Ali Mack
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Ali Mack
@alimack13.bsky.social
800 followers 1.4K following 890 posts
Does Theatre, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, books of all kinds, a bit of IT, some environental caring and a touch of emergency planning. Worries about keeping freedom of choice, how we treat refugees and each other. She/Her
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Ali Mack
sanjanah.bsky.social
Compelling warning by Ireland's Data Protection Commission, originally posted to Instagram. The risks, and threats are progressively, and exponentially worse as generative AI is used against material featuring (your/our) children, incl. in production of CSAM/CSEM. www.instagram.com/reel/DRcD5Fi...
November 27, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Can I invite her for Christmas please?
thedailyshow.com The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 20h
Talking to your family at Thanksgiving is hard. Let @lesdoggg.bsky.social handle it
November 26, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Reposted by Ali Mack
shanerazor.bsky.social
The National Development Plan 2040 summed up in 15 secs #speirgorm #transport

youtu.be/cjl8OIZijjY?...
November 26, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Ali Mack
itsdanthomas.bsky.social
This is what Peak Male Performance looks like.
November 26, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
news.rte.ie
An unusual pink light spotted in the skies of north Dublin in recent weeks has caused much intrigue, with many mistaking it for the Northern Lights
What is the 'Aurora Berryalis' spotted over Dublin?
An unusual pink light spotted in the skies of north Dublin in recent weeks has caused much intrigue, with many mistaking it for the Northern Lights.
www.rte.ie
November 26, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Watch the thread for good points on the unfairness for women in sport. Spoiler....it's not trans people.
samlikeybikey.bsky.social Sam @samlikeybikey.bsky.social · 1d
I’m not sure who need to hear it. There is nothing new in this but it’s a long time since I heard it put so eloquently 1/3
November 26, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
imbibecoffee.bsky.social
This is my 6th year posting this same message. Black Friday is a nonsense with often pretend discounts on stuff you probably don’t need. We’ll do as we always do at this time and increase the 1% of all income we give to Women’s Aid to 10% on web sales over the weekend. Fuck Black Friday. #speirgorm
Cream back with Imbibe Coffee Roasters logo with message ‘No Black Friday’.
November 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Ali Mack
whimsicalmuse.bsky.social
Surround yourself with the kind of people who support their local library.
November 24, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Ali Mack
ciara2001.bsky.social
"If a bloke comes to you with a penis", surely the first questions are: Who's penis is it? Where did you get it? Why is it gift wrapped?
danielsohege.bsky.social Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 3d
Why is transphobia the default state for so many arseholes?
Perhaps more than anything, Lord Glasman wants a return to sanity. He is repulsed by the officious, rules-based, professional classes who preach that “up is down, men are women, right is wrong”. Who tell us that truth is subjective and must be suborned to kindness. He recently took part in a Newsnight panel alongside a doctor. “In the lift afterwards, I asked him, ‘If a bloke comes to you with a penis and says they’re a woman, you’ll accept that?’ And he replied, ‘Of course.’ This is bonkers.”
November 23, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I shared the original so sharing the #correction. I still think it's good to review your settings in Gmail tho.
ernie.tedium.co Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 4d
If you have been sharing that Malwarebytes article on the Gmail thing, you should note the giant correction up top.

www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Update November 22. We’ve updated this article after realising we contributed to a perfect storm of misunderstanding around a recent change in the wording and placement of Gmail’s smart features. The settings themselves aren’t new, but the way Google recently rewrote and surfaced them led a lot of people (including us) to believe Gmail content might be used to train Google’s AI models, and that users were being opted in automatically. After taking a closer look at Google’s documentation and reviewing other reporting, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Gmail does scan email content to power its own “smart features,” such as spam filtering, categorisation, and writing suggestions. But this is part of how Gmail normally works and isn’t the same as training Google’s generative AI models. Google also maintains that these feature settings are opt-in rather than opt-out, although users’ experiences seem to vary depending on when and how the new wording appeared. It’s easy to see where the confusion came from. Google’s updated language around “smart features” is vague, and the term “smart” often implies AI—especially at a time when Gemini is being integrated into other parts of Google’s products. When the new wording started appearing for some users without much explanation, many assumed it signalled a broader shift. We’ve revised this article to reflect what we can confirm from Google’s documentation, as it’s always been our aim to give readers accurate, helpful guidance.
November 23, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
halfwayupbooks.bsky.social
Join us for our annual Books of the Year Online event on Monday 24th November. Check out the fab line up of authors we’ll be talking to below! And we will be giving out a 10% discount code on the night! Book your free ticket here: halfwayupthestairs.ie/product/2411...
@sarahwebbwriter.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Ali Mack
fondalee.bsky.social
COVER REVEAL: My next book is a standalone science fiction cyberpunk thriller starring aging corporate samurai. The Last Contract of Isako will be out on May 5, 2026 from @orbitbooks.bsky.social. Can't wait to share it with you. Thank you to @tommypocket.bsky.social for this kickass cover ⚔️
November 22, 2025 at 1:13 AM
@dublin2029.bsky.social interesting essay
gautambhatia88.bsky.social Gautam Bhatia @gautambhatia88.bsky.social · 5d
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.

“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —

altermag.com/articles/the...
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
altermag.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:24 AM
One for Scottish based #booksky. Hope it goes well.
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 AM
#spiergorm @octocon.bsky.social time to check those security settings.
oisinmcgann.bsky.social Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 5d
Our lives have become a non-stop series of assaults on our privacy by the technology we rely on.
brunojnavarro.bsky.social Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · 5d
Under the radar, Google has added features that allow Gmail to access all private messages and attachments for training its AI models.
November 22, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
eils1.bsky.social
Found it: enterprise.gov.ie/en/consultat...
Public consultation on the review of the operation of the right to request remote working legislation
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is seeking the views of stakeholders and interested parties on the operation of the right to request remote working provisions of the Work Life Bal...
enterprise.gov.ie
November 21, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
rebelalliance77.bsky.social
#Spéirghorm
November 22, 2025 at 6:54 AM
More fun facts for #booksky
iucounu.bsky.social iucounu @iucounu.bsky.social · 6d
type for books used to be set using little metal letters built into words in racks and then inked and pressed on to paper. If you had stock phrases you wanted to reuse a lot you could make a cast of them called a ‘stereotype’. The sound of them *clicking* into place, in French, is ‘cliché’
colindickey.com Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 6d
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposting for #speirgorm and #BookSky.
natural20.bsky.social Brian Nisbet @natural20.bsky.social · 6d
Yesterday evening marked the launch of @rflong.bsky.social's "The Lore of Silver" hosted by the @gutterbookshop.bsky.social)! Ruth was interviewed by @sarahreesbrennan.bsky.social about how the series came into being and intrigued us all. There are bodies, you should buy this book!
A picture of Sarah Rees-Brennan (left) and Ruth F Long (right) in front of a Gutter Bookshop sign. Ruth is talking about her new book, The Lore of Silver!
November 21, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
cameowood.com
I had to find out how cute this was. Turns out: incredibly cute and I needed to know this. I put some time into these alt-tags
Beautiful eye brown cows are walking toward the camera and are the deck with evergreens and beautiful summer flowers. The cow in front has the most beautiful nose you’ve ever seen and has her face pointed shyly down. Behind her is a long row of similarly beautifully dressed cows. Two young adults, a girl and a boy made a parade of decorated cows through a traditional street with old-fashioned Swiss buildings. Everyone is smiling and delighted, except for the boy. The cows are lovely and their noses need to be petted. A white valley with a country road with a parade of cows walking toward the camera. The cows have Tal or Nate towers of flowers and evergreens on their heads and they’re walking in a row. They are brown with white faces. On the left walking near them is a man with a black blazer and pants and a white shirt and a hat. He has a pink flower in his lapel. These cows are walking down a country street with a Swiss chalet style cabin on the left. The cows have truly ridiculous Christmas tree. Tal flower arrangements on their heads that are laughably huge. They also seem to have massive bells underneath them almost the size of their heads. These cows also have noses that need to be booped.
November 21, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
hugobookclub.bsky.social
“Dress up for air travel” you say?

CAN DO!
Sean Connery in Zardoz. He is wearing a red bikini, red suspenders and knee-high leather pirate boots. But he’s not wearing anything else unless you count a lot of body hair.
November 21, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
georgepenney.bsky.social
🧵Spotted While Roaming in Aotearoa New Zealand:

In a misty paddock, early morning, a farmer belts across buttercup strewn grass on a quad bike, two border collies streaks of black and white either side. Cloud draped mountains in the distance. The smell of green and the sea in the air. (1)
November 21, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
rflong.bsky.social
To Amberes city of lost gods all things return. The Lore of Silver is out today from @hodderscape.bsky.social

And join @sarahreesbrennan.bsky.social and I at @gutterbookshop.bsky.social Dublin tonight to celebrate the launch with cake and shenanigans!
#FeralGods #speirgorm #booksky📚💙
November 20, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Ali Mack
blkpansy.bsky.social
Did you know it's Transgender Awareness Week?
Did you know that my memoir PANSY is about me, a transmasc person, and it's also an audiobook?

S/o to supporting Black trans art, y'all. You can order or listen to my book via the link: linktr.ee/jasperjoyner

#blackbooksky #booksky #transwriter
JASPER JOYNER | Linktree
Author + poet from tha South.
linktr.ee
November 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Ali Mack
spavel.bsky.social
Extremely upset that a throw-away XKCD joke somehow became the organizing principle for the Internet.
Stack of blocks labeled, all modern digital infrastructure. A ratchet tipping over the entire stack is labeled AI. A load bearing pillar is labeled unpaid open source development. Another label is AWS, and Cloudflare and Unpaid Open Source Developers.
November 20, 2025 at 2:31 AM