Robert C. Engen
@robertengen.bsky.social
Senior lecturer in war studies at Deakin University, working on the PME command and staff course in Canberra. 🇨🇦 in 🇦🇺, not going back.
Military historian turned war studier turned wargame designer. Also a “pretty good but don’t quit your day job” artist.
Military historian turned war studier turned wargame designer. Also a “pretty good but don’t quit your day job” artist.
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
Don't forget you can still order your pre-order copy of my forthcoming "Littoral Commander: Australia!" It is the first expansion featuring new national forces and a collaboration with the Australian Army Battle Lab! 🦘 💥 🎲
dietzfoundation.org/product/litt...
dietzfoundation.org/product/litt...
Littoral Commander: Australia
Designed by Robert Engen and Scott Jenkinson, Littoral Commander: Australia is an expansion to Sebastian Bae's critically acclaimed Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific.
LITTORAL COMMANDER: AUSTRALIA i...
https://dietzfoundation.org/product/littoral-commander-australia/#prettyPhoto[product-gallery]/0
June 21, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Don't forget you can still order your pre-order copy of my forthcoming "Littoral Commander: Australia!" It is the first expansion featuring new national forces and a collaboration with the Australian Army Battle Lab! 🦘 💥 🎲
dietzfoundation.org/product/litt...
dietzfoundation.org/product/litt...
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year.
The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.
The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.
March 9, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year.
The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.
The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
The more you make the back end unreliable, the more the front end is eschewed. Nobody is buying your kit if you signal you will brick it on a whim.
February 21, 2025 at 7:34 PM
The more you make the back end unreliable, the more the front end is eschewed. Nobody is buying your kit if you signal you will brick it on a whim.
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
“Al seems to have more godparents than even Sleeping Beauty. And, regrettably, more than one significant prick.” 😂
queen did not mince a single word www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
February 1, 2025 at 8:53 AM
“Al seems to have more godparents than even Sleeping Beauty. And, regrettably, more than one significant prick.” 😂
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
AI Anne Frank bothsidesing the Holocaust in today’s dystopian nightmare.
An 'AI-emulation' of Anne Frank made for use in schools.
Who the fuck thought this is appropriate?
Who in the everloving fuck coded this? Who approved it?
Who didn't stop them?
@histodons #histodons
Who the fuck thought this is appropriate?
Who in the everloving fuck coded this? Who approved it?
Who didn't stop them?
@histodons #histodons
January 17, 2025 at 1:24 PM
AI Anne Frank bothsidesing the Holocaust in today’s dystopian nightmare.
Look, I’ve no doubt Trump wants to play hardball with Canada in trade negotiations and that we’re in for hurt. But the annexation talk is a negotiating tactic, same as him insisting that we have nothing the US needs. It is meant to rattle Canadian leadership, which is in flux right now.
January 9, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Look, I’ve no doubt Trump wants to play hardball with Canada in trade negotiations and that we’re in for hurt. But the annexation talk is a negotiating tactic, same as him insisting that we have nothing the US needs. It is meant to rattle Canadian leadership, which is in flux right now.
Australians low-key anxious today that Trump wants to annex Canada and not them.
January 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Australians low-key anxious today that Trump wants to annex Canada and not them.
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
“Bluesky is an echo chamber”
Yes of course it is, I tailored it to my taste, interests, opinions, and community. I’m here to have a good time, not argue with strangers lmao
Yes of course it is, I tailored it to my taste, interests, opinions, and community. I’m here to have a good time, not argue with strangers lmao
December 15, 2024 at 6:14 PM
“Bluesky is an echo chamber”
Yes of course it is, I tailored it to my taste, interests, opinions, and community. I’m here to have a good time, not argue with strangers lmao
Yes of course it is, I tailored it to my taste, interests, opinions, and community. I’m here to have a good time, not argue with strangers lmao
I have been taking my time deciding whether to restart a social media presence here and had just started crafting content again. But I’m not going to if community protection isn’t taken seriously here. This sort of thing has killed friends of mine. @safety.bsky.app
Bluesky's current moderation policy is crafted specifically to allow the coordination of mass transphobic harassment campaigns off-site.
Crafted specifically to protect one guy, a well known pedophilia apologist, harasser, and child doxxer who is *currently* openly collaborating with kiwi farms.
Crafted specifically to protect one guy, a well known pedophilia apologist, harasser, and child doxxer who is *currently* openly collaborating with kiwi farms.
December 14, 2024 at 12:21 PM
I have been taking my time deciding whether to restart a social media presence here and had just started crafting content again. But I’m not going to if community protection isn’t taken seriously here. This sort of thing has killed friends of mine. @safety.bsky.app
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
The Australian Army's Battle Lab led the development of the Australian expansion for my "Littoral Commander" #wargame series. Roughly 100+ copies will be delivered to various Australian units. A commercial variant will be released later in 2025. #wargaming 🎲
December 10, 2024 at 1:03 PM
The Australian Army's Battle Lab led the development of the Australian expansion for my "Littoral Commander" #wargame series. Roughly 100+ copies will be delivered to various Australian units. A commercial variant will be released later in 2025. #wargaming 🎲
Accidentally closed the app after an hour of composing my first long-form thread and lost it all, so fuck this, I’m going to bed. Taking recommendations for a different piece of software to draft skeets with before posting to here.
December 7, 2024 at 3:18 PM
Accidentally closed the app after an hour of composing my first long-form thread and lost it all, so fuck this, I’m going to bed. Taking recommendations for a different piece of software to draft skeets with before posting to here.
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
superb point: if we take Sam Altman at his word about the relative risk of the tech he's gleefully building, we should all be hunting him for sport
That was always my take, like if we took Sam Altman literally, shouldn’t someone try and stop him with force?
"I am afraid my tech might end humanity", ooookay, how about we hit you with a wrench until you stop?
"I am afraid my tech might end humanity", ooookay, how about we hit you with a wrench until you stop?
November 30, 2024 at 10:45 PM
superb point: if we take Sam Altman at his word about the relative risk of the tech he's gleefully building, we should all be hunting him for sport
For the last two years my daughter and I have done a personal art piece for my department’s Secret Santa before Christmas. This year I did one for our Centre’s program coordinator. Lately she’s been wanting the Untitled Goose Game goose instead of dragons. 🪿
November 30, 2024 at 12:42 AM
For the last two years my daughter and I have done a personal art piece for my department’s Secret Santa before Christmas. This year I did one for our Centre’s program coordinator. Lately she’s been wanting the Untitled Goose Game goose instead of dragons. 🪿
I can run my mouth for hours in front of an auditorium with hundreds of military officers but have completely forgotten how to social media.
November 29, 2024 at 2:11 PM
I can run my mouth for hours in front of an auditorium with hundreds of military officers but have completely forgotten how to social media.
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
We strongly suggest that academic publishers and other platforms that host research rapidly implement a Share to Bluesky button for their articles. Here's how:
docs.bsky.app/docs/advance...
#AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics
docs.bsky.app/docs/advance...
#AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics
Action Intent Links | Bluesky
Authors, websites, and apps can use action intent links to implement "Share on Bluesky" buttons, or similar in-app actions. Logged-in users will be directed to the corresponding action view in the Blu...
docs.bsky.app
November 18, 2024 at 2:48 PM
We strongly suggest that academic publishers and other platforms that host research rapidly implement a Share to Bluesky button for their articles. Here's how:
docs.bsky.app/docs/advance...
#AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics
docs.bsky.app/docs/advance...
#AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
Basically: autistic people have less neural pruning of synaptic connections as babies and toddlers, but this thick density of connections on the small scale within a region, ends up decreasing connectivity *between* regions.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
Autism as a neural systems disorder: A theory of frontal-posterior underconnectivity
The underconnectivity theory of autism attributes the disorder to lower anatomical and functional systems connectivity between frontal and more posterior cortical processing. Here we review evidence f...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
April 4, 2024 at 12:52 PM
Basically: autistic people have less neural pruning of synaptic connections as babies and toddlers, but this thick density of connections on the small scale within a region, ends up decreasing connectivity *between* regions.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
The obvious way to kill military AI in decision support.
Accelerate the production of synthetic data. Rubbish in. Rubbish out.
Bring on model collapse and force the adversary to fall back on static data.
Back to bombs and bullets before you can say boo to a goose.
Accelerate the production of synthetic data. Rubbish in. Rubbish out.
Bring on model collapse and force the adversary to fall back on static data.
Back to bombs and bullets before you can say boo to a goose.
a man in a suit is running down a street in front of a building that says imgflip.com on the bottom
ALT: a man in a suit is running down a street in front of a building that says imgflip.com on the bottom
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2024 at 7:41 AM
The obvious way to kill military AI in decision support.
Accelerate the production of synthetic data. Rubbish in. Rubbish out.
Bring on model collapse and force the adversary to fall back on static data.
Back to bombs and bullets before you can say boo to a goose.
Accelerate the production of synthetic data. Rubbish in. Rubbish out.
Bring on model collapse and force the adversary to fall back on static data.
Back to bombs and bullets before you can say boo to a goose.
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
I love the nuclear block and respect the work folks at Bsky are doing in T&S spaces, BUT.
The underlying design of the site regarding things like blocks being visible to API are profoundly dangerous, cursed foundations that could turn the nuclear block into a Maginot Line.🧵
The underlying design of the site regarding things like blocks being visible to API are profoundly dangerous, cursed foundations that could turn the nuclear block into a Maginot Line.🧵
November 12, 2024 at 8:07 PM
I love the nuclear block and respect the work folks at Bsky are doing in T&S spaces, BUT.
The underlying design of the site regarding things like blocks being visible to API are profoundly dangerous, cursed foundations that could turn the nuclear block into a Maginot Line.🧵
The underlying design of the site regarding things like blocks being visible to API are profoundly dangerous, cursed foundations that could turn the nuclear block into a Maginot Line.🧵
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
These folks did a great job of breaking, well, *all* the leading LLMs by asking the models an incredibly simple question. These models should not be relied upon to assist anyone with reasoning. Check out the appendix with examples of truly wild confabulations and errors
arxiv.org/html/2406.02...
arxiv.org/html/2406.02...
Alice in Wonderland: Simple Tasks Showing Complete Reasoning Breakdown in State-Of-the-Art Large Language Models
arxiv.org
June 6, 2024 at 1:47 PM
These folks did a great job of breaking, well, *all* the leading LLMs by asking the models an incredibly simple question. These models should not be relied upon to assist anyone with reasoning. Check out the appendix with examples of truly wild confabulations and errors
arxiv.org/html/2406.02...
arxiv.org/html/2406.02...
Hot off the press and pulling no punches: Allan English’s “The 2024 Defence Policy Update and its Predecessors: Why the
CAF is in a ‘Death Spiral’.”
The CAF is in serious trouble, but is it interested in change or perception management?
Yes, that’s rhetorical.
scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcont...
CAF is in a ‘Death Spiral’.”
The CAF is in serious trouble, but is it interested in change or perception management?
Yes, that’s rhetorical.
scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcont...
scholars.wlu.ca
June 4, 2024 at 1:53 PM
Hot off the press and pulling no punches: Allan English’s “The 2024 Defence Policy Update and its Predecessors: Why the
CAF is in a ‘Death Spiral’.”
The CAF is in serious trouble, but is it interested in change or perception management?
Yes, that’s rhetorical.
scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcont...
CAF is in a ‘Death Spiral’.”
The CAF is in serious trouble, but is it interested in change or perception management?
Yes, that’s rhetorical.
scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcont...
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
*tiptoes over, sets this down, scurries back into deep cave*
Oh, Whatever, Everything Is Totally Great For Writers Right Now
What’s that? How is it being a writer right now? An author? Ha ha, yeah, man, yeah, no, it’s fucking great, everything is super cool right just, just really chill and what is it the kid…
terribleminds.com
May 30, 2024 at 5:58 PM
*tiptoes over, sets this down, scurries back into deep cave*
Reposted by Robert C. Engen
For the record: you call the police non-emergency line and ask whether they have an officer who coordinates tracking people who are at elevated SWAT risk (and if so, ask to be transfered to them). If not, ask to speak to the captain of the SWAT unit.
I have an entire script I give to T&S people for making the "please don't murder me just because the internet says so" call. It *has* gotten better in the last decade or so: more and more police departments in the US are enacting anti-SWAT policies, especially in the larger cities.
May 20, 2024 at 10:02 PM
For the record: you call the police non-emergency line and ask whether they have an officer who coordinates tracking people who are at elevated SWAT risk (and if so, ask to be transfered to them). If not, ask to speak to the captain of the SWAT unit.