Siobhán McElduff
@siobhanmcelduff.bsky.social
1st gen Irish (Donegal/Sligo) settler in Canada. Author of obscure academic books and slightly less obscure OERs on Roman culture. Translator of, and far too fond of Cicero. She/her nó sí/í
Opinions my own
siobhanmcelduff.com
Opinions my own
siobhanmcelduff.com
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Hey, my name is in the Epstein files! I've told the story before, but should probably re-up.
TLDR: never met the guy, never took (or asked for) any money from him, never visited the island. I was invited to the island, and said no.
It's not that hard to just say no.
TLDR: never met the guy, never took (or asked for) any money from him, never visited the island. I was invited to the island, and said no.
It's not that hard to just say no.
February 9, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Hey, my name is in the Epstein files! I've told the story before, but should probably re-up.
TLDR: never met the guy, never took (or asked for) any money from him, never visited the island. I was invited to the island, and said no.
It's not that hard to just say no.
TLDR: never met the guy, never took (or asked for) any money from him, never visited the island. I was invited to the island, and said no.
It's not that hard to just say no.
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
February 9, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
The most important question about AI isn't determining whether the machine thinks — it's whether interacting with it displaces the conditions under which we think, writes Eryk Salvaggio. www.techpolicy.press/the-illusion...
The Illusion of AGI, or What Language Models Can Do Without Thought
It is not simple stubbornness that LLMs are not “intelligent,” much less a form of “general” intelligence, writes Eryk Salvaggio.
www.techpolicy.press
February 9, 2026 at 4:24 PM
The most important question about AI isn't determining whether the machine thinks — it's whether interacting with it displaces the conditions under which we think, writes Eryk Salvaggio. www.techpolicy.press/the-illusion...
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Claims of “intelligence” focus on function: if AI behaves “as if” it has a mind, it’s “intelligent.” But behavior is useless when models are designed to pass behavioral tests. Instead, the AGI label achieves the opposite goal: it suggests a human-like experience of being an LLM. ⬇️
The most important question about AI isn't determining whether the machine thinks — it's whether interacting with it displaces the conditions under which we think, writes Eryk Salvaggio. www.techpolicy.press/the-illusion...
The Illusion of AGI, or What Language Models Can Do Without Thought
It is not simple stubbornness that LLMs are not “intelligent,” much less a form of “general” intelligence, writes Eryk Salvaggio.
www.techpolicy.press
February 9, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Claims of “intelligence” focus on function: if AI behaves “as if” it has a mind, it’s “intelligent.” But behavior is useless when models are designed to pass behavioral tests. Instead, the AGI label achieves the opposite goal: it suggests a human-like experience of being an LLM. ⬇️
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Sad to see how many academics were willing to look the other way. Maybe all this attention will make them see and think more clearly in the future?
February 9, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Sad to see how many academics were willing to look the other way. Maybe all this attention will make them see and think more clearly in the future?
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Where do I start with this woman? Maybe we can start with some of the racist things she's said that will not surprise anyone.
February 9, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Where do I start with this woman? Maybe we can start with some of the racist things she's said that will not surprise anyone.
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
“She compares her work to the efforts of a parent raising a child. She’s training Claude to detect the difference between right and wrong while imbuing it with unique personality traits.”
This Philosopher Is Teaching AI to Have Morals
The tech company has entrusted the philosopher to endow its chatbot with a sense of right and wrong.
www.wsj.com
February 9, 2026 at 12:22 PM
“She compares her work to the efforts of a parent raising a child. She’s training Claude to detect the difference between right and wrong while imbuing it with unique personality traits.”
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
our Finance department is usually first in the building, how has no one approved my "life-size bushes costumes for wetlands educational programming" budget request yet
February 9, 2026 at 1:45 PM
our Finance department is usually first in the building, how has no one approved my "life-size bushes costumes for wetlands educational programming" budget request yet
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Good read: Empire of Madness, by my colleague @globalhealing.bsky.social, about how much of psychiatry today consists in putting bandaids on people broken by the structural violence of racism and late capitalism
February 9, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Good read: Empire of Madness, by my colleague @globalhealing.bsky.social, about how much of psychiatry today consists in putting bandaids on people broken by the structural violence of racism and late capitalism
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Westminster has failed Scotland.
A new Prime Minister won't change that. It's time for independence.
A new Prime Minister won't change that. It's time for independence.
February 9, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Westminster has failed Scotland.
A new Prime Minister won't change that. It's time for independence.
A new Prime Minister won't change that. It's time for independence.
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Just remembered that William Weaver made so much money from his translation of the Name of the Rose that he built an extension to his villa and called it his "Eco Chamber"
February 9, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Just remembered that William Weaver made so much money from his translation of the Name of the Rose that he built an extension to his villa and called it his "Eco Chamber"
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
This was Puerto Rico's moment, a spotlight on a collective son who quit bagging groceries a decade ago and became the world's most streamed artist on Spotify last year.
Puerto Rico stops for 13 minutes to applaud history and bask in Bad Bunny's glow
This was Puerto Rico's moment, a spotlight on a collective son who quit bagging groceries a decade ago and became the world's most streamed artist on Spotify last year.
n.pr
February 9, 2026 at 1:42 PM
This was Puerto Rico's moment, a spotlight on a collective son who quit bagging groceries a decade ago and became the world's most streamed artist on Spotify last year.
It is a traditional English custom for such museums to meet on flat plains once in a while to determine who gets to take home the ultimate prize. This is awarded based on the number of absolute units on a side and/or the pleasing tones of their chorus of excited pigs and cows.
now that the Super Bowl has transpired we can focus on the more pertinent matter: Super Museums of the Historic English Countryside
February 9, 2026 at 3:07 PM
It is a traditional English custom for such museums to meet on flat plains once in a while to determine who gets to take home the ultimate prize. This is awarded based on the number of absolute units on a side and/or the pleasing tones of their chorus of excited pigs and cows.
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
now that the Super Bowl has transpired we can focus on the more pertinent matter: Super Museums of the Historic English Countryside
February 9, 2026 at 11:59 AM
now that the Super Bowl has transpired we can focus on the more pertinent matter: Super Museums of the Historic English Countryside
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
They're going to have to ship him to a hut in the Falklands.
🇬🇧 Ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may have passed potentially confidential reports to Jeffrey Epstein while a UK trade envoy, according to US government files on the late US sex offender released last month.
➡️ u.afp.com/S2RL
➡️ u.afp.com/S2RL
February 9, 2026 at 2:51 PM
They're going to have to ship him to a hut in the Falklands.
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Important piece by Ben, which I admired at the time and which I admire just as much on rereading it.
It's 6 years since I wrote this piece and got quite a reaction.
Anxiety is always circling, but I've found some methods for regulating it.
For me, close proximity to nature, proven practices (yoga, saunas etc) and drugs.
Loads of drugs.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/j...
Anxiety is always circling, but I've found some methods for regulating it.
For me, close proximity to nature, proven practices (yoga, saunas etc) and drugs.
Loads of drugs.
www.theguardian.com/books/2020/j...
'I was half-insane with anxiety': how I wrote myself into a breakdown
After exhausting himself with work, author Benjamin Myers was sent over a literal edge and into the River Derwent. He recalls his recovery and hunt for a cure
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Important piece by Ben, which I admired at the time and which I admire just as much on rereading it.
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
```Please send us the specific URLs for the content in question.
We are only able to continue with your request if we have these specific URLs.```
yeah not gonna be searching for “ site:X.com” so that i can then provide the URLs to the *checks notes* search engine company
#speirgorm #csam
We are only able to continue with your request if we have these specific URLs.```
yeah not gonna be searching for “
#speirgorm #csam
cc #speirgorm Google continues to distribute the twitter/x/grok apps on its play store, which continue to distribute/generate csam and porn deepfakes
Google finally replied to my report that Twitter's app is distributing CSAM in violation of Irish law.
They told me that I should first reach out to X, for no good reason. I've replied, fully expecting they'll take a few more weeks to say something inane like `uh duh Section 230` as exculpatory.
They told me that I should first reach out to X, for no good reason. I've replied, fully expecting they'll take a few more weeks to say something inane like `uh duh Section 230` as exculpatory.
February 9, 2026 at 2:34 PM
```Please send us the specific URLs for the content in question.
We are only able to continue with your request if we have these specific URLs.```
yeah not gonna be searching for “ site:X.com” so that i can then provide the URLs to the *checks notes* search engine company
#speirgorm #csam
We are only able to continue with your request if we have these specific URLs.```
yeah not gonna be searching for “
#speirgorm #csam
Well, I thank the gods that I'm at the chariot racing part of my Roman spectacles course. I will, however, be endlessly astonished by the lack of interest in archeological reports on where toilets were in various structures.
That's a lot of valuable pee unaccounted for!
That's a lot of valuable pee unaccounted for!
February 9, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Well, I thank the gods that I'm at the chariot racing part of my Roman spectacles course. I will, however, be endlessly astonished by the lack of interest in archeological reports on where toilets were in various structures.
That's a lot of valuable pee unaccounted for!
That's a lot of valuable pee unaccounted for!
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Every study shows that being in a jail or prison, no matter how "nice" or whatever, shortens your lifespan. It does. So the government is taking years off the lives of people, including children, when it opts to put them in jail.
www.propublica.org/article/life...
www.propublica.org/article/life...
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Every study shows that being in a jail or prison, no matter how "nice" or whatever, shortens your lifespan. It does. So the government is taking years off the lives of people, including children, when it opts to put them in jail.
www.propublica.org/article/life...
www.propublica.org/article/life...
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Language nerds!
Can you guess the word?
Can you guess the word?
i will never stop being delighted that the p was added because the english transcription of the scottish name looked greek enough that someone thought it derived from ptero
February 9, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Language nerds!
Can you guess the word?
Can you guess the word?
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Well this guy might have a few answers
February 9, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Well this guy might have a few answers
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/
“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility
Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/
Reposted by Siobhán McElduff
If you don't want to have to resign in disgrace, maybe you should not do utterly repellent things and be friends with a convicted pedophile. This is a very low bar, and yet I am being told it is impossible for a human being living in the world at a certain level of (relative) power to adhere to.
February 9, 2026 at 1:32 PM
If you don't want to have to resign in disgrace, maybe you should not do utterly repellent things and be friends with a convicted pedophile. This is a very low bar, and yet I am being told it is impossible for a human being living in the world at a certain level of (relative) power to adhere to.