Murray Hunter
@muzhunter.bsky.social
Digital rights and surveillance oversight.
Underperforming in mischief-making.
South Africa.
Underperforming in mischief-making.
South Africa.
Pinned
Murray Hunter
@muzhunter.bsky.social
· Feb 4
Three lessons in activism from Mark Weinberg
Weinberg, a key figure in the Right2Know Campaign, died on 28 January 2025
groundup.org.za
I had the unfortunate opportunity to pay tribute to my friend and mentor Mark Weinberg, a child of South Africa's liberation struggle, movement builder, information activist, and mischief-maker in the face of conservative authoritarianism. groundup.org.za/article/thre...
This @groundup.org.za editorial does a fine job of articulating just how outrageous the gag order against @opensecrets.org.za is. We don't know who gagged them, on what grounds, in which court, or by which judge's ruling. groundup.org.za/article/anon...
Unknown judge in unknown court gags Open Secrets from saying …
This appears to be the most draconian prepublication interdict we have come across
groundup.org.za
November 11, 2025 at 6:36 AM
This @groundup.org.za editorial does a fine job of articulating just how outrageous the gag order against @opensecrets.org.za is. We don't know who gagged them, on what grounds, in which court, or by which judge's ruling. groundup.org.za/article/anon...
I don't know who here remembers the late, utterly loveable Siya Africa -- but I think of him every time I stumble upon a great new podcast and think, 'Damn, would've sent this one to Siya.'
It's called the Siya Test, and it's an invaluable assessment criterion for prestige audio.
It's called the Siya Test, and it's an invaluable assessment criterion for prestige audio.
September 29, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I don't know who here remembers the late, utterly loveable Siya Africa -- but I think of him every time I stumble upon a great new podcast and think, 'Damn, would've sent this one to Siya.'
It's called the Siya Test, and it's an invaluable assessment criterion for prestige audio.
It's called the Siya Test, and it's an invaluable assessment criterion for prestige audio.
Good morning. I'm pleased to share this vegetable that can be used to test automatic content filters.
June 30, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Good morning. I'm pleased to share this vegetable that can be used to test automatic content filters.
Genuine question: 3 years ago, how many people realised how much dramatically *worse* the internet was about to get, and how rapidly it would get there?
Meta launched a stand-alone AI app and now it is full of sensitive content from Facebook users who appear to be unaware that they have made their conversations public: www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerb...
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta AI app is one of the most depressing places online
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta AI app has become the saddest place on the internet with its public feed of personal overshares.
www.businessinsider.com
June 12, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Genuine question: 3 years ago, how many people realised how much dramatically *worse* the internet was about to get, and how rapidly it would get there?
Reposted by Murray Hunter
We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose.
“They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a 29-year-old in California wrote.
“They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a 29-year-old in California wrote.
“I Have Lost Everything”: The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps
Cities often take belongings — including important documents and irreplaceable mementos — when they conduct sweeps of homeless encampments. ProPublica gave notecards to people across the country so…
projects.propublica.org
June 5, 2025 at 1:00 AM
We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose.
“They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a 29-year-old in California wrote.
“They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a 29-year-old in California wrote.
My friend Sophie is raising funds to send 12 independent performers to the National Arts Fest this year.
Don't think of it as contributing to their transport costs. Rather tell everyone you paid for Sophie Joans's OnlyVans: thundafund.africa/campaign/182...
Don't think of it as contributing to their transport costs. Rather tell everyone you paid for Sophie Joans's OnlyVans: thundafund.africa/campaign/182...
Spark HUB - Help Young Artists go to NAF Fringe
SA's hottest new voices in ...
thundafund.africa
June 3, 2025 at 8:04 AM
My friend Sophie is raising funds to send 12 independent performers to the National Arts Fest this year.
Don't think of it as contributing to their transport costs. Rather tell everyone you paid for Sophie Joans's OnlyVans: thundafund.africa/campaign/182...
Don't think of it as contributing to their transport costs. Rather tell everyone you paid for Sophie Joans's OnlyVans: thundafund.africa/campaign/182...
The boys are having a ball over on Dad Reddit
May 27, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The boys are having a ball over on Dad Reddit
Reposted by Murray Hunter
This account just posts food at British football stadiums and it's the most upsetting shit I've ever seen
May 18, 2025 at 2:24 AM
This account just posts food at British football stadiums and it's the most upsetting shit I've ever seen
I peeked in on Netflix's new Asterix series, really just to see how they'd messed it up, and am happy to report: it's *delightful*.
For those who grew up on the comics, it feels like they managed to capture the original spirit while still making it feel contemporary. youtu.be/bJnDJcoeqZs?...
For those who grew up on the comics, it feels like they managed to capture the original spirit while still making it feel contemporary. youtu.be/bJnDJcoeqZs?...
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight | Official Teaser | Netflix
YouTube video by Netflix
youtu.be
May 26, 2025 at 7:16 AM
I peeked in on Netflix's new Asterix series, really just to see how they'd messed it up, and am happy to report: it's *delightful*.
For those who grew up on the comics, it feels like they managed to capture the original spirit while still making it feel contemporary. youtu.be/bJnDJcoeqZs?...
For those who grew up on the comics, it feels like they managed to capture the original spirit while still making it feel contemporary. youtu.be/bJnDJcoeqZs?...
Something moderately cool that happened to me: a while back I found this obscure (to me) historical political cartoon in a set of frames bought at a charity shop, and I've just gratefully transferred it into the care of UCT's Special Collections library.
A brief thread of useless minutiae:
A brief thread of useless minutiae:
May 16, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Something moderately cool that happened to me: a while back I found this obscure (to me) historical political cartoon in a set of frames bought at a charity shop, and I've just gratefully transferred it into the care of UCT's Special Collections library.
A brief thread of useless minutiae:
A brief thread of useless minutiae:
According to science: your coworkers judge you for using AI in your job. pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/10/y... via @paulmwatson.com
Study: Your coworkers hate you for using AI at work
Will AI help you in your career? No. Not if anyone finds out, anyway. Today in science discovering the obvious, if you use chatbots to pump out the AI slop at work, your coworkers think you’re an i…
pivot-to-ai.com
May 15, 2025 at 10:50 AM
According to science: your coworkers judge you for using AI in your job. pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/10/y... via @paulmwatson.com
Every time I try to use generative AI for anything remotely useful I walk away feeling like it's a softserve machine that makes pretty decent ice cream 60% of the time, slightly disappointing ice cream 35% of the time, and 5% of the time it spits out liquid pig shit.
I can't work with those odds.
I can't work with those odds.
May 14, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Every time I try to use generative AI for anything remotely useful I walk away feeling like it's a softserve machine that makes pretty decent ice cream 60% of the time, slightly disappointing ice cream 35% of the time, and 5% of the time it spits out liquid pig shit.
I can't work with those odds.
I can't work with those odds.
GPT bullshitting: I asked Chat GPT (GPT-4o) to summarise a PDF of the Kenyan High Court's recent order for Worldcoin to delete all biometric data. Thrice ChatGPT gave a fluent and 100% confident summary of a completely unrelated case: one relating to the Westgate massacre, two from South Africa.
May 14, 2025 at 6:45 AM
GPT bullshitting: I asked Chat GPT (GPT-4o) to summarise a PDF of the Kenyan High Court's recent order for Worldcoin to delete all biometric data. Thrice ChatGPT gave a fluent and 100% confident summary of a completely unrelated case: one relating to the Westgate massacre, two from South Africa.
Joining a proud tradition of litigants who've not heard of the Streisand effect
Two Oceans Marathon chairperson Toni Cavanagh has approached the high court on an urgent basis over what she alleges are defamatory and malicious articles written by blogger Stuart Mann.
RUNNING BATTLE: Two Oceans Marathon chairperson squares off with blogger over ‘defamatory’ articles
www.dailymaverick.co.za
May 14, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Joining a proud tradition of litigants who've not heard of the Streisand effect
Blessed are the pea smaakers 🇿🇦
May 13, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Blessed are the pea smaakers 🇿🇦
Look, I don't condone this sort of thing, but the reality is that in this funding environment, departments *do* need to become more resourceful. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/u...
Ex-Harvard Medical School Morgue Chief to Plead Guilty in Sale of Body Parts
Cedric Lodge stole organs from cadavers that had been donated for medical research, prosecutors said. The university fired him in 2023.
www.nytimes.com
April 23, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Look, I don't condone this sort of thing, but the reality is that in this funding environment, departments *do* need to become more resourceful. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/u...
My partner and I are on a (delayed) 10th anniversary getaway. Last night we took out the Scrabble board for just about the first time since we had kids, and played until she rage-quit over an absence of consonants and me "playing mean".
Just like old times!
Just like old times!
February 22, 2025 at 5:49 AM
My partner and I are on a (delayed) 10th anniversary getaway. Last night we took out the Scrabble board for just about the first time since we had kids, and played until she rage-quit over an absence of consonants and me "playing mean".
Just like old times!
Just like old times!
I had the unfortunate opportunity to pay tribute to my friend and mentor Mark Weinberg, a child of South Africa's liberation struggle, movement builder, information activist, and mischief-maker in the face of conservative authoritarianism. groundup.org.za/article/thre...
Three lessons in activism from Mark Weinberg
Weinberg, a key figure in the Right2Know Campaign, died on 28 January 2025
groundup.org.za
February 4, 2025 at 9:17 AM
I had the unfortunate opportunity to pay tribute to my friend and mentor Mark Weinberg, a child of South Africa's liberation struggle, movement builder, information activist, and mischief-maker in the face of conservative authoritarianism. groundup.org.za/article/thre...
I, as they say, did a thing.
We're pleased to have helped Thomson Reuters Foundation publish a new edition of its AI Governance for Africa toolkit series!
Led by S'lindile Khumalo and Murray Hunter, the revisions outline global progress on AI governance in 2024 and the state of play in Africa.
🔗 www.trust.org/resource/202...
Led by S'lindile Khumalo and Murray Hunter, the revisions outline global progress on AI governance in 2024 and the state of play in Africa.
🔗 www.trust.org/resource/202...
January 21, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I, as they say, did a thing.
All these Starter Packs are very nice, but I've finally made the one you've been waiting for: A collection of Bluesky users called Murray.
Unfortunately there appear to be only two (2!) first-name Murrays on the whole platform (@mpshanahan.bsky.social and me) but we will grow.
Unfortunately there appear to be only two (2!) first-name Murrays on the whole platform (@mpshanahan.bsky.social and me) but we will grow.
December 4, 2024 at 6:26 PM
All these Starter Packs are very nice, but I've finally made the one you've been waiting for: A collection of Bluesky users called Murray.
Unfortunately there appear to be only two (2!) first-name Murrays on the whole platform (@mpshanahan.bsky.social and me) but we will grow.
Unfortunately there appear to be only two (2!) first-name Murrays on the whole platform (@mpshanahan.bsky.social and me) but we will grow.
For South Africans joining Bluesky and hoping to fill an empty newsfeed: may I recommend this Starter Pack of accounts commenting about, reports on, or involved in SA politics 👉 go.bsky.app/vzDePD
Courtesy of the amiable cardigan-wearing @davidjeffery.bsky.social
Courtesy of the amiable cardigan-wearing @davidjeffery.bsky.social
December 2, 2024 at 7:50 PM
For South Africans joining Bluesky and hoping to fill an empty newsfeed: may I recommend this Starter Pack of accounts commenting about, reports on, or involved in SA politics 👉 go.bsky.app/vzDePD
Courtesy of the amiable cardigan-wearing @davidjeffery.bsky.social
Courtesy of the amiable cardigan-wearing @davidjeffery.bsky.social
I can't stop thinking of this quote from the fruit seller who sold the banana that got turned into a gallery stunt worth $6.2 million
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/n...
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/n...
November 27, 2024 at 6:29 PM
I can't stop thinking of this quote from the fruit seller who sold the banana that got turned into a gallery stunt worth $6.2 million
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/n...
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/n...
They say the best time to start a social media presence is 10 years ago.
The second best time is today.
The second best time is today.
November 26, 2024 at 1:14 PM
They say the best time to start a social media presence is 10 years ago.
The second best time is today.
The second best time is today.