Gerard Hynes
@gerardhynes.com
Daidí.
Big old nerd. Expect programming, Fantasy, TTRPGs, and flailing attempts at parenting.
Labhair Gaeilge liom
he/him sé/é
Big old nerd. Expect programming, Fantasy, TTRPGs, and flailing attempts at parenting.
Labhair Gaeilge liom
he/him sé/é
2026 books
1. Legends and Lattes - Travis Baldree
Very much slice of life cosy fantasy. Minimal action, a romance to root for. I thought it was lovely.
1. Legends and Lattes - Travis Baldree
Very much slice of life cosy fantasy. Minimal action, a romance to root for. I thought it was lovely.
January 17, 2026 at 1:24 PM
2026 books
1. Legends and Lattes - Travis Baldree
Very much slice of life cosy fantasy. Minimal action, a romance to root for. I thought it was lovely.
1. Legends and Lattes - Travis Baldree
Very much slice of life cosy fantasy. Minimal action, a romance to root for. I thought it was lovely.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
I find it astonishing that the idea that children should upload selfies to X as part of a state-mandated age verification scheme is still being floated.
Particularly unhappy with the attempt to move discussion off the X illegal abuse image factory to the pre-existing Garda wish to bring in age verification to allow surveillance of all adults and children’s access of *lawful* material.
These are incomparable issues in terms of seriousness.
These are incomparable issues in terms of seriousness.
January 14, 2026 at 9:35 AM
I find it astonishing that the idea that children should upload selfies to X as part of a state-mandated age verification scheme is still being floated.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
when ICE asks you questions about your neighbors, you've never met your neighbors in your life. you've never even seen them from afar. neighbors? what neighbors?
ICE is targeting Hmong families in St. Paul as they go door to door looking for people to kidnap. they’re asking “do you have any Asian neighbors”
January 13, 2026 at 10:37 PM
when ICE asks you questions about your neighbors, you've never met your neighbors in your life. you've never even seen them from afar. neighbors? what neighbors?
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
I love that Python has a `.maketrans(from, to)` method 🐍🏳️⚧️
January 11, 2026 at 7:57 PM
I love that Python has a `.maketrans(from, to)` method 🐍🏳️⚧️
"In Dublin, on Fenian Street, there's a factory that makes child sex abuse material. You can pay it money, as a subscription, and that's one of the services it offers. This doesn't happen by mistake or because you've tricked or hacked the system."
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
The Gist: The Abuse Factory
X, the child abuse imagery app, revealed our state has no red lines. This is the Gist.
www.thegist.ie
January 11, 2026 at 1:22 PM
"In Dublin, on Fenian Street, there's a factory that makes child sex abuse material. You can pay it money, as a subscription, and that's one of the services it offers. This doesn't happen by mistake or because you've tricked or hacked the system."
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...
As a tired, hungry parent, I can confirm that this was both easy and tasty.
youtube.com/shorts/OTWTk...
youtube.com/shorts/OTWTk...
Black Bean Soup for tired, hungry, busy people
YouTube video by Sohla and Ham
youtube.com
January 10, 2026 at 11:09 PM
As a tired, hungry parent, I can confirm that this was both easy and tasty.
youtube.com/shorts/OTWTk...
youtube.com/shorts/OTWTk...
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
Because Fine Gael were very, very able to make glossy videos about protecting kids online before - and the Government it belongs to has spent the week flustered not able to say exactly why it's not doing anything about real world harms happening on a site with a European HQ here.
(2/2)
(2/2)
January 10, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Because Fine Gael were very, very able to make glossy videos about protecting kids online before - and the Government it belongs to has spent the week flustered not able to say exactly why it's not doing anything about real world harms happening on a site with a European HQ here.
(2/2)
(2/2)
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
Minister Patrick O'Donovan deleting his twitter account feels like a reaction to international public humiliation rather than a statement of intent; unless further action is taken against X, it solves nothing
January 9, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Minister Patrick O'Donovan deleting his twitter account feels like a reaction to international public humiliation rather than a statement of intent; unless further action is taken against X, it solves nothing
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
Our next crowdfunder!
Blades '68 grabs Blades in the Dark by the lapels of its woolen jacket and launches the game 100 years into the future!
New crews, new rules and subversive acts of radical revolution await you under the light of an artificial sun.
Sign up here:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
Blades '68 grabs Blades in the Dark by the lapels of its woolen jacket and launches the game 100 years into the future!
New crews, new rules and subversive acts of radical revolution await you under the light of an artificial sun.
Sign up here:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
January 8, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Our next crowdfunder!
Blades '68 grabs Blades in the Dark by the lapels of its woolen jacket and launches the game 100 years into the future!
New crews, new rules and subversive acts of radical revolution await you under the light of an artificial sun.
Sign up here:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
Blades '68 grabs Blades in the Dark by the lapels of its woolen jacket and launches the game 100 years into the future!
New crews, new rules and subversive acts of radical revolution await you under the light of an artificial sun.
Sign up here:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
If you need a reprieve from the current horrors of the world, the Mighty Nein is very good.
Stylish and heartfelt with complex characters.
youtu.be/Ri2wNyvSpiY?...
Stylish and heartfelt with complex characters.
youtu.be/Ri2wNyvSpiY?...
The Mighty Nein - Official Trailer | Prime Video
YouTube video by Prime Video
youtu.be
January 8, 2026 at 10:54 PM
If you need a reprieve from the current horrors of the world, the Mighty Nein is very good.
Stylish and heartfelt with complex characters.
youtu.be/Ri2wNyvSpiY?...
Stylish and heartfelt with complex characters.
youtu.be/Ri2wNyvSpiY?...
Christ, Minister O'Donovan really is as stupid as he seems.
Obligatory mention of this story whenever Patrick O'Donovan tries to do a technology:
The time when he advocated for the ban of all open source browsers to stop the drug and pornography trade, just like the Americans were doing, apparently.
www.limerickpost.ie/2014/01/24/o...
The time when he advocated for the ban of all open source browsers to stop the drug and pornography trade, just like the Americans were doing, apparently.
www.limerickpost.ie/2014/01/24/o...
January 8, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Christ, Minister O'Donovan really is as stupid as he seems.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
People living in UK - especially GB - should not be thinking 'at least we're not as bad as America,' when Northern Ireland exists and civilians were being shot by state forces there for decades, and recent governments have given those forces amnesty. @grantsana.bsky.social leading bsky voice here.
January 8, 2026 at 9:25 AM
People living in UK - especially GB - should not be thinking 'at least we're not as bad as America,' when Northern Ireland exists and civilians were being shot by state forces there for decades, and recent governments have given those forces amnesty. @grantsana.bsky.social leading bsky voice here.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
How is it not the Government's position - as put forward by Billy Kelleher - that the European Commission hits the immediate pause button on Grok while it's waiting for all these reviews and assessments?
The power is there.
The power is there.
January 8, 2026 at 12:24 PM
How is it not the Government's position - as put forward by Billy Kelleher - that the European Commission hits the immediate pause button on Grok while it's waiting for all these reviews and assessments?
The power is there.
The power is there.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
Your honour, my client has simply gotten so good at stabbing people that murder laws do not apply.
My word. (Again.)
Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan: "At the end of the day, it's the choice of a person to make these images... technology is moving so fast... even if the law is changed there's no doubt about... the advances are far faster than law is able to respond..."
Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan: "At the end of the day, it's the choice of a person to make these images... technology is moving so fast... even if the law is changed there's no doubt about... the advances are far faster than law is able to respond..."
January 8, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Your honour, my client has simply gotten so good at stabbing people that murder laws do not apply.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
One thing about all of this is: if the line is not here, at the mainstream, industrial-level creation of CSAM, where is it?
Musk by his own mission statement is out to smash societal norms, cut “empathy” from the West, demolish the EU…
What is next down the tracks for him, for X, if this isn’t it?
Musk by his own mission statement is out to smash societal norms, cut “empathy” from the West, demolish the EU…
What is next down the tracks for him, for X, if this isn’t it?
January 8, 2026 at 10:07 AM
One thing about all of this is: if the line is not here, at the mainstream, industrial-level creation of CSAM, where is it?
Musk by his own mission statement is out to smash societal norms, cut “empathy” from the West, demolish the EU…
What is next down the tracks for him, for X, if this isn’t it?
Musk by his own mission statement is out to smash societal norms, cut “empathy” from the West, demolish the EU…
What is next down the tracks for him, for X, if this isn’t it?
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
I'm gonna feel like a real idiot filling out my next Garda vetting forms, visiting the organisation in person to have them processed before I even do any work with them, all in the name of ensuring kids stay safe, when the Government can't find it in themselves to stop posting on the CSAM site
January 8, 2026 at 12:07 PM
I'm gonna feel like a real idiot filling out my next Garda vetting forms, visiting the organisation in person to have them processed before I even do any work with them, all in the name of ensuring kids stay safe, when the Government can't find it in themselves to stop posting on the CSAM site
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
Not one coherent argument why it's okay for anyone, but especially supposedly progressive people, to keep posting (socially!) on a platform whose very infrastructure is being used to mass humiliate and abuse women and children
January 8, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Not one coherent argument why it's okay for anyone, but especially supposedly progressive people, to keep posting (socially!) on a platform whose very infrastructure is being used to mass humiliate and abuse women and children
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
I'm sorry to keep posting about this but this should be a government-destroying scandal at this point. How the fuck are you not coming down like a ton of bricks on this? There could hardly be a less ambiguous situation, and yet...!!!
My word. (Again.)
Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan: "At the end of the day, it's the choice of a person to make these images... technology is moving so fast... even if the law is changed there's no doubt about... the advances are far faster than law is able to respond..."
Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan: "At the end of the day, it's the choice of a person to make these images... technology is moving so fast... even if the law is changed there's no doubt about... the advances are far faster than law is able to respond..."
January 8, 2026 at 12:05 PM
I'm sorry to keep posting about this but this should be a government-destroying scandal at this point. How the fuck are you not coming down like a ton of bricks on this? There could hardly be a less ambiguous situation, and yet...!!!
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
January 8, 2026 at 12:15 AM
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
The absolute cowardice of our elected officials.
Asked Enterprise Minister Peter Burke if it’s appropriate for the Govt to have a presence on a site not just hosting but creating CSAM.
He said: “If it continues, it would be something I’d be hugely concerned about. This has to stop.”
He said: “If it continues, it would be something I’d be hugely concerned about. This has to stop.”
January 7, 2026 at 11:34 PM
The absolute cowardice of our elected officials.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
But when is Nollaig na Men
January 6, 2026 at 9:42 AM
But when is Nollaig na Men
What specific crime is she meant to have been committing mid-interview?
This is identical to videos from Putin's Russia.
This is identical to videos from Putin's Russia.
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
January 5, 2026 at 8:04 PM
What specific crime is she meant to have been committing mid-interview?
This is identical to videos from Putin's Russia.
This is identical to videos from Putin's Russia.
Reposted by Gerard Hynes
People are going to try and lure you into debates about whether Maduro was a good guy or not and the thing is, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of discussing whether violent kidnappings and extrajudicial murders by the US government are ok. No, they aren’t! End of convo.
January 3, 2026 at 2:01 PM
People are going to try and lure you into debates about whether Maduro was a good guy or not and the thing is, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of discussing whether violent kidnappings and extrajudicial murders by the US government are ok. No, they aren’t! End of convo.