Complain. Repeatedly.

How do we get all Irish state bodies off X

Dublin City Council CEO Richard Shakespeare says "I have now taken the decision to suspend all posting by the City Council on the X.com platform. This applies to all City Council X accounts and will be actioned with immediate effect."

Jadeitite Axehead • Donegal This beautiful axe tells a story of trade, travel, and value in Neolithic Ireland. Analysis revealed that it came from the Italian Alps, over 1500km away from where it was found in Donegal. On display in @nmireland.bsky.social #Ireland #SpéirGhorm #Archaeology 🏺

As Oracle loses interest in MySQL, devs mull future options www.theregister.com/2026/01/23/m...

eSTÓR (an Irish national language-data platform focused on collecting & sharing language resources to support machine translation & digital language technology; aims to contribute to broader use of Irish across digital & public services) leaves X (286 followers) Bluesky @estornaheireann.bsky.social

"My husband complains about the cold," the man said. "Can you teach me a spell to keep him warm?" "I can teach you to bind hair into a net to catch heat," the wizard said, "using arcane counting and a pair of fine wands." After a while, the man said "Isn't this knitting?" "This, too, is magic."

Grok is being used to create sexualised images of women and child abuse material which are posted on X. So, why is the Department of Education still posting images of children to X? If Government Departments are going to continue to use X, can they at least stop posting images of children?

Vimeo lays off ‘large portion’ of staff after Bending Spoons buyout

Honestly I like the song Les Lacs Du Connemara. Its pretty catchy.

Excellent response to @thecwa.bsky.social announcing they will no longer use X as a platform. We agree! Every day is the perfect day to leave X.

Thanks to @spavel.bsky.social , at productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/the-incred... , I saw an intriguing claim: "the more someone uses AI, the lower quality their outputs become" I am super interested in metacognition so I was hoping it was a metacognition paper and it is! So I read it

They don't really prepare you for the fact that catching up with beloved friends into your 30s and beyond is increasingly just the exchange of news of various personal tragedies, calamities, and agonies over slightly-too-expensive pastries and poached eggs

"Who wouldn't want my employees to share pictures of your kids among themselves?"

"It's not physically totaled, it's legally totaled." Condemning a $150,000+ truck because its core structure has a minor but essentially impossible-to-comprehensively-restore legal exposure is an interesting artifact of our abundance and systems. This is not a judgement.

I also got so obsessed with the fact that they had hot food at lunchtime because up until that point I thought that was like, movie magic that didn't happen in real life (like hanging up the phone without saying goodbye)

We did a school exchange when I was in primary school and I was so blown away that the Polish school I visited had corridors in between the rooms (I didn't even know the Irish word for corridors, having gone to a prefab Gaelscoil) that my principal made me go on the radio to shame Bertie about it

Large Swedish pension fund Alecta exits U.S. treasuries. Total sale about $7bn. www.placera.se/nyheter/-pen...

I mean, the way the year is going there'll be a handful of new emergencies in that time so this is canny.

Crowdsourcing a question for security folks who aren’t absolutely underwater right now: do people know of more secure translation apps? I got asked and I don’t know the answer either

The European Commission (EC) is considering a “Digital Omnibus” package that would substantially rewrite EU privacy law, particularly the landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It’s not a done deal, and it shouldn’t be. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

When you drift through some unheralded point in your 40s, you start accumulating actuarial risks. The odds of illness, heart attack, or the chances losing of a parent go up. But there is another risk- particularly acute for men. There is a risk you will lose your capacity for joy.

Article 4.4 GDPR: “‘profiling’ means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person” Article 22 creates a general ban on profiling, and sets out specific exemptions and safeguards needed.

We’re sad to report the passing of former ESA Director of Science Prof. Roger-Maurice Bonnet on 19 January 2026, aged 88. 🔗 esa.int/About_Us/Cor... @cmundell.esa.int @science.esa.int @josefaschbacher.esa.int

Dublin City Council has suspended use of X following the Green Party emergency motion last week. It'll come to our Protocol Committee next week and myself and other Greens will be recommending leaving it completely. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

This. And also, in some world markets, when you borrow a book from a library, the author gets a small payment just for your borrowing it! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_...

It's also incredibly telling that the messaging is that this is over.... "in the wake of"... "after the Grok controversy"... Nothing's happened! How are we in the wake of it?

ESA is closely monitoring a notable space weather event, first detected at 18:09 UTC on 18 January 2026. Aurora were observed over Europe last night and continued high levels of space weather activity are anticipated over the coming days. www.esa.int/Space_Safety... @esaspaceweather.esa.int

It took me all of 4 minutes to write and send a short email.Do it….Simon says.

I think it's also worth people knowing that Elon Musk has no less than FIVE sets of proceedings lodged against Coimisiún na Meán since last year.

Let’s focus on the two first confirmations of illegality. Tell me where X Internet Unlimited Company in Fenian Street doesn’t do this.

See now, this is one of the things nearby that we can do something about. CnaM says they choose not to use the powers they have against Grok. You can let them know you would like them to reconsider. [email protected]

Our entire regulatory framework has proved to be no more than a painted balsa wood front. The AG here confirms it is illegal to generate CSAM. We also gave CnaM the power to act on any material which was not illegal, but was offensive. Turns out they don’t wanna. www.rte.ie/news/2026/01...

After all, we already know that Tesla tries to hide data: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

You never really understand how long a career is until you've started to actually do it. People remember, and that should guide you an enormous amount. They're gonna be there in a decade. They're gonna know you decades later.

Aurora over Achill, 19th Janaury 2026

This is grossly unfair. Carers are already underpaid for the work they do and resultant savings to the state. Taxing their meagre income adds insult to injury. Not to mention the allowance is means tested to include their spouses income so many don’t even get the full allowance.

bsky.app/profile/pook... The einstellung effect has been known for generations: you have a very hard time noticing you're not actually solving the problem you actually have, but a different problem. Generative AI is the einstellung effect reified.

Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She was 95.

Marie Sherlock (an Irish politician from the Labour Party, currently serving as a Teachta Dála (TD) (member of the lower house of the Irish Parliament) for the Dublin Central constituency) moves to Bluesky (4.958 followers) Bluesky: @mariesherlock.bsky.social

I think @karlstanley.bsky.social was talking about this before on here, but there's a deep lack of technical understanding in our government, and it totally leaves them open to this kind of credulous "but they showed me *wonders*!" nonsense.

Any recommendations for books in Irish that are not of a difficulty that makes them impenetrable for a learner but challenging enough to give plenty opportunities to look up words or phrases? Not textbooks, more like novels etc. - I've a few graphic novels but ideally something longer. #Gaeilge

Looking out on a bright Winter morning from the back of a seacave. County Clare, Ireland.

🚨 Fine Gael TD and barrister Barry Ward has written to Gardaí issuing a formal complaint against X and its linked companies "in the anticipation that you will investigate it fully and transmit a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions without delay.” Full text 🔽 pastebin.com/cdEVuLqA

Weaving and crafts community: we have a loom that needs saving. It's beautiful and looks to be in great shape. Please share to all Irish crafts people. #Speirgorm #crafts #weaving #loom #Ireland

Please sign petition for Irish institutions to stop promoting X my.uplift.ie/petitions/ta...

As nothing has changed since I wrote The Abuse Factory Gist re X, the only thing an extra Gist has is a round up of the moral & intellectual collapse of policy and commentary Too painful for me to go back on, to little benefit. Niamh Smyth and Richard Chambers aside, it’s been a shocking failure