Brían O'Byrne
@brianobyrne.me
IT nerd. Late dx #autistic, #ADHD. Ace. Antifa. Lots of interests in STEM stuff and related law and public policy.
Pinned
Brían O'Byrne
@brianobyrne.me
· 25d
Sexism. Racism. Homophobia. Transphobia. Ableism. Anti immigrant. Anti jew. Anti muslim. Anti christian. Supremacism.
These are all the same problem. Any belief or ideology that puts one demographic of person against another is inherently evil.
Human rights means all humans.
These are all the same problem. Any belief or ideology that puts one demographic of person against another is inherently evil.
Human rights means all humans.
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
“What ChatGPT says about politics — or anything — is ultimately what the people who created it say it should say, or allow it to say; more specifically, human beings at OpenAI are deciding what neutral answers to those 500 prompts might look like and instructing their model to follow their lead.”
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia Is a Warning
The centibillionaire’s Wikipedia clone is ridiculous. It’s also a glimpse of the future.
nymag.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
“What ChatGPT says about politics — or anything — is ultimately what the people who created it say it should say, or allow it to say; more specifically, human beings at OpenAI are deciding what neutral answers to those 500 prompts might look like and instructing their model to follow their lead.”
Gods no.
Seattle is nice by US standards but it is still a place without public healthcare and with a US style militarised police force.
Give me a nice European city any day.
Seattle is nice by US standards but it is still a place without public healthcare and with a US style militarised police force.
Give me a nice European city any day.
when they say seattle has a population of 750k, they are missing the 40 million bluesky members who are spiritually in seattle
November 11, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Gods no.
Seattle is nice by US standards but it is still a place without public healthcare and with a US style militarised police force.
Give me a nice European city any day.
Seattle is nice by US standards but it is still a place without public healthcare and with a US style militarised police force.
Give me a nice European city any day.
Let's be a little clearer about this.
Flights have been affected because of a decision long ago that air traffic control is a public good that should be funded by the government (unlike healthcare, but that's a different conversation).
Flights have been affected because of a decision long ago that air traffic control is a public good that should be funded by the government (unlike healthcare, but that's a different conversation).
On average, about 340 U.S. flights get canceled per day.
But this Sunday, over 2,200 were canceled, and the increase is due to the government shutdown.
Meanwhile, Amtrak has been unaffected by the shutdown because it makes enough money from ticket revenue.
Build more train lines, please.
But this Sunday, over 2,200 were canceled, and the increase is due to the government shutdown.
Meanwhile, Amtrak has been unaffected by the shutdown because it makes enough money from ticket revenue.
Build more train lines, please.
November 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Let's be a little clearer about this.
Flights have been affected because of a decision long ago that air traffic control is a public good that should be funded by the government (unlike healthcare, but that's a different conversation).
Flights have been affected because of a decision long ago that air traffic control is a public good that should be funded by the government (unlike healthcare, but that's a different conversation).
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
Turkey issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and 36 other Israeli officials for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Turkey is seeking international warrants too, which would oblige European states to arrest them.
Turkey is seeking international warrants too, which would oblige European states to arrest them.
November 8, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Turkey issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and 36 other Israeli officials for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Turkey is seeking international warrants too, which would oblige European states to arrest them.
Turkey is seeking international warrants too, which would oblige European states to arrest them.
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
Can confirm … saw a Fox and friends image and immedialty thought
“Hey it’s that guy who wants to kill unhoused and disabled people”
“Hey it’s that guy who wants to kill unhoused and disabled people”
Brian Kilmeade is never not going to be “that kill the unhoused & disabled people guy” to me now.
November 7, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Can confirm … saw a Fox and friends image and immedialty thought
“Hey it’s that guy who wants to kill unhoused and disabled people”
“Hey it’s that guy who wants to kill unhoused and disabled people”
Also,
Academic tip: sometimes you have to write "Importantly," to get a sentence started and then you can go back and delete it.
November 7, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Also,
If it wasn't for air, Bill Mitchell would not be such a big windbag.
"If it wasn't for Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers would never win anything."
November 6, 2025 at 10:49 PM
If it wasn't for air, Bill Mitchell would not be such a big windbag.
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
Using food as a weapon is against several treaties and the rules of war.
November 6, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Using food as a weapon is against several treaties and the rules of war.
An oldie but still relevant.
www.aclu.org/news/privacy...
www.aclu.org/news/privacy...
November 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
An oldie but still relevant.
www.aclu.org/news/privacy...
www.aclu.org/news/privacy...
This is an excellent and really important point.
At what point does money stop being a motivator for work?
We know for most of us that we need income, and to get that we need work.
But once we have a good home, healthcare, food and all the leisure activity we want, does money still motivate us?
At what point does money stop being a motivator for work?
We know for most of us that we need income, and to get that we need work.
But once we have a good home, healthcare, food and all the leisure activity we want, does money still motivate us?
No. As the article points out, the data do not bear this out.
But CEOs like Musk stack the boards in their favor and rob shareholders. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
But CEOs like Musk stack the boards in their favor and rob shareholders. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
Would Elon Musk Work Harder for $1 Trillion Than $1 Billion?
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:50 PM
This is an excellent and really important point.
At what point does money stop being a motivator for work?
We know for most of us that we need income, and to get that we need work.
But once we have a good home, healthcare, food and all the leisure activity we want, does money still motivate us?
At what point does money stop being a motivator for work?
We know for most of us that we need income, and to get that we need work.
But once we have a good home, healthcare, food and all the leisure activity we want, does money still motivate us?
I have decided to take on a project to build a gift for myself for Christmas. A Svalboard Datahand. svalboard.com
I'll post some progress updates here with #svalboard
Current status: I've ordered the kit which should arrive next week, and I'm bringing my printer back to life with a few simple jobs.
I'll post some progress updates here with #svalboard
Current status: I've ordered the kit which should arrive next week, and I'm bringing my printer back to life with a few simple jobs.
Svalboard - Datahand forever!
Svalboard is a modern customizable keyboard in the tradition of the Datahand.
svalboard.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I have decided to take on a project to build a gift for myself for Christmas. A Svalboard Datahand. svalboard.com
I'll post some progress updates here with #svalboard
Current status: I've ordered the kit which should arrive next week, and I'm bringing my printer back to life with a few simple jobs.
I'll post some progress updates here with #svalboard
Current status: I've ordered the kit which should arrive next week, and I'm bringing my printer back to life with a few simple jobs.
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
Every Irish politician needs to get off this racist’s website *immediately*. There is no excuse.
#speirgorm
#speirgorm
Elon Musk, "These lovely small towns in England, Scotland and Ireland, they've been living their lives quietly. They're like hobbits"
"And so one day, 1,000 people show up in your village of 500 and start raping the kids"
"This has now happened, God knows how many times in Britain"
"And so one day, 1,000 people show up in your village of 500 and start raping the kids"
"This has now happened, God knows how many times in Britain"
November 2, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Every Irish politician needs to get off this racist’s website *immediately*. There is no excuse.
#speirgorm
#speirgorm
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
A lesson from history:
During the great famine in Ireland in the 1840s there were certainly robber barons that took food out of the country while people starved. Perhaps the most famous of these is Trevellian, as mentioned in the ballad "The fields of Athenry"
During the great famine in Ireland in the 1840s there were certainly robber barons that took food out of the country while people starved. Perhaps the most famous of these is Trevellian, as mentioned in the ballad "The fields of Athenry"
November 1, 2025 at 8:21 PM
A lesson from history:
During the great famine in Ireland in the 1840s there were certainly robber barons that took food out of the country while people starved. Perhaps the most famous of these is Trevellian, as mentioned in the ballad "The fields of Athenry"
During the great famine in Ireland in the 1840s there were certainly robber barons that took food out of the country while people starved. Perhaps the most famous of these is Trevellian, as mentioned in the ballad "The fields of Athenry"
Seriously? You want to see sex tapes with children?
I don’t give a F about the Epstein files. I wanna see the videos published
November 1, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Seriously? You want to see sex tapes with children?
@bsky.app
A related question:
Can you tell us what metrics you are tracking in relation to engagement and some idea of the relative value of these metrics to your ideal of what BlueSky should be?
A related question:
Can you tell us what metrics you are tracking in relation to engagement and some idea of the relative value of these metrics to your ideal of what BlueSky should be?
Hello @bsky.app I have an honest question for moderators and devs out there. What might it take (in terms of action or input) from users to stop the algorithm? Or at least make it such that it is something we can toggle on or off? So many of us are refugees from algorithms. I’d hate to see it here.
November 1, 2025 at 5:39 PM
@bsky.app
A related question:
Can you tell us what metrics you are tracking in relation to engagement and some idea of the relative value of these metrics to your ideal of what BlueSky should be?
A related question:
Can you tell us what metrics you are tracking in relation to engagement and some idea of the relative value of these metrics to your ideal of what BlueSky should be?
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
In theory the press are there to create an informed electorate who can then use their votes to move their government in a healthy direction. In practice the press are there to keep the public too ignorant, propagandized and distracted to meddle in the workings of the imperial machine.
October 31, 2025 at 9:05 PM
In theory the press are there to create an informed electorate who can then use their votes to move their government in a healthy direction. In practice the press are there to keep the public too ignorant, propagandized and distracted to meddle in the workings of the imperial machine.
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
"An economy that kills, that excludes, that starves, that concentrates enormous wealth in a few to the detriment of the many, that multiplies poverty and grinds down salaries, that pollutes, that produces war, is not an economy: It is just an emptiness, an absence, a sickness." #PopeFrancis #Hope
October 31, 2025 at 11:40 AM
"An economy that kills, that excludes, that starves, that concentrates enormous wealth in a few to the detriment of the many, that multiplies poverty and grinds down salaries, that pollutes, that produces war, is not an economy: It is just an emptiness, an absence, a sickness." #PopeFrancis #Hope
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
November 1, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
You don’t
just wear
a mask on
Halloween.
Yours clings
long after the
pumpkins rot,
painted with
steadiness
you don’t feel,
stitched tight
to keep the
cracks unseen.
Every smile a patch,
every nod a lie.
Beneath it all,
you're still
breaking quietly.
#vss365 #poetry #Halloween
just wear
a mask on
Halloween.
Yours clings
long after the
pumpkins rot,
painted with
steadiness
you don’t feel,
stitched tight
to keep the
cracks unseen.
Every smile a patch,
every nod a lie.
Beneath it all,
you're still
breaking quietly.
#vss365 #poetry #Halloween
October 31, 2025 at 6:47 PM
You don’t
just wear
a mask on
Halloween.
Yours clings
long after the
pumpkins rot,
painted with
steadiness
you don’t feel,
stitched tight
to keep the
cracks unseen.
Every smile a patch,
every nod a lie.
Beneath it all,
you're still
breaking quietly.
#vss365 #poetry #Halloween
just wear
a mask on
Halloween.
Yours clings
long after the
pumpkins rot,
painted with
steadiness
you don’t feel,
stitched tight
to keep the
cracks unseen.
Every smile a patch,
every nod a lie.
Beneath it all,
you're still
breaking quietly.
#vss365 #poetry #Halloween
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
The music cuts off awkwardly before the end, but this is an incredible NYC Halloween costume compilation.
October 31, 2025 at 9:53 PM
The music cuts off awkwardly before the end, but this is an incredible NYC Halloween costume compilation.
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
A Scottish Happy Halloween to all who celebrate.
October 31, 2025 at 6:23 PM
A Scottish Happy Halloween to all who celebrate.
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
Even if the cause was not arson - the unchecked hatred that is being allowed to boil is going to cause something catastrophic. I remember the lead up to marching season in 1998 and how it culminated in the 3 poor Quinn boys being killed for being ‘other’. We have been here before, not long ago
Firefighters rescued five people, including three children under ten, from the top floor of an Ipas centre in Drogheda last night after a major fire.
Gardaí have preserved the scene while the cause of the blaze is investigated.
www.thejournal.ie/fire-ipsa-ce...
Gardaí have preserved the scene while the cause of the blaze is investigated.
www.thejournal.ie/fire-ipsa-ce...
Emergency services tackle major fire at Ipas centre in Drogheda
Arson has not been ruled out.
www.thejournal.ie
November 1, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Even if the cause was not arson - the unchecked hatred that is being allowed to boil is going to cause something catastrophic. I remember the lead up to marching season in 1998 and how it culminated in the 3 poor Quinn boys being killed for being ‘other’. We have been here before, not long ago
Reposted by Brían O'Byrne
I love how Rep. Joe Neguse reframed this question.
October 31, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I love how Rep. Joe Neguse reframed this question.