Rob
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robosullivan.bsky.social
Rob
@robosullivan.bsky.social
Science Communicator. Lefty. Irish.

Hobbies: Wild food, gardening, playing music. Star Trek nerd.

I won't follow back if you're not using alt text on images.

I can't share every fundraiser I'm tagged in but I'll do my best to share what I can
Pinned
Bluesky buds outside of Ireland. I realise I'm posting more frequently about Irish politics to the point of potential annoyance. If you want to see less of it I'd recommend muting the terms FFG and #FFG as a start. That'll cover like 90% of my rants. Apologies but we've got some work to do here.
Reposted by Rob
Apparently pointing out that FF and FG are responsible for direct provision and not funding the asylum process properly, over several government is 'playing politics'.

#enddirectprovision
#Supergluedpockets
#Spéirgorm
November 27, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Rob
🗣️ "What do you mean the government isn't planning multi-year budgets?" says Naomi O’Leary, Europe Correspondent with the Irish Times.

#TonightVMTV
November 26, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I just choked laughing.
Niall Collins: You're continually playing politics.
Gary Gannon: I'm a politician...
#spéirgorm
🗣️ "It's exceptionally complex," says Niall Collins TD, Minister of State at the Department of Justice.
🗣️ "This is your failures... do the job you're supposed to do," adds Gary Gannon TD, Social Democrats Justice Spokesperson.

#TonightVMTV
November 26, 2025 at 11:08 PM
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🗣️ "It's going to cost us more to implement this than it is to take it back. So this is actually just performative cruelty," says Gary Gannon TD, Social Democrats Justice Spokesperson.

#TonightVMTV
November 26, 2025 at 10:42 PM
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I cannelloni apologise
November 26, 2025 at 10:53 PM
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Maybe just invest in new scales. They'll be worth every penne
November 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
My bookclub is based in a very small bookshop and every time we pick a new book they always order far more copies than there are active members in the club.
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Reposted by Rob
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
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Most publishers (there are always exceptions) decide whether or not to buy a second book (or a third etc) based on how the previous book did. So when you pirate a book in most cases it’s less about the money you just stole from both author and publisher it’s about the future book you just killed.
November 25, 2025 at 11:29 PM
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more than anything, this should remind you how bad generative has ruined the information ecosystem
Slop Evader is a tool from artist and researcher Tega Brain that lets you search the web for results exclusively before November 30, 2022—the day that ChatGPT was released to the public.
'Slop Evader' Lets You Surf the Web Like It’s 2022
Artist Tega Brain is fighting the internet’s enshittification by turning back the clock to before ChatGPT existed.
www.404media.co
November 26, 2025 at 10:16 PM
My kitchen scales are broken but I have a tape measure. How many metres of spaghetti is a standard portion?
November 26, 2025 at 10:34 PM
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I have...very strong feelings about how my employer's systems require access to my personal device (and that said device be of a certain type, i.e. smartphone instead of flip) in order to log in
If I didn't have a smartphone, I'd have to quit my job, because work no longer provides physical one-time-code generators, depending instead on Authenticator apps.

Trust me, I've tried!
yes, I feel like you can safely ignore anyone who tells you with a straight face in 2025 that you can just do without a smartphone
November 26, 2025 at 9:34 PM
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quick,
November 26, 2025 at 9:29 PM
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Actor Olwen Fouéré has become the second person to turn down an honorary doctorate from the University of Galway, in protest of the links it has with an Israeli institution
Actor refuses University of Galway award over Israel ties
Actor Olwen Fouéré has become the second person to turn down an honorary doctorate from the University of Galway, in protest of the links it has with an Israeli institution.
www.rte.ie
November 26, 2025 at 7:22 PM
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Lots of people sharing this clip because it's funny and cathartic but I also genuinely believe it's important.

We have to win the narrative battle between "I live in a corrupt society and that's just how it is" and "I live in a corrupt society and we are going to defeat and humiliate these ghouls."
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM
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This is what we get for constantly voting in mediocre middle aged men with big cars, no imagination and not an ounce of the self-awareness required to understand that they are not experts and their opinions do not equal good planning policy. And they'll be long gone when the public realises it.
November 26, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Rob
Another instance of copying British policy without any reference to how well things are going over there.

We do it on housing, on education, social welfare, privatisation etc. just with a lag that ranges from months to decades.

And never with an eye towards how those policies are working out
November 26, 2025 at 4:28 PM
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Hot take maybe but I actually don’t give a shit about benefit fraud.

I give a shit about multimillionaires and billionaires existing and not paying tax on their actual wealth.
November 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
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I would rather 50 people got benefits they didn't need than 1 went without food or shelter.
Hot take maybe but I actually don’t give a shit about benefit fraud.

I give a shit about multimillionaires and billionaires existing and not paying tax on their actual wealth.
November 26, 2025 at 3:52 PM
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"We don’t have to speculate about how AI data centers might affect Massachusetts. Consider Ireland, where AI ... keeps old, dirty plants on the grid, sucks up renewable energy, and drives up costs... The Irish pay among Europe’s highest electric bills."

commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/the-...
The dark side of AI: Climate chaos, pollution, and injustice  - CommonWealth Beacon
Unless we have a seat at the table to set regulations, the AI data center boom will hurt Black and brown frontline communities like mine in Roxbury first and worst.
commonwealthbeacon.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:55 PM
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Bolsonaro behind bars is a reminder: democracies survive when they stop letting criminals play government.
November 26, 2025 at 4:28 AM
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AI is a very general term, you have to be more specific. Do you mean the AI that stole my copyright, the chatbot causing teen suicide and psychosis, the deepfake porn of women without their consent, the bots driving political division or the ones polluting communities and driving electric bills up?
November 26, 2025 at 9:32 AM
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November 26, 2025 at 5:49 AM
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This platform is full of authors and artists who don't like having their work stolen.
November 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
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The rich can do it because they can afford to do it. If we had a UBI we'd have a better quality political class; maybe that's the reason we don't 🤔
November 26, 2025 at 12:54 PM