I, BS
@thebenshaw.bsky.social
Luddite/technologist, social justice worrier, recalcitrant masters student poking at media-ecologies and socio-technologies. Tangata tiriti, trying to be a better guest on unceded Djarra country.
Pinned
I, BS
@thebenshaw.bsky.social
· Dec 19
Me, struggling to write a short bio: "How can I possibly capture all of my life's rich experience and my many nuanced and thoughtful perspectives in so little space?"
My doctor:
My doctor:
Reposted by I, BS
We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?
November 13, 2025 at 8:19 AM
We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?
Earth's atmosphere getting its hams steamed by solar radiation again
November 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Earth's atmosphere getting its hams steamed by solar radiation again
Reposted by I, BS
Tomorrow is the Fifth of November – but let’s forget Guy Fawkes and his actions against an arrogant Protestant king and instead look to our own history: the unlawful attack on Parihaka and, by extension, Māori sovereignty.
🧵
#kikorangi
🧵
#kikorangi
November 4, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Tomorrow is the Fifth of November – but let’s forget Guy Fawkes and his actions against an arrogant Protestant king and instead look to our own history: the unlawful attack on Parihaka and, by extension, Māori sovereignty.
🧵
#kikorangi
🧵
#kikorangi
Reposted by I, BS
#nzpol
For context: Total cost of all reparations paid to Māori for land confiscations to date = $2.7 billion
Total cost of the economic lunacy of this government reinstating mortgage interest deductions to landlords = $2.9 billion (over 4 yrs), plus $760 million every single year thereafter
For context: Total cost of all reparations paid to Māori for land confiscations to date = $2.7 billion
Total cost of the economic lunacy of this government reinstating mortgage interest deductions to landlords = $2.9 billion (over 4 yrs), plus $760 million every single year thereafter
October 27, 2025 at 1:41 AM
#nzpol
For context: Total cost of all reparations paid to Māori for land confiscations to date = $2.7 billion
Total cost of the economic lunacy of this government reinstating mortgage interest deductions to landlords = $2.9 billion (over 4 yrs), plus $760 million every single year thereafter
For context: Total cost of all reparations paid to Māori for land confiscations to date = $2.7 billion
Total cost of the economic lunacy of this government reinstating mortgage interest deductions to landlords = $2.9 billion (over 4 yrs), plus $760 million every single year thereafter
Wonder how MasterCard et al are going to respond to this? www.wired.com/story/chatgp...
ChatGPT’s Horny Era Could Be Its Stickiest Yet
OpenAI will soon let adults create erotic content in ChatGPT. Experts say that could lead to “emotional commodification,” or horniness as a revenue stream.
www.wired.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Wonder how MasterCard et al are going to respond to this? www.wired.com/story/chatgp...
Future generations will not look kindly on our penchant for intentionally mutating dogs into forms that are detrimental to their health and wellbeing because we think it looks cute.
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 18, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Future generations will not look kindly on our penchant for intentionally mutating dogs into forms that are detrimental to their health and wellbeing because we think it looks cute.
Reposted by I, BS
Israel is also holding approximately 10,000 Palestinian hostages.
Please consider all the hostages next time you’re talking about this. Too many only care about the 50 Israelis.
Please consider all the hostages next time you’re talking about this. Too many only care about the 50 Israelis.
August 17, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Israel is also holding approximately 10,000 Palestinian hostages.
Please consider all the hostages next time you’re talking about this. Too many only care about the 50 Israelis.
Please consider all the hostages next time you’re talking about this. Too many only care about the 50 Israelis.
Because a huge part of the promise of 'AI' is "what if we made it so that economically precarious people still had to do all the shitty jobs but we ALSO didn't have to see them?"
October 13, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Because a huge part of the promise of 'AI' is "what if we made it so that economically precarious people still had to do all the shitty jobs but we ALSO didn't have to see them?"
It's spooky season in the goldfields
October 13, 2025 at 7:09 AM
It's spooky season in the goldfields
Reposted by I, BS
Portland reclaiming frogs for the forces of light in meme semiotics is a delight
October 10, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Portland reclaiming frogs for the forces of light in meme semiotics is a delight
Reposted by I, BS
Peace plan. Both Trump and Netanyahu have used these words.
My Stuff #cartoon today #Israel #USA #PeacePlan #Gaza #Palestine
My Stuff #cartoon today #Israel #USA #PeacePlan #Gaza #Palestine
October 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Peace plan. Both Trump and Netanyahu have used these words.
My Stuff #cartoon today #Israel #USA #PeacePlan #Gaza #Palestine
My Stuff #cartoon today #Israel #USA #PeacePlan #Gaza #Palestine
I think the source she was actually looking for was Trinidadian musician Anslem Douglas, from a song later made famous by the Baha Men.
Our Finance Minister putting her English Literature degree to good use, inspiring. #nzpol
Heh.
October 8, 2025 at 12:37 AM
I think the source she was actually looking for was Trinidadian musician Anslem Douglas, from a song later made famous by the Baha Men.
Well done Miriam-Webster, you had me sweatin' there. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvQn... #LLM #ActualIntelligence
LLM
YouTube video by Merriam-Webster
www.youtube.com
October 5, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Well done Miriam-Webster, you had me sweatin' there. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvQn... #LLM #ActualIntelligence
I tend not to subscribe to conspiratal "powerful men working in the shadows to mold the world according to their esoteric philosophy" narratives ("they're greedy and morally malnourished" usually does the trick) but this is a pretty compelling picture www.wired.com/story/the-re...
The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession
Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They’ve been a road map for the billionaire ever since.
www.wired.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:52 PM
I tend not to subscribe to conspiratal "powerful men working in the shadows to mold the world according to their esoteric philosophy" narratives ("they're greedy and morally malnourished" usually does the trick) but this is a pretty compelling picture www.wired.com/story/the-re...
Reposted by I, BS
New Zealand is punching above its weight in cowardice
New Zealand is punching above its weight in cowardice
Winston Peters promised that New Zealand’s recognition of Palestine was a matter of 'when, not if', which has a real deadbeat-dad-promises-he’ll-have-his-shit-together-next-week air about it....
thespinoff.co.nz
September 27, 2025 at 3:30 AM
New Zealand is punching above its weight in cowardice
Reposted by I, BS
Posted a response to this to on LinkedIn from the perspective of power demand in Sri Lanka. For those in New Zealand, the total power generation capacity in 2021 was 10,080MW, which is what just the NVIDIA GPU's at OpenAI propose to use up. From either country's perspective, this is mind-boggling.
September 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Posted a response to this to on LinkedIn from the perspective of power demand in Sri Lanka. For those in New Zealand, the total power generation capacity in 2021 was 10,080MW, which is what just the NVIDIA GPU's at OpenAI propose to use up. From either country's perspective, this is mind-boggling.
Reposted by I, BS
Maps without New Zealand (derogatory)
September 22, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Maps without New Zealand (derogatory)
Reposted by I, BS
I'm sorry, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable permission to my voice and likeness? For what now? In any manner for any purpose???
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
September 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I'm sorry, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable permission to my voice and likeness? For what now? In any manner for any purpose???
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
Not one futurologist predicted how dumb things were gonna get.
I feel like there is something poetic about this.
LimeWire acquires Fyre Festival, has vague plans to offer 'real experiences'
LimeWire, now revived as an NFT marketplace, has acquired the Fyre Festival brand.
www.engadget.com
September 17, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Not one futurologist predicted how dumb things were gonna get.
Reposted by I, BS
One big problem is that to truly understand what the internet is doing to people, you have to be on it too much to play any useful role in society
September 12, 2025 at 3:37 PM
One big problem is that to truly understand what the internet is doing to people, you have to be on it too much to play any useful role in society
Reposted by I, BS
Possible causes of your problems. It’s a diagram that (sadly) still seems relevant in 2025, so reposting a year and a bit on.
August 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Possible causes of your problems. It’s a diagram that (sadly) still seems relevant in 2025, so reposting a year and a bit on.
Anyway feels like as good a time as any to finally (performatively) read this.
September 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Anyway feels like as good a time as any to finally (performatively) read this.
Being a bsky user outside of the US timezone is a daily exercise in trying to infer wtf is going on based on reactions to the reactions to that thing.
September 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Being a bsky user outside of the US timezone is a daily exercise in trying to infer wtf is going on based on reactions to the reactions to that thing.
2035: Hereditary CEO of the Confederate States of America Barron Trump marries Charlotte Windsor, the Princess Royal. The revolution has failed. Reports on Truth Social awash with photos of clouds that look oddly like a smiling King George. Brittania rules the waves once more. (They're warmer now).
September 6, 2025 at 10:51 AM
2035: Hereditary CEO of the Confederate States of America Barron Trump marries Charlotte Windsor, the Princess Royal. The revolution has failed. Reports on Truth Social awash with photos of clouds that look oddly like a smiling King George. Brittania rules the waves once more. (They're warmer now).
More of these stories please
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, a group of scientists and researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand dropped everything they were doing and rolled up their sleeves to help the response. This response ultimately saved around 20,000 lives 🧪 🧵
September 5, 2025 at 9:40 AM
More of these stories please