Baldur Bjarnason
@baldurbjarnason.com
2.9K followers 430 following 5.5K posts
Writer, web developer and consultant based in Hveragerði, Iceland. Lapsed Interactive Media Academic. Webby Tech Stuff and webby book stuff. https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/ https://softwarecrisis.dev/
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baldurbjarnason.com
I figure since there's been a recent influx of people here on Bluesky, it might be worthwhile to do "highlights reels" of sorts for my newsletter, which is at www.baldurbjarnason.com

The biggest topic on my newsletter is software and web development, usually from a bit of a systemic perspective.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
uglyreykjavik.bsky.social
This was most likely a greenhouse once upon a time.

#Iceland #photography #naturephotography #nature #landscapephotography #landscape #abandoned #decay #plants #grass #trees #sky
What little is left of an abandoned old greenhouse.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
infrequently.org
The reality that Apple is actively anti-web is obscured by influential, aging web commentators who remember when it wasn't, and enjoy the wealth bubble's shiny toys. They're failing to demand better browsers on their phones, and that's a scandal:

open-web-advocacy.org/blog/apples-...
Apple's Browser Engine Ban Persists, Even Under the DMA - Open Web Advocacy
Skip to content
open-web-advocacy.org
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
amyhoy.bsky.social
any random moderately successful small restaurant creates 20 jobs

imagine how many little businesses that $38 million could spawn if we *correctly* allocated that capital to *actual job producers* (which are always small business)
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
karlbode.com
AI and the complete destruction of whatever was left of U.S. regulatory corporate oversight is going to take all of this to the next level

these trust fund failsons envision the internet as a giant ouroboros that just shits ad engagement cash and kickbacks, quality or usefulness be damned
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
amyhoy.bsky.social
that's what i don't get about the llm bros

you don't buy bread at the store and say "it makes me feel like a baker."

it can't.

and how do you even know what a baker or tiktok creator feels like? you don't, bc you've never made anything.

the feeling they're feeling is pretend play
baldurbjarnason.com
Reading tech dudes enthuse about Sora , “it let’s me feel like a TikTok creator”, just confirms to me that these shitbirds are simultaneously lazy as hell and have no taste.

(There’s literally zero barrier to entry for becoming a TikTok creator.)
baldurbjarnason.com
Reading tech dudes enthuse about Sora , “it let’s me feel like a TikTok creator”, just confirms to me that these shitbirds are simultaneously lazy as hell and have no taste.

(There’s literally zero barrier to entry for becoming a TikTok creator.)
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
kissane.myatproto.social
I like to publish my posts in the middle of the night for maximum reach. But this is what I’ve been up to and how I think the pieces connect.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
ketanjoshi.co
Wild list of errors - significant but subtle enough that someone not paying attention would let is pass - generated by Microsoft's generative software INSIDE Excel formulas

We are so SO MUCH TROUBLE

office-watch.com/2025/facts-a...
ust one more example of Copilot getting facts wrong
We asked Copilot() for a list of UN countries and immediately noticed something was wrong.  There are 193 countries in the United Nations not 194 so where is the other country?  The answer is complicated.


=COPILOT(“list of UN countries, include headings”,”show short name, full name,date of UN entry and continent”)

Copilot has added Vatican City which isn’t a member, only an “Observer” but at least there’s a note.

Even more curious is Palestine which is also an Observer member only but is listed by Copilot as a full member which joined on 29 Nov. 2012.

That means Copilot has two non-members listed and there must be one member country not listed. 

If that wasn’t enough, all the Central American and Caribbean countries are lumped into the “North America” continent which isn’t what most people would expect. Different results on the same page!
For no explained reason, “Gold Coast Airport” appears in this Copilot() result (B17 result and below) even though it’s not shown in another result on the same page (Cell B3 and the spilled cells). All it took was small and irrelevant changes in the prompt.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
suw.bsky.social
It's absolutely nuts. How do they not understand our economy? The creative industry adds £124bn to the economy. Universities contribute £265bn. Sea fishing is variable but hovers around £500mn, ie £0.5bn. Steel is £1.8bn direct, £2.4 indirect (via supply chains).

These people simply cannot count.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
craiggrannell.bsky.social
Also, I find it incredible that successive governments keep trying to knacker industries where the UK punches above its weight, such as an awful lot of the arts.
outonbluesix.bsky.social
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
ketanjoshi.co
Whether it's sincere or bad-faith, it is pretty simply true that AI-mania is providing an easy rhetorical cover for the US government actively worsening the use of fossil fuels

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
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Business of Climate
White House offers ‘concierge’ service to fossil fuel firms, official says
Brittany Kelm, a senior policy adviser for the National Energy Dominance Council, detailed in a podcast how the council works to advance fossil fuel projects.

Updated
October 7, 2025 at 7:02 p.m. EDTtoday at 7:02 p.m. EDT
5 min

Summary



206

A pump jack operates outside of Midland, Texas, in June. (Eli Hartman/Reuters)

By Jake Spring
The White House is offering “concierge, white glove service” to oil, coal and other fossil fuel companies that are seeking to gain fast approval for their projects, according to an energy official, while simultaneously slowing down or blocking solar and wind projects.

Brittany Kelm, senior policy adviser for President Donald Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, detailed in an August podcast how she and the council work to advance fossil fuel projects. Trump established the committee in February with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum as its leader.

“We’re like this little tiger team, concierge, white glove service, essentially,” Kelm said. “We were put together very particularly with the president’s priorities in mind on energy. So keeping coal plants open, establishing critical mineral mining domestically and then that broader supply chain.”

Kelm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Follow Trump’s second term

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White House spokesperson Kush Desai said that the administration is ending former president Joe Biden’s preferential treatment for green energy projects and “war” on mining and fossil fuels.

“The American people gave President Trump a resounding mandate to ‘drill, baby, drill’ and unleash the power of American energy, and the Administration is committed to doing just that,” Desai said in a written statement.

National Energy Dominance Council Executive Director Jarrod Agen said in a sta…
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
flowerhorne.com
When your range of capabilities impacts your daily life, and your ability to independently navigate a world that is assuming a higher range?

That is called disability. That's what being disabled is.

It does not mean being housebound, unable to work, socialize, or function.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
flowerhorne.com
Welp that article is going to be seared into my brain.

I'm not linking to it, but I will shout again that DISABILITY IS NOT STATIC. Disabled people, like everyone else, have a range of capabilities.

Just because you see someone do something you don't think they can do doesn't mean they're a fraud.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
naomialderman.bsky.social
Not to mention performing arts! The UK has some of the best talent in the world in film and TV. Not just actors but producers, lighting, ADs, makeup, costume, casting. High-end production companies come from around the world to make stuff here. Performing arts is a *massive industry for Britain*.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
polotek.bsky.social
What I mean by that is I end up talking to people who think that things could be "much worse" right now. They're still advising caution. We should hedge our bets and not give the regime "a reason" to escalate things. Things are escalating steadily. Have been since January.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
samatlounge.bsky.social
The first person who messages me with any insider gossip will get my undying love. What I'm hearing is nobody knows what has happened. 👀
samatlounge.bsky.social
Huge news that Charlie Redmayne has resigned from being CEO of @harpercollins UK. Wowser, wonder what happened.

And although it is great to see a woman take over as temporary CEO, Kate Elton is one of the most insipid publishing execs I have ever encountered.

www.thebookseller.com/news/harperc...
HarperCollins CEO Charlie Redmayne resigns as Kate Elton steps up
HarperCollins UK CEO Charlie Redmayne has resigned from his post, with Kate Elton appointed as interim CEO.
www.thebookseller.com
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
weredawgz.blacksky.app
I think also about how it doesn’t matter if those girls ever decide to be dancers

What matters is seeing it was an option. That they can make the choice
jordantyranny.bsky.social
"Ballerina Aesha Ash wandering around inner city Rochester breaking the stereotypes about women of color and to inspire young kids."
its a picture of a ballerina teaching future young ballerinas!!!
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
tomcoates.bsky.social
I find this really interesting and analogous to the way the LGBTQA+ community moved from fighting for just gay and lesbian rights to supporting anyone who didn’t fit into heteronormative sex and gender limits.
whattheshea.bsky.social
“If we view feminism as the struggle of gender-marginalized people for bodily autonomy, rather than just calling these things “women's issues,” then we make room for all trans people within feminism.”
assignedmedia.org
"As much as our enemies are louder and crueler, and in many cases more powerful than ever, we have more allies than ever too."

Assigned Media interviews transmasc feminist @judedoyle.bsky.social
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
rahaeli.bsky.social
And I just want to reiterate this ( from a thread deep in replies). I started doing this work before any of these tools existed. The number of my contemporaries in the field who have died by suicide is NOT A SMALL NUMBER. The work is incredibly traumatizing.
rahaeli.bsky.social
As someone who was doing that human review of images before even PhotoDNA existed, I can testify that the amount of human suffering automated image classification prevents is MASSIVE. Like, I am the best case scenario of the human cost of that work and I still have lifelong consequences from it.
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
yogabapentin.bsky.social
Obligatory Jenny Nicholson Tweet
Jenny Nicholson Tweet:

How come major film studios keep being like Jared Leto may have allegations, but at least he looks weird, stars in box office bombs, and is not a good actor
baldurbjarnason.com
It’s early yet, but I feel pretty confident this is going to be the best thing I read today
Reposted by Baldur Bjarnason
fasterandworse.com
I prefer to ignore the "gadget" hype and focus on the "product". Does it have a core promise?
- No: it's a novelty (doesn't matter if the maker admits or not)
- Yes
-- Does it deliver?
--- No: It's a bad product
--- Yes: It's down to quality, marketing, competition