This @groundup.org.za editorial does a fine job of articulating just how outrageous the gag order against @opensecrets.org.za is. We don't know who gagged them, on what grounds, in which court, or by which judge's ruling. groundup.org.za/article/anon...

I don't know who here remembers the late, utterly loveable Siya Africa -- but I think of him every time I stumble upon a great new podcast and think, 'Damn, would've sent this one to Siya.' It's called the Siya Test, and it's an invaluable assessment criterion for prestige audio.

Good morning. I'm pleased to share this vegetable that can be used to test automatic content filters.

Genuine question: 3 years ago, how many people realised how much dramatically *worse* the internet was about to get, and how rapidly it would get there?

We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose. “They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a 29-year-old in California wrote.

My friend Sophie is raising funds to send 12 independent performers to the National Arts Fest this year. Don't think of it as contributing to their transport costs. Rather tell everyone you paid for Sophie Joans's OnlyVans: thundafund.africa/campaign/182...

The boys are having a ball over on Dad Reddit

This account just posts food at British football stadiums and it's the most upsetting shit I've ever seen

I peeked in on Netflix's new Asterix series, really just to see how they'd messed it up, and am happy to report: it's *delightful*. For those who grew up on the comics, it feels like they managed to capture the original spirit while still making it feel contemporary. youtu.be/bJnDJcoeqZs?...

Something moderately cool that happened to me: a while back I found this obscure (to me) historical political cartoon in a set of frames bought at a charity shop, and I've just gratefully transferred it into the care of UCT's Special Collections library. A brief thread of useless minutiae:

According to science: your coworkers judge you for using AI in your job. pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/10/y... via @paulmwatson.com

Every time I try to use generative AI for anything remotely useful I walk away feeling like it's a softserve machine that makes pretty decent ice cream 60% of the time, slightly disappointing ice cream 35% of the time, and 5% of the time it spits out liquid pig shit. I can't work with those odds.

GPT bullshitting: I asked Chat GPT (GPT-4o) to summarise a PDF of the Kenyan High Court's recent order for Worldcoin to delete all biometric data. Thrice ChatGPT gave a fluent and 100% confident summary of a completely unrelated case: one relating to the Westgate massacre, two from South Africa.

Joining a proud tradition of litigants who've not heard of the Streisand effect

Blessed are the pea smaakers 🇿🇦

Look, I don't condone this sort of thing, but the reality is that in this funding environment, departments *do* need to become more resourceful. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/u...

My partner and I are on a (delayed) 10th anniversary getaway. Last night we took out the Scrabble board for just about the first time since we had kids, and played until she rage-quit over an absence of consonants and me "playing mean". Just like old times!

I had the unfortunate opportunity to pay tribute to my friend and mentor Mark Weinberg, a child of South Africa's liberation struggle, movement builder, information activist, and mischief-maker in the face of conservative authoritarianism. groundup.org.za/article/thre...

I, as they say, did a thing.

All these Starter Packs are very nice, but I've finally made the one you've been waiting for: A collection of Bluesky users called Murray. Unfortunately there appear to be only two (2!) first-name Murrays on the whole platform (@mpshanahan.bsky.social and me) but we will grow.

For South Africans joining Bluesky and hoping to fill an empty newsfeed: may I recommend this Starter Pack of accounts commenting about, reports on, or involved in SA politics 👉 go.bsky.app/vzDePD Courtesy of the amiable cardigan-wearing @davidjeffery.bsky.social

I can't stop thinking of this quote from the fruit seller who sold the banana that got turned into a gallery stunt worth $6.2 million www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/n...

They say the best time to start a social media presence is 10 years ago. The second best time is today.