Because Wikipedia content is openly licensed for anyone to reuse for free, its servers are currently being hammered by AI scrapers. This enterprise deal gives the companies access to a high speed feed, a privilege they pay for. That’s all. No AI content in Wikipedia. techcrunch.com/2026/01/15/w...

3,000 dead in Iran. This is what dictatorships look like, have always looked like, and inevitably end up looking like. This is the future some in the West are actively rooting for. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/w...

But Musk has just discovered that basically installing zero-friction sexual abuse software on a major communications platform isn't a deal-breaker for a huge, *huge* number of leftists, progressives, journalists, politicians, institutions etc around the world Do you think he's going to stop there?

Sharing, or threatening to share, a deepfake intimate image without consent is a criminal offence. This offence, created by the Data Act last year, will be brought into force this week, and I will make it a priority offence in the Online Safety Act too. www.gov.uk/government/s...

Sudden steady trickle of MPs coming over to Bluesky and getting verified, good to see like the melt from thaw #freshet bskycheck.com/stats.php

With all due respect, Dorian, but I an *every single Venezuelan* would do the same. We would literally let Trump (or anyone) take *all* of the goddamned oil under Venezuelan soil if it meant getting rid of the dictatorship.

"I thought you said you'd help out with the washing, bottles, recovery from C-section, nappies, shopping, and all the other billion things that will require two pairs of capable adult hands for the next 3 months!" "Soz, hun, after 2 weeks man's gotta go to the office!"

The reactionary centrist logic is simple: if the left does something bad it’s the left’s fault, and if the right does something bad, it’s also the left’s fault for making them do it. It’s a simple formula and once you see it every one of their arguments is the same

Masses are now marching through Tehran. Preliminary reports indicate the Iranian Tax Administration building is on fire. Across multiple cities, disturbing updates are pouring in, wounded and killed numbers are rising fast. The regime is throwing everything it has at suppressing the uprising.

Something fun about baby birthday parties: You can let out the stinkiest, foulest fart of your life and just cover it up by loudly saying "uh oh, I think someone needs changing!"

I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.

I am fairly certain Maduro will walk from these charges. I am also fairly certain the play is to keep him detained for as long as the trial takes, and probably ship him off to The Hague later on.

/snark At least AI doesn't answer with "have you tried reframing the problem?" or "your fundamentals are wrong"

Number of current political prisoners held hostage by the Chavista regime. NGO Foro Penal

I know that as a Venezuelan im alone in this website but here it is probably the place that needs more info on Venezuela.

100% this.

Their messaging is so fucking incoherent. Maduro was an illegitimate leader who lost in 2024, which is why we're replacing him with his VP instead of the person who won in 2024. We did this to stop fentanyl, which is why he's indicted for cocaine. We're also occupying Venezuela via Zoom call.

Also, fml, it's Edmundo González (been a long day)

Errrrrrrr.... could we get some more detail on that? We know it'll take some time to get things back into order, but we *do* have an elected president, Eduardo González so the sooner he's sworn in, the better.

Diosdado Cabello taking over would be extremely bad news, worse than Maduro.

Where was the international community when Maduro had people shot in the streets during demonstrations? Where was the international community in January 2025 when Maduro clung to power despite losing elections? *Now* you're being loud?

People celebrating in Caracas

This is the truth.

Judging by my feed, not many people have asked an actual Venezuelan about this whole situation....

Please be true, please be true

I will repeat this ad nauseam or ad infinitum, whichever comes first, but I will keep repeating this. We Venezuelans did *everything* to remove Maduro, and he kept his ass on his chair.

Maduro is a brutal and oppressive dictator of Venezuela. Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law. Both of those facts are simultaneously true.

Let 2026 be the year that Maduro and his ilk fuck right off. #vivavenezuelalibre

ICYMI Have you ever wanted to watch a film from 1930 but couldn’t find it? They’re now in the public domain, so I put together a database of every feature film released that year and where to find them. Enjoy! pre-code.com/how-to-find-...

... and he has a small army of children who will get started in life with *billions* to do as they please for *decades*

It seems like anathema to speak ill of Italian food, but most Italians will agree with me: Tuscan bread is the most insipid, uninspired stomach filler ever created in the whole continent.

About 10 years ago, walking along Haymarket in London I spotted Charles Dance sitting at an outdoor table of a restaurant. We made eye contact. He tilted down his sunglasses and gave me that very "oui, c'est moi" look. I gave him a nod and smile, and went on my way.

I've just written my family in Venezuela who are just as confused.

Remember: When Tylenol was poisoned *by an outsider* and killed people, the company recalled all their products & redesigned them. When Intel’s Pentium had a bug so obscure it affected 1 in _9 billion_ long division calculations, they recalled their chips. ChatGPT was made deadly *by its team*.

Soren Narnia has uploaded a new recording of my favorite story of his - "An Oral History of Hell" This is a story I have listened to probably a couple hundred times, and it never fails to break me a little. It's a triumph, and *bleak*

Holiday (and general life) tip: Set expectations with family ahead of. time on what's allowed with photos re. posts and publishing. Had an unpleasant situation where a Boomer family member uploaded a photo of us & toddlers on ChatGPT for a stupid "cartoonify" thing.

Mohammed bin Salman be like "Name your price"

My partner's grandma is this 91yo Italian lady and she is about as close to a saint as could be possible. The first thing she does *every morning* is pray for good health and happiness of her loved ones, and children. No matter what, that's how she starts each morning: wishing good.

it's crazy that 500 years ago, you would see the ruler of your country maybe once in your life and hear whispers that they're the Sun God, but now with social media, you get to see on a daily basis that they're the most unhinged, idiotic, and unhappy person you know

I often think the world was incredibly lucky that the saxophone was invented in 1840 and was thus unavailable to Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven.

I’m allowed to be disappointed by a party I voted for. I’m allowed to feel politically homeless when a party I supported no longer represents my values. And I’m allowed to change my mind when the evidence, the rhetoric, and the direction of travel demand it.

As a Venezuelan, I'm hoping on a swift resolution* *(that ends up with Maduro and his cronies fucking off to anywhere else)

Today, we make further steps in our renewed EU-UK strategic partnership. We have concluded the negotiations for the UK’s association to Erasmus+ in 2027. Bringing back Erasmus+ for our young people, opening the door to new shared experiences and lasting friendships.

Oh fuck, that's a good one.

Trump's comment about Rob Reiner, a beloved American, really demonstrates the rottenness of his character.

Hey! I get it, you don't like Trump...

“It's easy to cling to principles when it's someone else’s freedom at stake. From safe distance, many expect Venezuela’s democratic leaders to pursue their goals with a moral purity their adversaries never show. This is unrealistic, unfair, and reveals an ignorance of history.” tinyurl.com/3uhvwsbr

Dear BSky, as a Venezuelan who still has family and friends there, I beg you to avoid comparisons to Iraq, Lybia, et al. Very different social, geographic, cultural, and historic contexts. This below a good website to follow. Good sources over on X I can refer. www.caracaschronicles.com

Every org has a couple of old heads in nondescript positions that functions as the organisation's memory. "Susan will know". Until Susan retires or is replaced with a generative AI...