Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ian Whitney

@iancwhitney.bsky.social

290 followers 120 following 3.2K posts

I do one thing very well and therefore assume all of my opinions are impeccable, no matter the subject.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · May 16

Pinning this mainly to remind myself:

Hmm that looks like an American Problem. Sucks to be them, I guess. Hope they sort that out but not my rodeo.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1h

I tried it. It had some juice but quickly ran dry because it didn't go hard enough.

Reposted by Ian Whitney

petit burgo @burgotastic.bsky.social · 3h

Was doing a crossword from last week and the answer to this was ‘obese’, and I simply don’t think we can know that that’s true without a better understanding of typical Hutt physiology

3 20

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 6h

AI porn has been a very unexamined frontier and is already wild west. It's going to be fascinating when a whole group of people become addicted to FapGPT and they raise prices.

It will also be fascinating when the lawsuits start because porn videos are being generated from Instagram family pics.

1 1

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 6h

The BBC or, locally, my ABC are very far from perfect but most US political leaders wouldn't last 2 minutes with Jeremy Paxman or Laura Tingle.

1 1 17

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 7h

Also I'm old enough to remember when The New Yorker confidently declared that Booker would be the first black President, lol.

1 24

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 7h

I'm not the first person to raise this but one of the fascinating things about American politics and political reporting is how much a follow-up question short circuits the brains of the politicians (and is a shocking thrill to the audience)

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 8h

"What do you have to say about the capitulation that you participated in?"

Cory Booker clearly wasn't expecting the pushback he got from @ivehaditpodcast.bsky.social

Full interview: youtu.be/HLfzsOVjlxc

5 93 610

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 8h

A few years back there was a fascinating study that showed aged care was still playing Vera Lynn when their residents were overwhelmingly Elvis generation

1 10

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 10h

NOTHING bad ever happens when Germans start surveillance

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 10h

A gay influencer posting this as a green flag for dating has made me cackle hysterically

Reposted by Ian Whitney

Tom Reagan’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 3d

RIP Diane Keaton
My favourite picture of her where everyone else is giving it their best Blue Steel & she looks like she’s just wandered in off the street looking super cool.
She was allowed to wear her own clothes & her wonderful personality shines out.
What a unique talent & human being.

8 240 1.4K

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 11h

Going to be very funny to watch price increases with PornGPT addicted users

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 13h

More accurately, it's a Very Online American thing.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 13h

This was absolutely inevitable- the only way for this to be profitable is if it can do porn.

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 16h

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

Reposted by Ian Whitney

Patriciajaydee @patriciajaydee.bsky.social · 1d

The rikishi are taking-in the town and doing what we all do when in London.
Seeing the sights, admiring the parks, shopping on High Street, taking tea at Fortnum's, using the olde phonebox, eating Chinese, and having a terrific time.

13 170 640

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

(the training, by the way, was very good and very interesting)

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

I've been doing dementia training today and I don't want to be contrarian about this but dementia? Not a fan!

1 3

Reposted by Ian Whitney

Tom Studans @maximumwelfare.bsky.social · 1d

SXSW Sydney

2 3 36

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

New e-training horror show: automated narration with computer voices. THAT often leaves weird gaps or STRANGE emphasis.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

An Order of Australia for any training course which provides transcripts instead of mandatory videos. I can read and learn so much faster than a slow paced video!

1 1

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

'highbrow' (for lack of better word) comedy is basically dead across multiple genres- literary fiction, theatre, opera, music. It lingers on- somewhat- in prestige TV. I have no idea why.

Occasionally I try some of the Wodehouse Prize finalists and they're rarely genuinely, laugh funny.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

Every time I now see a cosy crime cover I muffle a scream. They even all have the same jacket design now. And may I introduce you to this latest horror. www.harpercollins.com.au/978146071910...

Murder at the Castle

Miss Merkel is on the case!The #1 Germany cosy crime bestseller which features the crime-busting retirement adventures of the former German Chancellor, Angel...

www.harpercollins.com.au

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 1d

Yes but also rip your mentions

1 1

Reposted by Ian Whitney

Lilly Dancyger @lillydancyger.bsky.social · 1d

YA shouldn’t exist as a separate category—it infantilizes teenagers who can/should just read regular books for adults. And don’t get me started on adults reading YA…

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

7 8 140

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

A foundational text

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 2d

Gonna start a thread of articles I re-read every time I have an excuse, because after this thread I am thinking a lot about @cormacmccafe.bsky.social‬'s "No Yanks on the Thread" piece.

Feel free to add your own.

I Should Be Able to Mute America

The rest of the world should not have to know the name Bari Weiss

www.gawkerarchives.com

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

That is one of my foundational online texts, along with this one.

theoutline.com/post/7295/bu...

Listen up bitches, it’s time to learn incorrect things about someone you’ve never heard of

Why do people love yelling about random historical figures online and how do we stop it?

theoutline.com

2 10

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

I am going to make an exception for the performers in the NDIS Code of Conduct video who are genuinely entertaining BUT NOT the filmed segments that follow each of their skits.

Ian Whitney @iancwhitney.bsky.social · 2d

An Order of Australia for any training course which provides transcripts instead of mandatory videos. I can read and learn so much faster than a slow paced video!