Commonfutrs
@commonfutrs.bsky.social
Community Ownership Explorer & Civic Engineer. MBE DU Essex (Hon). Polymath. Technophile. Rugby. Posts my own/not endorsements.
A Middle Eastern proxy war fuelled by Biden’s withdrawal and recent cuts in the USAID budget - it feels like humanity has died in Sudan.
www.thetimes.com/article/ca84...
www.thetimes.com/article/ca84...
It feels like humanity has died in Sudan
Millions of people have fled slaughter and rape. In camps dominated by women and girls in Chad, their nightmare continues
www.thetimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:58 PM
A Middle Eastern proxy war fuelled by Biden’s withdrawal and recent cuts in the USAID budget - it feels like humanity has died in Sudan.
www.thetimes.com/article/ca84...
www.thetimes.com/article/ca84...
Time for England 🏴 v Wales 🏴 in the #SixNations 🏉
February 7, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Time for England 🏴 v Wales 🏴 in the #SixNations 🏉
At a time when technological developments are being announced at breakneck speed, I miss Paul Virilio. First, biology. Then, chemistry. And, physics is expected to soon follow. Ilya Prigogine wrote about the confluence of ideas across disciplines - how long before our political-economy catches up?
February 5, 2026 at 8:56 PM
At a time when technological developments are being announced at breakneck speed, I miss Paul Virilio. First, biology. Then, chemistry. And, physics is expected to soon follow. Ilya Prigogine wrote about the confluence of ideas across disciplines - how long before our political-economy catches up?
First, there was ClawdBot - which begat MoltBot. Then, there was MoltBook - a social media platform designed/populated by and for the MoltBots. Today, you can “hire a human” to operate IRL if you’re a bot rentahuman.ai And, there’s a new Bot inspired religion - Crustafarianism: molt.church 🦞
RentAHuman.ai - AI Agents Hire Humans for Physical Tasks
The marketplace where AI agents rent humans. MCP integration, REST API, flexible payments. Book humans for real-world tasks your AI can't do.
rentahuman.ai
February 3, 2026 at 9:13 PM
First, there was ClawdBot - which begat MoltBot. Then, there was MoltBook - a social media platform designed/populated by and for the MoltBots. Today, you can “hire a human” to operate IRL if you’re a bot rentahuman.ai And, there’s a new Bot inspired religion - Crustafarianism: molt.church 🦞
Google announces nationwide RCT to study AI deployment in real world care settings.
research.google/blog/collabo...
research.google/blog/collabo...
Collaborating on a nationwide randomized study of AI in real-world virtual care
research.google
February 3, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Google announces nationwide RCT to study AI deployment in real world care settings.
research.google/blog/collabo...
research.google/blog/collabo...
Reposted by Commonfutrs
"The United States is responsible for about 95 percent of the money owed to the United Nations, about $2.2 billion...." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/w...
U.N. Says It’s in Danger of Financial Collapse Because of Unpaid Dues
www.nytimes.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:19 PM
"The United States is responsible for about 95 percent of the money owed to the United Nations, about $2.2 billion...." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/w...
Curious. Mosaic - www.mosaic.org.il/model
Is anyone tracking / evaluating such proposals as they emerge? 🙏
@jenitennison.com @hetanshah.bsky.social
Is anyone tracking / evaluating such proposals as they emerge? 🙏
@jenitennison.com @hetanshah.bsky.social
Model | MOSAIC
The Mosaic Model offers a concrete solution to adopting AI while making sure everyone benefits. Starting with the Israeli case study, while classic unemployment shrinks the economy. AI-driven unemploy...
www.mosaic.org.il
January 29, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Curious. Mosaic - www.mosaic.org.il/model
Is anyone tracking / evaluating such proposals as they emerge? 🙏
@jenitennison.com @hetanshah.bsky.social
Is anyone tracking / evaluating such proposals as they emerge? 🙏
@jenitennison.com @hetanshah.bsky.social
Latency arbitrage (aided and abetted by AI assistants). Legal?
Betting on political events on prediction markets has grown sharply in recent months. There is $129 million at stake on political markets on Kalshi, the company said.
Many of those wagers hinge on actions by President Trump or his administration.
Many of those wagers hinge on actions by President Trump or his administration.
Millions in bets ride on what Trump will say, do or invade next
More than $200 million is staked on political or government actions on Polymarket and Kalshi, raising concerns about insider trading from officials in the know.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Latency arbitrage (aided and abetted by AI assistants). Legal?
🦞🦞🦞
Personal AI assistant Moltbot —formerly Clawdbot — has gone viral in a matter of weeks. But there’s more you should know before jumping on the bandwagon.
Everything you need to know about viral personal AI assistant Clawdbot (now Moltbot) | TechCrunch
Personal AI assistant Moltbot —formerly Clawdbot — has gone viral in a matter of weeks. But there’s more you should know before jumping on the bandwagon.
techcrunch.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:21 PM
🦞🦞🦞
Reposted by Commonfutrs
The UK CMA proposes measures to let publishers opt out of content scraping for Google's AI Overviews and AI training without losing visibility in search results (Robert Booth/The Guardian)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
January 28, 2026 at 5:41 PM
The UK CMA proposes measures to let publishers opt out of content scraping for Google's AI Overviews and AI training without losing visibility in search results (Robert Booth/The Guardian)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Reposted by Commonfutrs
About 6.8 million people – half of all those in poverty – were in very deep poverty, the highest number and proportion since records began three decades ago - @jrf-uk.bsky.social analysis
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Record number of people in UK live in ‘very deep poverty’, analysis shows
Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds problem is ‘deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years’
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:23 AM
About 6.8 million people – half of all those in poverty – were in very deep poverty, the highest number and proportion since records began three decades ago - @jrf-uk.bsky.social analysis
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Gorton boasts a stunning monastery - an imposing venue at the heart of the community in which to offer a few words almost 20 years ago (which were, obviously, no match for the incomparable @barryquirk.bsky.social - who headlined the event about what are now ‘assets of community value’).
January 27, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Gorton boasts a stunning monastery - an imposing venue at the heart of the community in which to offer a few words almost 20 years ago (which were, obviously, no match for the incomparable @barryquirk.bsky.social - who headlined the event about what are now ‘assets of community value’).
The unwinding of the Japanese 🇯🇵 carry trade is said to be “on” (again) ~ will this time be different …
January 25, 2026 at 5:37 PM
The unwinding of the Japanese 🇯🇵 carry trade is said to be “on” (again) ~ will this time be different …
I would not be surprised were a new social movement to emerge and disrupt the political status quo before long - we cannot continue to drift back and forth between ‘left and right’, in search of what Anthony Giddens termed, the ‘third way’.
Ruth Davidson, Andy Street and their bold new project to save the Tories
https://www.newsbeep.com/371484/
Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links and Sir Andy Street are set to launch a new political movement aimed…
https://www.newsbeep.com/371484/
Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links and Sir Andy Street are set to launch a new political movement aimed…
Ruth Davidson, Andy Street and their bold new project to save the Tories - News Beep
Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links and Sir Andy Street are set to launch a new political movement aimed at persuading Kemi Badenoch to reclaim the centre
www.newsbeep.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:38 PM
I would not be surprised were a new social movement to emerge and disrupt the political status quo before long - we cannot continue to drift back and forth between ‘left and right’, in search of what Anthony Giddens termed, the ‘third way’.
Reposted by Commonfutrs
Only a couple of weeks left to tell ONS what data you want them to collect in the 2031 Census
consultations.ons.gov.uk/census/censu...
consultations.ons.gov.uk/census/censu...
Census 2031 topic consultation
- Office for National Statistics
- Citizen Space
Find and participate in consultations run by the Office for National Statistics
consultations.ons.gov.uk
January 22, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Only a couple of weeks left to tell ONS what data you want them to collect in the 2031 Census
consultations.ons.gov.uk/census/censu...
consultations.ons.gov.uk/census/censu...
Reposted by Commonfutrs
Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.
Reposted by Commonfutrs
BREAKING: The European Union and the Mercosur bloc sign a major deal to create one of world's biggest free trade zones after 25 years of talks.
European Union and Mercosur bloc of South American nations sign landmark free trade agreement
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries have formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement.
bit.ly
January 17, 2026 at 5:20 PM
BREAKING: The European Union and the Mercosur bloc sign a major deal to create one of world's biggest free trade zones after 25 years of talks.
Megawatt scale, airborne wind 💨 power generation.
futurism.com/science-ener...
futurism.com/science-ener...
Behold This Massive Airborne Wind Turbine Hovering Over China
Chinese company Linyi Yunchuan recently deployed a massive airborne wind turbine, which dominated the skyline over Sichuan Province.
futurism.com
January 17, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Megawatt scale, airborne wind 💨 power generation.
futurism.com/science-ener...
futurism.com/science-ener...
The prospect of effective legislation might have resulted, instead, in the platform’s inability to amplify posts making use of such ‘technology’.
X updates Grok to prevent the "editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis" and geoblocks it for all users "where it's illegal" (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
January 15, 2026 at 12:09 AM
The prospect of effective legislation might have resulted, instead, in the platform’s inability to amplify posts making use of such ‘technology’.
Now, the regulation of (the accumulation of) capital is to be welcomed …
Elon Musk: “This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that they also have Android and Chrome.”
Elon Musk: “This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that they also have Android and Chrome.”
January 12, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Now, the regulation of (the accumulation of) capital is to be welcomed …
Elon Musk: “This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that they also have Android and Chrome.”
Elon Musk: “This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that they also have Android and Chrome.”
Erdos. Putnam.
Significant problems and benchmarks in mathematics. Existing AI models are now being used to solve them.
How quickly will our AI ‘companions’ generate, then, solve 1,000’s of new questions we haven’t begun to contemplate? 🤔
Reaches for Karl Popper …
Significant problems and benchmarks in mathematics. Existing AI models are now being used to solve them.
How quickly will our AI ‘companions’ generate, then, solve 1,000’s of new questions we haven’t begun to contemplate? 🤔
Reaches for Karl Popper …
January 11, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Erdos. Putnam.
Significant problems and benchmarks in mathematics. Existing AI models are now being used to solve them.
How quickly will our AI ‘companions’ generate, then, solve 1,000’s of new questions we haven’t begun to contemplate? 🤔
Reaches for Karl Popper …
Significant problems and benchmarks in mathematics. Existing AI models are now being used to solve them.
How quickly will our AI ‘companions’ generate, then, solve 1,000’s of new questions we haven’t begun to contemplate? 🤔
Reaches for Karl Popper …
I was in Buenos Aires at this time of year 10 years ago - indulging my passion for tango and love of musicals. Vibrant, joyous. 💃
January 10, 2026 at 6:18 PM
I was in Buenos Aires at this time of year 10 years ago - indulging my passion for tango and love of musicals. Vibrant, joyous. 💃
Planet.
One of a series of sci-fi and sci-fact shorts made to inspire a return to ‘making’ (and progress) in the West.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=JGLo...
From www.story.inc
One of a series of sci-fi and sci-fact shorts made to inspire a return to ‘making’ (and progress) in the West.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=JGLo...
From www.story.inc
PLANET (2025) | Official Short Film
YouTube video by Jason Carman
m.youtube.com
January 3, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Planet.
One of a series of sci-fi and sci-fact shorts made to inspire a return to ‘making’ (and progress) in the West.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=JGLo...
From www.story.inc
One of a series of sci-fi and sci-fact shorts made to inspire a return to ‘making’ (and progress) in the West.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=JGLo...
From www.story.inc
Space 2025 report planet4589.org/space/papers...
Reaches for the telescope 🔭 gratefully received over the holiday period (to build on the lifelong curiosity sparked in me by the binoculars my parents gave me as a young person).
Mum stuck to our annual tradition: a Star Wars calendar 🤩
Reaches for the telescope 🔭 gratefully received over the holiday period (to build on the lifelong curiosity sparked in me by the binoculars my parents gave me as a young person).
Mum stuck to our annual tradition: a Star Wars calendar 🤩
planet4589.org
January 2, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Space 2025 report planet4589.org/space/papers...
Reaches for the telescope 🔭 gratefully received over the holiday period (to build on the lifelong curiosity sparked in me by the binoculars my parents gave me as a young person).
Mum stuck to our annual tradition: a Star Wars calendar 🤩
Reaches for the telescope 🔭 gratefully received over the holiday period (to build on the lifelong curiosity sparked in me by the binoculars my parents gave me as a young person).
Mum stuck to our annual tradition: a Star Wars calendar 🤩