Beltane
@anbhealtaine.bsky.social
Working in tech, helping make AI safer and more privacy protecting
Reposted by Beltane
November 10, 2025 at 12:03 AM
To help protect your privacy against Stingray interception of your cellphone communication
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
November 9, 2025 at 5:28 AM
To help protect your privacy against Stingray interception of your cellphone communication
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
With a United Ireland vote possible, we should turn the page on our old symbols and create new symbols that everyone on the Island can rally around.
Here’s a concept:
St. Patrick's Blue + two gold stars representing the two main traditions united, with a nod to the EU flag.
What do you think?
Here’s a concept:
St. Patrick's Blue + two gold stars representing the two main traditions united, with a nod to the EU flag.
What do you think?
November 5, 2025 at 9:35 PM
With a United Ireland vote possible, we should turn the page on our old symbols and create new symbols that everyone on the Island can rally around.
Here’s a concept:
St. Patrick's Blue + two gold stars representing the two main traditions united, with a nod to the EU flag.
What do you think?
Here’s a concept:
St. Patrick's Blue + two gold stars representing the two main traditions united, with a nod to the EU flag.
What do you think?
This physics paper is simultaneously the most interesting and entertaining paper I've read in a while
Part 3 made me literally laugh out loud
[physics/0110060] Trialogue on the number of fundamental constants share.google/7T2CYIfA0KG0...
Part 3 made me literally laugh out loud
[physics/0110060] Trialogue on the number of fundamental constants share.google/7T2CYIfA0KG0...
Trialogue on the number of fundamental constants
This paper consists of three separate articles on the number of fundamental dimensionful constants in physics. We started our debate in summer 1992 on the terrace of the famous CERN cafeteria. In the ...
share.google
October 16, 2025 at 5:26 AM
This physics paper is simultaneously the most interesting and entertaining paper I've read in a while
Part 3 made me literally laugh out loud
[physics/0110060] Trialogue on the number of fundamental constants share.google/7T2CYIfA0KG0...
Part 3 made me literally laugh out loud
[physics/0110060] Trialogue on the number of fundamental constants share.google/7T2CYIfA0KG0...
Reposted by Beltane
A stark analysis in the latest "Odd Lots" podcast on how trade wars can escalate to hot wars
The parallels to the 1930s are particularly concerning and offer a critical lens on the current trajectory with China
A must-listen for anyone concerned with policy, risk, and second-order effects
The parallels to the 1930s are particularly concerning and offer a critical lens on the current trajectory with China
A must-listen for anyone concerned with policy, risk, and second-order effects
July 26, 2025 at 7:02 PM
A stark analysis in the latest "Odd Lots" podcast on how trade wars can escalate to hot wars
The parallels to the 1930s are particularly concerning and offer a critical lens on the current trajectory with China
A must-listen for anyone concerned with policy, risk, and second-order effects
The parallels to the 1930s are particularly concerning and offer a critical lens on the current trajectory with China
A must-listen for anyone concerned with policy, risk, and second-order effects
Reposted by Beltane
Tomorrow’s Guardian front page
July 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Tomorrow’s Guardian front page
A farmer feeds geese at a farm in Sihong County, Suqian City, Jiangsu province, China, on July 12, 2025.
Photo credit: VCG / Getty
Via: www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
Photo credit: VCG / Getty
Via: www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
July 24, 2025 at 3:34 AM
A farmer feeds geese at a farm in Sihong County, Suqian City, Jiangsu province, China, on July 12, 2025.
Photo credit: VCG / Getty
Via: www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
Photo credit: VCG / Getty
Via: www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
The problem is that LLMs are a hack that exploit a vulnerability of our brains
That we see order and agency where none exists (Thor in a storm, God in a sunset)
Because the only previous producers of fluent language that we ever encountered were other people, it's irresistible to anthropomorphize
That we see order and agency where none exists (Thor in a storm, God in a sunset)
Because the only previous producers of fluent language that we ever encountered were other people, it's irresistible to anthropomorphize
I find the discourse challenging because it doesn't feel like a technological one; it's philosophical and a bit theological. Especially for techies, where it asks you to suspend reason and lean into an almost astrological meaning-making through gambling. I struggle with AI bc it feels like religion.
I am disappointed in the AI discourse steveklabnik.com/writing/i-am...
July 21, 2025 at 1:32 AM
The problem is that LLMs are a hack that exploit a vulnerability of our brains
That we see order and agency where none exists (Thor in a storm, God in a sunset)
Because the only previous producers of fluent language that we ever encountered were other people, it's irresistible to anthropomorphize
That we see order and agency where none exists (Thor in a storm, God in a sunset)
Because the only previous producers of fluent language that we ever encountered were other people, it's irresistible to anthropomorphize
Reposted by Beltane
Compressing the entire internet into interpolable vector space that can be queried in natural language remains actual sorcery that we skipped past 2 seconds because we immediately wanted to know if it could write f'in poetry.
July 11, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Compressing the entire internet into interpolable vector space that can be queried in natural language remains actual sorcery that we skipped past 2 seconds because we immediately wanted to know if it could write f'in poetry.
If you want to know the truth about AI then read the comments in this thread
TL:DR large language models (LLMs) were a big breakthrough and are an incredibly useful tool for searching and summarization, but the language fluency of their chatbot frontends fools us into thinking they are intelligent
TL:DR large language models (LLMs) were a big breakthrough and are an incredibly useful tool for searching and summarization, but the language fluency of their chatbot frontends fools us into thinking they are intelligent
thiiiiis
semantic search is CRAZY useful in how it can unlock the value of the vast majority of data, which is unstructured
the fact that LLMs can also summarize and recontextualize that unstructured data is truly a breakthrough
this is not by any stretch of the imagination AGI
semantic search is CRAZY useful in how it can unlock the value of the vast majority of data, which is unstructured
the fact that LLMs can also summarize and recontextualize that unstructured data is truly a breakthrough
this is not by any stretch of the imagination AGI
A good 70% of the fighting over AI would have been avoided if VC hucksters (and gullible access journalists) hadn't conflated incrementally useful automation with computational sentience to make money
July 13, 2025 at 6:41 PM
If you want to know the truth about AI then read the comments in this thread
TL:DR large language models (LLMs) were a big breakthrough and are an incredibly useful tool for searching and summarization, but the language fluency of their chatbot frontends fools us into thinking they are intelligent
TL:DR large language models (LLMs) were a big breakthrough and are an incredibly useful tool for searching and summarization, but the language fluency of their chatbot frontends fools us into thinking they are intelligent
It's troubling that police are using generative AI to produce legally significant text like police reports, given the known risks of bias and hallucination
What's worse is when there's no audit trail or any kind of transparency to prove the claimed "officer-in-the-loop"
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
What's worse is when there's no audit trail or any kind of transparency to prove the claimed "officer-in-the-loop"
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
Axon’s Draft One is Designed to Defy Transparency
Axon Enterprise’s Draft One — a generative artificial intelligence product that writes police reports based on audio from officers’ body-worn cameras — seems deliberately designed to avoid audits that...
www.eff.org
July 12, 2025 at 1:05 AM
It's troubling that police are using generative AI to produce legally significant text like police reports, given the known risks of bias and hallucination
What's worse is when there's no audit trail or any kind of transparency to prove the claimed "officer-in-the-loop"
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
What's worse is when there's no audit trail or any kind of transparency to prove the claimed "officer-in-the-loop"
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
Astounding imagery of how far ahead China is in solar
even as the U.S. is now undoing its own clean energy initiatives in a national self-sabotaging, rolling-coal fuck-you
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
even as the U.S. is now undoing its own clean energy initiatives in a national self-sabotaging, rolling-coal fuck-you
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
July 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Astounding imagery of how far ahead China is in solar
even as the U.S. is now undoing its own clean energy initiatives in a national self-sabotaging, rolling-coal fuck-you
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
even as the U.S. is now undoing its own clean energy initiatives in a national self-sabotaging, rolling-coal fuck-you
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
This article argues that in the US it's difficult to limit disinfo via speech or economic regulation but privacy regulation can be acceptable and effective
Personalization is a vector for disinfo so privacy regulation to limit personalization will also limit disinfo
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Personalization is a vector for disinfo so privacy regulation to limit personalization will also limit disinfo
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Privacy and Disinformation
<br>
All three branches of the federal government have wrestled with how the law could or should regulate social media applications to mitigate the harms of disinfor
papers.ssrn.com
July 6, 2025 at 3:00 AM
This article argues that in the US it's difficult to limit disinfo via speech or economic regulation but privacy regulation can be acceptable and effective
Personalization is a vector for disinfo so privacy regulation to limit personalization will also limit disinfo
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Personalization is a vector for disinfo so privacy regulation to limit personalization will also limit disinfo
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Beltane
Excited to share our paper: "Chain-of-Thought Is Not Explainability"! We unpack a critical misconception in AI: models explaining their steps (CoT) aren't necessarily revealing their true reasoning. Spoiler: the transparency can be an illusion. (1/9) 🧵
July 1, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Excited to share our paper: "Chain-of-Thought Is Not Explainability"! We unpack a critical misconception in AI: models explaining their steps (CoT) aren't necessarily revealing their true reasoning. Spoiler: the transparency can be an illusion. (1/9) 🧵
This is a really excellent overview of the privacy challenges that anyone building generative AI systems should consider
It's a good primer for anyone interested in this field
Barberá and Popa-Fabre, "Privacy and Data Protection Risks in Large Language Models (LLMs)"
rm.coe.int/privacy-and-...
It's a good primer for anyone interested in this field
Barberá and Popa-Fabre, "Privacy and Data Protection Risks in Large Language Models (LLMs)"
rm.coe.int/privacy-and-...
rm.coe.int
July 4, 2025 at 1:24 AM
This is a really excellent overview of the privacy challenges that anyone building generative AI systems should consider
It's a good primer for anyone interested in this field
Barberá and Popa-Fabre, "Privacy and Data Protection Risks in Large Language Models (LLMs)"
rm.coe.int/privacy-and-...
It's a good primer for anyone interested in this field
Barberá and Popa-Fabre, "Privacy and Data Protection Risks in Large Language Models (LLMs)"
rm.coe.int/privacy-and-...
There's a simple privacy action to avoid eavesdropping by state actors who are using stingray devices to intercept your cellular communication
Turn off 2g (Edge) which is obsolete and unencrypted
It's easy to do on Android
(It's not possible in iOS without going into full lockdown mode)
Turn off 2g (Edge) which is obsolete and unencrypted
It's easy to do on Android
(It's not possible in iOS without going into full lockdown mode)
June 28, 2025 at 6:05 PM
There's a simple privacy action to avoid eavesdropping by state actors who are using stingray devices to intercept your cellular communication
Turn off 2g (Edge) which is obsolete and unencrypted
It's easy to do on Android
(It's not possible in iOS without going into full lockdown mode)
Turn off 2g (Edge) which is obsolete and unencrypted
It's easy to do on Android
(It's not possible in iOS without going into full lockdown mode)
What do I program when I'm not paid to?
I put together a list of my favorite side-projects over the years here:
eobrain.github.io
These were for my own amusement and entertainment. Maybe you will find some of them interesting too.
See the rest of this thread for details about some of them
I put together a list of my favorite side-projects over the years here:
eobrain.github.io
These were for my own amusement and entertainment. Maybe you will find some of them interesting too.
See the rest of this thread for details about some of them
Eamonn's Side Projects
eobrain.github.io
June 17, 2025 at 3:53 AM
What do I program when I'm not paid to?
I put together a list of my favorite side-projects over the years here:
eobrain.github.io
These were for my own amusement and entertainment. Maybe you will find some of them interesting too.
See the rest of this thread for details about some of them
I put together a list of my favorite side-projects over the years here:
eobrain.github.io
These were for my own amusement and entertainment. Maybe you will find some of them interesting too.
See the rest of this thread for details about some of them
Reposted by Beltane
After a recent court order, OpenAI is now required to retain the very data many of its users believed to be most private. This introduces serious privacy risks, especially for vulnerable users like victims and survivors of domestic violence, Belle Torek writes.
For Survivors Using Chatbots, ‘Delete’ Doesn’t Always Mean Deleted | TechPolicy.Press
Many survivors may assume that AI platforms and chatbots offer common privacy protections, but these are not guaranteed, Belle Torek writes.
buff.ly
June 11, 2025 at 5:02 PM
After a recent court order, OpenAI is now required to retain the very data many of its users believed to be most private. This introduces serious privacy risks, especially for vulnerable users like victims and survivors of domestic violence, Belle Torek writes.
If you'll be looking for someone technical to work on privacy or AI safety, I might be available for a new gig starting around October
I’m a computer scientist with a history of managing eng teams in compliance, privacy, trust, and AI safety
I’d be particularly keen to help in the non-profit space
I’m a computer scientist with a history of managing eng teams in compliance, privacy, trust, and AI safety
I’d be particularly keen to help in the non-profit space
June 11, 2025 at 4:03 AM
If you'll be looking for someone technical to work on privacy or AI safety, I might be available for a new gig starting around October
I’m a computer scientist with a history of managing eng teams in compliance, privacy, trust, and AI safety
I’d be particularly keen to help in the non-profit space
I’m a computer scientist with a history of managing eng teams in compliance, privacy, trust, and AI safety
I’d be particularly keen to help in the non-profit space
Meta was caught red-handed using its Facebook app to eavesdrops on your browser sessions even if you had taken privacy precautions such as using incognito mode
localmess.github.io
localmess.github.io
Covert Web-to-App Tracking via Localhost on Android
localmess.github.io
June 6, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Meta was caught red-handed using its Facebook app to eavesdrops on your browser sessions even if you had taken privacy precautions such as using incognito mode
localmess.github.io
localmess.github.io
Oh great. Now all personal data the the US government knows about us will be collected by Palantir, the Blackwater of tech
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...
Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans - The New York Times
The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work with the government, spreading the company’s technology — which could easily merge data on Americans — throughout agencies.
www.nytimes.com
May 31, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Oh great. Now all personal data the the US government knows about us will be collected by Palantir, the Blackwater of tech
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...
Concerning that the Republican in the US Congress want to prevent AI regulations by the states
If the example of privacy regulation is anything to go by, the only hope of any reasonable AI regulations in the US is from the states
techpolicy.press/us-house-pas...
If the example of privacy regulation is anything to go by, the only hope of any reasonable AI regulations in the US is from the states
techpolicy.press/us-house-pas...
US House Passes 10-Year Moratorium on State AI Laws | TechPolicy.Press
The US House advanced a 10-year pause on state AI regulation, but its fate is uncertain in the Senate.
techpolicy.press
May 23, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Concerning that the Republican in the US Congress want to prevent AI regulations by the states
If the example of privacy regulation is anything to go by, the only hope of any reasonable AI regulations in the US is from the states
techpolicy.press/us-house-pas...
If the example of privacy regulation is anything to go by, the only hope of any reasonable AI regulations in the US is from the states
techpolicy.press/us-house-pas...
