Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alan Baxter

@alanbaxter.bsky.social

10K followers 940 following 8.6K posts

Author of horror and weird fiction. Martial Artist. Britstralian. Whisky drinker. Dog lover. Metalhead. He/him. https://alanbaxter.com.au/contact/ (Banner image by Dean Rankine)

alanbaxter.com.au

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · Jan 21

Hi! I'm Alan, a horror writer from Tasmania. Talking Scared podcast called me "The Lord of Weird Australia" which I've always liked. This is Horror called me, "Australia's master of literary darkness." I like that too! The graphic below shows all my stuff. Learn more here: alanbaxter.com.au

A graphic showing all my book covers and how they interlink (where they do).

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 7h

Then it fucking dies.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

Reposted by Alan Baxter

Gail Simone @gailsimone.bsky.social · 7h

A bunny

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 1d

Also perhaps direct from authors!

Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 1d

Can’t decide what to buy on Prime Day?

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

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 1d

Congrats!

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 1d

Congrats! Told you you'd win novel. 😉

Reposted by Alan Baxter

Smooth Dunk @smoothdunk2.bsky.social · 2d

4 panel comic

Panel 1:
A Purple person is standing holding a clipboard. A Blue Person sits at a laptop.
Blue Person: Woohoo. I’m the CEO of a social media platform.

Panel 2:
Purple person: We should hire a PR person to interact with the public
Blue Person begins to type on laptop and says: Nope. Gonna do all that myself

Panel 3:
Purple person looks concerned and says: Really…but…

Panel 4:
Purple person: You’re such a whiny little fucking baby

Reposted by Alan Baxter

Dr Kat Day (she/her) @chronicleflask.katday.com · 2d

Daughter of Robin Williams, Zelda Williams 💔

zeldawilliams
20m
From Create Mode
••
Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad. Stop believing I wanna see it or that I'll understand, I don't and I won't. If you're just trying to troll me, I've seen way worse, i'll restrict and move on. But please, if you've got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It's dumb, it's a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it's NOT what he'd want.
To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to 'this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that's enough,
, just so
other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening. You're not making art, you're making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music, and then shoving them down someone else's throat hoping they'll give you a little thumbs up and like it.
Gross.

And for the love of EVERYTHING, stop calling it 'the future. Al is just badly recycling and regurgitating the past to be reconsumed. You are taking in the Human Centipede of content, and from the very very end of the line, all while the folks at the front laugh and laugh, consume and consume.

Reposted by Alan Baxter

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 2d

It's never too late to start anything.

Equally, you'll never be "ready", so if you want a thing, don't wait.

essencesimmone.blacksky.app @essencesimmone.blacksky.app · 5d

Those who are 35+, what advice do you have for people just entering their 30s?

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 2d

That was Tom from MySpace. It's been downhill since then.

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 2d

*raises hand* personally since ~1988

Hillary Monahan @hillarymonahan.bsky.social · 2d

Punks have been beating up nazis for about as long as there have been punks.

So.

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 2d

"Let them eat sandwiches!"

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 2d

A work of art

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 2d

Chase your dreams like a labrador going after a tennis ball.

Hold onto your dreams like a labrador refusing to give that ball back again.

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 2d

I remember that guy once complaining that he couldn't recharge his cigarette because his wife was using the charger for her book and honestly that was the beginning of the end

KieranEdits @kieranedits.bsky.social · 2d

About once a month, I have to reboot a lightbulb, which is a fucking mad sentence if you stop to think about it.

Ewamore, Quoth the Raven @ewacat.bsky.social · 2d

god, the modern world is amazing. the hot water tap in the office kitchen is showing an error message

Reposted by Alan Baxter

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

Remembering when Chris Rufo insisted that Disney was a thoroughly corrupt institution because it had a small number of employees arrested on CSAM and sex trafficking charges and I replied, well, let's use that standard for Republicans, and he blocked me before I could finish the thread.

JLRay @jlray.bsky.social · 3d

A Texas megachurch pastor and GOP leader has been arrested for crimes against children. Not Robert Morris, a different one. Not Josiah Anthony, a different one. Not Luke Cunningham, a different one. Not Tony Evans, a different one. Not Scott Crenshaw, a different one. Not Steve Lawson, a different o

Reposted by Alan Baxter

Sooz Kempner @soozuk.bsky.social · Oct 18

🧵Some real Jilly Cooper quotes from her Rutshire Chronicles, the series of books that Rivals is from.

1) "Her breasts swayed like party balloons when the front door opens"

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 3d

This whole thread, agree 100%.

Nnedi Okorafor, PhD @nnedi.bsky.social · 3d

This Anthropic settlement case…fellow authors, are any of you feeling rage? I have 12 books listed and money (I don’t CARE how many thousands, even millions) is NOT adequate compensation. What was stolen & used without my permission is priceless! Where is the option to scrub my work from AI?!

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 3d

Yep, almost all of my books. I couldn't agree more with your sentiment.

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 3d

Spam. Always.

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 3d

Legend.

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

Reposted by Alan Baxter

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman @josie.zone · 3d

It is morally wrong to want a computer to be sentient. If you owned a sentient thing, you would be a slaver. If you want sentient computers to exist, you just want to create a new kind of slavery. The ethics are as simple as that. Sorry if this offends

Reposted by Alan Baxter

Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 3d

The fact they jumped straight to AI actors modeled after women when, if I’m not mistaken, male actors are a higher labor cost kind of says it all doesn’t it,

Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 3d

Like… it's kind of right there, no?

"AI" generated image of woman with dark hair sitting in a chair in front of posters with random shapes and symbols meant to look like images and text on movie posters, all superimposed with a post from k.w.bogen reading
"AI actresses can't negotiate. They can't say they'd prefer their bodies not be shown certgain ways. They can't refuse degrading scenes. They can't express distress about disturbing content. They can't ask the creators :why would you do that to me? Why put any woman through watching that? If AI film winds up being the path, we're about to see an entirely new generation (and more brutal depiction) of media misogyny."

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 4d

Can't wait to get mine!

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 5d

This headline AND excerpt actually don't name her at all. What the actual fuck?

Felicity Hannah @felicityhannah.bsky.social · 5d

This article manages to name her husband before it names… her.

Article reads:
Woman named as Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first

The 63-year-old archbishop-designate is married to Eamonn Mullally, with whom she has two children. Originally from Woking in Surrey, she was the UK's chief nursing officer from 1999 to 2004.

Alan Baxter @alanbaxter.bsky.social · 5d

I had a venison burger for lunch. Delicious, but I wish it hadn't cost so much. It was a little dear.