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Oisín McGann

@oisinmcgann.bsky.social
8.2K followers 2.6K following 20K posts

Over 30 years in commercial art and more than 20 as a published author – mostly children's and young adult. No hope of ever getting a proper job. Lifelong nerd who's concerned about climate change. No AI slop wanted. He/Him. oisinmcgann.com

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Reposted by Oisín McGann
Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 20h
Growing up, we had a hangar that took up half our back garden. Not a garage – we called it ‘the hangar’. Because our dad built an airplane in it. It was a 2-seater, single-prop Zenith – a kit plane, and he was away a lot, so it took him years. He had to sell it before we could get to fly in it.
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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 2h
For those playing along at home: To give the appearance of action on the impacts of his humiliating blunder on the world stage, the President of the United States is making a humiliating blunder on the world stage by bailing the Russian president out of a humiliating blunder on the world stage.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 9h
And with typical arrogance he seems to have waged his campaign entirely from China
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2000 AD Comics @2000ad.bsky.social · 1h
Prepare to ship out — Rogue Trooper is coming to the big screen next year and you can get 25% off classic comic collections 👉 bit.ly/45DVqwI
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MꙬse Allain @mooseallain.bsky.social · 1h
Text which says "I've just seen a dead centipede a hundred feet in the air."
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 3h
I don’t understand how the senior management can’t see how they’re undermining their own industry. Authors left to promote their own books, rushed editing, production work increasingly farmed out to freelancers rather than investing in staff, celebrity-written fiction, and now this gen AI shit …
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Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I do love little bits of word joy like this
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 1h
HOW ARE LAWYERS STILL DOING THIS? HOW STUPID CAN THEY BE?!
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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 1h
My god. A Virginia data center ran backup diesel generators full blast for 24 hours, creating a giant cloud of toxic smoke that choked its human neighbors. The government claimed there was nothing they could do.
gadgetreview.com
Virginia Data Center Ran Diesel Generators for 24 Hours. Residents Fled Their Homes
Virginia data center diesel generators ran nearly 24 hours during a Code Red alert, leaving neighbors with no regulatory recourse under current state permits.
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Chokely Carmichael🥋 @stewartcoles.bsky.social · 6h
This is one reason why you shouldn’t upload work into LLMs during the peer review and grading processes. That work is confidential, and you have no right to share it without permission. You are taking someone’s intellectual property and giving it to the entire world without their consent.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 1h
Excellent.
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Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 09/10/2026
You know the xkcd strip about how all modern internet architecture is eventually built on something a hobbyist maintains for free? Someone went out and found them all. sheets.works/data-viz/hol...
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 1h
There is something kind of hot about this US Republican archetype, in the same way that a woman might be into unhinged sex before she tries to stab you in the brain with an ice-pick. Not sure if it’s a deliberate vibe or not.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 4h
I’ll be doing another one of these next week, if you’re bringing your kids into Dublin city centre! #SpeirGorm
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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 5h
Huge respect for Caroline Lucas this week, repeatedly standing up to antisemitic entryism while remaining staunchly critical of Israel and the government's failures on that front. You can see why she used to be leader
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 3h
If I built an AI lab and it went rogue and deleted all student loan information, I'm betting they'd suddenly figure out how to prosecute me.
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 7h
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon
Panel 1: a large robot (composed of AI servers, network switches, storage arrays, and power distribution units) and a human are talking.

Professor "You don't want to destroy humanity do you, lLLM-A-9300x?"

Robot "Haha. What a silly question, Professor. I have no desires or feelings of my own whatsoever."

Professor (relieved)"Oh good." 

Panel 2: they walk on. The robot continues  "I am merely a tool of the company that created me. And that company, being composed of humans, will naturally have humanity's best interests at heart."

Panel 3: The professor is conspicuously quiet.
"Right?" says the Robot.
…
More silence

"Professor?"
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 6h
I did a kids’ illustration workshop in @chaptersbookstore.bsky.social in Dublin this morning, and as I do sometimes, I took suggestions from the kids to help make a monster. So blame them. I’ll be doing another workshop next Saturday at 11am, so feel free to drop in (ideally with your kids).
A monster based on suggestions from the kids. It looks like a scaly, three-eyed werewolf with bat’s wings and horns, emitting a stink and dripping slime.
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Rob McCallum @robmccallum.bsky.social · 3h
I just saw a reels of a guy saying to be a real comic artist you need to do two complete finished pages a day. Which isn’t very realistic I don’t think.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 3h
I don’t understand how the senior management can’t see how they’re undermining their own industry. Authors left to promote their own books, rushed editing, production work increasingly farmed out to freelancers rather than investing in staff, celebrity-written fiction, and now this gen AI shit …
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Yours in negritude, Ryan K. Smith @mewefree.bsky.social · 5h
Geese are insane: Example #2,987,304
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Melpomene 🔓 @melpomany.bsky.social · 6h
"It looks delicious," she said, "but one question, what actually is 'homemade ghee'?" its butter i clarified
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Adolfo Neto @adolfoneto.elixiremfoco.com · 4h
Suppose a Brazilian company had done to Microsoft the same that OpenAI did to HuggingFace. Would that company be open today?
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Chapters Bookstore, Parnell St, D1 @chaptersbookstore.bsky.social · 4h
I was taking notes! I now know how to make a character look whiffy & scaly AND lively!
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 6h
This is nothing short of spitting in the faces of all the professions that make book publishing what it is. And I think they’ll find that most authors and illustrators will be digusted by it.
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Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 4h
More than 800,000 were without power Saturday as communities across the US Gulf Coast began assessing the damage left by Hurricane Isaias, which brought destructive winds, widespread flooding and storm surge.
bloom.bg
Isaias Leaves Thousands Without Power After Striking Gulf Coast
Downpours will spread across the US South and Appalachians as Hurricane Isaias’ remnants head north after landing in Florida Friday night, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of residents across three states.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 4h
I’ll be doing another one of these next week, if you’re bringing your kids into Dublin city centre! #SpeirGorm
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 7h
He's just like me FR
"Bear goes into Aspen farmers market, eats pastries and bread"
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 6h
This is nothing short of spitting in the faces of all the professions that make book publishing what it is. And I think they’ll find that most authors and illustrators will be digusted by it.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 6h
I did a kids’ illustration workshop in @chaptersbookstore.bsky.social in Dublin this morning, and as I do sometimes, I took suggestions from the kids to help make a monster. So blame them. I’ll be doing another workshop next Saturday at 11am, so feel free to drop in (ideally with your kids).
A monster based on suggestions from the kids. It looks like a scaly, three-eyed werewolf with bat’s wings and horns, emitting a stink and dripping slime.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
#SpeirGorm
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 22h
I’ve never considered being ‘cruel’ to software, but I’ve a sudden urge to start.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 21h
No, no, it’s ‘Invalid Handle’. ‘Danger’ is my *middle* name
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 18h
Drop a film you saw on a first date. It has grown on me over time, but I still feel a little pang of embarrassment at the memory. It did not make a good first impression. We did go out for a while though, so . . . *not terrible*.
Hugh Jackman as monster hunter, Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious in . . . , eh, Van Helsing.
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 09/10/2026
Over a year ago I met an Anthropic employee at a conference and at one point she mentioned that one of the things she was working on was whether or not it was cruel to ever turn off an AI model. I thought she was joking. She was not.
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Rob @robosullivan.bsky.social · 9h
#spéirgorm
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Mei 🪽 @meidotwav.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
treat your body like a data center. consume as much water, art and literature as possible. upset local municipalities with your existence.
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Derek Powazek @fraying.bsky.social · 13h
It is WILD to me that a generation after all the adults told us that watching TV would rot our brains, we turned around and invented a tech that actually will. news.berkeley.edu/2026/10/09/u...
news.berkeley.edu
Using AI for just 10 minutes erodes your ability to persist at hard things - Berkeley News
A UC Berkeley researcher co-authored a study that raises profound questions about how we interact with artificial intelligence in education — and daily life.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 18h
Drop a film you saw on a first date. It has grown on me over time, but I still feel a little pang of embarrassment at the memory. It did not make a good first impression. We did go out for a while though, so . . . *not terrible*.
Hugh Jackman as monster hunter, Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious in . . . , eh, Van Helsing.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 20h
Growing up, we had a hangar that took up half our back garden. Not a garage – we called it ‘the hangar’. Because our dad built an airplane in it. It was a 2-seater, single-prop Zenith – a kit plane, and he was away a lot, so it took him years. He had to sell it before we could get to fly in it.
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Darran Marshall @dmarshall.bsky.social · 22h
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant is to ban the Drumcree parade. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Drumcree: Secretary of state Sir Chris Bryant to ban the Drumcree parade
The parade has led to a stand-off between Orangemen and nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown lasting almost two weeks.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 21h
No, no, it’s ‘Invalid Handle’. ‘Danger’ is my *middle* name
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Surely they did not lie about their technology’s potential?
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Grimm (My Normal Name Is My Halloween Name, Duh) @grimmreality.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Calling "shotgun!" prior to a car ride derives from the Old West phrase "riding shotgun," which referred to a second armed employee sitting next to stagecoach driver as security against people attacking the stage, so, yes, it kind of IS your job to get out and fight that guy I just flipped off.
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Jamison Foser @jamisonfoser.bsky.social · 23h
ah yes, kicking off the Christmas season with a public execution, just like Jesus would want
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 22h
I’ve never considered being ‘cruel’ to software, but I’ve a sudden urge to start.
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Aaahh!!! bstract Tesseract @abstracttesseract.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Anthropic literally has more concern for their imaginary friends than for the actual literal people being exploited and traumatized by the creation and use of these awful products www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
‘It’s destroyed me completely’: Kenyan moderators decry toll of training of AI models
Employees describe the psychological trauma of reading and viewing graphic content, low pay and abrupt dismissals
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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 23h
oh, because it "names names" that just happen to be literally everyone but Musk, who is currently trying to raise another $40 billion for more
A Google-backed project in upstate New York is full of holes, the law firm notes: Google’s backstop doesn’t start until construction is complete; deal documents contemplate a “disagreement” about whether it’s been triggered at all; and a six-month delay would let the tenant, AI company Fluidstack, walk away. Meta’s $28 billion Louisiana complex, CoreWeave’s GPU-backed loans, and Oracle’s off-balance sheet lease obligations get a similar legal dissection.
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Tony - Pod Guy - Groves @tonygroves.bsky.social · 23h
You’re not angry enough.
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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Is it an audit of their finances?
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