Tim de Sousa
@timdesousa.bsky.social
Privacy, Information Governance and Tech Ethics wonk, based in Sydney Australia. Mediocre ukulele player. Slightly snobbish about coffee.
Pinned
Tim de Sousa
@timdesousa.bsky.social
· Jun 4
I’m having a day. So let’s not talk about privacy, let’s talk about art.
Do this even if you are old.
I'm old.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
November 28, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Do this even if you are old.
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
I'm old.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
November 27, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I'm old.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
Mood
Part 218 of 200 in historically interesting things to inspire your ttrpg dnd
Ceramic hedgehog dated to the Neolithic period found at the Hamin archaeological site near Shebotu Town in Inner Mongolia, China
Ceramic hedgehog dated to the Neolithic period found at the Hamin archaeological site near Shebotu Town in Inner Mongolia, China
November 28, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Mood
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
Part 218 of 200 in historically interesting things to inspire your ttrpg dnd
Ceramic hedgehog dated to the Neolithic period found at the Hamin archaeological site near Shebotu Town in Inner Mongolia, China
Ceramic hedgehog dated to the Neolithic period found at the Hamin archaeological site near Shebotu Town in Inner Mongolia, China
November 22, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Part 218 of 200 in historically interesting things to inspire your ttrpg dnd
Ceramic hedgehog dated to the Neolithic period found at the Hamin archaeological site near Shebotu Town in Inner Mongolia, China
Ceramic hedgehog dated to the Neolithic period found at the Hamin archaeological site near Shebotu Town in Inner Mongolia, China
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
Been a bit time poor lately so had to do this in pieces over a few days. I think they’re more of a classic 90s boy band rather than a goth band.
November 25, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Been a bit time poor lately so had to do this in pieces over a few days. I think they’re more of a classic 90s boy band rather than a goth band.
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
Privacy and AI Deregulation Will Be Bad for Innovation - my latest Substack
open.substack.com/pub/danielso...
open.substack.com/pub/danielso...
November 23, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Privacy and AI Deregulation Will Be Bad for Innovation - my latest Substack
open.substack.com/pub/danielso...
open.substack.com/pub/danielso...
Was tickled by these two
November 22, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Was tickled by these two
If you need me, I’ll just be crumbling into dust like that guy at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
November 21, 2025 at 10:28 PM
If you need me, I’ll just be crumbling into dust like that guy at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
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 11:48 AM
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
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
Time to move past the neverending trial stage. Yes, basic income reduces homelessness.
An Oregon pilot program giving cash to homeless youths sees a staggering reduction in homelessness. The program gave participants $1,000 cash payments each month for two years, and at the end of the project's first phase, 91% of participants reported being in stable housing.
Oregon pilot program giving cash to homeless youths sees staggering reduction in homelessness
The state program gave participants $1,000 cash payments each month for two years. At the end of the project's first phase, 91% of participants reported being in stable housing.
www.streetroots.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Time to move past the neverending trial stage. Yes, basic income reduces homelessness.
This actually brightened my day. You can defeat guardrails on LLM models by making your request in poetry.
*cracks knuckles, climbs up library ladder, starts browsing*
oh it's on now
*cracks knuckles, climbs up library ladder, starts browsing*
oh it's on now
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 4:06 AM
This actually brightened my day. You can defeat guardrails on LLM models by making your request in poetry.
*cracks knuckles, climbs up library ladder, starts browsing*
oh it's on now
*cracks knuckles, climbs up library ladder, starts browsing*
oh it's on now
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
Paying a ransomware demand makes businesses more likely to be targeted again despite the criminals’ assurances to the contrary, according to new Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) research that found Australian SMEs receiving multiple ransomware demands www.aic.gov.au/sites/defaul...
www.aic.gov.au
November 21, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Paying a ransomware demand makes businesses more likely to be targeted again despite the criminals’ assurances to the contrary, according to new Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) research that found Australian SMEs receiving multiple ransomware demands www.aic.gov.au/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
New laws could stop bosses using AI to set rosters, says Tech Council of Australia www.afr.com/work-and-car...
New laws could stop bosses using AI to set rosters, techies warn
Technology developers and online platforms are alarmed over proposed NSW laws regulating artificial intelligence, warning they risk the uptake of new technologies.
www.afr.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:17 AM
New laws could stop bosses using AI to set rosters, says Tech Council of Australia www.afr.com/work-and-car...
One of the lessons of new tech is that your intentions for your product do not matter to the market. People don't care how *you* meant the product to be used. The Street finds its own uses for things. Even propaganda machines.
November 20, 2025 at 11:11 PM
One of the lessons of new tech is that your intentions for your product do not matter to the market. People don't care how *you* meant the product to be used. The Street finds its own uses for things. Even propaganda machines.
We absolutely do not 'need humility' to engage with AI. Technology tools need to be designed around user needs, and prioritise user outcomes. And if the tools don't do that, we should not use them. Embedding AI into everything is not a fait accompli. We are doing this to ourselves.
Concerning how folks in many fields are expressing AI fatalism—essentially arguing that like it or not, professionals in an ironclad compact with AI now and we just need to get on board
November 19, 2025 at 10:43 PM
We absolutely do not 'need humility' to engage with AI. Technology tools need to be designed around user needs, and prioritise user outcomes. And if the tools don't do that, we should not use them. Embedding AI into everything is not a fait accompli. We are doing this to ourselves.
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
No notes
November 19, 2025 at 9:14 AM
No notes
I’m way too pleased with myself on this one. Anyway, this is Sidney (the aggressor) and Daisy (the innocent party).
November 17, 2025 at 10:08 AM
I’m way too pleased with myself on this one. Anyway, this is Sidney (the aggressor) and Daisy (the innocent party).
Alien (1979)
November 16, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Alien (1979)
Oh there’s a crime here alright
In the UK, McDonald’s is trying to pass off this monstrosity as an Australian delicacy
November 14, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Oh there’s a crime here alright
techbros have invented...the handbag
Must be frustrating when you post your April Fools joke almost six months ahead of time by mistake
November 12, 2025 at 11:32 PM
techbros have invented...the handbag
VPNs are the cornerstone of all corporate security, so good luck with that.
The British government admits it is now monitoring VPNs use by UK residents. Regulator Ofcom has contracted with an AI-powered surveillance service to detect the number of citizens using VPNs to evade the Online Safety Act.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
Exclusive: Ofcom is monitoring VPNs following Online Safety Act. Here's how
Ignoring VPNs risks creating ineffective laws, but tracking them threatens people's privacy
www.techradar.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:46 AM
VPNs are the cornerstone of all corporate security, so good luck with that.
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
"Draft changes would create new exceptions for AI companies that would allow them to legally process special categories of data (like a person’s religious or political beliefs, ethnicity or health data) to train and operate their tech"
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
Brussels knifes privacy to feed the AI boom
Draft proposals obtained by POLITICO show EU is breaking sacred privacy regime to placate industry.
www.politico.eu
November 11, 2025 at 7:59 AM
"Draft changes would create new exceptions for AI companies that would allow them to legally process special categories of data (like a person’s religious or political beliefs, ethnicity or health data) to train and operate their tech"
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
Reposted by Tim de Sousa
the government forcing the wiggles to do a podcast episode as punishment really shifts the Overton window of regulatory enforcement possibilities
www.accc.gov.au/medi...
www.accc.gov.au/medi...
November 11, 2025 at 4:30 AM
the government forcing the wiggles to do a podcast episode as punishment really shifts the Overton window of regulatory enforcement possibilities
www.accc.gov.au/medi...
www.accc.gov.au/medi...