Karlin Lillington
@klillington.bsky.social
Retired Irish Times tech columnist. Chair, New Music Dublin. Likes privacy/infosec/human rights. Likes 🦇. Lots of 4-legged talls/smalls 🐕🐈⬛🫏🐴. Talkative. 🇨🇦➡️🇺🇸➡️🇮🇪 Also on 🦣
Pinned
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.
We literally cited it to the court in the DRI data retention case.
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.
Karlin Lillington’s last column in today’s Irish Times.
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
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
November 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
Now do this for Irish voters and political parties
(though honestly -- this is a pretty weird question to align to voting preference)
(though honestly -- this is a pretty weird question to align to voting preference)
New polling on aliens
% of U.S. adult citizens who believe the following definitely or probably exist:
Aliens 56%
Bigfoot 28%
The Yeti 23%
The Loch Ness Monster 22%
Chupacabra 16%
today.yougov.com/health/artic...
% of U.S. adult citizens who believe the following definitely or probably exist:
Aliens 56%
Bigfoot 28%
The Yeti 23%
The Loch Ness Monster 22%
Chupacabra 16%
today.yougov.com/health/artic...
November 26, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Now do this for Irish voters and political parties
(though honestly -- this is a pretty weird question to align to voting preference)
(though honestly -- this is a pretty weird question to align to voting preference)
Searching in the dark for a wayward pony, I think I interrupted a pair of badgers around the old apple tree in a back field. Took them a bit to notice me & was quite dark but one seemed way too big, bulky, light coloured and low to the ground to be a fox. We have a resident fox so I know her to see
November 26, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Searching in the dark for a wayward pony, I think I interrupted a pair of badgers around the old apple tree in a back field. Took them a bit to notice me & was quite dark but one seemed way too big, bulky, light coloured and low to the ground to be a fox. We have a resident fox so I know her to see
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
when its definitely not a hostage situation
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
when its definitely not a hostage situation
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
Gift-linking this on Ireland's defence free-riding and how Russia doesn't like us or think we're cute.
How Ireland became the weak spot in Europe’s defences
With few ships and limited intelligence-sharing, some say the country cannot hope to protect itself or its infrastructure
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Gift-linking this on Ireland's defence free-riding and how Russia doesn't like us or think we're cute.
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
Extremely bad news for the libs: the wordsmiths who invented Obummer have discovered that Mamdani can be rewritten as "Mamdummy." The left should prepare for four years of humiliation.
November 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Extremely bad news for the libs: the wordsmiths who invented Obummer have discovered that Mamdani can be rewritten as "Mamdummy." The left should prepare for four years of humiliation.
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
The Secretary of Defense, ladies and gentlemen
November 25, 2025 at 1:23 PM
The Secretary of Defense, ladies and gentlemen
Reading a piece on data centres in Ireland & once again, bemused by that one Irish data centre company actually called, without any apparent irony &/or knowledge of history & actual data surveillance controversies, ECHELON. The absolute off-scale WTF level of calling *a data centre company* Echelon
November 25, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reading a piece on data centres in Ireland & once again, bemused by that one Irish data centre company actually called, without any apparent irony &/or knowledge of history & actual data surveillance controversies, ECHELON. The absolute off-scale WTF level of calling *a data centre company* Echelon
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
Perhaps make a “favourite” of this? - let’s not complain this year about the challenges facing small Irish businesses. There are alternatives, and they are online - 100 Irish websites for all your Christmas presents: Shopping guide for the festive season
www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...
www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...
100 Irish websites for all your Christmas presents: Shopping guide for the festive season
A curated, all-Irish roundup of the best places to shop for gifts — online and on time
www.irishtimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Perhaps make a “favourite” of this? - let’s not complain this year about the challenges facing small Irish businesses. There are alternatives, and they are online - 100 Irish websites for all your Christmas presents: Shopping guide for the festive season
www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...
www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
Ryanair expects me to take the financial hit for helping others
Ryanair expects me to take the financial hit for helping others
As a doctor I stepped in to tend to an elderly passenger … but it won’t waive £100 transfer fee to rebook
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Ryanair expects me to take the financial hit for helping others
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
Listening to a sci fi audiobook which has a professional blurb stating the book is up there w/ Ursula Le Guin & Octavia Butler. 🤔 It is so NOT. The writing is not remotely at their level, the plot is predictable & belabours trendy 'issues' in obvious ways and too many 2-dimensional characters
November 23, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Listening to a sci fi audiobook which has a professional blurb stating the book is up there w/ Ursula Le Guin & Octavia Butler. 🤔 It is so NOT. The writing is not remotely at their level, the plot is predictable & belabours trendy 'issues' in obvious ways and too many 2-dimensional characters
Influencers are a whole new category of 21st century scam merchant, sometimes with devastating consequences www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Influencers are a whole new category of 21st century scam merchant, sometimes with devastating consequences www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
If Biden had said just a small selection of the things the orange has said in the past week, there would be headlines about mental decline and onset of dementia. Violent, nonsensical outbursts --- exactly the thing flagged as a possible warning sign of advancing dementia
November 21, 2025 at 4:30 PM
If Biden had said just a small selection of the things the orange has said in the past week, there would be headlines about mental decline and onset of dementia. Violent, nonsensical outbursts --- exactly the thing flagged as a possible warning sign of advancing dementia
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
See? Just like Brett said. A temporary inconvenience and then all's well!
America 2025.
November 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
See? Just like Brett said. A temporary inconvenience and then all's well!
wapo.st/48nkqMN A recent survey shows only Republicans do not have an overwhelmingly negative view of billionaires in politics & surprise, these days 80% of money from the wealthiest 100 Americans goes to the GOP (gift article)
How billionaires took over American politics
The current concentration of wealth is unlike anything in history. So is billionaires’ involvement in politics.
wapo.st
November 21, 2025 at 3:35 PM
wapo.st/48nkqMN A recent survey shows only Republicans do not have an overwhelmingly negative view of billionaires in politics & surprise, these days 80% of money from the wealthiest 100 Americans goes to the GOP (gift article)
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
Behind this important reversal is a member of the Coast Guard who saw what was happening and had the courage to leak it to the press. That person deserves serious praise.
November 21, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Behind this important reversal is a member of the Coast Guard who saw what was happening and had the courage to leak it to the press. That person deserves serious praise.
Reposted by Karlin Lillington
I dunno, buddy, maybe if it didn't encourage young folks to kill themselves, or drink all the potable water, or pollute the Infoverse with fallacies, or add glue to recipes, or be that guy who lies rather than admits a mistake, or, and this is important, buddy, or IF WE WERE GIVEN A FUCKING CHOICE!
Microsoft Exec Asks: Why Aren't More People Impressed With AI?
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's head of AI, vents after the company receives backlash for saying 'Windows is evolving into an agentic OS.'
uk.pcmag.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:09 AM
I dunno, buddy, maybe if it didn't encourage young folks to kill themselves, or drink all the potable water, or pollute the Infoverse with fallacies, or add glue to recipes, or be that guy who lies rather than admits a mistake, or, and this is important, buddy, or IF WE WERE GIVEN A FUCKING CHOICE!
Hey Bluesky arts/music folks in Ireland! At New Music Dublin we are looking to fill a new role: part-time general manager, working closely with our festival director and producer (& board). Role to commence in Jan. Detailed info here: www.newmusicdublin.ie/job-opportun... #SpeirGorm
Job Opportunities | Ireland’s foremost contemporary music festival
New Music Dublin takes place in Spring each year within the National Concert Hall and other venues throughout Dublin.
www.newmusicdublin.ie
November 21, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Hey Bluesky arts/music folks in Ireland! At New Music Dublin we are looking to fill a new role: part-time general manager, working closely with our festival director and producer (& board). Role to commence in Jan. Detailed info here: www.newmusicdublin.ie/job-opportun... #SpeirGorm