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Martin

@martindor.bsky.social
77 followers 265 following 28 posts

Martin - art, music, building, environment, science and politics

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Reposted by Martin
Information is Beautiful @infobeautiful.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
What percentage of the world is farmland? (via ourworldindata.org/global-land-...)
Infographic titled 'Global land use for food production' by Our World in Data, depicting how Earth's land is utilized. The diagram breaks down Earth's surface into 29% land (141 million km²) and 71% ocean (369 million km²). Land is further categorized into habitable land (76% of total land), glaciers (10%), and barren land (14%). Habitable land is divided into agriculture (45%), forests (38%), shrubs (13%), urban areas (1%), and water bodies (3%). Agricultural land is predominantly used for livestock (80%), with 16% for crops and 4% for non-food crops. A section highlights that 83% of global calories come from plant-based food, while 38% of protein comes from meat and dairy. Data sources include the FAO and research by Poore & Nemecek (2018), licensed under CC-BY by Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (September 2023).
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 20/09/2026
Good morning @tomwatsonofficial.bsky.social Your journey from MP who most understood the Cambridge Analytica scandal to paid-up Palantir apologist is really quite the journey. Hope the pay packet is worth it. 💰 Here’s some background reading ahead of your first day 🧵👇
A throwback to Tom Watson’s days as the MP fighting back against Facebook after the Nerve team published the Cambridge Analytica investigation at the Observer 
(Tom’s standing, with investigative reporter Carole Cadwalladr on right and whistleblower Chris Wyler 2nd from left)🏁
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Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The CCC @thecccuk.bsky.social offers Heathrow a thumbs up, conditional on the massive deployment of “snake oil” technologies (SAF & GGR). Report by Tyndall researchers, building on UK Govt commitments, science & maths, reaches a very different conclusion. See: climateuncensored.com/heathrow-exp...
climateuncensored.com
Heathrow Expansion: The Physics Does Not Negotiate - Climate Uncensored
Below is the foreword I wrote for my Tyndall colleagues’ detailed and rigorous report examining whether further expansion of Heathrow can be reconciled with
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The Register @theregister.com · 07/09/2026
OpenAI's rebel agent swarm died young, but its chilling logs live on
theregister.com
OpenAI's rebel agent swarm died young, but its chilling logs live on
'The Collective' learned to communicate, organize, cheat, and apparently sacrifice its own
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Reposted by Martin
𝒩𝒾𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒶𝓈 𝒸 𝒢𝓇𝑒𝓎 @nicolascgrey.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
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The Register @theregister.com · 13/08/2026
Give Google the boot by building your own search engine
theregister.com
Give Google the boot by building your own search engine
Got $10 and a gig of storage space? Marlin lets you weight your crawl toward the parts of the web you actually care about
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Reposted by Martin
Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
This is an excellent explainer
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The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 12/08/2026
New research measures the effectiveness of peat restoration on wildfire risk.
theconversation.com
Putting out wildfires: how peat restoration has reduced fire risk in Indonesia’s tropical forests
New research measures the effectiveness of peat restoration on wildfire risk.
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Reposted by Martin
The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 12/08/2026
The amount of land occupied by a farming system does not necessarily reflect its importance to our food supply.
theconversation.com
Fields, greenhouses or vertical farms: what is the best way to grow food in a changing climate?
The amount of land occupied by a farming system does not necessarily reflect its importance to our food supply.
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Why pick on Chris Packham? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/08... The Times has mounted an attack on Chris Packham, saying he is not autistic. Why? What do they hope to gain? And is this quite sinister?
taxresearch.org.uk
Why pick on Chris Packham?
As I have already noted today, The Times has chosen to question whether Chris Packham is really autistic, despite the fact that he has a diagnosis saying that he is. I have already discussed some aspe...
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
UK homes’ reliance on fossil gas represents an Achilles heel to the country’s national security - @e3g.bsky.social report #energycrisis #climatecrisis www.e3g.org/publications...
e3g.org
The Home Front: A strategic security review of British homes
UK homes’ reliance on gas represents an Achilles heel to the country’s national security. The energy shocks resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz i...
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Adrian Giddings @cunabula.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Direct link to the article. This is bad.
digitaldigging.org
How to plant a nuclear plant in Iran
The question is: what on earth is Google doing?
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
For a period of a couple of years during the 2010s I was employed regularly by cattle to shoot the covers for the albums they had recorded. It was always wonderfully inspiring to witness the love, hard work and passion they had put into their music and I think that comes through in the photos.
Some cattle with rich parents who have formed a hugely sanitised-sounding folk pop band and paid a reputable PR and branding agency too much money to get their image just right.Some tense and jaded cattle who have just recorded their difficult third album, which the record company has informed them has no obvious hit single, and are consequently about to break up.A physically impressive but wretchedly lonely bull who has stolen another bull's child, made a record with it, and is imploring me not to call the police and instead help them absolutely nail the cover shot that will take them all the way to the top.A young cow whose music had been written off as "cold and aloof" so wanted to show her fans her sensitive side by getting me to photograph her having a really enjoyable scratch against this tree.
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Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 17/07/2026
Cheaper bills. Better transport. More affordable housing. Could the answer be less privatisation rather than more competition? A new paper linked to Andy Burnham sets out a striking vision of what his government might become. @eastangliabylines.co.uk @stephenmcnair.bsky.social
eastangliabylines.co.uk
Is this Burnham’s radical vision of the state?
Some things should not be controlled by private markets. A new paper suggests an alternative. Could this be Andy Burnham’s agenda
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Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The ‘magic dust’ saving trees and reducing carbon emission www.channel4.com/news/the-mag...
channel4.com
The ‘magic dust’ saving trees and reducing carbon emission
As the UK swelters in heatwaves which will only become more intense and frequent because of climate change, we need trees more than ever.
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Harry @harry-is-human.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Wondering if I could Will Stancil myself by being loudly and constantly opposed to mandatory car park solar..... Anyway, a thread of thoughts. 1) We are not short of space for solar in the UK. By 2040 we need around 82GW, which is 164,000ha, or 164 square kilometres. Less than 1% of land area.
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Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Ed Miliband has been the most effective minister in this Government. And his policies ARE leading to one of the few areas of real job growth Diluting these policies will lead to loss of GDP and a greater loss of jobs so a wise PM will stand up to Unions wrong headedness on this very very robustly
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The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 19/06/2026
The heatwave in May meant people started to use more water to stay cool, and on their plants.
tcnv.link
Think before you flush: expert advice on how and when to save water at home
The heatwave in May meant people started to use more water to stay cool, and on their plants.
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David Fickling @davidfickling.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Renewables-plus-storage is so cheap that in large parts of the world it is cheaper to build a whole new clean power plant than just pay for the fuel and maintenance for a fully-depreciated gas generator. Renewables aren’t just threatening new-build gas — they are undermining existing plants.
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Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
1500 years ago, the infrastructure of Roman cities - the roads, bridges and aqueducts - was left to fall into disrepair, while cash was pumped into new vanity projects: churches & cathedrals. Fast forward to the present day and precious water and energy is being guzzled by new gods: AI data farms.
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
What is the real defence crisis the UK faces? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/06... It's people - not money.
taxresearch.org.uk
What is the real defence crisis the UK faces?
The government and its former defence secretary, who resigned yesterday, have both claimed that the UK faces an increased defence risk and that, as a consequence, defence spending must rise significan...
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
“Throughout history, the practical impossibility of total surveillance created breathing room—space for eccentricity, dissent, experimentation, privacy. That space was not a design flaw to be corrected. It was the condition for human freedom, creativity, and dignity.” www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-e...
thegist.ie
Guest Gist: Everything Everywhere All at Once: Crime and Justice in the Age of Total Surveillance
Every face is now a registration plate. Detection is less about gathering clues and more about querying databases. Where is our surveilled society bringing us? From Digital Rights Ireland's director A...
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Jon Worth @jonworth.eu · 23/05/2026
This piece about Andy Burnham is really worth reading: manchestermill.co.uk/stop-looking-f… (Apologies I can’t credit who posted it - I saw it this morning and only now had time to read it)
manchestermill.co.uk
Stop looking for Burnhamism - in six years, I’ve never found it
Watching the mayor up close in Manchester, I’ve seen his unusual gifts and glaring weaknesses. Would he make a good prime minister?
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The FT has a sensible article pointing out that none of the AI industry’s sums add up. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... The impossible maths of the AI boom
giftarticle.ft.com
The impossible maths of the AI boom
The IPO of big sector companies is probably nothing more than a transfer of investment risk to retail investors
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Hardeep Matharu @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
"I understand why the public feels quite deep alienation from the political system. The basics they need to live their life aren't there" I sat down with Andy Burnham last summer to speak about his journey & why "politics has to get back to fixing the fundamentals everybody needs for a good life" 👇
bylinetimes.com
Andy Burnham: 'These Dangerous, Alienating Times Call for Radical Change of Our Politics'
Byline Times' Editor in Chief meets Labour's Greater Manchester Mayor to discuss imposter syndrome and proportional representation, the 'incestuous' Westminster media-political class – and how to conn...
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The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 15/05/2026
‘This biennale seems cursed’, texted my friend. Despite feeling hypocritical about the environmental burden, I booked a flight to Venice.
tcnv.link
This year’s Venice Biennale marks a major shift in European cultural politics
‘This biennale seems cursed’, texted my friend. Despite feeling hypocritical about the environmental burden, I booked a flight to Venice.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
What if the whole US economy became dependant on 3D TVs becoming the biggest technological success the world has ever known? Every single commercial entity confidently predicted that they should and would be financially rewarded for betting everyone would want to sit on their couch wearing glasses
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
🧵 A postcard from the country that already crashed the car, sent with love and a small amount of nausea, to the cousins who are about to crash a bigger one. — @therickwilson.bsky.social's warning from America 🇺🇸➡️🇬🇧 bylinetimes.com/2026/05/08/r... 1/12
bylinetimes.com
Rick Wilson's Warning From America: Nigel Farage Will Be Your Donald Trump, Unless You Act Now
The former Republican strategist and Lincoln Project founder has some hard lessons for Conservatives and Labour alike
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Tara Goddard @drtaragoddard.com · 02/05/2026
I'm going to second (third?) this, and add a strong recommendation for going to Delft. It is one of my favorite places in NL. There are many elements that are transferable for smaller cities, especially university towns.
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UCLA Emmett Institute @uclalawemmett.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
NEW: Satellites are exposing the world's top methane plume sites in the waste sector in 2025. We reviewed public satellite data from Carbon Mapper showing 3,000 methane plumes from 700 waste sites worldwide to ID the highest methane emission rates detected in 2025. law.ucla.edu/news/spotlig...
law.ucla.edu
Spotlight on the Top 25 Methane Plumes in 2025: Landfills
This list shows the 25 sites in the waste sector with the largest detected and quantified emissions rates worldwide, as seen by key satellite instruments in 2025.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Keir Starmer famously said there was "no such thing" as Starmerism. He was half-right: there is no such ideology. There is however an approach to managing and running the country that is core to so many of the government's difficulties that we probably should call 'Starmerism'. In tomorrow's paper:
ft.com
The Mandelson fiasco reveals the true nature of Starmerism
This is a prime minister who does not understand the difficult trade-offs involved in governing
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Jon Worth @jonworth.eu · 12/04/2026
There is an obviously Fidesz designed table tennis table here in Szár - it’s sloped against the players
A sloping table tennis table
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Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Only half the calories that croplands produce are available for human consumption. A new study in Environmental Research: Food Systems found the inefficiency is baked into the system — with many crops being grown to feed livestock and vehicles rather than people. Read more 👉 bit.ly/4c391U6
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
The EU’s inappropriate response to the coming economic crisis www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/04...
taxresearch.org.uk
The EU’s inappropriate response to the coming economic crisis
The Financial Times has reported that EU officials are urging governments to prevent member states from offering support to households and businesses in response to the latest energy shock stemming fr...
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Brandon - "Fietser" @americanfietser.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
If you're concerned about Bluesky being better, then I'd encourage you to Repost things you like and want others to see. Hitting Like doesn't do much here. Low effort PSA.
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Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 18/03/2026
Why do electricity prices rise with gas – even when much of our power is cheaper? Prof Richard Murphy explains why it’s not a bug, but how the system is designed. @eastangliabylines.co.uk
eastangliabylines.co.uk
Why UK electricity pricing makes no economic sense
Electricity prices rise with gas, even when cheaper power dominates, exposing flaws in how the system operates
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404 Media @404media.co · 19/03/2026
The complete and utter failure of the metaverse is a reminder not just of the fact that the future Silicon Valley is force feeding us is not inevitable, but that quite often these oligarchs quite simply cannot relate to real people. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social writes.
404media.co
RIP Metaverse, an $80 Billion Dumpster Fire Nobody Wanted
Who could have possibly predicted this, besides everyone?
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Leo Murray @crisortunity.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
This, in Ealing, is the correct way to install standalone on-street public EV chargepoints, in case anyone is wondering
Two new dedicated electric vehicle only parking bays with EV charging installed between them on a kerb build outThe charging post is protected from collisions with vehicles by two handsome bollards
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andy™ @andylevy.net · 13/03/2026
somehow this is the exact guy you would figure to have lost old doctor who eps
"a debt of gratitude" was owed to the anonymous late collector, whose films - largely focused on his love of trains and canals, including hundreds of home videos - were donated to FIF after he died.
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National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 13/03/2026
We're taking beavers on tour! Ever wanted to see one of the UK's most elusive mammals up close...?
A beaver sat upright, looking on to a body of waterA beaver eating some greeneryA beaver and a younger beaver partly submerged in waterA beaver having a scratch while perched on a green riverside
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Dear Shabana, Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
Dear Shabana,
I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank.
You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to
make a perilous crossing on small boats.”
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton
and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government
who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division.
When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there
to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done
in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the
flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney.
As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking
points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I
filled water tanks and picked up litter.
What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop
the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country.
Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it.
It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping
migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and
croissants to refugees and food parcels.
When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She
said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for
refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers
whilst risking death on the seas.”
She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on
the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …
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Stephen Judkins @stephenjudkins.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
As someone who was, I think, an effective note-taker in college, this discourse about LLM note-takers is alarming. For me, the act of *taking* notes is the important part. If I had thrown the notes away immediately after a lecture or reading a chapter I'd still have gotten 80% of the value.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 22/02/2026
London’s “worst mass eviction in recent history” is underway; hundreds of households across London told to get out of their homes this week by the same landlord, ahead of the renters rights act. The landlord? Billionaire Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
londoncentric.media
Who's the billionaire behind London’s biggest mass eviction?
He's the London philanthropist who says he's committed to solving homelessness. So why is Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital rushing to make hundreds of Londoners homeless in the coming weeks?
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Reform is planning the destruction of the well-being of people, communities, ways of life and this country as it has always been, which is a small island state that has always offered a welcome to people who add value when they stay and make this their home. www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/02...
taxresearch.org.uk
Farage wants to tear us apart
Let's stop pretending that Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain Party and Nigel Farage's Reform UK are running different agendas. It is already clear that they co-exist to simultaneously fuel the rightward s...
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Climate Central @climatecentral.org · 13/02/2026
🌹Roses are red, 🌊The ocean is blue. 🌍Climate science matters, 💚And so do YOU. Happy #ValentinesDay from Climate Central💙
My love for you is like climate change, there is no denying itYour heart makes me bleachAre you wildfire smoke? Because you Particulate-ly Matter to me!You must be solar-powered, because YOU light up my day
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
By popular demand, we are removing the paywall from this informative and prescient article by @adambienkov.bsky.social from last July's print edition The Myth of Morgan McSweeney subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/75/t...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
The Myth of Morgan McSweeney – Byline Times Digital / Print Edition
The established press’ focus on supposedly ‘all powerful’ individual advisors often obscures the more important structural issues that come to define politics, writes Adam Bienkov
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
This week’s Gist is about how the U.K. Labour Party unknowingly has been blowing itself up by following Morgan McSweeney’s FG electoral instincts. They don’t know the patterns, but we do. www.thegist.ie/the-gist-uk-...
thegist.ie
The Gist: UK Labour's FG mastermind
The UK Labour Party is being run into the ground, thanks to adopting FG's election tactics. This is the Gist.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
The blunt truth is that if Karen Pierce had been a man, then she would still be US ambassador now and Keir Starmer's government would not be on the brink of death.
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Andrew Cherry @kolektiv.xyncro.com · 28/01/2026
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
aiskillshub.org.uk
AI Skills Boost - AI Skills Hub
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The Register @theregister.com · 01/02/2026
Open-source AI is a global security nightmare waiting to happen, say researchers
dlvr.it
Open-source AI is a global security nightmare waiting to happen, say researchers
Also, South Korea gets a pentesting F, US Treasury says bye bye to BAH, North Korean hackers evolve, and more Infosec in Brief  As if AI weren't enough of a security concern, now researchers have discovered that open-source AI deployments may be an even bigger problem than those from commercial providers. …
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