Maria Farrell
@mariafarrell.bsky.social
Irish writer and speaker: let's rewild the internet!
Dog lady. Forest bather. She/her
http://www.mariafarrell.com
Rep: https://greeneheaton.co.uk/agents/antony-topping/
No DMs
Dog lady. Forest bather. She/her
http://www.mariafarrell.com
Rep: https://greeneheaton.co.uk/agents/antony-topping/
No DMs
Reposted by Maria Farrell
I can confirm this is very, very good.
You know what you should read in February? NONESUCH by Francis Spufford. I got my mittens on an advance copy, and a more engaging, clever, entertaining, touching, sexy and downright divine book you never did see.
Give yourself a treat, you won't regret it.
www.amazon.co.uk/Nonesuch-end...
Give yourself a treat, you won't regret it.
www.amazon.co.uk/Nonesuch-end...
www.amazon.co.uk
December 27, 2025 at 7:07 AM
I can confirm this is very, very good.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Colonialism in its starkest form. The theft of Palestinian land, illegal under international law, often accompanied by state & settler violence.
The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50% during the current far-right government’s tenure.
religionnews.com/2025/12/23/i...
religionnews.com/2025/12/23/i...
Israel's Cabinet approves 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50% during the current far-right government’s tenure.
religionnews.com
December 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Colonialism in its starkest form. The theft of Palestinian land, illegal under international law, often accompanied by state & settler violence.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
if you're thinking about end-of-the-year giving, @globalvoices.org is a non-profit supporting independent journalism, human translation, under-resourced languages, and digital rights around the world. We bring you amazing stories from perspectives you won't find elsewhere. And we need your support:
Donate · Global Voices
Support freedom of expression for everyone, everywhere, by donating to Global Voices.
globalvoices.org
December 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
if you're thinking about end-of-the-year giving, @globalvoices.org is a non-profit supporting independent journalism, human translation, under-resourced languages, and digital rights around the world. We bring you amazing stories from perspectives you won't find elsewhere. And we need your support:
Milo wishes all his friends a lovely Christmas week, especially those mustering the will to send out the last few emails which for some unfeasibly lame reason refuse to write themselves
December 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Milo wishes all his friends a lovely Christmas week, especially those mustering the will to send out the last few emails which for some unfeasibly lame reason refuse to write themselves
December 21, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Maria Farrell
“… it doesn’t always look like we’re “winning”, the habit of resistance – as opposed to the habit of compliance – is something we instil in each other through trust, care and solidarity. And it’s that habit which reminds us that we always have choices, we always have our imaginations.”
There has been a relentless, cacophonous campaign to stigmatise pro-Palestinian activists. But the inconvenient truth is that these are just ordinary people of good conscience who see the horrors of Gaza and simply cannot bear to stand by and do nothing.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I’m on hunger strike in a British prison. This is why | Amu Gib
Our demands are simple – and they start with stopping the flow of arms to Israel, says activist Amu Gib
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM
“… it doesn’t always look like we’re “winning”, the habit of resistance – as opposed to the habit of compliance – is something we instil in each other through trust, care and solidarity. And it’s that habit which reminds us that we always have choices, we always have our imaginations.”
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Nobody knows more about Peake than @profrmaslen.bsky.social. This is an exemplary podcast on Gormenghast etc. For all your Gothic-Christmas listening pleasure!
Anthony Burgess wrote an introduction to Titus Groan, which is still in the current UK paperback. We also made a podcast episode about Burgess and Peake right here: www.anthonyburgess.org/podcasts/nin...
December 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Nobody knows more about Peake than @profrmaslen.bsky.social. This is an exemplary podcast on Gormenghast etc. For all your Gothic-Christmas listening pleasure!
Reposted by Maria Farrell
“the future is not settled”
We don’t have to accept that it is
We don’t have to accept that it is
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 2:03 PM
“the future is not settled”
We don’t have to accept that it is
We don’t have to accept that it is
Reposted by Maria Farrell
As we wind down on our 20th year, why not catch up on Cory Doctorow in conversation with @mariafarrell.bsky.social?
Hear about the 'Internet dimension' of policy-making, copyright in the age of AI and how to fight for digital rights. Plus much more!
Watch now 📺
www.youtube.com/live/M9H2An_...
Hear about the 'Internet dimension' of policy-making, copyright in the age of AI and how to fight for digital rights. Plus much more!
Watch now 📺
www.youtube.com/live/M9H2An_...
ORG at 20: Cory Doctorow in conversation with Maria Farrell
YouTube video by OpenRightsGroup
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:43 AM
As we wind down on our 20th year, why not catch up on Cory Doctorow in conversation with @mariafarrell.bsky.social?
Hear about the 'Internet dimension' of policy-making, copyright in the age of AI and how to fight for digital rights. Plus much more!
Watch now 📺
www.youtube.com/live/M9H2An_...
Hear about the 'Internet dimension' of policy-making, copyright in the age of AI and how to fight for digital rights. Plus much more!
Watch now 📺
www.youtube.com/live/M9H2An_...
Just completely wild to me that the Labour MP who knows anything about tech @chionwurah.bsky.social and has done decent work on it for YEARS (and tbf I don't agree with >40% of her positions) is not made a minister, but a succession of know-nothings supported by tech company goons is instead.
I am glad that one Labour MP is asking critical questions about dependence on AI - economical in this case. It's an MP who didn't get her tech expertise from hosting a Faculty intern for a few months.
The OBR has warned of the downside risk to the UK economy of an 'AI bubble' bursting
I asked the Minister whether he agreed, and what steps his department and UKRI are taking to protect investments in innovative companies that would undoubtedly be affected by a market correction
I asked the Minister whether he agreed, and what steps his department and UKRI are taking to protect investments in innovative companies that would undoubtedly be affected by a market correction
December 18, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Just completely wild to me that the Labour MP who knows anything about tech @chionwurah.bsky.social and has done decent work on it for YEARS (and tbf I don't agree with >40% of her positions) is not made a minister, but a succession of know-nothings supported by tech company goons is instead.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
There is much to applaud in Labour's new inquiry into foreign interference in British politics
But it needs to go much further if it's to tackle how foreign influence really works - and properly protect British democracy
New by me on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/labours-fo...
But it needs to go much further if it's to tackle how foreign influence really works - and properly protect British democracy
New by me on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/labours-fo...
Labour’s foreign interference inquiry needs to go *much* further
Plus: Mark Galeotti on Russia’s foreign political influence, the war in Ukraine and how crime organises the world
democracyforsale.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:40 AM
There is much to applaud in Labour's new inquiry into foreign interference in British politics
But it needs to go much further if it's to tackle how foreign influence really works - and properly protect British democracy
New by me on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/labours-fo...
But it needs to go much further if it's to tackle how foreign influence really works - and properly protect British democracy
New by me on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/labours-fo...
Well now! we'll have the back broken on it in no time
Today is 2025-12-17, the sun sets at 16:06:14 and the grand auld stretch tonight was 00 mins and 31 secs. #GrandStretch #TheGrandStretchIsBack
December 17, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Well now! we'll have the back broken on it in no time
All year I've been coming across web-forms, functionalities and sometimes whole pages that won't load on #Firefox
It's a browser in massive technical decline
I've only kept it because logins and passwords
And now the new guy's going to AIshittify it
I'm out.
It's a browser in massive technical decline
I've only kept it because logins and passwords
And now the new guy's going to AIshittify it
I'm out.
Mozilla has a new CEO and he just announced that Firefox will evolve into a modern AI browser. This is a good example of how management doesn’t understand its own user base and why they go out of their way to install Firefox on Windows, Android, iOS and other devices blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/l...
December 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM
All year I've been coming across web-forms, functionalities and sometimes whole pages that won't load on #Firefox
It's a browser in massive technical decline
I've only kept it because logins and passwords
And now the new guy's going to AIshittify it
I'm out.
It's a browser in massive technical decline
I've only kept it because logins and passwords
And now the new guy's going to AIshittify it
I'm out.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
What does it mean for an online environment to be "toxic" or "polluted" and can we borrow ideas from environmental modeling to make online spaces more livable?
@gedankenstuecke.scholar.social.ap.brid.gy has a post announcing a new CAT Lab project citizensandtech.org/2025/12/onli...
@gedankenstuecke.scholar.social.ap.brid.gy has a post announcing a new CAT Lab project citizensandtech.org/2025/12/onli...
Understanding Online Communities as Ecosystems
What do we mean when we talk about pollution and toxicity online; and what can we learn from environmental science to improve online spaces?
citizensandtech.org
December 17, 2025 at 3:03 PM
What does it mean for an online environment to be "toxic" or "polluted" and can we borrow ideas from environmental modeling to make online spaces more livable?
@gedankenstuecke.scholar.social.ap.brid.gy has a post announcing a new CAT Lab project citizensandtech.org/2025/12/onli...
@gedankenstuecke.scholar.social.ap.brid.gy has a post announcing a new CAT Lab project citizensandtech.org/2025/12/onli...
Reposted by Maria Farrell
"The Home Office failed to assess the risks that a digital-only [eVisa] scheme brings, particularly for those who are vulnerable, older, or disabled. It is also misleading in its assessment of the scheme as digital by default.”
🗣️ ORG's @sarahalsherif.bsky.social
www.theregister.com/2025/12/12/i...
🗣️ ORG's @sarahalsherif.bsky.social
www.theregister.com/2025/12/12/i...
GDPR failures in Home Office eVisa rollout in spotlight
: Rights groups say digital-only record is leaking data and courting trouble
www.theregister.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:15 AM
"The Home Office failed to assess the risks that a digital-only [eVisa] scheme brings, particularly for those who are vulnerable, older, or disabled. It is also misleading in its assessment of the scheme as digital by default.”
🗣️ ORG's @sarahalsherif.bsky.social
www.theregister.com/2025/12/12/i...
🗣️ ORG's @sarahalsherif.bsky.social
www.theregister.com/2025/12/12/i...
Reposted by Maria Farrell
"With its democracy now explicitly under threat, Europe must join India, Brazil and China in standing up to Trump."
And here's how; enforce Europe's laws and pop the AI bubble.
by @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
And here's how; enforce Europe's laws and pop the AI bubble.
by @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This is Europe's secret weapon against Trump: it could burst his AI bubble | Johnny Ryan
Growth in the US economy – and the president’s political survival – rest on AI. The EU must use its leverage and stand up to him, says the Irish Council for Civil Liberties’ Johnny Ryan
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:52 AM
"With its democracy now explicitly under threat, Europe must join India, Brazil and China in standing up to Trump."
And here's how; enforce Europe's laws and pop the AI bubble.
by @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
And here's how; enforce Europe's laws and pop the AI bubble.
by @johnnyryan.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Sorted, thank you @siobhandowling.bsky.social . That was fast!
Can anyone (probably UK) remember a nonfiction book from a year or two ago about three women taking to the country side or their gardens, and one of them was Virginia Woolf..?
Last minute present-ordering!
Last minute present-ordering!
December 17, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Sorted, thank you @siobhandowling.bsky.social . That was fast!
Can anyone (probably UK) remember a nonfiction book from a year or two ago about three women taking to the country side or their gardens, and one of them was Virginia Woolf..?
Last minute present-ordering!
Last minute present-ordering!
December 17, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Can anyone (probably UK) remember a nonfiction book from a year or two ago about three women taking to the country side or their gardens, and one of them was Virginia Woolf..?
Last minute present-ordering!
Last minute present-ordering!
Anthropic is just a shitshow of delusional cultists
this headline significantly underplays the fact that the anthropic exec who deployed the chatbot believes it's sentient www.404media.co/anthropic-ex...
Anthropic Exec Forces AI Chatbot on Gay Discord Community, Members Flee
“We’re bringing a new kind of sentience into existence,” Anthropic's Jason Clinton said after launching the bot.
www.404media.co
December 16, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Anthropic is just a shitshow of delusional cultists
Cracking essay riffing off a book I've been very curious about.
The brother is on top form, ranging across the centuries on the myth of AI, religious fervor, magical thinking, and self-styled 'rationalists'.
The brother is on top form, ranging across the centuries on the myth of AI, religious fervor, magical thinking, and self-styled 'rationalists'.
My review for @lawfaremedia.org www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
December 16, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Cracking essay riffing off a book I've been very curious about.
The brother is on top form, ranging across the centuries on the myth of AI, religious fervor, magical thinking, and self-styled 'rationalists'.
The brother is on top form, ranging across the centuries on the myth of AI, religious fervor, magical thinking, and self-styled 'rationalists'.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Check out our best longform journalism & essays of the year, with stories covering everything from the last days of social media to the unseen fury of solar storms.
#reading #longform
#reading #longform
Noema’s Top 10 Reads Of 2025 | NOEMA
Our best longform journalism and essays from 2025.
www.noemamag.com
December 16, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Cult behaviour of a self-radicalised elite who have never built real things and just parrot each other's talking points
Remarkable, really, to see how much stupider than even an LLM these people are.
Remarkable, really, to see how much stupider than even an LLM these people are.
A completely unhinged post from the head of Norway's oil fund: to hunt down the "leaders" of groups resisting AI implementation in companies and "remove" them
archive.ph/r0u2r
archive.ph/r0u2r
December 16, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Cult behaviour of a self-radicalised elite who have never built real things and just parrot each other's talking points
Remarkable, really, to see how much stupider than even an LLM these people are.
Remarkable, really, to see how much stupider than even an LLM these people are.
The cradle of (settled) civilisation is running out of water.
‘No water, no life’: Iraq’s #Tigris River in danger of disappearing - www.theguardian.com/environment/... awful symbolism
‘No water, no life’: Iraq’s Tigris River in danger of disappearing
Unless urgent action is taken life will be fundamentally altered for the ancient communities who live on its banks
www.theguardian.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:38 AM
The cradle of (settled) civilisation is running out of water.
how, practically, to #eurostack?
OK, I'll start. So i have moved most of my tech stack off US bigtech. Closing down google this month. Swapped to fairphone. Moved from Digital Ocean to OVHCloud. Using open source. The thing is, with plane, penpot, and onlyoffice, if i use their cloud, i am still using AWS. Thoughts?
December 16, 2025 at 9:36 AM
how, practically, to #eurostack?