William Russell
@robotowilliam.bsky.social
He/him | 38 | Lifelong explorer and learner
🦋 Reylo
⏹️ Stop AI
Teacher, MSc Animal Behaviour (Queen's University Belfast), interested in animal cognition and social behaviours
https://linktr.ee/robotowilliam
🦋 Reylo
⏹️ Stop AI
Teacher, MSc Animal Behaviour (Queen's University Belfast), interested in animal cognition and social behaviours
https://linktr.ee/robotowilliam
Pinned
Reposted by William Russell
Absolutley heartbreaking that parents of a man gunned down by federal agents have to put out a statement because the president and his cowardly minions are defaming their son. We’re way past sick.
Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.
"Please get the truth out about our son."
"Please get the truth out about our son."
January 25, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Absolutley heartbreaking that parents of a man gunned down by federal agents have to put out a statement because the president and his cowardly minions are defaming their son. We’re way past sick.
Reposted by William Russell
“His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100 tip.”
“.. He cared about people deeply ..,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong ..”
@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...
@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...
January 24, 2026 at 10:32 PM
“His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100 tip.”
Reposted by William Russell
The Republican position now appears to be that you have a constitutional right to openly carry a gun in public, unless you do so while expressing a view that the government dislikes, in which case the secret police can shoot you to death on the spot.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O'Hara says that the victim was a 37-year-old white man and US citizen with no criminal record and that he was a legally permitted gun owner.
January 24, 2026 at 6:45 PM
The Republican position now appears to be that you have a constitutional right to openly carry a gun in public, unless you do so while expressing a view that the government dislikes, in which case the secret police can shoot you to death on the spot.
Reposted by William Russell
The newest video shows very clearly that they attacked him for coming to an aid of a woman that the agents pushed, and then executed him while he was immobilized. Everything the government has said, like with Good, has been a complete lie.
January 24, 2026 at 7:09 PM
The newest video shows very clearly that they attacked him for coming to an aid of a woman that the agents pushed, and then executed him while he was immobilized. Everything the government has said, like with Good, has been a complete lie.
Reposted by William Russell
Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now
January 24, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now
Reposted by William Russell
they're executing moms and nurses in the street. they're using preschoolers as bait. they're stealing people's dads and grandmas and children. they're tear gassing babies. they're staking out schools. there is no remedy but abolition. any proposal that doesn't start there is an act of violence.
January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
they're executing moms and nurses in the street. they're using preschoolers as bait. they're stealing people's dads and grandmas and children. they're tear gassing babies. they're staking out schools. there is no remedy but abolition. any proposal that doesn't start there is an act of violence.
Reposted by William Russell
Republicans: everyone must be able to carry any gun at all times,
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
January 24, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Republicans: everyone must be able to carry any gun at all times,
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
up to and including high powered rifles, to protect themselves against tyranny
also Republicans, without batting an eye: carrying a gun is unquestionable justification for federal agents to shoot you dead in the street
Reposted by William Russell
If the US were a geopolitical rival the headlines would be like: US Secret Police Execute Second Dissident In the Streets As Militarized Occupation Enters Sixth Week
January 24, 2026 at 4:14 PM
If the US were a geopolitical rival the headlines would be like: US Secret Police Execute Second Dissident In the Streets As Militarized Occupation Enters Sixth Week
Reposted by William Russell
Border Patrol murdered Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this morning. He was a 37-year-old ICU nurse, a U.S. citizen, a legal gun owner. Video shows he was holding a phone when they killed him. This is the second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis in 17 days. A legal thread 🧵
January 24, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Border Patrol murdered Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this morning. He was a 37-year-old ICU nurse, a U.S. citizen, a legal gun owner. Video shows he was holding a phone when they killed him. This is the second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis in 17 days. A legal thread 🧵
Reposted by William Russell
"They say they're coming to save us from some evil? They're talking about our neighbors who take care of us ... Alex was murdered while he was helping. Mr Rogers said look for the helpers, & right now the helpers have a target on our forehead ... Mr Rogers would be here right now too, so I'm here."
January 24, 2026 at 9:14 PM
"They say they're coming to save us from some evil? They're talking about our neighbors who take care of us ... Alex was murdered while he was helping. Mr Rogers said look for the helpers, & right now the helpers have a target on our forehead ... Mr Rogers would be here right now too, so I'm here."
Reposted by William Russell
yeah! where are all the stories and images showing the professionalism and compassion of ICE and border patrol, im sure it’s happening all the damn time, just out of frame
January 24, 2026 at 9:45 PM
yeah! where are all the stories and images showing the professionalism and compassion of ICE and border patrol, im sure it’s happening all the damn time, just out of frame
Reposted by William Russell
Protester: "It just feels like they're murdering the most peaceful people we have, the people who are out on the street, young, and trying to protect other people"
January 24, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Protester: "It just feels like they're murdering the most peaceful people we have, the people who are out on the street, young, and trying to protect other people"
Reposted by William Russell
OpenAI uses scientists' and academics' work to train its model and does so without providing payment to (or acquiring permission from) those authors. Yet if those authors now use OpenAI products in their new work, OpenAI wants a cut?
Lmao the bubble is fit to burst, boys
This is a hysterical and insane choice, I hope they follow through!
This is a hysterical and insane choice, I hope they follow through!
January 23, 2026 at 11:17 AM
OpenAI uses scientists' and academics' work to train its model and does so without providing payment to (or acquiring permission from) those authors. Yet if those authors now use OpenAI products in their new work, OpenAI wants a cut?
Reposted by William Russell
[lips pressed directly on mic] yes
So you think kids should be vaccinated at gunpoint against their parents’ wishes or removed from the home?
January 23, 2026 at 8:48 PM
[lips pressed directly on mic] yes
Reposted by William Russell
we should have helicopters that fly around and shoot vaccine darts at unvaccinated kids like they do for wildlife
January 23, 2026 at 8:26 PM
we should have helicopters that fly around and shoot vaccine darts at unvaccinated kids like they do for wildlife
Reposted by William Russell
You know who”stayed a little back” in VIetnam? DJT.
January 23, 2026 at 10:41 PM
You know who”stayed a little back” in VIetnam? DJT.
Reposted by William Russell
This is a legit suggestion which I appreciate and do take seriously, but: it is impossible to build an exhaustive list of everything that developers shouldn't do, because that list is infinite
And LLMs are *inordinately* good at finding creative new madnesses
And LLMs are *inordinately* good at finding creative new madnesses
I have read your thread. I sympathize. Suggest you do use AI in reviews and maintain a personal file of grievances as a prompts. I keep a .codex_profile with things like ‘Nothing should be called a “helper”, complain if you see it, and don’t ever write it’
January 24, 2026 at 12:22 AM
This is a legit suggestion which I appreciate and do take seriously, but: it is impossible to build an exhaustive list of everything that developers shouldn't do, because that list is infinite
And LLMs are *inordinately* good at finding creative new madnesses
And LLMs are *inordinately* good at finding creative new madnesses
It's me!
Who's catching all these lizards? Meet the 2025 field team! It's a long season (May–September), so not everyone was there all at once, but here's most of us—including PI @profkathrynelmer.bsky.social and visiting ecophysiology collaborators, @jflegalliard.bsky.social and his PhD student Nicolas.
January 24, 2026 at 12:28 AM
It's me!
Reposted by William Russell
Off and on it
![[Scene is heaven, in clouds. JESUS, acting as God’s PA, is briefing God, a big ball of light with arms sat at an executive desk, with a computer on it].
Jesus [holding a tablet computer]:
OK, so -
The next one to check in on is…
‘Earth’.
God: Spelling?
Jesus: E-A-R-T-H.
[God types into the computer]
tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap.
God: F—ing hell.
What’s happened here!?
We need to complain - get me the manager.
Jesus: Uh, well, the most powerful one is…
[Jesus turns his iPad round to show God. We can’t see the screen]
God: What is that.
I mean, it’s been a while but that’s definitely not how I designed them. Are you sure we’ve got the right planet?
Jesus: Yes, this is the… top human.
God: Off and on it again
Jesus: I’ll book the meteor
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiblqrz666ald2ptzqnno6lgs5tpfqqus3mqyvwop4hitu67n3r4ma@jpeg)
January 23, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Off and on it
Reposted by William Russell
i think about this often
January 9, 2026 at 1:38 PM
i think about this often
I worked with this team as a field assistant over the summer :) It's a cool project! Fascinating questions about the blurred boundaries of speciation, and what makes different strategies effective.
You've heard of COW TOOLS, but did you know the Gail Valley is also home to an incredibly cool lizard hybrid zone?
Here's a thread about our work on the Eurasian common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, and its egg-laying x live-bearing hybrids.
(Thanks @biotay.bsky.social for the spur to get posting!)
Here's a thread about our work on the Eurasian common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, and its egg-laying x live-bearing hybrids.
(Thanks @biotay.bsky.social for the spur to get posting!)
January 22, 2026 at 9:38 PM
I worked with this team as a field assistant over the summer :) It's a cool project! Fascinating questions about the blurred boundaries of speciation, and what makes different strategies effective.
Reposted by William Russell
Hi. I'm the guy with the automated CSAM generator. Would you like one of my robots to look after your kids?
No thank you.
No thank you.
January 22, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Hi. I'm the guy with the automated CSAM generator. Would you like one of my robots to look after your kids?
No thank you.
No thank you.
Reposted by William Russell
Isn't this a telling aspiration? To want robots to look after your kids, so you can do stuff, rather than robots to do stuff, so you can spend time with your kids?
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
January 22, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Isn't this a telling aspiration? To want robots to look after your kids, so you can do stuff, rather than robots to do stuff, so you can spend time with your kids?
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
Reposted by William Russell
European squaddies on Reddit are going to town over this, posting pictures of themselves “not lifting a finger” when they were on deployment in America’s various wars over the past few of decades.
Can’t imagine there will be much motivation from our militaries to support the US in the near future.
Can’t imagine there will be much motivation from our militaries to support the US in the near future.
Death toll in Afghanistan when NATO answered the US’s call:
- 453 Britons
- 158 Canadians
- 89 French
- 59 Germans
- 53 Italians
- 44 Danes
- 17 Spaniards
“Stayed a little back, off the front lines “!
No one in the media will call him out over this lie or any of the others he spouts.
- 453 Britons
- 158 Canadians
- 89 French
- 59 Germans
- 53 Italians
- 44 Danes
- 17 Spaniards
“Stayed a little back, off the front lines “!
No one in the media will call him out over this lie or any of the others he spouts.
Trump on NATO: "I've always said, will they be there if we ever needed them? That's really the ultimate test. I'm not sure of that. We've never needed them. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan and this or that. And they did. They stayed a little back, off the front lines."
January 22, 2026 at 8:23 PM
European squaddies on Reddit are going to town over this, posting pictures of themselves “not lifting a finger” when they were on deployment in America’s various wars over the past few of decades.
Can’t imagine there will be much motivation from our militaries to support the US in the near future.
Can’t imagine there will be much motivation from our militaries to support the US in the near future.
![I became Senior VP at a multi-million dollar company at age 26. My salary was $600k. This was in 2018.
How did I do it?
[...lots of text blacked out...]
CEO (my dad) [...] promoted me to SVP.
There are no gimmicks. There are no shortcuts.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6e5va6cf722ozz4au6jmczwp/bafkreihkixlxk55mc7ht33ymub7ttlfp32nqtxnu6pw5cwhtu3pq3hive4@jpeg)