Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 18m

Is Biffo faculty? Is he a student? Is he vaccinated?

Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 7h

We call that 'The Lightsaber'

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Reposted by Michael Barrett

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

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

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

buff.ly

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 1d

This thing could slice through like 800 pages of bristol board, and I was assured that in the event of an accident it would, at least, be the cleanest cut I'd ever had

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 1d

There was an utterly terrifying industrial paper guillotine at my university -Our safety briefing for it boiled down to "Yes, you need two hands to activate the blade, however please assume that it can and will cut your hand off if you take your eye off it and DON'T REACH INSIDE THE MACHINE EVER"

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Reposted by Michael Barrett

Kath Barbadoro @kathbarbadoro.bsky.social · 1d

I love living in a city full of immigrants and tons and tons of people who are not at all like me and not like each other. It makes us all better and it makes our city better. I know I’m preaching to the choir by saying this on the lib app but I sometimes just get so overwhelmed by how special it is

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 1d

Literally gonna Like every version of this ever posted, for Personal Reasons

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Reposted by Michael Barrett

Electrek @electrek.co · 2d

In a first, renewables generate more power than coal globally

Solar and wind power aren’t just keeping up with global electricity demand anymore – they’re pulling ahead. According to a new analysis from energy think tank Ember, solar and wind combined outpaced global electricity demand growth in the first half of 2025. That shift led to a drop in both coal and gas generation compared to the same period last year. For the first time ever, renewables generated more power than coal globally. more…

electrek.co

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 3d

Those are BEAUTIFUL, and in one hell of a better state than this poor figurehead I saw in Aberdeen - Fronted the 'Star of Tasmania' which wrecked in 1868 off the coast of New Zealand, where it was subsequently salvaged and used to plug a hole in a hedge for 82 years

A quite beat-up ship's figurehead depicting a light-skinned woman with brown hair, a blue dress, an exposed right breast and a crown of blue and red flowers

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 3d

"AND IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT - IT'S A FULL MOON ONCE AGAIN!"

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 4d

I will only get Hotter and Sexier until my life materially improves, this is my final warning

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 7d

Also I'm sorry if these are all American Classics but 'The Muffin Muncher' is a completely hilarious title for a children's book to me

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 7d

8 >

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 7d

I am guilty of the sin of Avarice but NOT guilty of the sin of Greed, which is different

Reposted by Michael Barrett

Bill Nottingham @notting.bsky.social · 9d

Just read the whole damn thing that goes into the very depressing state of the numbers and the math that isn't mathing, but this is a very succinct representation of a specific type of feneric Executive (Dys)Function:

This is the true nature of labor that executives fail to comprehend at scale: that the things we do are not units of work, but extrapolations of experience, emotion, and context that cannot be condensed in written meaning. Business Idiots see our labor as the result of a smart manager saying “do this,” rather than human ingenuity interpreting both a request and the shit the manager didn’t say.

What does a CEO do? Uhhh, um, well, a Harvard study says they spend 25% of their time on “people and relationships,” 25% on “functional and business unit reviews,” 16% on “organization and culture,” and 21% on “strategy,” with a few percent here and there for things like “professional development.”

That’s who runs the vast majority of companies: people that describe their work predominantly as “looking at stuff,” “talking to people” and “thinking about what we do next.” The most highly-paid jobs in the world are impossible to describe, their labor described in a mish-mash of LinkedInspiraton, yet everybody else’s labor is an output that can be automated.

As a result, Large Language Models seem like magic. When you see everything as an outcome — an outcome you may or may not understand, and definitely don’t understand the process behind, let alone care about — you kind of already see your workers as LLMs.

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 9d

Like to charge reblog to cast

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 9d

In another life I'm like 90% sure I would have been a tumblr witch

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 9d

CHAPPELL ROAN IF SHE WAS A MANTICORE: You can shoot a hundred Poison Barbs

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 10d

God this has been a good year for The Moviesh

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 10d

I just saw it in Vistavision and MY GOD, What a picture - A powerfully angry, very sweet, often hilarious anti-ICE thrillride

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 10d

My friend described Sean Penn's physicality in 'One Battle After Another' as 'Like if someone stop-motion-animated an Action Man' and I'll have you know that is a PERFECT description

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 13d

Big Size Games need a Big Size Jam

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Michael Barrett @mechabarrett.bsky.social · 14d

Kids these days don't have 15 Outrageous gadgets and weapons, 7 Insane powers, and 5 Crazy Forms to shapeshift into

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Reposted by Michael Barrett

shafer brown @shaferbrown.com · Apr 17

rpg character portrait (2024)

2024 limited tone dnd pc commission

a cerulean dragonborn stands framed by an archway, similar to stained glass or a recess for a figurative sculpture in an ambulatory. She extends one hand to a small hatchling, the other breaks a skull at her feet.

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Reposted by Michael Barrett

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 14d

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

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