Emyr Derfel
@emyrderfel.bsky.social
Programming to pay for my bicycle habit.
ADHD+Dyslexia.
Welsh but in Bolton, Northwest England.
ADHD+Dyslexia.
Welsh but in Bolton, Northwest England.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
“When the German nation was, thanks to the inflation instigated and carried through by Jews, deprived of the entire savings which it had accumulated in years of honest work..when we were divested of the whole of our colonial possessions”
Adolf Hitler, 1939
There’s not much difference
Adolf Hitler, 1939
There’s not much difference
December 18, 2025 at 4:56 AM
“When the German nation was, thanks to the inflation instigated and carried through by Jews, deprived of the entire savings which it had accumulated in years of honest work..when we were divested of the whole of our colonial possessions”
Adolf Hitler, 1939
There’s not much difference
Adolf Hitler, 1939
There’s not much difference
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
December 17, 2025 at 4:38 PM
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
It's funny that the subhead frames the failure of Copilot in terms of Gemini's success. Despite the fact that Gemini isn't something I've ever heard anybody mention voluntarily and intentionally using either.
It's like losing to old shoes in a competition to replace forks&knives as dining utensils.
It's like losing to old shoes in a competition to replace forks&knives as dining utensils.
December 15, 2025 at 11:00 PM
It's funny that the subhead frames the failure of Copilot in terms of Gemini's success. Despite the fact that Gemini isn't something I've ever heard anybody mention voluntarily and intentionally using either.
It's like losing to old shoes in a competition to replace forks&knives as dining utensils.
It's like losing to old shoes in a competition to replace forks&knives as dining utensils.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Who better to talk about the civil service than a man who’s never had a proper job and has zero idea what government workers actually do? Everything is easy when you don’t know what the fuck you are talking about.
December 15, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Who better to talk about the civil service than a man who’s never had a proper job and has zero idea what government workers actually do? Everything is easy when you don’t know what the fuck you are talking about.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Now that it's public: RIP FluTracking, which I understand only cost $50k per year to administer, yet provided incredibly valuable and irreplaceable information on levels of influenza-like-illness.
What an utterly dim decision.
What an utterly dim decision.
December 16, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Now that it's public: RIP FluTracking, which I understand only cost $50k per year to administer, yet provided incredibly valuable and irreplaceable information on levels of influenza-like-illness.
What an utterly dim decision.
What an utterly dim decision.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
next, we'll see students uploading confabulations of the full papers corresponding to these fake cites, they'll wind up on .edu domains, and then google scholar will think they're open access or preprints that can be used to correspond to the fake cite.
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 16, 2025 at 4:50 AM
next, we'll see students uploading confabulations of the full papers corresponding to these fake cites, they'll wind up on .edu domains, and then google scholar will think they're open access or preprints that can be used to correspond to the fake cite.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
The US intervened in Kosovo after a massacre of 46 civilians.
Total dead now stands at 95 starting from the first strike on Sept. 2, 2025.
December 16, 2025 at 6:13 AM
The US intervened in Kosovo after a massacre of 46 civilians.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
But what happens if the government becomes tyrannical? Who will arm the neo-nazis so they can rid around in U-Haul trucks and threaten minorities?
Less than 48 hours after the deadly attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach that left more than a dozen dead, Australian authorities announced proposals for sweeping new gun laws. n.pr/48UTa7g
Australia announces strict new gun laws. Here's how it can act so swiftly
Less than 48 hours after the deadly attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach that left more than a dozen dead, Australian authorities announced proposals for sweeping new gun laws.
n.pr
December 16, 2025 at 6:24 AM
But what happens if the government becomes tyrannical? Who will arm the neo-nazis so they can rid around in U-Haul trucks and threaten minorities?
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
The Russian propagandists who whine about how horrible this war is enrage me the most. You dont get to start a war and then complain about horrible the war you started is. Its not that I find your suffering irrelevant, I just believe you deserve every bit of it.
December 16, 2025 at 6:48 AM
The Russian propagandists who whine about how horrible this war is enrage me the most. You dont get to start a war and then complain about horrible the war you started is. Its not that I find your suffering irrelevant, I just believe you deserve every bit of it.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Another way to restart the world’s idea machine is to restore funding and grants to universities, researchers, and artists.
America, you have spoken loud and clear: You do not like AI. But what if AI is the way to restart the world’s idea machine?
We’re running out of good ideas. AI might be how we find new ones.
What if the best use of AI is restarting the world’s idea machine?
www.vox.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Another way to restart the world’s idea machine is to restore funding and grants to universities, researchers, and artists.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
TOTAL BACKFIRE: Pulitzer Prize Board just turned the tables on Trump. In his defamation lawsuit, they’re demanding his tax returns, financial records, and even medical & prescription history if he’s claiming damages. (Law&Crime)
December 15, 2025 at 11:48 PM
TOTAL BACKFIRE: Pulitzer Prize Board just turned the tables on Trump. In his defamation lawsuit, they’re demanding his tax returns, financial records, and even medical & prescription history if he’s claiming damages. (Law&Crime)
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Today in the casual media normalization of personalist, nepotistic authoritarianism.
Jared Kushner holds no senior Senate-confirmed post in the US government. He is the son-in-law & business partner of the president. This is unprecedented, massive corruption & media outlets should treat it as such.
Jared Kushner holds no senior Senate-confirmed post in the US government. He is the son-in-law & business partner of the president. This is unprecedented, massive corruption & media outlets should treat it as such.
Donald Trump says Ukraine peace deal ‘closer than ever’ after talks in Berlin
Germany says US to provide security guarantees as Kyiv and Washington admit differences on territorial issues
giftarticle.ft.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Today in the casual media normalization of personalist, nepotistic authoritarianism.
Jared Kushner holds no senior Senate-confirmed post in the US government. He is the son-in-law & business partner of the president. This is unprecedented, massive corruption & media outlets should treat it as such.
Jared Kushner holds no senior Senate-confirmed post in the US government. He is the son-in-law & business partner of the president. This is unprecedented, massive corruption & media outlets should treat it as such.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Elon's little serfs are quite literally begging journalists to come back because every publicly available source of data shows people have fled the platform and young people won't use it.
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
December 15, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Elon's little serfs are quite literally begging journalists to come back because every publicly available source of data shows people have fled the platform and young people won't use it.
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Okay but how can someone pay me to watch
December 14, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Okay but how can someone pay me to watch
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Posted this at the start of the year. Sad to say it's aged liked the finest of wines.
December 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Posted this at the start of the year. Sad to say it's aged liked the finest of wines.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
TIL the original lyrics to Deck the Halls are awesome and “don we now our gay apparel” is temperance movement bullshit
December 13, 2025 at 10:44 PM
TIL the original lyrics to Deck the Halls are awesome and “don we now our gay apparel” is temperance movement bullshit
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Listen, life is getting hard to explain in class
NEW: President Donald Trump says he is granting a pardon to Tina Peters, who was convicted on state charges related to tampering with Colorado's election systems. Legal experts say presidential pardons do not apply to state charges.
December 12, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Listen, life is getting hard to explain in class
"That's not a hole saw, THAT's a hole saw!"
67mm vs 172mm (Core bit, actually)
67mm vs 172mm (Core bit, actually)
December 11, 2025 at 1:02 PM
"That's not a hole saw, THAT's a hole saw!"
67mm vs 172mm (Core bit, actually)
67mm vs 172mm (Core bit, actually)
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Air pollution dropped not just in the congestion pricing zone, but across the 5 boroughs and greater metro area. Quote from article "This tells us that congestion pricing didn't simply relocate air pollution to the suburbs by rerouting traffic.”
great outcome of a good policy that right-wingers reflexively resist
NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by 22% in Manhattan, study finds
Since New York City introduced congestion pricing in January 2025, the state has heralded significant reductions in traffic and rush hour delays, fewer crashes and noise complaints, and toll revenue p...
phys.org
December 11, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Air pollution dropped not just in the congestion pricing zone, but across the 5 boroughs and greater metro area. Quote from article "This tells us that congestion pricing didn't simply relocate air pollution to the suburbs by rerouting traffic.”
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Days after FIFA awarded Trump a fake peace prize, DOJ moves to drop charges in FIFA corruption case www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
U.S. Moves to Drop Charges in International Soccer Corruption Case
www.nytimes.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Days after FIFA awarded Trump a fake peace prize, DOJ moves to drop charges in FIFA corruption case www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
I'm frustrated that we've allowed gAI to be seen as doing research or writing knowledge, when what it was designed to do was write text that *looks* right. This is super cool technology, and can be useful in specific situations, but what it is *being* used for, and advertised for is not a good use.
Folks might not know a lot of people are getting *very* upset that the materials they request are not available in the libraries/archives they're requesting from.
We're getting lots here at the Library of Virginia: requests of documents likely surfaced by large language models that *do not exist*.
We're getting lots here at the Library of Virginia: requests of documents likely surfaced by large language models that *do not exist*.
I wish a notice like this wasn't necessary.
www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
www.icrc.org/en/article/i...
December 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I'm frustrated that we've allowed gAI to be seen as doing research or writing knowledge, when what it was designed to do was write text that *looks* right. This is super cool technology, and can be useful in specific situations, but what it is *being* used for, and advertised for is not a good use.
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
You know what, I don't really like dark mode on any screen other than a phone
December 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
You know what, I don't really like dark mode on any screen other than a phone
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
the first and only impeachment proceeding against a supreme court justice was over excessive partisanship fyi
Via MS NOW: Emil Bove is in attendance at Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania tonight.
December 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
the first and only impeachment proceeding against a supreme court justice was over excessive partisanship fyi
Reposted by Emyr Derfel
Tech bros shocked that normal human beings enjoy thinking
December 5, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Tech bros shocked that normal human beings enjoy thinking