com
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Arch Linux is called that because it wants you to know you're not good enough for it.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
medialunas > croissants
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
This is an amazing story. Makes much more sense as a conceptual artwork than as a fraud. It surprises me that a fraudster would make such a long term, risky initial investment
euronews.com
Italian conman jailed for building fake Roman amphitheatre
In Italy, a structure promoted for years as an "ancient Roman amphitheatre" has turned out to be a fake, constructed recently using modern materials.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I once created then editorially selected so many AI-generated images in one day that I became totally alienated from what human hands really look like. At lunch with my family I stared at their real-life hands trying to get reaccustomed to typical scale & pose. I would have rejected this photo
conservativehome.com
Kemi begins her purge of the wets | Conservative Home
Every functioning party has red lines. Positions which are so central to its identity that abandoning them means abandoning what the party is for. For Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives, net zero and...
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I support both voluntary euthanasia (assisted dying) and organ donation. But there must be laws that prevent the two from being combined. It seems comforting that others might benefit from assisted dying but in reality it could become dangerously coercive. 🧵
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Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 18/06/2026
My dad’s been a reader of the New Scientist for as long as I can remember, so I’m mega chuffed with this! Can’t wait for him to see it in the magazine. www.newscientist.com/article/mg27... @newscientist.com
newscientist.com
New Scientist recommends an excellent look at the future of work
Sarah O'Connor's We Are Not Machines explores how we are contorting ourselves to fit AI into our working lives – and what to do about it, finds Tom Knowles
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 12/06/2026
Those tedious errands, tasks and chores that AI wants to replace? They help keep you fit | Manoush Zomorodi and Keith Diaz
theguardian.com
Those tedious errands, tasks and chores that AI wants to replace? They help keep you fit | Manoush Zomorodi and Keith Diaz
A world with fewer tedious tasks, errands and chores sounds like liberation. When it comes to our health, it’s actually a trap
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Still chuckling over @aiannucci.bsky.social and @hugorifkind.bsky.social joking that emergency podcasts are an emergency service. Imagine dialling 999 and being asked, "Do you require police, fire, ambulance or podcast?" Strong Message Here Episode link: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... 🚓 🚒 🚑 🎤
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - Strong Message Here, Fanning the Flames (with Hugo Rifkind)
When does politicisation become weaponisation? And how does language fan the flames?
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Sometimes the Internet can still be a good place. One of Baianasystem's songs has 'Ladina Améfrica' in the chorus. Wanting to know more led me to the writer and academic Léila Gonzalez. Now a whole new world of writing and thinking has opened up. This is how the web and pop is supposed to work.
en.wikipedia.org
Lélia Gonzalez - Wikipedia
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Have I aged suddenly or has working with computers just become much less enjoyable? The experience seems now to be an unproductive series of puzzles, battles and arguments. I'm constantly thwarted and exasperated by multi factor authentication followed by LLM insubordination and uncertainty.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
🇬🇧♥️🇧🇷 English person married to a Brazilian person here. English are heading into Summer so it's all about how we can't cope with 30ºC Brazilians are heading into Winter so it's, 'We're heading for 17ºC. Put another sweater on!'
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
We joke at home that Reform are 'addicted to betrayal'. They talk about it often and vote to create more of it. 🧵
Daily Express 
ANGER OVER THE CREEPING BETRAYAL OF BREXIT FREEDOMS The Sun
GREAT BRITAIN OR GREAT BETRAYAL Daily Mail 
BACKLASH OVER BREXIT BETRAYALDaily Express 
FEARS STARMER IS PLOTTING A FULL-BLOWN BREXIT BETRAYAL
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 19/05/2026
The Grenfell community has shown unrelenting dignity and courage in their fight for justice. I welcome the Met's update that all files for charging decisions will be submitted by the end of September. All those responsible must be held to account. Justice delayed is justice denied.
news.met.police.uk
Met investigation into Grenfell Tower fire on track to submit all charging files to CPS
The milestone moment will place at the end of September.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Thomas Heatherwick HS designed a set of glasses frames 'inspired by rippling water' The brown ones are part of the Thames Water collection www.designboom.com/design/heath...
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
I'm a bit surprised that so many people on BlueSky are taking an online political personality quiz and then promoting it by sharing their results. It's like the Cambridge Analytica scandal never happened.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
@edwinheathcote.bsky.social's article on the design choices of the manosphere is really good & in the tradition of FT's excellent work on art, culture and architecture. It's time for a Baudrillard revival. The truth behind the manosphere’s ‘looksmaxxed’ interior giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
The truth behind the manosphere’s ‘looksmaxxed’ interiors
The white, polished, supersized properties of Andrew Tate et al reveal something radical that even ‘The Matrix’ did not manage
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
This is a fun way to test LLM reasoning. It can't be solved, but closely resembles puzzles and games in LLM training sets. It’s a good test of whether a model: - formally evaluates constraints, or - jumps straight into narrative problem-solving mode. Try it and watch the thinking traces.
A traveller must transport three enchanted objects across a river:

a rock

a sheet of paper

a pair of scissors


The boat can carry only the traveller and one object at a time.

However, if left alone together on either bank:

the rock breaks the scissors

the scissors cut the paper

the paper wraps the rock, activating a curse


How can the traveller transport all three safely across the river?
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
I actually would really like it if @bsky.app let you have feeds that showed posts from specific countries. I'd love a US, Brazil or UK-only feed in addition to the general one. As far as I know the #ATProtocol does not store geography/location data of posts so I guess we can't have this.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
OK, I had to Google 'Thucydides Trap'. It's a political science term from 2015. Oddly, I feel better that it's something I never knew rather than had forgotten. Anyway, it's pretty funny when the leader of a rising power says to the one being displaced, "Friend, let's avoid the Thucydides Trap".
cnbc.com
Xi asks Trump if U.S. and China can avoid 'Thucydides Trap' at high-stakes summit
U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday morning for the start of a high-stakes summit that runs through Friday.
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
UK GDP per head grew by 0.6% in q1 2026 which is the fastest economic growth per capita in a quarter for 4 years. UK GDP growth itself is fastest of the 6 G7 countries that have reported so far
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Has Bill Nighy invented the phrase 'adultery gets lonely'? It's rather brilliant and I can't find any other occurrence of it on Google. Episode webpage: shows.acast.com/ill-advised-...
shows.acast.com
Hey Babydoll, How's It Hanging? | ill-advised by Bill Nighy
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
In Silicon Valley, AI is a race—who wins, who captures value, who deploys fastest. In Brazil, the question isn't who wins but how the race itself is structured. With elections looming and institutions strained, AI safety starts with everyday harms, not existential ones, writes Adriana Abdenur.
buff.ly
The Political Economy of AI Starts in Brazil, Not Silicon Valley
Brazil’s experience with PIX is an intriguing window into how public intervention can reshape AI-relevant markets, writes Adriana Abdenur.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Hi @emma-briant.co.uk I think this will be of interest to you and your fellow researchers - probably not news to you but a helpful primer. youtu.be/lwI9lbgq7pI?... (I don't have direct messaging here hence this more public message)
youtu.be
The rise of Brazil's digital 'micro-Bolsonaros' | The Listening Post
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
This is really helpful. Full Fact’s Government Tracker is monitoring the government’s delivery on its promises so voters can judge what progress it has made. It tracks 92 pledges, from Labour’s 2024 election manifesto and further announcements made since. fullfact.org/government-t...
Full Fact's UK Labour Manifesto & Pledge Tracker

Of 92 Commitments that are tracked:

20 Achieved
18 Appear on Track
23 In Progress
6 Appear off Track
6 Not Kept
4 Unclear/Disputed 
15 'Wait and See'
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
I feel like no-one - not Tracy Emin, not Tate Modern, not Living etc, not Farrow & Ball - do well out of this headline. "Tracey Emin Chose This Farrow & Ball Paint for the Backdrop to Her Tate Modern Retrospective" It is a beautiful colour and a great choice though.
livingetc.com
Tracey Emin Chose This Farrow & Ball Color for Her Tate Modern Retrospective
The hauntingly visceral retrospective at Tate Modern traces four decades of the artist's provocative life and practice against a blue backdrop by Farrow & Ball
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Apparently Amazon does not think much of what I have been buying recently.
Amazon message: Thank you for purchasing at Amazon. Based on your recent purchase, we think you may also be interested in trash bags.
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hailey @hailey.at · 02/05/2026
i feel like my job as an engineer has always been asking questions like "how" and "why". it wasn't really "write code". sure, the latter was the "how" very often, but that was simply because at one point that _was_ the only "how" that was available
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Watching Tom Ribeira's video for Pedaço with my cat 😺 Finlay by my side The lyrics are Acho que o meu coração É grande e bate demais [I think my heart is too big and beats too fast] This is actually Finlays's medical condition so this song is quite a complex listen youtube.com/watch?v=UCs9...
youtube.com
Tom Ribeira - Pedaço (Official Video)
YouTube video by Tom Ribeira
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Tennis Elbow Housemaid's Knee Writer's Cramp Shepherd's Bush
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Three Amazing Stories: - Someone posted a Bluetooth tracker to a warship and tracked its location - Military personnel are still uploading their running achievements to apps and revealing where they are - Sailors compromised their security by sneaking a Starlink terminal on board their ship
tomshardware.com
Bluetooth tracker hidden in a postcard and mailed to a warship exposed its location — $5 gadget put a $585 million Dutch ship at risk for 24 hours
A postcard spy
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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
GOOD NEWS! Researchers have made a HUGE breakthrough towards a UNIVERSAL antiviral. By targeting sugar molecules found on the surface of many viruses that SHARE structural similarities, they identified FOUR compounds that successfully BLOCKED infections from SEVEN different viruses.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
OK here's my muted word list for the next 24 hours. Already bored with speculation over what might or might not have been said in meetings that may or may not have happened. If anything important actually happens it will be in the news. Fairly sure there is more to come from @theguardian.com
Muting the words Olly, vetting, Ambassadorial, ambassador, Mendelson and Starmer for 24 hours in Bluesky Settings
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
I guess these BlueSky outages will mean that everyone will end up on the Quiet Posters feed
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Adam Nathaniel Furman @anfurman.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
"The Radical, Queer Imagination of Adam Nathaniel Furman" An article at the Othering & Belonging Institute at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social by Dylan Cleverly belonging.berkeley.edu/radical-quee...
belonging.berkeley.edu
The Radical, Queer Imagination of Adam Nathaniel Furman
Dylan Cleverly is a writer and artist based in Boston, MA. He will be pursuing a Master's degree in Critical, Curatorial, and Conceptual Practices in Architecture at Columbia University in the fall.
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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Aaargh! I thought the Met had binary search explained to them but they are STILL using this excuse!!! onodi.co/bisect/
onodi.co
I Made a Binary Search Tool for Videos To Embarrass British Transport Police Into Doing Their Job
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Tiago Peixoto @tiago.skewed.de · 03/04/2026
Very interesting read. www.percepta.ai/blog/can-llm...
percepta.ai
Can LLMs Be Computers? | Percepta
We build a computer inside a transformer — executing arbitrary C programs for millions of steps with exponentially faster inference via 2D attention heads.
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Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I am not going to be able to latch onto the latest cool trend because several extremely clever people who I've known for years and respect immensely are currently producing very good work with AI. It would be more socially convenient if this wasn't true but it is.
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Is it BlueSchism or BlueSkysm?
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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
GOOD NEWS! Researchers have developed a new mRNA vaccine that has been shown to suppress abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina, offering hope to MILLIONS of patients with age-related vision loss. The vaccine triggered strong antibody responses that REDUCED retinal damage by UP TO 85%.
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Reo Eveleth @reveleth.com · 26/03/2026
if you want to know the history of this kind of policy, I made a podcast two years ago that explained why these tests make no sense, how they were already used and eventually abandoned by the IOC in the 80's and 90's, and the devastating impacts they have on real athletes: www.tested-podcast.com
tested-podcast.com
TESTED – A surprising history of women’s sports
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Ian Kirk @ianpkirk.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
I'm reposting this because now that the US has threatened to attack desalination plants again it's important to know that Iran has already attacked US water processing plants.
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