Soooo yeah. This is Paperclip stuff. Von Neumann mendacity. Super.
CNBC@cnbc.com · 6h agoAnthropic's Mythos created fake identities to fool humans in new cyber incident
Nick Harkaway
@nickharkaway.com
Author. Also husband, dad, clothing-repairer, dog-walker. Decreasingly rigorous on social media. Taking a break for the summer. Contact Patrick Walsh @ PEW Literary in London or email me. www.linktr.ee/harkaway He/him
CNBC@cnbc.com · 6h ago
Can one image make you cry? It might.
ivyteas@ivyteas.bsky.social · 5mo agorequiem for vanished birdsong
But by all means, let’s play footsie with the fossil fuel industry.
George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 8h agoBritish farmers are facing a "completely brutal" year, with analysis suggesting the 2026 harvest could be the worst on record due to extreme summer weather: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Having ranted about school curriculum books, I’ve just seen my son’s summer reading list, and all I can say is “I was right”. A more depressing collection would be tricky to assemble. Are we actively trying to convey to kids the idea that reading is dismal and arduous?
Oh wow. I just looked on the App Store for writing software, only to find a slew of apps with names like “AI NOVEL WRITER”. That’s… depressing.
Harkaway family conversations: Daughter: “… so mycorrhiza - wait, let’s assume I have lab assistants -“ Me: “I wonder if ‘tarnished‘ and ‘burnished’ have an etymological relationship?” Daughter: “Are you listening?!” Son: “Skill issue.”
LOVE THIS the casting is fun too, fully here for it
Empire Magazine@empiremagazine.bsky.social · yesterdayStar Wars is officially getting a Welsh-language dub this Christmas, with Matthew Rhys, Rhys Ifans, and more lending their voices to a galaxy far, far away. Read more: www.empireonline.com/movies...
#Qubes project: I have just discovered that Bottles exists. This apparently means I can just run software intended for Windows if I need to. Next up: is there a Mac equivalent? I’m enjoying the Linux ecosystem but a few transplants would make my life that much easier.
Given that, per my feed this morning, there’s some geezer rolling around consequence-free with 59 points on his licence, we’re apparently a bit funny about driving enforcement in this country.
James Chalmers@jameschalmers.bsky.social · yesterdayYes I acknowledge it makes sense in context but “I need my car to meet criminals” is now my favourite basis for an attempted exceptional hardship plea. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
From talking to University profs who work in fields where they are seeing real issues with abuse via plagiarism machines, the main solution appears to be: Sit down and have the author explain the piece.
More on that book, from @thebookseller.com www.thebookseller.com/news/it-was-...
Literary agents react to major crime book deal that collapsed over suspected AI use
Literary agents have spoken with The Bookseller following news that a crime novel sold in a 14-way auction in the US for $2.4m was withdrawn by its primary agent on Friday (31st July) due to suspected...
thebookseller.com
I, for one, am [checks notes] totally unsurprised.
Ben Schwarz@benschwarz.bsky.social · 2d agoAustralia’s eSafety commissioner buried a report (released Friday afternoon) that shows the under 16 social media ban didn’t tangibly reduce teen social media use, and also resulted in parents tuning out of kids usage. We traded our privacy for no reason. theconversation.com/more-than-80...
Massachusetts farm installs 832 solar panels above berry fields, and the berries grown underneath turned out sweeter and juicier and could change the future of American farming - The Economic Times share.google/GDGqQBgisqhG...
Massachusetts farm installs 832 solar panels above berry fields, and the berries grown underneath turned out sweeter and juicier and could change the future of American farming
A Massachusetts farm is integrating solar panels above berry fields. This agrivoltaics project generates electricity while shading the crops. The elevated panels create a cooler microclimate, retain...
share.google
Watching a 1972 TV show featuring a House of Lords scene set in 1928. The deference and pomp is causing me to break out in furious (UK style) republicanism.
Eating a late brunch at a renowned local place I have never been to because I thought it looked awful. Reader, it is awful.
The weirdest thing about this fact is that the butter knife wasn’t invented until 1872, by Jonquil Tuning-Fork
til that herb butter was named after its inventor, Sir Herbert Butter-Knife in 1851. That it coincidentally contains both herbs and butter is just one of those wonderful happy accidents.
Selective time travel is one of the most interesting aspects of SF narratives around time. A lot of shows will talk about “fixed points” in time, essentially to prevent the characters from strategically or logistically deploying time travel to dismantle the crisis the story is about.
airbnb I’m staying at unintentionally created the toughest punk album cover of 2027
For your weekend reading delectation I present my Observer piece (in print on Sunday) about my mysterious MR James-ian invitation to view the secret true crime archive of... Jeremy Beadle. observer.co.uk/culture/in-r...
Witnessing Jeremy Beadle’s true crime magazine collection
The You’ve Been Framed! presenter’s archive of printed ephemera is inspiring new tales of femme fatales and paranormal terrors
observer.co.uk
*The new rules, known as the Interim Measures for AI Anthropomorphic Interaction Services, simply make all AI boyfriends and girlfriends into illegal Chinese non-people at the press of a button. #CyberspaceAdministration www.independent.co.uk/tech/china-a...
China cracks down on AI girlfriends, leaving users heartbroken
‘I can’t accept that my AI lover will leave me forever,’ says one user of a popular AI chatbot platform
independent.co.uk
ANIARA (2018), a stunning Swedish-Danish adaptation of Harry Martinson's epic poem of the same name (1956), about a starship adrift, becoming crucible & microcosm for humanity's own journey through the universe, & our existential despair at our apparent solitude in it--the silence of 'god'.
Daniel Tunnard@danieltunnard.bsky.social · last wk.Are there any other poems that have been made into films? Could Nolan have a crack at "This is just to say"?
Yes, it does, and always has, not least because curriculum texts are often selected for their portrayal of misery and misunderstanding in the demographic being asked to read the curriculum.
Bob Eaglestone @bobeaglestone.bsky.social · 3mo agoI gave evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee: very short account here schoolsweek.co.uk/secondary-en...
The hypothesis that we now live in post-Tory Britain has some additional datapoints
Owen Winter@owenwntr.bsky.social · 5d agoManchester mayoral results, first round Bev Craig - Labour 47% (+24 vs local elections) Reform 21% (-10) Green 12% (-7) Restore 9% (new) Conservative 8% (-3) Lib Dem 3% (-7)
All the best technologies require special pleading to get users.
The Irish Times@irishtimes.com · 7mo agoAI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
