@silentsweeney.bsky.social
Pianist for dance and silent film. Citizen of Aotearoa
Reposted
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
January 14, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
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This picture of laughable screens-are-killing-our-kids conman, Jonathan Haidt, in which he equates the Left's rejection of IQ pseudoscience with Rightwing fascism, gets funnier once you notice that all of the things in the LEFT column read like character labels in a Kelly cartoon.
January 14, 2026 at 9:55 AM
This picture of laughable screens-are-killing-our-kids conman, Jonathan Haidt, in which he equates the Left's rejection of IQ pseudoscience with Rightwing fascism, gets funnier once you notice that all of the things in the LEFT column read like character labels in a Kelly cartoon.
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The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
January 14, 2026 at 7:09 AM
The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
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Let's go further. Every medium sized British town should have a Roger's Child Porn Warehouse, packed to the rafters with CSAM made and sold by Roger himself. Then we can arrest anyone who buys it, let Roger keep the money and the porn, and hand him a knighthood for his services to policing.
Alex Norris explaining that the govt is passing legislation that means if someone asks Grok to produce an image of a woman in a bikini they will be committing a criminal offence. Whereas when it comes to taking action against X, we're told thats a matter for Ofcom not the govt.
January 13, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Let's go further. Every medium sized British town should have a Roger's Child Porn Warehouse, packed to the rafters with CSAM made and sold by Roger himself. Then we can arrest anyone who buys it, let Roger keep the money and the porn, and hand him a knighthood for his services to policing.
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Can't stop thinking about how old David Attenborough (beloved naturalist and campaigner) and Rupert Murdoch (nihilistic cultural tumour) are. If the wrong one dies first I swear I'm going to fucking set fire to something.
January 9, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Can't stop thinking about how old David Attenborough (beloved naturalist and campaigner) and Rupert Murdoch (nihilistic cultural tumour) are. If the wrong one dies first I swear I'm going to fucking set fire to something.
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Delighted to see this recent article in the @smithsonianmag.bsky.social by @donnalferguson.bsky.social on some of the research outputs for the Naming Species in the South Pacific project: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl... With thanks to our collaborators, @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
Newly Digitized Records Reveal How Indigenous People Shared Their Knowledge of New Zealand's Plants With Captain Cook's Crew
Long-overlooked documents housed at London's Natural History Museum testify to the exchange of information between 18th-century European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 8, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Delighted to see this recent article in the @smithsonianmag.bsky.social by @donnalferguson.bsky.social on some of the research outputs for the Naming Species in the South Pacific project: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl... With thanks to our collaborators, @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social
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It's not just the abolition of DCMS. There's a lot to be said for deregulation, but getting rid of Ofcom and the Electrical Commission was also a mistake.
thecritic.co.uk/brin...
thecritic.co.uk/brin...
January 7, 2026 at 9:43 AM
It's not just the abolition of DCMS. There's a lot to be said for deregulation, but getting rid of Ofcom and the Electrical Commission was also a mistake.
thecritic.co.uk/brin...
thecritic.co.uk/brin...
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me for years: people should be interested in denmark and greenland!
me now: what the fuck. what the fucking fuck. this fucking sucks
me now: what the fuck. what the fucking fuck. this fucking sucks
January 5, 2026 at 10:04 PM
me for years: people should be interested in denmark and greenland!
me now: what the fuck. what the fucking fuck. this fucking sucks
me now: what the fuck. what the fucking fuck. this fucking sucks
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A Dutch worker went viral after explaining to their American boss that they have a life outside work.
January 5, 2026 at 11:52 AM
A Dutch worker went viral after explaining to their American boss that they have a life outside work.
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BREAKING: Ed Davey’s response to Keir Starmer’s statement
January 3, 2026 at 9:22 PM
BREAKING: Ed Davey’s response to Keir Starmer’s statement
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If someone could get Lisa Nandy or Liz Kendall to explain, on the record, why they’re not treating this as a major issue, that’d be much appreciated
This does seem just a little bit bad! Idk the sort of thing you’d think politicians might distance themselves from or something!
January 2, 2026 at 11:00 AM
If someone could get Lisa Nandy or Liz Kendall to explain, on the record, why they’re not treating this as a major issue, that’d be much appreciated
This times 100...
So much truth. And controversial view: for me one of the key differences between radio programmes and podcasts is that radio programmes rarely make me shout GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAID EARLIER IN THE PUB I WASN’T THERE
podcasts
January 2, 2026 at 9:41 AM
This times 100...
The new David Attenborough documentary is not only beautiful, surprising and amazing, but is the most wonderful and tender love letter to London www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Wild London
Sir David Attenborough explores the wildlife of his London hometown, from urban deer to rooftop peregrines and many others, revealing how nature thrives in the world’s greenest major city.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 1, 2026 at 10:47 PM
The new David Attenborough documentary is not only beautiful, surprising and amazing, but is the most wonderful and tender love letter to London www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
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Set out six months ago to investigative some dubious evictions. Ended up writing a sprawling story spread over 450 years about London property deals, the ethics of money lending, Tommy Robinson, Barbary pirates, Jacobean earls, and wealth in the capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/henry-smit...
A Tale Of One City And Two Henry Smiths
These two London landlords are separated by four centuries — but joined by a common name and business interests.
www.londoncentric.media
January 1, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Set out six months ago to investigative some dubious evictions. Ended up writing a sprawling story spread over 450 years about London property deals, the ethics of money lending, Tommy Robinson, Barbary pirates, Jacobean earls, and wealth in the capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/henry-smit...
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First mating of the 2026 #kakapo breeding season! True to form, it was Pearl and Boss on Whenua Hou, who mated on the night of 28th Dec. They were also the first two to mate in the last two breeding seasons. We're expecting a bumper year, so follow for updates! #conservation #parrots
December 31, 2025 at 8:56 AM
First mating of the 2026 #kakapo breeding season! True to form, it was Pearl and Boss on Whenua Hou, who mated on the night of 28th Dec. They were also the first two to mate in the last two breeding seasons. We're expecting a bumper year, so follow for updates! #conservation #parrots
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If you keep telling social liberals to fuck off to impress the Times, don't act all surprised when they actually fuck off.
December 31, 2025 at 10:38 AM
If you keep telling social liberals to fuck off to impress the Times, don't act all surprised when they actually fuck off.
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My “top 10" for silent cinema screenings in 2025... with thanks to the archivists, programmers, projectionists, acompanists and the original artists of course!
Especially those in Sweden. I mean, it's in no particular order... except for the top one!
ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com/2025/12/yet-...
Especially those in Sweden. I mean, it's in no particular order... except for the top one!
ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com/2025/12/yet-...
Yet another Top Ten, 2025 in live silent cinema...
Have you noticed that there are more and more best-of lists this year? Most are aimed at generating engagement either with heated debates ...
ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com
December 30, 2025 at 8:19 PM
My “top 10" for silent cinema screenings in 2025... with thanks to the archivists, programmers, projectionists, acompanists and the original artists of course!
Especially those in Sweden. I mean, it's in no particular order... except for the top one!
ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com/2025/12/yet-...
Especially those in Sweden. I mean, it's in no particular order... except for the top one!
ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com/2025/12/yet-...
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look we're all making a big bet on AI! and if it pays off as big as we hope, well, it's going to make a handful of people super rich and you're going to lose your job but get to watch mickey mouse fuck geralt from the witcher. if it doesn't pay off well then you get to pay for the bailouts
December 29, 2025 at 2:25 AM
look we're all making a big bet on AI! and if it pays off as big as we hope, well, it's going to make a handful of people super rich and you're going to lose your job but get to watch mickey mouse fuck geralt from the witcher. if it doesn't pay off well then you get to pay for the bailouts
And some were just plain wrong - the caption about the composer Schoenberg was completely wrong, describing him as an experimental composer, which would have been news to him, and saying that the 2nd quartet was written with his 12-tone system ( it wasn't as he hadn't invented it yet).
The real low was the Blue Rider Group, where half the captions were 'the Blue Rider Group were leftwing'. Any information about their technique or the painting was not forthcoming.
December 27, 2025 at 6:34 PM
And some were just plain wrong - the caption about the composer Schoenberg was completely wrong, describing him as an experimental composer, which would have been news to him, and saying that the 2nd quartet was written with his 12-tone system ( it wasn't as he hadn't invented it yet).
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Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
I had five fascinating conversations for this RPS piece, gathering perspectives on genAI chatbots in games, as seen in Where Winds Meet. Thanks to @meghna.bsky.social, @pyrofoux.bsky.social, @maxkreminski.bsky.social, and @chrisgardiner.bsky.social www.rockpapershotgun.com/horrible-bor...
"Horrible", "boring", and "cheap": Experts pan new chatbot NPCs, but some leave room for optimism
We speak to a collection of developers and AI experts about the potential impact of LLM-powered NPCs in videogames.
www.rockpapershotgun.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
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The complete Bayeux Tapestry has finally been released and proves that Bishop Odo had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal Norman invasion of England.
December 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
The complete Bayeux Tapestry has finally been released and proves that Bishop Odo had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal Norman invasion of England.
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Some very useful links to stuff about the extreme dodginess of UCKG beneath my original post. It is 23 years since I wrote about their complicity in the death of a little girl called Victoria Climbie. And yet questions still remain to be answered.
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
December 20, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Some very useful links to stuff about the extreme dodginess of UCKG beneath my original post. It is 23 years since I wrote about their complicity in the death of a little girl called Victoria Climbie. And yet questions still remain to be answered.
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
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Since we are again having this discussion, and now in the UK with draconic legal powers: my thread on Intifada and "globalise the Intifada"
Intifada is uprising. Intifadas are not unique to Palestine. Uprisings can be violent and nonviolent. Intifadas in Palestine were both. It's like shouting revolution. Would you ban the word revolution?
December 20, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Since we are again having this discussion, and now in the UK with draconic legal powers: my thread on Intifada and "globalise the Intifada"
This is just wonderful
Stefan Zweig on Marcel Proust. As always, Zweig has something interesting to say. (Translation by Will Stone.)
www.anthologialitt.com/post/stefan-...
www.anthologialitt.com/post/stefan-...
December 19, 2025 at 5:45 PM
This is just wonderful
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HUGE Betty Balfour news!!
A rare screening of two supposedly lost films of this major British star that have survived only on 9.5mm and 16mm: Cinders (UK 1926) and Daughter of the Regiment (1929). 28th January '26 with live accompaniment + intros! #SilentFilm
cinemamuseum.org.uk/scheduled/be...
A rare screening of two supposedly lost films of this major British star that have survived only on 9.5mm and 16mm: Cinders (UK 1926) and Daughter of the Regiment (1929). 28th January '26 with live accompaniment + intros! #SilentFilm
cinemamuseum.org.uk/scheduled/be...
Betty Balfour Lost and Found – The Cinema Museum
cinemamuseum.org.uk
December 17, 2025 at 12:46 PM
HUGE Betty Balfour news!!
A rare screening of two supposedly lost films of this major British star that have survived only on 9.5mm and 16mm: Cinders (UK 1926) and Daughter of the Regiment (1929). 28th January '26 with live accompaniment + intros! #SilentFilm
cinemamuseum.org.uk/scheduled/be...
A rare screening of two supposedly lost films of this major British star that have survived only on 9.5mm and 16mm: Cinders (UK 1926) and Daughter of the Regiment (1929). 28th January '26 with live accompaniment + intros! #SilentFilm
cinemamuseum.org.uk/scheduled/be...