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Karlin Lillington

@klillington.bsky.social

950 followers 240 following 750 posts

Former Irish Times tech columnist (mostly retired!). Chair, New Music Dublin. Privacy/infosec/human rights. Lots of 4-legged talls/smalls. Likes bats. Talkative. 🦣 http://mastodon.ie/@klillington

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Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · Dec 5

The lifetime work I'm most proud of. A decade went into those stories/columns, involving FOIs, tip-offs & concerned, informed individuals/groups helping me better understand the issues. The day the ECJ overturned the EU Data Retention Directive in the DRI judgement was the greatest of my career

Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · Dec 5

Half a billion people— the whole of the EU’s citizenry— owe their right not to be casually surveilled en masse by their governments to Karlin’s reporting on Data Retention.

We literally cited it to the court in the DRI data retention case.

Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · Dec 5

The end of an era and certainly, surely, the single most insightful run on a rapidly changing field.

Karlin Lillington’s last column in today’s Irish Times.

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David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 19h

The "somebody showed me a TikTok" era of American government is going pretty much exactly how you'd expect.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

RFK Jr: "Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman at 8 months pregnant -- she's an associate professor at the Columbia Medical School -- and she is saying 'F Trump' and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta. The level of Trump Derangement Syndrome is now a pathology."

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John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 15h

Little known uses for codpieces

Detail from A Flemish Kermis with a Performance of the Farce ‘Een cluyte van Plaeyerwater’, Peeter Baltens, c. 1570

(Rijksmuseum)

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Science Magazine @science.org · 21h

In an analysis of 1.2 million news stories about scholarly research, men-led papers were found to receive more attention overall and were heavily overrepresented in the top 5% of most covered studies. https://scim.ag/4o7l5a5

When women researchers publish, media attention doesn’t always follow

Men-led papers receive more media coverage than women’s, new study finds

scim.ag

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Reposted by Karlin Lillington

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 1d

i am not saying the world has gone completely bonkers but
the world has gone absolutely completely bonkers

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 4d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

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@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 14h

"no credible evidence that there is danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois."

It's mind boggling than in 2025 a federal judge in Chicago just uttered these words in court case between against the President of the United States. My god.

Perry: "I have seen no credible evidence that there is danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois."

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Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · 22h

Cairn Holy in Scotland is a pretty heavy metal cairn. Those tallest standing stones must be close to 3m high. Missed the earlier ferry so got a chance to go see it

Reposted by Karlin Lillington

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 1d

very interesting what is not allowed these days. in this case, basic archiving of real videos

www.404media.co/apple-banned...

Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses

Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.

www.404media.co

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Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · 1d

Seriously? Looks like cookies made from Play-Doh 🤢 or plastic erasers (not to mention the buckets of food colouring). Ugh, no

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

Though they may look elaborate, these gorgeous cookies only take a few minutes to decorate. No two cookies will be the same, and that’s a big part of the charm. nyti.ms/46BOjbq

A plate of technicolor rectangular cookies.

Reposted by Karlin Lillington

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 1d

“Privacy-preserving” isn’t as private as you might think. Our new brief, published in collab w @powerswitchaction.org & Coworker, exposes how so-called “privacy-preserving” technologies can actually enable *more* worker surveillance — and what we can do about it. datasociety.net/library/the-...

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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 1d

Under Article 21 of the DSA, out-of-court bodies review moderation disputes. One such body, Appeals Centre Europe, has released its first transparency report.
@ramshajahangir.bsky.social spoke with Thomas Hughes and Paddy Leerssen about what these early findings suggest.

What We Can Learn from the First Digital Services Act Out-of-Court Dispute Settlements? | TechPolicy.Press

Ramsha Jahangir spoke to two experts to unpack what the early wave of disputes tells us about how the out-of-court system is working under the DSA.

www.techpolicy.press

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Siobhán Dowling @siobhandowling.bsky.social · 1d

A Japanese film based on stories written by an Irish-Greek man based on Japanese folktales, with music by Japanese and Irish artists. www.nch.ie/all-events-l...

Kwaidan, with Live Musical Score - presented by Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival | National Concert Hall

The National Concert Hall is a national cultural institution and the designated home of music in Ireland.

www.nch.ie

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John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 2d

Model Bakery and Brewery from the Tomb of Meketre ca. 1981–1975 B.C.E. Middle Kingdom (Met Museum)

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Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · 2d

who amongst us has not confused their thumb with their middle finger

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 2d

From @theathletic.com: The NFL has fined Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones $250,000 for flashing his middle finger to the crowd during Sunday’s game against the New York Jets. Jones, who can appeal the fine, said that he actually meant to signal a thumbs-up.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says middle finger was accidental: ‘The intention was thumbs-up’

Jones said his middle finger gesture was “unfortunate" and not intended during the Cowboys' win against the Jets.

nyti.ms

Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · 2d

"Residents and public representatives ... expressed frustration that they had nowhere to go to raise complaints because the activity was largely unregulated and no public body had overall oversight." www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dubl...

International legal expert ‘shocked’ at Ireland’s lack of commercial drone regulation

Public meeting hears of residents’ concerns over noise, privacy and safety

www.irishtimes.com

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 2d

We also have this website with an overview: www.ru.nl/en/research/...

Critical AI Literacy (CAIL) | Radboud University

Critical AI literacy is crucial for our world, as AI applications rapidly spread across society. In this project, we educate students, education professionals, and the public on how uncritical AI adop...

www.ru.nl

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 2d

These resources from @olivia.science may be useful: olivia.science/ai

Critical AI

On this page are some resources for Critical AI Literacy (CAIL) from my perspective.

olivia.science

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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 2d

"As one of the few Jews on [the flotilla]...they asked me if I was Jewish...threw me in front of the Israeli flag... we were strip-searched & zip-tied & blindfolded, & sent to this detention camp."

Horrifying testimony to Zeteo from freed activist David Adler:
zeteo.com/p/exclusive-...

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Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 2d

“Who was president in 2020?” is the question of our time

Senator Jim Banks V
@SenatorBanks
Follow g..
The 2020 Census was a fraud. The Biden admin used a shady "privacy" formula that scrambled the data and miscounted 14 states.
It included illegal immigrants and handed
Democrats extra seats. Americans deserve a fair count and l'm fighting to fix it.
Zinited Statcs SScnate
MASHNORON DEYNN
October 6, 2025
an. Thow arewutn
Socretary
U.S. Department of Commerce Washington, DXC 20230
Dear Secretary Lutaick:
I urge you to investigate and correct erroes from the 2020 Census that handed disproportionntd political power to Democrats and illogal alicns. The Census Burcau adoptod a now and opaque
voting districts. As preparod by the Biden administration, the 2020 Censas roports miscountod the population of fourteen states, ' wrongly allocating six congressional scats aod Electoral
xx conwuu tmora uy, toc taroro tu mot đoo tnn Cunu lc pung t imber of votine districts. And the reoorts de aniovety inchaded ilecnl nhens widhout track those aliens' citiz enship status, If left uncorrected, these erroes will coetinue diluting the political power of American citizens.
Consus data plays a crucial role in allocating political roprescntation and goverment funding
Under the Constitution, cach state gets Congressional represcotutives and Electoeal College votes- based on "the whole number of persons" within the state." The number of persoes is in
tum clabaabod by a consttubocalty-mandalcd dcccacaal ccavas. Pcual agcco nely on census data to allocate billions of dollars in federal funding, much of which hinges ee opulation. And states use consus data to deaw congrossicnal and voting districts, »hich the
The it eiy of tie soaren alie n tor dur at ce hor inc ae oam toy ee n
nght wilbout statsica ly signilicant ciroo.
Diffcrcntial privacy is opaque and liable to mistakcn count totals. Sure cnough, the 2020 Ccnsus ovarocunted the noculation in cicht states and undercounted it in six." Tihe most extrcmi andercount was Arkansas, at 5.04%, and the larg…

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ncperiodista.bsky.social @ncperiodista.bsky.social · 2d

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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 2d

Heseltine at the Tory conf:

"Fascists of the 30s are back... Trump's language coincides with words here... The immigrant has replaced the Jew as the problem. We must make clear we will never have any part in the populist extremism of Farage... We don't need Trump's mouthpiece anywhere near No. 10.”

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Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · 2d

Oh look here it is again @castlebridge-chief.bsky.social

Internet Archive @archive.org · 2d

🐹 Before viral videos on TikTok or YouTube, there was Hampsterdance.

Full of dancing hamster GIFs & a sped-up tune, it became one of the internet’s first viral hits.

You can still dance to it on the #WaybackMachine ➡️ web.archive.org/web/19991222...

#Wayback1T

🧵

Reposted by Karlin Lillington

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 2d

Can’t decide what to buy on Prime Day?

Try: absolutely nothing, and then go support indie bookstores instead 📚

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Amy @lolennui.bsky.social · 2d

George Orwell’s Animal Crossing

Someone in a frog costume facing down a line of police in riot gear

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 2d

I’m a career prosecutor who took a $25,000 check from an affiliated entity of Donald Trump’s while investigating Trump University and later left my lobbying firm to become Donald Trump’s personal impeachment lawyer, White House aide, and Attorney General. So don’t you DARE question my integrity.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Bondi to Blumenthal: "You lied. How dare you? I'm a career prosecutor. Don't you ever challenge my integrity. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial."

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Maria Farrell @mariafarrell.bsky.social · 2d

FWIW I've written to the Irish Minister for Justice - an enthusiastic supporter of Europe's hideous "chat control" phone-scanning proposal - asking him to imagine when that technology is used against him.

If you're German, please, PLEASE write to your justice/interior minister today.

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