Ålün
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alunbweird.bsky.social
Ålün
@alunbweird.bsky.social
He/him. Elder millenial. Cameras, cartoons, heavy metal, books, nerdy stuff. Liberty, human rights. British, European. Health professional. No Tories/TERFs/AI/Crypto chuds/other bastards. https://www.tideoptics.com/?ref=aevIv3XN discount code: ALUNB
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Clinicians who actually saw the horrors of COVID (and didn’t get infected, because masks fucking work 🤷🏻‍♂️) are pretty pissed at this. Especially the @newyorker.com - I expect better 🤦🏻‍♂️
The thesis of the book is that early COVID lockdowns weren't worth it and mid-COVID mitigation measures like masks, contact tracing and business closures don't work.

This is laughably false and the authors have endorsed the people now running Trump's HHS.
December 24, 2025 at 5:19 AM
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December 22, 2025 at 11:27 PM
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GenAI cannot summarise anything because it cannot analyse anything because there is no intelligence there. This entire premise starts with a lie and the deceit builds from there.
The “AI” has not read the book. Even if the book was in its training data, it has just absorbed it as a set of statistics. It will juggle you a “summary” that might or might not relate to the conclusions of the actual text. The only way you’ll know is to read it yourself.
This is one of the reasons I remain horrified by seeing @historians.org suggest "ways to use gAI" that included this:
December 22, 2025 at 8:26 AM
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It's backup day! 📂🎉 Back up your art, your writing... everything! Repost to remind a friend!
December 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
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The Gov are currently holding a public consultation on police use of facial recognition.

This is our chance to have our say.

Join us via the link below 👇 and we’ll let you know how to make the biggest impact.

action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/page/182163/...
I want to take the next step!
With the announcement of the public consultation around the use of facial recognition technology, add your name to let us know that you want to join us and take the next step to stop facial…
action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk
December 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
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The data already showed facial recognition technology is racially biased. But police deploying the technology they knew was biased is even more alarming.

This is exactly why strong safeguards are urgently needed.
December 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
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This image is truly stunning. I highly recommend clicking on the "embiggen" link provided.
I gripe a little bit about the ambiguity of the word "day" — astronomically speaking, of course — and also present you with a *gorgeous* Hubble shot of a face-spiral galaxy that turns out to be part of the puzzle that tells us how the universe expands.

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/happy-sols...

🔭 🧪
Happy solstice, and a gorgeous galaxy with which to measure the Universe
The longest night is now behind us, and a Hubble image of a galaxy used as a ruler
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:40 PM
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Devastating footage from one of the boaters only 100 metres away:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FuN...
Massive Breach on the Llangollen Canal
YouTube video by Narrowboat Life Unlocked
www.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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Add your name to the petition to stop the tax cuts for tech billionaires: act.38degrees.org.uk/act/no-tax-c...
Don’t cut taxes for US tech billionaires!
Trump and the big tech CEOs are coming to the UK to pressure our government into SLASHING their tax. Tax that could be spent on training over 100,000 NHS nurses. If you want our government to stand st...
act.38degrees.org.uk
December 22, 2025 at 10:51 AM
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Last-minute gig idea! A knock-off VHS that looks a bit like a classic Disney cartoon:
December 22, 2025 at 10:07 AM
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THE HISTORY OF NAUSICAA HAYAO MIYAZAKI IMAGE BOARD COMPLETE WORKS 4
paddysbooks.bigcartel.com/product/the-...
#artbooks #watercolours #anime
December 21, 2025 at 10:13 PM
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So deeply not kidding when I say that the current paradigm of "Gen AI" is doing deep, lasting harm to our ability to make knowledge, meaning, & truth w/ each other.

Like… it's really fucking us up & if we don't stop it soon we're gonna see a kind of negative chaos frankly unimaginable to most ppl 👍🏾
January 18, 2025 at 3:58 AM
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This is what I don’t understand: How could extensive attention to clean indoor air make anything *worse*? Particulates and pollen and so on cause issues for people with allergies and asthma even before we think about anything else. It’s cheap and easy and we should just be doing it everywhere!
Study in Helsinki indicating benefits of portable air cleaners on lowering infection risk in daycare centers, less absences & parent absences from work in intervention vs. reference (no air cleaner) groups. Cleaning indoor air is not difficult and it works.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The effect of room air cleaners on infection control in day care centres
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of air cleaning in reducing the risk of respiratory infection in two day care centres using a si…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:44 PM
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I need about £100 of orders today to meet a loan repayment in the morning, anything extra goes towards buying something other than frozen chips for Christmas dinner!
heresyminiatures.com/discounts
heresyminiatures.etsy.com
Etsy - buy any 3 things, get 30% off!
December 21, 2025 at 12:16 PM
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If you claim to be an 'academic' or a 'researcher' or similar and your position is that you should not have to read things and/or write things and you would like the plagiarism machine to do that for you then please step aside and let someone who would like to work in the field have your job.
December 20, 2025 at 8:43 PM
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Signed! Canadian friends are urged to do likewise.
Canadian friends: here's a petition to stop AB and SK from Notwithstanding their anti-trans-healthcare legislation (this will make sense to Canadians). Don't let them shield their bigotry from Charter scrutiny!

www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
Petition e-7027 - Petitions
www.ourcommons.ca
December 20, 2025 at 5:03 PM
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In short, using AI in your writing is among the dumbest things you can do as a writer as it exposes you to potential legal action while affording you zero legal protections. AI is a nightmare box for idiots. Don't fall into the trap of shortcutting your writing career.
December 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
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once again screaming at people about her public document full of historical clothing references and resources (which had it's most recent update on the 12th of january last year!)

heystacks.com/doc/1247/cla...
Claire Hummel's Historical Fashion Reference & Resources - 🟧Heystack
A comprehensive list of historical fashion resources, including patterns, textiles, embroidery and more! - 🟧Heystack
heystacks.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:50 PM
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Happy holidays everyone

Winter sprite and Yule goat, gouache on paper
December 20, 2025 at 6:56 PM
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First person squawker
December 20, 2025 at 8:23 AM
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My professional artists peers! We got a survey request!

Researchers at the University of Carnegie Mellon is doing a research to see how generative Al has (or has not) impacted your work and/or sentiments in the industry. Folks in creative fields only, please consider filling this out 👇
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
cmu.ca1.qualtrics.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:57 PM
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"Rowling will undoubtedly receive substantial royalties from the Fortnite skins… That money will likely be funneled into her hate campaign against trans people.

"… over a third of… funding for the [U.K.] case came directly from Rowling…"

www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/12/fort...
Fortnite dragged for collaborating with JK Rowling after canceling Pride celebration - LGBTQ Nation
An upcoming Harry Potter x Fortnite collab got leaked.
www.lgbtqnation.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:28 PM
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Good morning
December 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
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Multiple pressures stacking on top of one another, each amplified by the climate crisis, are killing Greece’s iconic fir forests.

These are warning signs of a hellish future coming for ecosystems and people alike, if we don't radically change direction, fast.
share.google/JGqOLfcmOFRC...
They survived wildfires. But something else is killing Greece’s iconic fir forests
In the Peloponnese mountains, the usually hardy trees are turning brown even where fires haven’t reached. Experts are raising the alarm on a complex crisis
share.google
December 19, 2025 at 1:00 PM
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Christmas ghosts
December 19, 2025 at 3:56 AM