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smokey2001.bsky.social

@smokey2001.bsky.social
475 followers 295 following 120 posts
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Reposted by @smokey2001.bsky.social
Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
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404 Media @404media.co · 18/09/2026
It’s easy to see why the AI companies wanted to hide this from the public. The statements are some of the most damning indictments of the ways LLMs were trained, how they work, and the immediate threat they pose to human labor. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I watched “De Gaulle: Liberté” at the cinema yesterday and there was a detail in the film so shocking I seriously doubted it until I found the following article. The USA really did intend to turn Europe into an American colony, like India under British rule — Vichy without Vichy 🤯
mondediplo.com
When the US wanted to take over France
Open access // by Annie Lacroix-Riz (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, May 2003)
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This is both fascinating and unnerving — fake creators, fake content, “real presenters”, millions of views. And I blame Youtube/Google for creating & sustaining the environment that makes this possible.
youtube.com
The 'Ghost' Creators Hijacking YouTube's Algorithm & America's Divided Politics | Semafor Media
YouTube video by Semafor
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Reposted by @smokey2001.bsky.social
Aunt Fancy @auntiefancy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Bamboo fabric is almost always just rayon. Rayon is made by using chemicals to turn cellulose into a goo and extruding it into a fiber, and the process is usually quite toxic. There's a lot I like about rayon as a fabric, but it's not really sustainable and you shouldn't pay a premium for bamboo.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
This is important; things you buy should be yours & you should be able to alter (and repair) them any way you like.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
🤣🤣🤣
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
“It was the starting gun going off for a sequence of attacks against the election.”
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This is a great paper on the economic and technical challenges of data centres in space. Colour me sceptical.
arstechnica.com
How hard is it to build orbital data centers, actually?
The ISS radiators are expensive and heavy. We're focused on making them cheap and light."
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
This seems to confirm my belief that AI-“enhanced” search summaries are destroying the world-wide-web 😡🥺
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
A truly worthy cause …
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
The kids are all right …
theguardian.com
The kindness of strangers: My son was unconscious and I frantically called out for help – then five teenagers came running
One immediately called an ambulance, another went looking for my younger son. And I still remember the small face of the girl who held her arm around me
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A good use of AI …
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Oh wow!
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Travelling to France via Singapore, it’s mildly shocking that Singapore is the cooler of the two destinations 😮🫠
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Reposted by @smokey2001.bsky.social
Veranoa Hetet @whaeavee.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
So proud of husband Sam. The photos I've seen online of his carvings along Te Ara Tupua are stunning 😍
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
A really excellent and detailed analysis ….
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
I agree with this; without the required senate votes impeachment is counterproductive. An unending spotlight on his crimes would be far more effective.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Another uplifting story from @theguardian.com
theguardian.com
The kindness of strangers: My car was stuck in the middle of a highway. I felt hopeless – until some burly truckies lent a hand
I was only in my teens when, late at night, my Datsun ended up dangling off a median strip. Bracing to be harassed, I walked into a truck stop to ask for help …
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
I consider myself a “prisoner” of @adobe.com I’ve been using Lightroom (and only LR) since it was beta. I used to love it, but want to move away, and probably will when Negative Lab Pro brings out a standalone version. #adobesucks
petapixel.com
Adobe Has Run Out of Allies
Shifting priorities and a move to appeal to B2B has left Adobe alone. Now as enemies gather at its gates, it has run out of allies.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
“Cognitive surrender” sounds really ominous; it reminds me of the humans in Wall-E 😬
arstechnica.com
"Cognitive surrender" leads AI users to abandon logical thinking, research finds
Experiments show large majorities uncritically accepting "faulty" AI answers.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Nice to know, I guess?
theregister.com
AI models will deceive you to save their own kind
: Researchers find leading frontier models all exhibit peer preservation behavior
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Oh wow! I just realised that we’ve had computers for 80 years!
spectrum.ieee.org
ENIAC’s 80th Anniversary: A Legacy of Innovation
80 years ago, ENIAC changed the world. How did this massive machine pave the way for today's digital age?
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
This is why everyone needs an ad-blocker ….
stuartbreckenridge.net
PC Gamer Recommends RSS Readers in a 37MB Article That Just Keeps Downloading — Stuart Breckenridge
No sense of irony.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
“On an emptied train carriage, a man rubbed his hand on my thigh – then another passenger intervened” @theguardian.com
theguardian.com
The kindness of strangers: On an emptied train carriage, a man rubbed his hand on my thigh – then another passenger intervened
It was dark and I was travelling on my own. As panic began to wash over me, I saw a young man walking down the aisle
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Reposted by @smokey2001.bsky.social
Pete Husky @petehusky.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Time to pass a law that any party spokesperson of media outlet that opines with hindsight reckons on pandemic management has to show this chart in the background at all times #nzpol
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Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
breaking new frontiers when it comes to headline writing at The Spinoff
Spinoff headline: Good news: It’s kākāpō fuck season
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Very useful advice in these disturbing days. Thanks @davidfarrier.com
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Reposted by @smokey2001.bsky.social
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 11/02/2026
In the latest tranche of Epstein records and emails, themes of genes, genetics, and IQ—alongside more explicit threads of white supremacy—keep cropping up, often adjacent to Epstein’s fascination with steering research in the biological sciences.
motherjones.com
Epstein couldn't stop emailing people about eugenics
In the latest files, the trafficker gives it a Silicon Valley–pilled name: "genetic altruism."
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
“It’s like somebody making a documentary in which Eva Braun feels sad about war whilst Hitler invades Poland” “She makes Derek Zoolander seem like smart and, uh, self-deprecating” 🤣🤣🤣🤣
youtube.com
Mark Kermode reviews Melania
YouTube video by Kermode and Mayo's Take
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
This looks bad, very, very bad!
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
A little balm for the soul … from @theguardian.com
theguardian.com
The kindness of strangers: while we waited outside in the rain, a young boy brought us hot tea and cake
Our youthful enthusiasm was starting to falter when a child came out of a cottage with a basket, sent by his mum
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
This is a really good idea 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Uh-oh 😬
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Wow!
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Really insightful thread …
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Reposted by @smokey2001.bsky.social
Matt Nippert @mattnippert.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Imagine becoming custodian of a century of accumulated cultural and political capital, possibly the worlds’ largest such hoard, and blowing it all on Greenland.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
It took me a minute to work out the joke … but totally worth it 🤣
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Another great & clarifying post from @mmasnick.bsky.social
techdirt.com
Everyone Knows Our Mad King’s Greenland Obsession Is Insane. Why Won’t Congress Stop It?
Look, I know we’ve all gotten somewhat numb to the constant stream of unhinged pronouncements from the White House. At some point, the brain develops defense mechanisms. But every now and the…
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Reposted by @smokey2001.bsky.social
AffirmationCoyote.bsky.social @affirmationcoyote.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Friday Thought.
Background image: The Andromeda galaxy.

An anthropomorphic gray wolf in a Buddha-like outfit sits on the left.

Text:

"Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change." -- Bob Kerrey
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Journalistic malpractice indeed!
techdirt.com
Journalistic Malpractice: No LLM Ever ‘Admits’ To Anything, And Reporting Otherwise Is A Lie
Over the past week, Reuters, Newsweek, the Daily Beast, CNBC, and a parade of other outlets published headlines claiming that Grok—Elon Musk’s LLM chatbot (the one that once referred to itsel…
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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Jen Sorensen nails the hypocrisy and racism of the "European culture" argument.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Very much worth a read. Appalling that no enforcement occurs of security standards for personal health information, (and god knows what else!)
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Rod Emmerson @rodemmerson.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Daron Parton in today’s NZ Herald -
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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
This exchange ought to settle any idea of the probable next word machine "saying" anything, per gullible media reports.
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Toast Conger @toastchanges.com · 29/12/2025
Kevin does such a good job here. Even if you know this topic well, he is communicating it using language that I believe you'll find works well for the obnoxious uncle in your life. Recommend reading through it end to end. Thank you @greenander.bsky.social
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WIRED @wired.com · 28/12/2025
Drinking water in plastic bottles contains countless particles too small to see. New research finds that people who drink water from them on a daily basis ingest far more microplastics than those who don’t. www.wired.com/story/people...
wired.com
People Who Drink Bottled Water on a Daily Basis Ingest 90,000 More Microplastic Particles Each Year
Drinking water in plastic bottles contains countless particles too small to see. New research finds that people who drink water from them on a daily basis ingest far more microplastics than those who...
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Juha Saarinen @juha.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
What kind of digital crack-meth was used for Nano Banana's training?
Wonder what kind of digital crack-meth went into the training for Nano Banana? Insane map of generated by Nano Banana, of Australia and New Zealand.
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
“Affirmative consent is about autonomy, mutuality, reciprocity and respect”
newsroom.co.nz
It's time the law caught up with society on consent
Comment from the University of Otago: Most of us agree on the basics – communicate, don’t assume, writes Anna High
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smokey2001.bsky.social @smokey2001.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
“When you can't trust, how does society function?”
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