Working on a piece for the newsletter, this is a data point - smart people keep shrugging and saying “communities don’t like data centers because of ‘vibes’” etc when it’s really that people are in fact smart enough to know they are bad faith neighbors. It is *entirely rational* not to trust them.

Floodlight@floodlightnews.org · 18h ago

NEW: Thermal drone footage shows the Microsoft-backed DataOne AI data center in Vineland, NJ is running dozens of gas generators. None of them have permits. A Floodlight visual investigation with @us.theguardian.com:

Can't wait to reprise my favorite bird man, who has left behind a life of crime and is now a ...corpo? Spooky times ahead! Yee-caw! 🐦‍⬛ 🤠

Tumble Through Podcast@tumblethrupod.bsky.social · 19h ago

This weekend! @chrifu.bsky.social, @thejenya.bsky.social, @lesbyearning.bsky.social, @peculiarplanets.com, & @lithiarch.bsky.social jump into the Drift & return to Horizon’s Edge; A #Starfinder2e alternate universe from our main campaign. In support of D8DungeonDrive 2026 & @d8dungeon.bsky.social!

holy crap, this is an amazing result!

Ada Palmer@adapalmer.bsky.social · 2d ago

A tetanus-diphtheria vaccine that doesn’t need a fridge has passed its first human trial. UK scientists reformulated a licensed shot using trehalose, the sugar that lets desert plants survive without water, keeping it stable for up to two years at 30°C. Gavi buff.ly/1kNIUHB #ShareGoodNewsToo

If you still have a Twitter account, today is a great day to delete it. Nothing you could possibly get out of that site is worth having your name associated with child pornography. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Elon Musk’s xAI used child porn to train Grok models, lawsuit says

xAI accused of training Grok on real and AI-generated child pornography.

arstechnica.com

this is a very, very good change, kudos to the team on adding this option

Bluesky@bsky.app · 15h ago

Now you can opt out of having your posts shown to non-followers in the Discover feed. We know not everyone wants to go viral. Sometimes you're just posting for your followers. This is one of a few updates we're working on to give you more control over your experience and help you find your people.

-IMPORTANT- Gumroad has recently updated their website with the intention of phasing out the ability to manually edit your storefront and allowing you to only edit your storefront via AI agents. I will be dropping gumroad support entirely in the near future. More to come as I sort things out.

It sounds like a sick joke, but this is true. Kent cigarettes put asbestos in their filters and advertised how much healthier they were than their rivals.

tara 🏳️‍⚧️@tarabomp.bsky.social · yesterday

filters never actually do anything helpful but for a while in the 50s a major usa cigarette brand included asbestos in theirs, and the worst kind of lung damage too. unreal csts.ua.edu/micronite/

Prof Jason Arday was hounded to his death. This was not journalism. It was a coordinated campaign by a race science network funded by billionaires and given a home at Cambridge. The press amplified every word. The institutions must answer. We cannot let Jason's name be buried with him.

The Peter Thiel-Linked Race Science Network that Penetrated Cambridge University and Targeted Jason Arday

The media's coverage of the academic's life was fuelled by the campaign of an established far-right network

bylinetimes.com

Worried about your growing games wishlist? Here's some help to make it smaller https://kotaku.com/opening-night-live-2026-genai-slop-games-geoff-keighley-2000728477

Here Are The Opening Night Live Games You Can Ignore Because Of GenAI Slop - Kotaku

Some were already known to feature genAI, but a lot of them are new

kotaku.com

My favorite video game easter egg I've ever written: In Hello Cruel World the villain traps you in a room with no exit, and says to you "Don't take *too* long to decide. The human body dies of dehydration in three days." If you leave the game on for 3 days she has a special voice line and you die.

“Age assurance is a privacy nightmare. Enshrining it as the industry standard means the end of meaningful online anonymity, and it ‘forces’ Meta to collect more data about all of us — including adults” that can be used “for whatever else they decide it’s useful for. That’s bad.”

Mike Masnick@masnick.com · yesterday

In case you wanted about 3,700 words on the problems with today's "settlement" that gives Meta way more power over how the internet works than it should have.

Number of regular arts programmes on UK TV: none. (It’s all left to radio now.)

M. Belanger@sethanikeem.bsky.social · 2d ago

“How will we ever replace them?” FUND. THE. ARTS.

Rupert Grint is starring in both the Johnny Depp comeback vehicle and the Wizard play, like is he behind on rent or something?

It’s not “a relief” when someone who was ill or disabled dies. And disabled people can read what you say. Just be kind.

While we’re eulogizing Tim Curry, PLEASE take care not to devalue the life he lived after his stroke and complications. Yes, it was devastating, but he had reached a peace with it, worked hard in rehabilitation to reclaim things he loved.

as a theoretical physicist and a professional writer, I can tell you from personal experience that the ideas are *always* the easiest thing. I can generate lots and lots of ideas! But like insects that lay hundreds of eggs, most of those ideas will be eaten before they reach adulthood.

Laurie Writes@thestorycreature.bsky.social · 2d ago

A lot of "I'm an ideas guy" types think they have something to offer. Generative AI only lasted this long because they are desperate for it to prove them right. Sorry, ask any writer. Your ideas are trash. It's what you do with them that matters.

“Omg I didn’t know she’s a trans woman, I always hear people talk about her using they/them” people use they/them for trans women they don’t respect they don’t respect her because she’s trans and told a trans story they felt tricked into watching something trans that’s it

“why are TADC fans so toxic towards the creator?” it’s because she’s trans it’s because she made their favorite character trans and they’re pissed about it saying anything else is dishonest

ive kind of landed on my position here, which is: i don't care if it fixes NOTHING economically. it fixes the fact that they can buy elections and destabilize governments. it's an issue of national security

Bloozby@bloozby.bsky.social · 2d ago

This idea that the rich people leaving would bring Americans to destitution is dubious imo. They contribute back as little as possible in the first place, their exit might be the best possible outcome actually.

You're all contractually obligated to read this comment Rob Paulsen made on a Tim Curry interview in 2025

tim curry keeping up the bit twenty years after the fact by writing in his memoir that he and miss piggy had an affair during the filming of muppet treasure island is just so good and funny

Of course when you realise that driverless cars are really a technological mirage designed to persuade investors that ride-hailing apps and similar will magically become profitable once they eliminate the need to pay drivers, then the push for them suddenly makes sense.

And, in fact, if you want to improve travel within cities then the answer is fewer cars, not more, and a lot more permeability for pedestrians, buses and cyclists - exactly the worst possible recipe for driverless cars!

Less than 10% of one year’s revenue, 30% of a single year’s profit. A fine is a price. If we must do fines, they need to be 100% of profits during the offending period + 10%.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d ago

Reuters: META AGREES TO PAY A MAXIMUM OF $16.68 BILLION TO STATES AS PART OF DEAL -- COURT FILING Reuters: STATES, META AGREE TO SETTLE CLAIMS THAT PLATFORMS HARMED CHILDREN -- COURT FILING

Gamescom AI Slop Thread. Every game from the Gamescom Opening Ceremonies that was actually AI Slop so you don't have to care about it.

The astounding thing is, if you hadn't already heard the song, it works incredibly as an angry punk anthem. I listen to a LOT of punk covers, but this is definitely one of the absolute best youtu.be/E697J6MlCag?...

9 to 5

YouTube video by Lady Parts - Topic

youtu.be

Michael Yarbrough (he/him)@mwyarbrough.bsky.social · 3d ago

I mean: Tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen Pour myself a cup of ambition Unreal levels of writing just in those two lines. Give them a Booker a Pulitzer and a Nobel.

Same energy

Well it's over now I think but like it's so fucking weird that they'll talk about the layoffs and how hardware issues are on the rise and then talk about how there's still talented people trying to make games and then show like fuckin 9 games that use AI somehow and it's like What are we doing here

So about those NPC chatbots in Hoyo’s upcoming cozy vibes videogame Petit Planet…

LittleKuriboh@littlekuriboh.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Players of the beta for upcoming Hoyo title Petit Planet have noticed there’s an AI chatbot featured and at least one barista NPC whose dialogue is generated by AI Fans of their titles are defending it saying “this is a good use of AI” and “you can’t stop AI at this point.” This is from the TOS:

*also taps the 'you don't have to settle for AI in your video games because there are literally so many others out there that don't use any" sign*