358 806 signatures for the full suspension of the EU-Israel association, more than 1/3 of what is needed and 4 of the 7 countries needed over 100%. tinyurl.com/mv8fzdhu ☑️Belgium 103% ☑️Finland 100.5% ☑️France 296% Ireland 58.7% Italy 79.8% Netherlands 31% Poland 51.4% ☑️Spain 111.9% Sweden 81.6%

I stopped trying to debate software developers on LLMs a while back. It's fruitless. Even if they could be budged on empirical grounds, they are explicitly fine with using tools that are themselves deeply unethical.

No Women, No Palestinians and No Muslims on this “Gaza Board of Peace,” deciding the fate of Palestinian Gazans. Exploitative Western Colonialism still going strong in the 21st Century. Blair, Kushner and Rubio among names on Gaza 'Board of Peace' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Doing a lot of pulling out records I haven’t listened to in a long time recently. Some stand up and some don’t. This kicks the shit out of everything.

“The 47 Ronin director was accused of defrauding Netflix out of millions of dollars intended to be spent on completing a sci-fi series … ; he was then alleged to have spent the money on luxury items and risky bets on the cryptocurrency market.”. Surely this is something to be applauded.

Last night I watched the excellent Swedish film Crossing about a Georgian woman searching for her trans niece in Istanbul and it occurred to me that if the Warners/Netflix deal does put the final nail in the coffin of Hollywood then, sad as that is, there is a whole world of other cinema out there.

If I didn’t already have a job I’d be all over this. Fantastic opportunity for someone.

Dublin Music fans: my band are playing Curveball tonight. Passed my PhD viva yesterday so I’ll be celebrating. Probably drunk but I’m on bass tonight so that should be fine. God knows, I’ve done that enough times before.

What’s going on with RTE drive time? It’s bad enough they chopped off a chunk and replaced it with sport but now I turn it on at 5:30 (before the stupid sport starts) and I find they’re just wittering on about Brussel sprouts.

Dublin folks … my band have a rare gig coming up …. and I’m playing the bass now, which is my real musical comfort zone buttonfactory.ie/shows/2025/1...

If Affinity does this design work immediately becomes viable on Linux. Huge deal. techcentral.co.za/affinity-for... via @conignis.bsky.social‬

Perhaps the greatest ever two line review of a book.

Given that tonight I’m going to see the greatest Irish band of the last 30 years do a warm-up gig at an as-yet-undisclosed location in preparation for their first shows in over a decade it’s understandable that I won’t get any work done this afternoon, right?

Every time someone chairing a meeting moves to bring it to a close by confirming that they are “conscious of time” I wonder why we are suddenly talking about phenomenology.

🇮🇪 DUBLIN! 🇮🇪 My new show 'ASSETS' opens at Green on Red Gallery for Dublin Gallery Weekend. Nov 7 - Dec 12 Reception: Friday Nov 7, 5-9pm Here is a sneak peek of new sculpture... Ghost Mussels (2025) 3D printed mussels in the shape of mussels on a hand-painted default rock from blender.

We need a Dublin version of this.

Protests, mass meetups, conferences—a youth-led movement is reclaiming the Luddite mantle, rejecting a future dominated by Silicon Valley companies, toxic apps, and generative AI. This fall, a "Luddite renaissance" is in full swing. www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-luddit...

I have a bike pannier I inherited from my late father. He must have bought it in the late 70s or early 80s. It still works, is in good nick, and it looks classy. A backup I bought a few years ago has already fallen apart.

Mining sludge metal, free improv, krautrock, sacred music, electronica, and folk, Rún are playing with horror, not just as a trope, but as a worldly experience Rún - Rún buff.ly/NIspZR6

"How significant is the fact that Tony Blairs involved in discussions about a post war Gaza?" Ash Sarkar: "Well I guess it's because Satan was unavailable"

Just submitted this thing today. Now to try and remember what I spent my time doing before this took over my life. I might have to start another band.

I paid a fair few quid to get hold of a used copy of this a few years back. Absolutely worth it. I also did my undergrad thesis/project on ELIZA many moons ago. Me and Weizenbaum go way back.

Your house is on fire and you can only save one record.

Well done to everyone who worked to make this happen and I’m very pleased to see my university involved in this.

REM thing with @tedleo.bsky.social and friends at Vicar Street tonight was just glorious but also made me think that Murmur really is their best record. Having said that - I’m looking forward to the possibility of a run through LRP. Shannon is also clearly a frustrated rock star. Great job folks!

Infuriating listening to the technology correspondent of the Irish Times on the radio conflating email with gmail and not telling listeners they could deal with the spam problem by simply switching to a different email service.

I'm quoted in this article as saying .... 1/3

Not just destroying their present, but attempting to erase their future. No words adequate.

so I am one of the 12 people (including the “god-fathers of AI”) that will be at the Vatican this September for a two full-day working group on the Future of AI here is my Vatican approved short provocation on 'AI and Fraternity' for the working group

In further evidence of the concerted campaign waged against the OTB in the media in recent weeks then check out these two different articles in the IT by Pat Leahy, published at the same time, but saying the same thing. These, or similar ones, are linked to EIGHT times from the front page right now.

Great interview by @zarahedderman.bsky.social with Poor Creature about the inspirations behind their excellent debut album. Shoutout to @stane.bsky.social too.

Museo de Bordados Paso Blanco in Lorca

Awful. This is a great initiative. I get the ever-present danger that the Israeli state wouldn’t let them out, but Ireland not letting them in? Really?

#JulydedByVoices #MusicChallenge Day 5 (but I’m just starting) Has there ever been a finer power-pop song? youtu.be/IKFCOWAGQKY

I wouldn’t want to be whatever band the BBC decide to broadcast instead of Kneecap today (which will surely happen, right?). A lifetime of derision awaits them.

In French chat gpt sounds like "chatte j'ai pété" which means "pussy I farted". Every time a French person talks about chat gpt it sounds like they are saying "pussy I farted" We don't talk about this enough

Valencia at 22:40 and it’s 28 degrees. And an African-size cockroach has just scuttled past the table where I’m sitting scoffing vino. In spite of these things I love the place so far.

Excellent article from David Landy of TCD on their courageous decision to cease collaborations with Israeli universities and other institutions. Would love to see my university, TU Dublin, following suit.

Just finished watching the nine-goal thriller that was Spain vs France in Nations league. When did football get good again and why did no-one tell me about it? All the Barca and Real games I’ve watched over the last while have been great too.

This past semester was the most stressful of my academic career. I had 180 students and about half cheated at some point in the semester They submit weekly reflections where the questions are opinion-based, graded only on effort, don't care about grammar SO MANY students submitted ChatGPT essays

Steve Albini. He was great fun, really nice, and, yes, super cool.

I appear to be staying in an open source hotel. Cool.

Walked into an Irish pub in Elche (Spain) on a whim and ordered a pint. Absolute travesty of a pour but it actually tastes vaguely ok.

In a surprising turn of events I have some photographic work in an exhibition in Australia that is opening next week. Opening reception Thurs 17th at 6pm if you happen to be in the Fremantle area.

I won’t become one of those people who go on about this because I know its annoying and we all know Ireland is a rip-off but just got all this in the local fruit and veg in Cartagena for 14.58. And I was ripped off on the beer. Could have got twice as many cans for the same price in the supermarket.

Someday I will sit down and properly study the correct use of the semicolon, but today is not that day; today I will continue winging it.

Went for a bike ride and stumbled across this place called Algameca Chica, just outside Cartagena. Unofficial settlement originally established by fishermen, now home to hippies and others living off the grid. No official services - solar panels everywhere. Deserted now, busier in Summer apparently.

Finally got around to dumping that old toxic juicer and got this instead. I may not get as much juice as I got out of the other one but I reckon it will taste better and have less obnoxious lumpy bits.

I suspect Sean was in that giant soulless shit-hole of a place down by the Point that no-one ever goes to. Last few times I've been in the Light House of a Sunday it's been rammed.

For example the tone controls on electric guitars are potentiometers and often referred to as ‘pots’ for that reason. A common problem is unwanted noise caused by a build-up of dirt and grime in these controls, a situation that will often result in the guitarist being accused of having ‘dirty pots’.