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James Wallbank

@lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy
4 followers 1 following 65 posts

They stole our future. Now we're stealing it back. 🌉 bridged from ⁂ tldr.nettime.org/@lowtech, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026
"The goal of education is not to tell students what to think, but to teach them how to think. It is to instill the capacity for moral choice and moral action."
mastodon.nu
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026
I simply cannot express how disturbing I find the "Dude Wipes" phenomenon. A product so grotesquely superfluous and needlessly gendered, so overpackaged and overmarketed, that I'd imagine it could only thrive in a childish, performative culture dominated in […] [Original post on tldr.nettime.org]
Photo in a supermarket. End-aisle display. "Dude Wipes DUMPkin spice, with clove, nutmeg and other fall stuff." Each pack declares, "48 flushable wipes".

SALE DUDE WIPES FLUSHABLE $9.99 ea." 

[Brightly coloured plastic packaging in orange and black somewhat resembles battery packs or power tools.]
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026
I am here, but I'm also on Bluesky. A year ago, the two platforms were quite comparable, in terms of the conversation. But now, I can see the quality of Bluesky visibly declining. There, daily, I am followed by fake or "broadcast only" accounts. I see any number of posts that are algorithmic in […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026
Watching TV. #catsofmastodon 🐆
Bongo the Bengal Cat, sitting, watching "Great Pottery Throwdown". The screen is not visible in the picture, but glowing reflections on his eyes and fur hint that it's present, just out of view. He looks attentive.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026
Looking at their responses in order to assess whether LLMs are self-aware is like looking in a mirror and trying to draw conclusions about what your reflection is thinking. It doesn't matter what it looks like. It matters how it works.
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Reposted by James Wallbank
James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026
Look, I know you haven't got 40 minutes to think about anything, let alone what technology is doing to us, psychologically. But if you did, this would be a great primer. youtu.be/whqDsYhCl0s
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026
The term "Free Software" has a technical meaning, beyond the obvious. It means "gratis", but also "open to all"—anyone is FREE to inspect and refactor the code. YOU don't need to know how—you need to know the policies of the people who do know how. AI attacks those policies and that knowledge.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026
Look, I know you haven't got 40 minutes to think about anything, let alone what technology is doing to us, psychologically. But if you did, this would be a great primer. youtu.be/whqDsYhCl0s
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Fife4Europe #FBPE @fife4europe.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026
A new report calling for an urgent probe into Reform UK’s extensive links with the UAE petrostate exposes a deeply troubling pattern. Hyping UK sovereignty while cozying up to autocratic foreign regimes to push fossil fuels is hypocritical. Why allow foreign influence? 🤔 #FBPE […]
mastodon.scot
Original post on mastodon.scot
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Wieferich Prime @pikesley.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026
Having Opinions about specific versions of LLMs feels a lot like Knowing Your IQ. Like, I understand that you believe it's important, but it's telling me much more about you than you think it is, and not in any kind of good way
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026
True story from this week. I was trying to fix an obsolete controller board in a laser cutter. I purchased a used replacement cheaply, and plugged it in, but I just couldn't get it to work. Diagnosing the problem was tricky. There are several versions of the same controller, and each claims to […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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Reposted by James Wallbank
cassandroid אַנטיפֿאַ @cassandroid.substack.com · 18/09/2026
You don't need to fix #Anthropic. You need to fix an economic system that only allows billionaires to shape our future. We create all the wealth. It's not Anthropic's fault we hand it over to fascists, which they then need to beg for money and use it to make them even richer. #ai #capitalism
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026
Security Theatre Regulatory Capture
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026
Conflicts between networks tend to result in each network reorganising to conform to its opponent's organisational logic. The opponent, in part, becomes you, and you, in part, become the opponent. The result is a hybrid, uniting opponents into a single system. Values may be seen as "network […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Reginald @raganwald.social.bau-ha.us.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026
RE: shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/01/the-unreas… I once led an online banking team responsible roughly 3.5 million customers. Just three of those customers used WebTV to do their banking: WebTV was less than one ten-thousandth of one percent of their customer […]
social.bau-ha.us
Original post on social.bau-ha.us
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Reposted by James Wallbank
tante @tante.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026
RE: digipres.club/@misty/11724302879298… Really interesting. Quote: "And so it is time to stop messing about with permissive licenses. If corporations don’t want to use our software under our terms, they are free to spend the effort or tokens to build their own."
digipres.club
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026
I have continuously been an advocate of open source licensing. However, it is worth noting that open source may not be a powerful weapon to combat abuses based on massively centralised technologies. Other action is needed, too.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026
RE: scicomm.xyz/@JacobPhD/1161431808369… Bravo!
scicomm.xyz
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Vee @veroniqueb99.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026
Literally the whole of politics in the last two decades can be boiled down to, "If there are problems, do you blame the people at the top, or the people at the bottom?" It is alarming how many thundering dullards blame the people at the bottom.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026
The upcoming period is one of maximum danger. Two major villains are running out of road. The oligarchs around each of them are similarly boxed in by systemic collapse. Each fall presents danger—from loyalists, from successors, from them. Any of these bad actors may collude. They already have.
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Robert Kingett @weirdwriter.caneandable.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026
This shit writes itself. This is so beyond parody at this point I can't write about it. I had an author friend gush, for paragraphs, about how amazing my editing was. It was funny. It was honest. It was developmental juice that didn't have any trouble asserting it's flavor. He begged me to know […]
caneandable.social
Original post on caneandable.social
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2026
Recently, I was given an autobiography by a long time acquaintance that was written, apparently, "In collaboration with AI". Who does that? Who gives that book as a gift? Who reads that book? Really? REALLY?
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Stuff I found @stuffifound.politicalmemes.org · 08/08/2026
Elon's daughter roasting him in two posts #ElonMusk #VivianWilson #twitter #spacex #antifascism #antifa
[Post from Vivian Wilson]
I understand your new angle is this "western values/ christian family man" thing but it's such a weird choice. You are not a family man, you are a serial adulterer who won't stop fucking lying about your own children. You are not a christian, as far as I'm aware you've never stepped foot in a church. You are not some "bastion for equality/progress". You called arabic the "language of the enemy" when I was 6, have been sued for discrimation multiple times, and are from Apartheid South Africa.
You are not "saving the planet", you do not give a fuck about climate change and you're lying about multi-planetary civilization as both an excuse, and because you want to seem like the CEO from Ready Player One. I would mention the birth rate stuff, but I am not touching that weird 14-words breeder shit with a ten foot pole. You single-handedly disillusioned me with how gullible we are as a species because somehow people keep believing you for reasons that continue to eva
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/08/2026
What if—just go with me for a sec here—apparent opposites are the same thing from another direction? Total connectivity is total isolation? AI being useless is exactly what drives AI market penetration? Bankruptcy and madness is billionaire apotheosis? The coming crash is the coming […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 03/08/2026
It is worth remembering that the fate of canaries in the coal mine is to die.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026
Here's an idea. Instead of taxing billionaires, let's smash up the whole planet. We can easily afford for ecosystems to collapse, a few billion people to die, and the rest to be impoverished. It'll be fine!
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026
⬜️
Ventilator fan casting a shadow on a white wall.
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Reposted by James Wallbank
SellaTheChemist @sellathechemist.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2026
Message for the day – Commit a random act of maintenance! Listen to it, look at it, wipe it, clean it, lube it, brush it, tighten it, grease it, turn it, check it, test it, sweep it, mop it, paint it, tape it, sand it, tweak it, tune it, adjust it, wash it […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
Fight entropy! Commit a random act of maintenance today.
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Reposted by James Wallbank
tante @tante.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/02/2026
"AI is built on the collective knowledge of humankind." No. Nononononono. It is not built on _knowledge_, it it built on _data_. And not everyone's experiences are available as data, many communities are included. Also: "Collective" implies some sort of collaboration and shared activity. But […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/07/2026
There seem to be an increasing number of humans who appear to be unable or unwilling to have conversations, or discissions, or otherwise communicate in person. They often medicalise the reasons for this, and they may be correct. But it's worth reflecting that this disconnection, this inability […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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Reposted by James Wallbank
tante @tante.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2026
Maybe we really need to transcend "Open Source" and move towards more of a "community software" or "humane software" kind of direction that puts the focus on Freedom (similar to how Open Source works) but also on responsibility and care for each other and the infrastructures these systems […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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Reposted by James Wallbank
myrmepropagandist @futurebird.sauropods.win.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2026
"People sometimes end up on obscure sites run by just... anyone. A page made by a local club is as easy to find as a corporate site." I didn't realize that the guy I was talking with about the internet in 1999 thought of this as a *problem* to be solved... not what made the internet awesome […]
sauropods.win
Original post on sauropods.win
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Wieferich Prime @pikesley.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026
How are you going to leave us all behind if you won't fuck off far, far into the AI-powered distance?
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026
Cults serve to educate members in the patterns of cult operations. Many cults are set up by people who've been in another cult. We may expect, as MAGA collapses, a plethora of groups to emerge, some of which may be relatively harmless, others of which may be even more toxic. Social media, as a […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026
Social Media is a Cult Incubator
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Darius Kazemi @darius.friend.camp.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026
There are a lot of reasons I've been in a creative funk recently but one of them is the chilling effect where I think about the inevitable LLM plagiarism that will occur and I think, huh, do I really want to release anything publicly? I feel myself more drawn to making stuff that never goes on […]
friend.camp
Original post on friend.camp
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Deborah Rose ❌👑 @deberupts.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2026
"Affordability is a fake word made up by the Democrats " ~ Donald Trump
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 15/06/2026
My job, as an artist, is quite safe. Make a work of art. The artwork should be a single image. Be imaginative. Be expressive. Think outside the box. The title of the artwork is, "Portrait of Artificial Intelligence as a Slow Motion Car Crash".
Portrait of Artificial Intelligence as a Slow Motion Car Crash [ First Attempt ]
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/05/2026
I've been thinking (rather than emoting) about Tony Blair's comments, and they mix accurate observations with genuine misperceptions. Global networks of power and wealth put one at a vantage point from which everything appears to be visible—but it's an illusion. From that height, much is […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/06/2026
Accountability is poorly distributed.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2026
"Using these [AI] tools to write a story or make a picture does not make their user a writer or an artist any more than my assembling an IKEA bookshelf makes me a carpenter." time.com/6337835/ai-mediocrity-essay
time.com
AI and the Rise of Mediocrity
'AI thrives when our need for originality is low and our demand for mediocrity is high,' writes Ray Nayler.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/06/2026
Attention algorithms can go fxck themselves.
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/06/2026
Billionaires appear to be very unhappy people.
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Chuck Darwin @cdarwin.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 07/06/2026
Five leading scientists were ousted from the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in New Orleans on Friday. Their crime: handing out copies of an editorial, published in the journal Diabetes Care on April 29, sharply criticizing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on […]
c.im
Original post on c.im
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/05/2026
I've been thinking (rather than emoting) about Tony Blair's comments, and they mix accurate observations with genuine misperceptions. Global networks of power and wealth put one at a vantage point from which everything appears to be visible—but it's an illusion. From that height, much is […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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James Wallbank @lowtech.tldr.nettime.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/05/2026
As I see Artificial Intelligence manifest in the form of a Slow Motion Car Crash, a line from the Lowtech Manifesto comes back from 1999 to haunt me: "Don't lock your creativity into a box you don't control." Maybe I'll write a new manifesto as a follow-up. Perhaps I should call it the "I Told […]
tldr.nettime.org
Original post on tldr.nettime.org
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Reposted by James Wallbank
Quixoticgeek @quixoticgeek.v.st.ap.brid.gy · 24/05/2026
RE: mastodon.social/@MikeElgan/11662815… When you look at this graph, remember that the UN WFP reckon with just $40Bn a year, they can end world hunger by 2030. Mind bogglingly large amounts are being spent on sparkling autocarrot, with massive increases in GHG emissions […]
social.v.st
Original post on social.v.st
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