Simon McGarr
@tupped.bsky.social
Solicitor, consultant, artist, writes TheGist.ie newsletter.
Visiting Lecturer. External Examiner in Data Protection law.
Visiting Lecturer. External Examiner in Data Protection law.
I know the EU is still on holiday (complimentary) but we should see the same speed of response here.
And what happened to Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s plans to protect children on the internet, now X dot com is generating actual CSAM of real children?
Is he only interested in surveillance?
And what happened to Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s plans to protect children on the internet, now X dot com is generating actual CSAM of real children?
Is he only interested in surveillance?
India orders X to fix Grok to block the generation of obscene content, giving it 72 hours to submit an action-taken report or risk losing "safe harbor" immunity (Jagmeet Singh/TechCrunch)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
January 2, 2026 at 7:46 PM
I know the EU is still on holiday (complimentary) but we should see the same speed of response here.
And what happened to Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s plans to protect children on the internet, now X dot com is generating actual CSAM of real children?
Is he only interested in surveillance?
And what happened to Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s plans to protect children on the internet, now X dot com is generating actual CSAM of real children?
Is he only interested in surveillance?
Reposted by Simon McGarr
“It turned out, the ATMs didn’t know how much money your bank account had. So if you asked them for €1,000, you got €1,000. This turned out to be particularly popular amongst people who would like €1,000, which is one of the larger demographic slices in the country”
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
The Gist: Capital Crimes
Ireland’s police meet Bank of Ireland’s IT failures with some heavy presence budgeting advice. This is the Gist.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 10:12 AM
“It turned out, the ATMs didn’t know how much money your bank account had. So if you asked them for €1,000, you got €1,000. This turned out to be particularly popular amongst people who would like €1,000, which is one of the larger demographic slices in the country”
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
Reposted by Simon McGarr
State bodies still be using X.
Grok says safeguard lapses led to images of 'minors in minimal clothing' on X reut.rs/498SoUk
Grok says safeguard lapses led to images of 'minors in minimal clothing' on X
Elon Musk's xAI artificial intelligence chatbot Grok said on Friday lapses in safeguards had resulted in "images depicting minors in minimal clothing" on social media platform X and that improvements were being made to prevent this.
reut.rs
January 2, 2026 at 2:59 PM
State bodies still be using X.
Reposted by Simon McGarr
the thing that strikes me about the Grok "apology" thing is that even those of us who are against "AI" as it is marketed to us have trouble not falling into the basic fallacy that they are trying to sell us, i.e. There's A Little Guy In There
January 2, 2026 at 3:19 AM
the thing that strikes me about the Grok "apology" thing is that even those of us who are against "AI" as it is marketed to us have trouble not falling into the basic fallacy that they are trying to sell us, i.e. There's A Little Guy In There
Let’s do some maths!
But first some context:
The liability for public bodies for injuries arising from “wear-and-tear” to paths etc was sharply restricted by the High Court on appeal, when a hill walker claimed for an injury arising from a rotted wooden sleeper in a park
decisis.ie/national-par...
But first some context:
The liability for public bodies for injuries arising from “wear-and-tear” to paths etc was sharply restricted by the High Court on appeal, when a hill walker claimed for an injury arising from a rotted wooden sleeper in a park
decisis.ie/national-par...
January 2, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Let’s do some maths!
But first some context:
The liability for public bodies for injuries arising from “wear-and-tear” to paths etc was sharply restricted by the High Court on appeal, when a hill walker claimed for an injury arising from a rotted wooden sleeper in a park
decisis.ie/national-par...
But first some context:
The liability for public bodies for injuries arising from “wear-and-tear” to paths etc was sharply restricted by the High Court on appeal, when a hill walker claimed for an injury arising from a rotted wooden sleeper in a park
decisis.ie/national-par...
Reposted by Simon McGarr
950 individual claims is a lot. I'm not a fancy downtown lawyer, but the average payout coming in just below €20k would suggest that most of these are OOC settlements?
Slips, trips and falls have cost Dublin City Council over €18 million in personal injury payouts in just three years.
www.thejournal.ie/dublin-counc...
www.thejournal.ie/dublin-counc...
Dublin footpaths cost €18m in injury payouts - more than most councils spend on all claims
The city’s footpaths have been described as a ‘disaster’ by public representatives, who say Dublin City Council must act to fix footpath dangers.
www.thejournal.ie
January 2, 2026 at 12:23 PM
950 individual claims is a lot. I'm not a fancy downtown lawyer, but the average payout coming in just below €20k would suggest that most of these are OOC settlements?
Reposted by Simon McGarr
call me crazy but it really feels like “World’s Richest Man Creates AI Chatbot That Generates Child Porn” would’ve been a huge international outrage requiring a governmental crackdown not even 24 months ago
January 2, 2026 at 7:06 AM
call me crazy but it really feels like “World’s Richest Man Creates AI Chatbot That Generates Child Porn” would’ve been a huge international outrage requiring a governmental crackdown not even 24 months ago
Reposted by Simon McGarr
My first Gist piece about how much I hate A.I. can be found here. It was published this time last year but one handy thing about the AI miasma that refuses to die, is that every word of it is still completely relevant.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-3/
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-3/
The Gist: AI, a talking dog for the 21st Century.
Séamas O'Reilly on the year's biggest con, AI. This is a Christmas Cracker Gist.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 10:52 AM
My first Gist piece about how much I hate A.I. can be found here. It was published this time last year but one handy thing about the AI miasma that refuses to die, is that every word of it is still completely relevant.
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-3/
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-3/
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Lovely piece on the hatefulness of all this. Worth it for many little highlights, but I enjoyed the riff on a calculator that aggressively suggests sums you might want to do today.
In what's now become an annual tradition, I've written another piece for The Gist about how and why I hate A.I.
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Guest Gist: 2026, Our Already Rotting Future
Seamus O'Reilly warns of AI maximum bubbledrive this year.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 11:22 AM
Lovely piece on the hatefulness of all this. Worth it for many little highlights, but I enjoyed the riff on a calculator that aggressively suggests sums you might want to do today.
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Found elsenet: seems to sum up the zeitgeist nicely!
January 2, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Found elsenet: seems to sum up the zeitgeist nicely!
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Happy New Year!
I finished my annual year-in-review. At least until I realize I forgot something and edit it. It was a good year for the shop overall I think. Thanks to everyone for keeping it going!
littledeercomics.ie/blogs/news/2...
I finished my annual year-in-review. At least until I realize I forgot something and edit it. It was a good year for the shop overall I think. Thanks to everyone for keeping it going!
littledeercomics.ie/blogs/news/2...
2025
My annual year in review! Where I discuss the trials and tribulations of being a tiny indie comic shop in the Dublin city centre. See past years roundups here: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 [Deer in the head...
littledeercomics.ie
January 2, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Happy New Year!
I finished my annual year-in-review. At least until I realize I forgot something and edit it. It was a good year for the shop overall I think. Thanks to everyone for keeping it going!
littledeercomics.ie/blogs/news/2...
I finished my annual year-in-review. At least until I realize I forgot something and edit it. It was a good year for the shop overall I think. Thanks to everyone for keeping it going!
littledeercomics.ie/blogs/news/2...
Reposted by Simon McGarr
In what's now become an annual tradition, I've written another piece for The Gist about how and why I hate A.I.
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Guest Gist: 2026, Our Already Rotting Future
Seamus O'Reilly warns of AI maximum bubbledrive this year.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 10:25 AM
In what's now become an annual tradition, I've written another piece for The Gist about how and why I hate A.I.
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Hi there Blue Sky folks! I'm new here, Here's some Bach Cello Suits in the west of Ireland winter sun. Is what you're into? Would you like to hear more? I'm finding it too upsetting to open up Twitter these days...
January 28, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Hi there Blue Sky folks! I'm new here, Here's some Bach Cello Suits in the west of Ireland winter sun. Is what you're into? Would you like to hear more? I'm finding it too upsetting to open up Twitter these days...
“It turned out, the ATMs didn’t know how much money your bank account had. So if you asked them for €1,000, you got €1,000. This turned out to be particularly popular amongst people who would like €1,000, which is one of the larger demographic slices in the country”
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
The Gist: Capital Crimes
Ireland’s police meet Bank of Ireland’s IT failures with some heavy presence budgeting advice. This is the Gist.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 10:12 AM
“It turned out, the ATMs didn’t know how much money your bank account had. So if you asked them for €1,000, you got €1,000. This turned out to be particularly popular amongst people who would like €1,000, which is one of the larger demographic slices in the country”
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
www.thegist.ie/the-gist-cap...
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Australian Social Media ban is not working, so now the “war on teens” people are demanding outright phone bans…
https://alecmuffett.com/article/138755
#SocialMediaBan #australia #censorship #surveillance #vpns
https://alecmuffett.com/article/138755
#SocialMediaBan #australia #censorship #surveillance #vpns
Australian Social Media ban is not working, so now the “war on teens” people are demanding outright phone bans…
Not entirely surprising; and this won’t work either:
alecmuffett.com
January 2, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Australian Social Media ban is not working, so now the “war on teens” people are demanding outright phone bans…
https://alecmuffett.com/article/138755
#SocialMediaBan #australia #censorship #surveillance #vpns
https://alecmuffett.com/article/138755
#SocialMediaBan #australia #censorship #surveillance #vpns
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Political parties, sports clubs, individuals etc. still on the platform need to be asked why - who, exactly, are you trying to "reach" on a CSAM website?
Good news everyone, the fascist sociopath has added a sexual assault generator to his website! At this point it’s fair to assume that any brewery / football team / MP / rando still using it actively supports these things.
Quoting ourselves here, but it’s absolutely insane to us that anyone still uses Twitter. You don't have to. You can just stop. It was a *massive* part of our growth but you can just let it go. However important your business is to you, it's less important than this:
January 2, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Political parties, sports clubs, individuals etc. still on the platform need to be asked why - who, exactly, are you trying to "reach" on a CSAM website?
Reposted by Simon McGarr
We stopped using Twitter/X over two years ago & have seen no cause for regret, but the recent incidents of CSAM generated & distributed via proprietary A.I. Grok are a new low. We urge all non-profits still retaining a presence on the site to abandon it immediately. 1/2
bsky.app/profile/lora...
bsky.app/profile/lora...
more on the nightmarish situation on X where users are apparently generating non consenting pirnographic imagery & sexual images of minors (csam) using xAI’s Grok. Musk merged xAI and X (fka twitter) last year.
January 2, 2026 at 9:25 AM
We stopped using Twitter/X over two years ago & have seen no cause for regret, but the recent incidents of CSAM generated & distributed via proprietary A.I. Grok are a new low. We urge all non-profits still retaining a presence on the site to abandon it immediately. 1/2
bsky.app/profile/lora...
bsky.app/profile/lora...
New Guest Gist: 2026, Our already rotting future
Séamas O’Reilly somehow failed to stop AI with his Gist pointing out its many many lies last year. Surely this time he will see it off?
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Séamas O’Reilly somehow failed to stop AI with his Gist pointing out its many many lies last year. Surely this time he will see it off?
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Guest Gist: 2026, Our Already Rotting Future
Seamus O'Reilly warns of AI maximum bubbledrive this year.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 9:50 AM
New Guest Gist: 2026, Our already rotting future
Séamas O’Reilly somehow failed to stop AI with his Gist pointing out its many many lies last year. Surely this time he will see it off?
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Séamas O’Reilly somehow failed to stop AI with his Gist pointing out its many many lies last year. Surely this time he will see it off?
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Reposted by Simon McGarr
so x dot com’s ai generated CSAM and they admitted it may violate US law and … i haven’t seen in anyone in power say much at all or call to stop using the platform
January 2, 2026 at 12:43 AM
so x dot com’s ai generated CSAM and they admitted it may violate US law and … i haven’t seen in anyone in power say much at all or call to stop using the platform
Reposted by Simon McGarr
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
January 1, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
Literally not one word of reflection on what caused the party to lose all those seats in this interview.
Roderic O'Gorman on by-elections, rebuilding the Greens and Jim O'Callaghan 'believing his own spin' jrnl.ie/6915792
Roderic O'Gorman on by-elections, rebuilding the Greens and Jim O'Callaghan 'believing his own spin'
Roderic O’Gorman discusses life in opposition, immigration and rebuilding the Green Party.
jrnl.ie
January 1, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Literally not one word of reflection on what caused the party to lose all those seats in this interview.
Reposted by Simon McGarr
"As signs of ageing emerge, Trump responds with defiance"
YES. This is exactly the flavour of mad king shit I want to see
YES. This is exactly the flavour of mad king shit I want to see
President Trump tells the Wall Street Journal that the large dose of aspirin he chooses to take daily has caused him to bruise easily. www.wsj.com/us-news/as-signs-...
Exclusive | As Signs of Aging Emerge, Trump Responds With Defiance
In an interview, President Trump—the oldest man to assume the office—said he has eschewed some advice from his doctors and regrets getting advanced imaging.
www.wsj.com
January 1, 2026 at 1:29 PM
"As signs of ageing emerge, Trump responds with defiance"
YES. This is exactly the flavour of mad king shit I want to see
YES. This is exactly the flavour of mad king shit I want to see
Reposted by Simon McGarr
The traffic light cameras are a bad idea and we are lucky they were scrapped for reasons unrelated to the reasons they are a bad idea.
January 1, 2026 at 1:07 PM
The traffic light cameras are a bad idea and we are lucky they were scrapped for reasons unrelated to the reasons they are a bad idea.