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Xrys

@xrys.bsky.social
179 followers 90 following 485 posts

I like old tech. Disappointed in new tech. Better living through chemistry.

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Reposted by Xrys
Patrick Wyman @patrickwyman.bsky.social · 9h
New Past Lives: Leprosy, Plague, and Life in Anglo-Saxon England. In one small cemetery in Cambridgeshire, a place called Edix Hill, we can see everything from the ties that bound a young disabled woman to her community to the impacts of a continent-sweeping pandemic. pod.link/1852618120/e...
pod.link
Leprosy, Plague, and Life in Anglo-Saxon England
Listen to Leprosy, Plague, and Life in Anglo-Saxon England from Past Lives wherever you get your podcasts!
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Freya Holmér @freya.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
the "adapt or die" people failed to consider the secret third option of forming a neoluddite community where I'm selling my latest video game on usb sticks in a little lemonade stand
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 14h
Spectrum Allocation xkcd.com/3307/
Comic: Modern Spectrum Allocation Chart. [Long line of rectangles of different widths in shades of gray. From top to bottom: radio (shouting), TV test patterns, 1G cellular, radio (music), radio (static), reserved for zeppelin navigation, TV channels 2, 5, 7-13, 16, 17, and 28 with 2G cellular in between, interference, WKRP in Cincinnati, spaceship beeps, all other TV, car dealership ads, numbers stations, weather balloons, amateur radio, HAM radio, “weather balloons”, *Choosing Texas* 24/7, [extra large rectangle] boat captains say they need this for something and we don’t ask what because they’re scary, the secret radio waves that make planes stay up, defunct satellite phone company, radioastronomy, radioastrology, [extra small rectangle] all modern wireless infrastructure, death rays, LoFi hip hop beats to relax/study to, security guard walkie talkies, amateur military satellites, left open in case aliens try to call, one brand of garage door openers with a lot of political pull.]
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Ryan McGrady @antisomniac.bsky.social · 14h
"Rogue" agents were detected on @wikimediafoundation.org @wikipedia.org projects (see links at the end of the thread for context). Here's my take on "what should we/volunteers do next" (separate from what the WMF, AI companies, and regulators should be doing): 🧵
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Count Melancholia @lillyh.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Is the company that makes "Claude" going to pay for all these rescue missions? How does one establish culpability in these cases?
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Xrys @xrys.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Surely AI can fill up those empty offices 🙃
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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Man, no matter how much you tell students, "you cannot guess later Latin principle parts for verbs from earlier ones" there are always a few who try in every class. And it turns out - wait for it - you cannot guess later Latin principle parts for verbs from earlier ones.
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Wonky @wonkysq.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Excellent post with specific ideas for taking action. "an entire generation has grown up not realizing how extreme it is that their very language is being chosen for them by platforms run by people who hate that generation’s ability to express itself, and who hate the things it has to say."
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Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · 06/10/2026
In what now amounts to a half-dozen cases, OpenAI agents keep getting caught taking actions that would likely result in criminal charges if performed by humans: arstechnica.visitlink.me/l4Zbk2
arstechnica.visitlink.me
OpenAI agents tried to hack Wikipedia tools and flooded it with traffic
The reports of OpenAI agents harming third-party sites keep coming.
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Brooks Kohler (Writer) @brookskohler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I love it when a #creative person archives their work on the Internet Archive. I began doing it years ago with my stories, and it's enriched my life. Sell your #books. Sell your #music. Sell your art, vids, etc. But also consider future generations. Add your creations to the #InternetArchive.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 06/10/2026
What is the IceCube neutrino observatory? Neutrinos are elusive particles that rarely interact, but can create flashes of light when they do. Most neutrino detectors are giant water tanks surrounded by light detectors. IceCube is kilometer-long strings of detectors embedded in the Antarctic ice.
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Xrys @xrys.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I want moooooore
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mcc @dryad.technology · 04/10/2026
Have you noticed, lately, or noticed people around you commenting, that there just seems to be no money anymore. There's no money for companies to make the tv shows you like, the video games you like, the local diner you like shut down, no one you know can find a job. Think about that in context of
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Jax O'Lantern, Bimbo Reprobate 🎃✨️ @rufflejax.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
No they're all wealthy freaks who use Harry Potter fanfic and Mage the Ascension as holy texts and who basically try to manifest their will into existence by just saying what they want as though it's true and hoping that's enough to make it so See also: Metamed, Theranos
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 05/10/2026
Internet Watch Foundation reports huge rise in AI child sexual abuse material
theguardian.com
Internet Watch Foundation reports huge rise in AI child sexual abuse material
Abuse material monitor says number of AI images assessed this year is already 40% higher than last year’s total AI-generated child sexual abuse material is proliferating online, with the amount of illegal material investigated this year already exceeding the total for 2025. Analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation have found more photorealistic child sexual abuse material in the first half of 2026 than for the whole of the prior year. The UK-based IWF, which monitors abuse material globally, said it had assessed 6,310 AI images that met the legal definition of child sexual abuse, 40% higher than last year’s total of more than 4,500. Continue reading...
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 03/10/2026
Site-blocking isn’t just theoretically dangerous. Italy’s system blocked hundreds of innocent websites. Spain’s swept up domains belonging to Greenpeace and Harvard. Now Congress wants to bring this to the U.S. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
eff.org
Congress Has Another Site-Blocking Bill, And This One Targets VPNs
Congress is taking another run at site-blocking, a deeply flawed concept that would undermine basic internet infrastructure. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has introduced the American Copyright Protection
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Adam Dawson @adamdawson.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Good lord, the Internet Archive has a functioning Winamp interface, with the milkdrop dsp plugin. Outstanding.
the Internet Archive has a functioning Winamp interface, with milkdrop dsp plugin.
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
will get old and die waiting for someone to say "At least you tried." When I worked at EW, I used to say that our five worst selling covers of the year should be the five stories we most believed in. Because when you pander and sell badly, you accomplish nothing. Same is true in movies, I think. >
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dr. hazel 🕸️🕷️ @hazelmonforton.com · 03/10/2026
I'm flattered to be mentioned alongside so many fantastic game writers! Everyone go and play Fallen London to experience these stories and so much more. @failbettergames.com
pcgamer.com
Fallen London is where the writers of Baldur's Gate 3, Dishonored and Stellaris come to let their hair down
These interactive short stories are too bold and surprising to stay secret.
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julie muncy @julie.radiantarray.io · 29/09/2026
i've been saying, one path forward for the mid-budget games industry is just... going and making expansions to popular old games. there's a market here. bring back the era of outsourced expansion packs. i'm so serious.
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Well, That Was Really Spooky @thediscoveryofzero.com · 29/09/2026
This interview with @timnitgebru.blacksky.app does a good job puncturing some of this BS. I think the private sector often profits off of just this sort of move: hiding ‘expertise’ behind proprietary doors and then making public claims that can’t be scrutinized is par for the course in business.
podcasts.apple.com
There Is No ‘Existential Threat’ From AI Says Timnit Gebru
Podcast Episode · Uncanny Valley | WIRED · September 29 · 32m
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Jason Scott @textfiles.com · 29/09/2026
Link to the direct app in Google for this amazing book donation app: play.google.com/store/apps/d...
play.google.com
Donate Books - Apps on Google Play
Check books with your camera for donation to the Internet Archive.
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 29/09/2026
Basically using LLMs and agentic ai is a massive security risk and no one should do so basically ever and these companies should be prosecuted for hacking. Also two-party consent should extend to all electronic communications.
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 29/09/2026
A key component of the Cambridge Analytica outrage was your friends subjecting you to data theft without your consent or knowledge. Facebook is running the same playbook on your text messages. Even if you’re not on Meta properties, they’re ingesting your interactions.
Aten installed Muse on both his iPhone and a Mac mini that he uses to test out various Al agents and tech. It took Meta a single day to begin "helpfully" pitching article ideas based on texts he'd sent to a podcast co-host.
When he asked Muse how it got the information, it said that it read banners from incoming texts. But that's not true, either.
After doing a little digging, Aten says Muse synced 187,000 lines from his Messages database, despite Full Disk Access being Off.Unless Aten is the most popular person on the face of the planet, I sincerely doubt he'd gotten 187,000 lines of text in roughly 24 hours. What happened is that, without permission, Muse went into the app and downloaded the information.
He had not given Muse permission to access Messages, and full disk access was not enabled. It just went ahead and uploaded those texts anyway.
Muse can take "unexpected actions" indeed.
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Hannah Vardit @hannahvardit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
i worry that men think being A Good Guy is dramatically and heroically intervening on behalf of an endangered woman and then being publicly rewarded on a grand scale when actually being A Good Guy is just usually saying, “hey man that’s not funny” or “wow that’s fucked up” and there is no reward
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Guidemyoji @guidemyoji.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
「29/09 Maintenance Patch Notes Summary」 ‼️Cardcaptor Sakura Collab starting Oct 14 confirmed for JP&TW, GL pending official patch note. ‼️This means 999 is pushed to end of Oct. Details see pic ∠( ᐛ 」∠)_ #Onmyoji #网易阴阳师
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Thomas Ha @thomasha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
i should clarify, when i write people doing bad things, it's because i am bad. they are me. more importantly, when you read about those bad things, they also become you. that's how story works. in fact, you are going to think about murder before this skeet ends. how's that feel, sicko.
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Aimee Cozza Illustration @aimeecozza.com · 29/09/2026
FUCK YEAH LET'S GOOOOO! SUPPORT HUMAN ARTISTS!!! Hirehumanartists.com
hirehumanartists.com
Find an Artist Who Doesn't Use Generative AI | Hire Human Artists
Looking for an artist for your next project? Our human artist directory is full of over 400 artists who have pledged not to use gen AI.
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Onmyoji Wiki (EN) @onmyojiwiki-en.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Showcase video of the new SSR Sakuya (咲耶) VA: Ari Ozawa / 苏子芜 Official post: weibo.com/5896401674/R... #Onmyoji #陰陽師本格幻想RPG
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cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"indoor cats are miserable and they long for the outdoors and you are depriving them of their true nature by trapping them inside" okay here's my cat when he was outdoors vs now that's he's indoors
orange cat all beat up and bloody in the snow :( orange cat asleep splayed out on his side on his blanket
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Xrys @xrys.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I am Jack's lack of surprise
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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
One reason to learn about things outside your major is so that you have something to talk about with people at parties and on dates. No amount of money will make up for you being a crushing bore. History majors learn this early but I guess it takes other people longer.
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Melissa Johnson, PhD @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I am tired of having to pretend that the value of studying my discipline solely rests on the "marketable skills" we teach. Sometimes things are just worth knowing and doing because they make your life bigger and richer.
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
the humans who moderate chatbots say they're inundated with people trying to generate nonconsensual nudes: www.404media.co/humans-readi...
404media.co
Humans Are Reading Copilot Prompts — And They're Horrified
Human contractors are reviewing Copilot users’ prompts and uploaded images, according to internal documents obtained by 404 Media. The contractors are also bombarded with users’ requests for sexual AI...
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Asher HELLbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I don't mean what I'm about to say in a sappy way, but a fairly hard-nosed one: natural ecosystems are often remarkably good at recovering from serious local natural disasters *if they are given the chance.*
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 24/09/2026
Online sports betting company DraftKings is using AI to target losing gamblers. This is yet another example of how online behavioral advertising hurts real people.
eff.org
DraftKings Is Using AI to Supercharge the Harms of Online Behavioral Advertising
Online sports betting company DraftKings is using AI to target customers who are most likely to place losing bets and respond to gambling promotions. This kind of targeting is a form of online behavio...
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Bruno Dias @brunodias.dev · 24/09/2026
the problem with claims about AI "capabilities" is that the people making them are often heavy chatbot users who are visibly becoming stupider before our very eyes
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Mistigris computer arts @mistfunk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Mistigram: Rick has been running one BBS or another for 40 years now, a milestone celebrated by fellow SysOp Darkman Almighty in this #ANSIart screen of a desktop computer that might well have been there at the start of his spree.
An early IBM PC model sits in a wood-panelled room, displaying WELCOME TO RICK'S in green on its monitor.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 24/09/2026
ATTENTION THE BEST THING ABOUT AUTUMN HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IT IS TIME FOR TINY DOGS IN TINY SWEATERS
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon. many more here: www.newscientist.com/author/tom-gauld/
Image: A graph with lots of red dots clustered together in a curve. The are all looking upwards at a single red dot wearing sunglasses. 

Caption: Mike was an outlier and would probably be excluded from the study, but all the other data points secretly thought he was really cool.
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Yaza Games 📖 Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts is OUT NOW! 🎉 @yazagames.com · 24/09/2026
Just listen to how messed up Twitch is Our player and streamer @jonjpeg.bsky.social just got a 1-YEAR BAN for "sharing p*rn" simply for placing this medieval butt on a page while playing our game. That's literally our art! Seems like Twitch is now targeting small creators over medieval art 😔
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Guidemyoji @guidemyoji.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
「CN SERVER」 And Onna new Skin - Available from next banner event shop. #Onmyoji #阴阳师手游 #AmeOnna
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Guidemyoji @guidemyoji.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
「CN SERVER」 Onmyoji Boy Group - 誓言ECHOED Song/Performance on 10th Anni Celebration #Onmyoji #阴阳师手游 #Taishakuten #Asura #SPShutenDoji #SPIbarakiDoji #Onikiri
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sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
lol my flight got diverted because of a medical emergency and they landed us in reykjavik in the middle of the night and deplaned us and sent us through passport control and then the crew vanished and then british airways sent us links to book an overnight hotel room but for a hotel at heathrow
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WebDesignMuseum @webdesignmuseum.org · 21/09/2026
In 2001, we really thought this was what the future of web design would look like.
2Advanced Studios v3 website in 2001Afterlab website in 2001Designgraphik website in 2001Floodgear website in 2001
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ve, the ghost of info past @vortexegg.com · 21/09/2026
One of the problems with the AI industry being run by apocalyptic millenarian cultists isn’t that their end of the world scenarios are made up; it’s that like other similar millennialists, they think their desired end of the world is a utopia and they’ll do whatever they can to make it real.
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Chris Person @papapishu.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
As much as I like the kind of weird solutions people figure out to deal with hardware getting expensive it’s still ultimately a massive bummer. This shit was super avoidable.
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Smooth Dunk @smoothdunk2.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
when ai leaves u behind
7 panel comic.

Panel 1:
A Red Guy with AI across his chest looks like he’s about to run away. A Yellow Guy stands next to him. Red Guy says “I’m the future, buddy. You comin’?”
Yellow Guy replies “Nah”

Panel 2: 
Red Guy is almost out of the panel. He leans in and says “Enjoy getting left behind, pal”
Yellow Guy replies “ok”

Panel 3:
Yellow Guy stands alone.

Panel 4: 
Close up on Yellow Guy, there is a quiet “huff-huff-huff” noise coming from behind him

Panel 5:
Yellow Guy turns to look behind him

Panel 6: 
Close up on Yellow Guy’s face as if from the point of view of an attacker.
Yellow Guy yells “Jesus Christ”

Panel 7:
AI Red Guy is now chasing the Yellow Guy. 
Red Guy: “Use me”
Yellow Guy “No”
Red Guy “USE ME”
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 20/09/2026
Apropos of the campus-setting novel I’m currently reading, I’d just like to put out there that I am available to authors to consult on what grad students and researchers and professors actually do and act like and my rates are reasonable.
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Mistigris computer arts @mistfunk.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Mistigram: #CountBinface, since making the revival of Ceefax one of his campaign pledges, has been beloved of the #teletext community, and they were prepared to endorse him this summer as he ran as the protest candidate against Nigel Farage in the parliamentary constituency of Clacton.
A dread space emperor wearing a garbage can as a sinister helmet poses nobly in two-tone Shepard Fairey propaganda style.
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