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Ian McLean

@mrthewalrus.bsky.social
282 followers 483 following 1.5K posts

Fond of real science and imaginary worlds, cursed with a knowledge of software engineering. Staff Engineer for state government. Might have coined the term 'Dire Millennial'. He/him.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Ian McLean
Ann Leckie @annleckie.com · 02/10/2026
This! Which tells me, personally, that if they truly believe that its OK to make a sentient being that they enslave, well, they probably think it's ok to do that to humans.
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The fascists are stealing our pianos.
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
My ‘Bond markets are functioning in an orderly manner’ T-shirt is raising a lot of questions etc.
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thread - this framing is one I think more folks should default to as they talk about what the big tech companies. They talk a lot about values and mission and The Future, but what they actually do is almost always what you’d predict from looking at the incentives inherent in their business models.
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026
I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I have been trying to convince product managers of this for years. Hasn’t worked yet. I say ‘it should be opt-in’ and they say ‘you mean the notifications are on by default’ and I say no, and they just kind of look at me, baffled, like I suggested mailing the user an ostrich.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I think it's very simple, the bosses agreed with Trump about "wokeness" and this was an excuse to purge anything associated with it bsky.app/profile/trac...
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👻madeline bOoOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 19/09/2026
If I have ever been subtle about CS Lewis being a bisexual kinkster, I apologise, the subtlety was not intentional
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Stephanie 🍉 @ageofoddish.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
mmygod
the slut gnomes of false berlin jeopardy bluesky posttoday's jeopardy categories. the last 2 are "false berlin" and "bizarre little men"
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Garth Marenghi's Catbus @catbus.phd · 17/09/2026
great art articulates eternal truths
script of the end of Waiting for Godot which has been modified to read

ESTRAGON: Well, shall we log off?
VLADIMIR: Yes, let's log off.
   [They do not log off]

                                  CURTAIN
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Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The absolute refusal to learn from anything even once is why you should try not to put the literal stupidest people alive in charge of your country, don't do it again
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Ned Raggett @nedraggett.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Okay so @defector.com has had an odd glitch since the site redesign a couple of weeks back where the wrong photo and headline are often put together on the main page and I was going to ask them about fixing it but this just happened and as far as I'm concerned they have to leave it as is.
Screenshot for a Defector podcast episode with the headline "Consider the Emotional Lives of Scallops" only the accompanying photo is a white gormless stubbled red-headed UK singer of recent notoriety giving a flat smile to the camera while wearing a washed out peach top as beige as he is against a flat background. So, actually, probably a scallop anyway.
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Graham Stark @graham.loadingreadyrun.com · 14/09/2026
The comedy we make at LRR… y'know, it could destroy civilization. It's simply SO funny, funnier than any human could conceive, it might be the end of all things. Obviously we're excited, but we also want to acknowledge that our comedy is simply too powerful and there is no choice but to submit.
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Avery Edison @averyedison.com · 10/09/2026
feeling increasingly annoyed and disrespected when receiving playful warnings that I have too much email from the email company that got me to sign up for email with them by promising they would have room for all my email forever
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Dan Hon @danhon.com · 10/09/2026
honestly I'm very disappointed at the lack of progress in aligning humans for safety
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 09/09/2026
AI companies: This technology we’re developing is dangerous and might destroy humanity and we don’t know how to stop it Other people: So we should strictly regulate it, create legislative guard rails, and monitor its development? AI companies: lol no the opposite of all that & give us more money
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Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 07/09/2026
This Labor Day, if you've ever benefited from:   — The weekend — 40-hour work weeks — Workplace safety standards — A minimum wage — Paid time off   thank a union.   Unions don’t just improve working conditions for their members, they help every American worker.   Happy Labor Day!
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
this is the kind of design costume designers make to tell you who are the bad guys in a space movie
Donald Trump posts an image on his Truth Social account. It shows a new uniform for US Space Force members, comprising of an all-black outfit with knee-high black leather boots, black cap, and minimalist looking suit.
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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
someone could do a “after moulton rebuke, centrists face growing pressure to retreat from extreme right-wing positions on gender conformity” number that would be fun
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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
so are we gonna get a bunch of political analysis thumbsucker pieces about the cautionary tale of a promising youngish politico who torpedoed his career by latching on to the biological gender extremists who are attempting to drag the Democratic Party into hugely unpopular political waters or nah
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I dunno, I think it’s pretty plausible that the average consumer regards buying a video game the same way they do buying most anything else: you give someone money, they give you a thing, and now that’s their money and your thing. This is how buying stuff has worked since the invention of money.
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Tyver Foucault @thedoorthedoor.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Your nightmare was found in recent leak on the dark web. We recommend changing your dreams
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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Yup. I'll say it again: Farmers ain't poor. My colleagues are almost entirely property owners who are middle class on up. Which means middle & upper class property owner culture! For better & for worse.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 23/08/2026
these people really want to make "racist" akin to a slur rather than what it is, a straightforward label for a set of beliefs and views. if you don't like the label because you, correctly, associate it with degenerate chuds, then get better beliefs
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Micah @rincewind.run · 21/08/2026
the post-covid revolt of the bosses is the biggest factor in the absolute collapse of public support for tech we had a brief window of genuine worker power and they hated it and their primary goal with AI has been to break the workforce so they never have to deal with it again
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Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Part of the reason a lot of super rich people are so awful is that when normal people get an absurd amount of money, they immediately start looking around for who they can help.
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Dan Olson @foldablehuman.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Crystal is coming to stay in Calgary for a couple months and will be here for her birthday, so she has requested I get all y'all to send her postcards from your hometown. Don't second guess "well, my hometown is boring", just send! Crystal Donovan PO Box 49104 CALGARY RPO OGDEN, AB, T2C 3W5
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tef @tef.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
there's a "days without github incident" site and the current streak is six days in a row without a production incident, from back in may
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Evan Simko-Bednarski @simko-bednarski.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I have had, and continue to have, good relationships with many flacks over the course of my career, many of whom I can genuinely say are decent people. But never forget that a big part of a flack’s job is to be helpful enough to keep you from seeking out other sources.
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Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I talked to this person years ago about a job writing about the ultra wealthy and he told me I was a bad fit because I was obviously going to make jokes about them. I remember this, to be honest, because the hat was present then too www.nytimes.com/2026/08/12/b...
nytimes.com
Forbes Fired Top Editor After Discovering He Received Secret $6 Million Payment (Gift Article)
Randall Lane, the magazine’s chief content officer, received the money from the founder of Shook Research, which has worked with Forbes on content about wealth advisers.
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 12/08/2026
Progressive wins by small margins: this is proof that the left doesn't have what it takes Progressive loses by small margins: this is proof that the left doesn't have what it takes
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T. Greg Doucette @gregdoucette.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I sometimes find myself wondering how many societal ills could be improved (if not fixed outright) if we just built an epic f*ckload of new housing in every major metro
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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Axios writer: I melted my brain with AI. Not only can I no longer read, but I don't even understand the purpose of reading anymore. Here's how you can also do this. www.axios.com/2026/08/11/r...
Axios: AI has become my reading buddy as I've plowed through my summer book list, helping me keep track of plots and characters, unpack themes, and make sense of wordy, old prose.

Why it matters: The way many of us actually read books — a few pages before bed, a chapter at the beach, another on a plane — makes it easy to lose the thread. AI can help you pick it back up without starting over.
📖 I really got into using AI while reading James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans." The text was far too dense for casual vacation reading. My first prompt asked:

"I'd like a guide as I read The Last of the Mohicans who can help me understand what I've read and where the story is, without giving spoilers or getting ahead of my progress. Can you do this, chapter by chapter?"
The robot agreed: "Cooper's sentences are long and his diction is archaic."
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 11/08/2026
post about how new models are changing the discipline of platform engineering, ok, I’ll hear you out what do you MEAN GPUs have feelings and you’re proposing a bill of rights for them are you ok
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 11/08/2026
you ever read a post by someone saying “reading this author changed the whole way I thought about this!” and then you look up the author and holy shit that person is a fucking wingnut?
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
It’s still a work in progress, but my ‘AI is basically drugs’ hypothesis keeps finding more supporting evidence.
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Dan Jordan @danjordan.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This has been a phenomenal use of my limited free time vibecheck.daniel-jordan.com
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 04/08/2026
Experts: stupid assholes posting idiotic shit on the Internet can be a huge fucking bummer.
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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
You can see the very obvious throughline from “men could transition and easily dominate women’s sports” to “women’s sports are lesser and shouldn’t be taken seriously” to “women shouldn’t play sports” to “here are the acceptable life choices for women”
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Seth Moulton was given the chance to make several private equity investments that were not available to everyday investors with defense tech companies he helps oversee on the House Armed Services Committee. They are now worth millions of dollars. Bob Kuttner reports: prospect.org/2026/08/03/s...
prospect.org
Seth Moulton’s Sweetheart Deals - The American Prospect
In Rep. Moulton’s upcoming Senate primary challenge, questions about his lucrative investments in defense tech companies may prove more important than incumbent Ed Markey’s age.
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Corey Johnson @coreygjohnson.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
🧵Alert: The backstory on this story may interest you. Or it may bore you. Either way, here it goes. I first asked the FCC for Chairman Brendan Carr's 2025 financial report on June 24.
propublica.org
FCC Commissioners Face Ethics Complaints for Taking Luxury Gifts From Paramount
Citing a ProPublica report on Paramount providing luxury Kennedy Center gala tickets to FCC officials, the complaints note that commissioners accepted the gifts while the FCC was reviewing or about to...
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
It’s pretty weird that the most important thing the Times needs us to know about two people dying is ‘they were already sick so it’s okay’.
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Joel D. Anderson @joelanderson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
It’s pretty jarring we’ve just come to expect that the feds will lie to us and publicize false information and that there is virtually no consequence for it.
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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Yeah so NYT asked me ~2 yrs ago to write an op-ed about how the Colorado is running dry, & what we should do to keep this exact thing from happening. I said "There's only one real answer. Bill farmers by how much water they use. Duh." NYT editorial staff freaked tf out & cancelled the piece.
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Ian McLean @mrthewalrus.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
If I might be cynical for a moment, I think the purpose of this is to feed the flags back into their LLM training so they can generate more *convincing* slop in the future. Sorry.
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
"Try Gemini in Sheets" Archer, asking if we are not doing "phrasing!" any more
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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In conclusion: I don't think there's any way to explain this, other than "Trump blindness is real." A lot of our leading citizens- even ones who know how to be responsible, when they have to be- really do see Trump as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Hear me out: this is even wilder than it looks. Out in the ag world, Taylor Farms was THE instigator for a lot of the big food safety moves for lettuce over the last 20 years. That's a legacy that just should NOT have ended up like this.
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Rebecca Watson @skepchick.org · 22/07/2026
Political scientists discover shocking data that reveals the major personality trait that leads to people joining authoritarian police forces like ICE: being giant losers. skepchick.org/2026/07/scie...
skepchick.org
Scientists Find ICE is Full of Losers
Transcript: Political scientists recently identified a specific type of person who is an important building block supporting fascist authoritarian regimes throughout world history: giant losers. I’…
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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Brief rundown on the real breakdown in law & food policy. What let this Cyclospora outbreak get as big & un-trackable as it is? It's not DOGE! Decades of lobbying by the food industry has gutted ALL KINDS of regulations, for years. slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
The Real Trump Scandal in the Explosive Diarrhea Outbreak Story
So much of what’s known points a finger squarely at Taylor Farms.
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