Fitz Ali
@fitzali.bsky.social
Researcher, creative, parent. Doing stuff about ethics and sustainability in the arts & cultural industries. Proud daughter of Cork resident in Belfast
Reposted by Fitz Ali
so someone broke into my apartment at night and stole all of my swords and im kind of. in shock
July 31, 2025 at 1:25 PM
so someone broke into my apartment at night and stole all of my swords and im kind of. in shock
Reposted by Fitz Ali
👀👇
This, by comedy duo The Exploding Heads, is the only explanation of AI that you’ll ever need.
August 1, 2025 at 6:31 PM
👀👇
Reposted by Fitz Ali
I like Adam’s idea of the “last 20%” of innovation. Andreessen is a good example of a guy that built an easy 20% (the Mosaic/Netscape browsers) while thinking he built the difficult 20% (the infrastructure of the modern internet).
"Of all these legions of people doing the work to deliver computers capable of browsing the web, only Marc Andreessen and a handful of others (such as Bill Gates) became megarich, while the rest had largely ordinary salaries." www.liberalcurrents.com/marc-andrees...
Marc Andreessen is a Traitor
It is the tech oligarchs, not young radicals, who have turned against the system that made them.
www.liberalcurrents.com
July 14, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I like Adam’s idea of the “last 20%” of innovation. Andreessen is a good example of a guy that built an easy 20% (the Mosaic/Netscape browsers) while thinking he built the difficult 20% (the infrastructure of the modern internet).
Reposted by Fitz Ali
‘if so many people are just freelancers, it doesn’t provide you with continuity, so there ends up being a bit of a skills problem. How do you make sure that people are trained and get ongoing training?‘
The point of making jobs freelance is to AVOID taking any responsibility for your workers.
The point of making jobs freelance is to AVOID taking any responsibility for your workers.
At the moment it looks like there won't be people working in the sector in any capacity...
www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/i-would...
www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/i-would...
‘I would like fewer people in the sector working freelance’ says Bryant - Arts Professional
Over the next 10 years, there should be fewer freelance workers in the creative industries and more people with “secure ideas" of their employment, the Minister for Creative Industries and Arts has sa...
www.artsprofessional.co.uk
July 12, 2025 at 10:12 AM
‘if so many people are just freelancers, it doesn’t provide you with continuity, so there ends up being a bit of a skills problem. How do you make sure that people are trained and get ongoing training?‘
The point of making jobs freelance is to AVOID taking any responsibility for your workers.
The point of making jobs freelance is to AVOID taking any responsibility for your workers.
Sometimes a holiday just needs to be a day in the garden with a good book
July 12, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Sometimes a holiday just needs to be a day in the garden with a good book
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Disabilities awareness group ‘trapped’ after lift broke down during Leinster House visit. '..."accessible" toilets that weren’t large enough for wheelchairs, buses refusing to drop off people with mobility issues & a broken-down lift that left members “stranded”.'
www.independent.ie/irish-news/p...
www.independent.ie/irish-news/p...
Disabilities awareness group ‘trapped’ after lift broke down during Leinster House visit
A group of people with disabilities who were invited to Leinster House to deliver training on accessibility ended up “trapped” and “embarrassed” after a lift broke down in the parliamentary complex.
www.independent.ie
June 8, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Disabilities awareness group ‘trapped’ after lift broke down during Leinster House visit. '..."accessible" toilets that weren’t large enough for wheelchairs, buses refusing to drop off people with mobility issues & a broken-down lift that left members “stranded”.'
www.independent.ie/irish-news/p...
www.independent.ie/irish-news/p...
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Interesting take that I’m inclined to agree with - loved the book, but largely lost interest in the series mid way through the second season.https://theconversation.com/why-hulus-the-handmaids-tale-failed-as-feminist-television-258122
Why Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale failed as feminist television
Hulu’s adaptation misrepresents the themes of Atwood’s biting feminist dystopia.
theconversation.com
June 5, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Interesting take that I’m inclined to agree with - loved the book, but largely lost interest in the series mid way through the second season.https://theconversation.com/why-hulus-the-handmaids-tale-failed-as-feminist-television-258122
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Wondering why, after many weeks of drought, Ireland is suddenly getting dumped with non-stop rain? There's an anomalous patch of super heated sea right off our coast.
It's a new world of extreme swings. And unless we act, RIGHT NOW, this is only a taste of what's coming.
#ClimateBreakdown.
It's a new world of extreme swings. And unless we act, RIGHT NOW, this is only a taste of what's coming.
#ClimateBreakdown.
May 27, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Wondering why, after many weeks of drought, Ireland is suddenly getting dumped with non-stop rain? There's an anomalous patch of super heated sea right off our coast.
It's a new world of extreme swings. And unless we act, RIGHT NOW, this is only a taste of what's coming.
#ClimateBreakdown.
It's a new world of extreme swings. And unless we act, RIGHT NOW, this is only a taste of what's coming.
#ClimateBreakdown.
Ah big congrats Lucy!
Proud supervisors with Dr Lucy Costello who passed her viva with flying colours yesterday! Congrats! 🥂 @ul-gps.bsky.social @unioflimerick.bsky.social
May 7, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Ah big congrats Lucy!
Reposted by Fitz Ali
In many ways, neofascism is more dangerous than 20th century fascism was.
For one thing, it's taking hold at the worst possible juncture: when avoiding climate + ecological armaggedon is paramount.
A core aim of fascism now is crushing all attempts to do so.
gilbert-achcar.net/age-of-neofa...
For one thing, it's taking hold at the worst possible juncture: when avoiding climate + ecological armaggedon is paramount.
A core aim of fascism now is crushing all attempts to do so.
gilbert-achcar.net/age-of-neofa...
The Age of Neofascism and Its Distinctive Features | Gilbert Achcar / جلبير الأشقر
With each passing day and at an accelerating pace in recent years, it becomes increasingly obvious that we are witnessing a new era of rise of the far right on a global scale, similar to the era of th...
gilbert-achcar.net
April 16, 2025 at 8:05 AM
In many ways, neofascism is more dangerous than 20th century fascism was.
For one thing, it's taking hold at the worst possible juncture: when avoiding climate + ecological armaggedon is paramount.
A core aim of fascism now is crushing all attempts to do so.
gilbert-achcar.net/age-of-neofa...
For one thing, it's taking hold at the worst possible juncture: when avoiding climate + ecological armaggedon is paramount.
A core aim of fascism now is crushing all attempts to do so.
gilbert-achcar.net/age-of-neofa...
Reposted by Fitz Ali
My forthcoming column this week in the Sunday Times is about the exact opposite of this… because we shouldn’t ‘relax’, actually
AI panic: Artists angry that a machine is learning from their work should relax
AI panic: Artists angry that a machine is learning from their work should relax
Has no one noticed that art for as long as it has existed is entirely derivative? That humans are as mimetic as machines?
www.irishtimes.com
April 10, 2025 at 7:12 AM
My forthcoming column this week in the Sunday Times is about the exact opposite of this… because we shouldn’t ‘relax’, actually
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Until we, ie society, start offering farmers and other landowners the possibility of decent livelihoods through rewilding + High Nature Value farming, the haemorrhage of nature
WILL NOT STOP
WILL NOT STOP
The obliteration of natural, species-rich grasslands via agri-intensification is the main cause in a crash of insects like butterflies, some species >80% in just 15 years.
The maddening thing is we KNOW the solutions.
Powerful writing by @miseanja.bsky.social
www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ou...
The maddening thing is we KNOW the solutions.
Powerful writing by @miseanja.bsky.social
www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ou...
Butterfly numbers in freefall as biodiversity decline unfolds at pace
The absence of butterflies in 2024 has been devastatingly obvious, even in the most important, flower-rich areas in Ireland. And despite knowing that conservation works, the outlook for our butterflie...
www.irishexaminer.com
April 10, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Until we, ie society, start offering farmers and other landowners the possibility of decent livelihoods through rewilding + High Nature Value farming, the haemorrhage of nature
WILL NOT STOP
WILL NOT STOP
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Reposted by Fitz Ali
I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's mass theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their large language model ‘AI’. Their trawl includes fourteen of my titles. If you live in Ireland and care about the arts, please sign.
my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...
my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...
Protest Meta's Theft of Irish Writing
I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too?
my.uplift.ie
March 28, 2025 at 7:58 PM
I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's mass theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their large language model ‘AI’. Their trawl includes fourteen of my titles. If you live in Ireland and care about the arts, please sign.
my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...
my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...
Reposted by Fitz Ali
HELP NEEDED!
I'm in need of a rapper who can run a rap/hip hop workshop to teach people how to write rap. The person I had is now unavailable and the event is already advertised. Dublin gig, well paid. Please share!
#Speirgorm #Speirghorm
I'm in need of a rapper who can run a rap/hip hop workshop to teach people how to write rap. The person I had is now unavailable and the event is already advertised. Dublin gig, well paid. Please share!
#Speirgorm #Speirghorm
March 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM
HELP NEEDED!
I'm in need of a rapper who can run a rap/hip hop workshop to teach people how to write rap. The person I had is now unavailable and the event is already advertised. Dublin gig, well paid. Please share!
#Speirgorm #Speirghorm
I'm in need of a rapper who can run a rap/hip hop workshop to teach people how to write rap. The person I had is now unavailable and the event is already advertised. Dublin gig, well paid. Please share!
#Speirgorm #Speirghorm
Sunday lunchtime - first time throwing the doors open in 2025
March 9, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Sunday lunchtime - first time throwing the doors open in 2025
Reposted by Fitz Ali
A reminder that Ukraine was once the third largest nuclear power in the world and voluntarily gave up those weapons. In exchange, the U.S., the U.K. and Russia guaranteed Ukraine's security in a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.
www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1...
www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1...
Why Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons — and what that means in an invasion by Russia
Three decades ago, the newly independent country of Ukraine was briefly the third-largest nuclear power in the world. A lot has changed since then.
www.npr.org
March 1, 2025 at 11:29 AM
A reminder that Ukraine was once the third largest nuclear power in the world and voluntarily gave up those weapons. In exchange, the U.S., the U.K. and Russia guaranteed Ukraine's security in a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.
www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1...
www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1...
Reposted by Fitz Ali
I filled most of the middle questions of this consultation out with (paraphrasing) "I believe these questions are here to deliberately discourage me from responding. I have made my stance clear on AI at the start of this consultation." Do not let them discourage you from having your say.
What??? This is pathetic. Come on, UK, you can do better than this! Go respond to this ridiculous UKGOV consultation on AI asap! Just ignore all the fiddly questions in the middle; they're there to discourage you from having your say.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
February 23, 2025 at 11:59 AM
I filled most of the middle questions of this consultation out with (paraphrasing) "I believe these questions are here to deliberately discourage me from responding. I have made my stance clear on AI at the start of this consultation." Do not let them discourage you from having your say.
Chillingly recognisable.
Two Weeks In The Death Spiral Of Cardiff University, by an anonymous academic.
This is truly shocking read.
The Cardiff executive board should hang their heads in shame.
voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...
This is truly shocking read.
The Cardiff executive board should hang their heads in shame.
voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...
Two Weeks In The Death Spiral Of Cardiff University -
Reading Time: 4 minutesBy an anonymous academic. Cover image by Adwitiya Pal On the second day of classes…
voice.cymru
February 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Chillingly recognisable.
Reposted by Fitz Ali
A major book festival in the UK used to pay speakers for *ticketed* events with audiences of up to a thousand with a case of wine. It didn’t matter if you didn’t drink wine, that was the ‘fee’.
I was contacted by a wine magazine to do an art piece for them. They have a cool setup as each magazine is styled after a comic with tons of cool art and then wine based stuff. The contact was super nice and she even sent me a bunch of copies so I could peruse. I said that sure, I was interested 1/4
February 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
A major book festival in the UK used to pay speakers for *ticketed* events with audiences of up to a thousand with a case of wine. It didn’t matter if you didn’t drink wine, that was the ‘fee’.
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Okay, that’s enough of that. Time for Dolly to run for president.
Dolly Parton is hoping Indiana’s governor will reverse course on plans to do away with her popular “Imagination Library” program.
Dolly Parton Calls Out Indiana Gov Over Plan to Dump Her Imagination Library
The country singer started the “Imagination Library” nearly 30 years ago to encourage early literacy.
www.thedailybeast.com
February 20, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Okay, that’s enough of that. Time for Dolly to run for president.
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Creatives in Ireland, we need to keep an eye on this too. The EU has been taking a more protective approach, but Ireland’s copyright rules were changed a while back to make it easier to harvest data for research and no creative professionals were invited to join our national ‘AI council’.
It is ABSOLUTELY imperative that we do not allow our government to go ahead with their plans for AI.
It’s very clear that they have ZERO desire to avoid the problems that rolling it out without regulation will inevitably cause.
We need to push back on this.
It’s very clear that they have ZERO desire to avoid the problems that rolling it out without regulation will inevitably cause.
We need to push back on this.
February 18, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Creatives in Ireland, we need to keep an eye on this too. The EU has been taking a more protective approach, but Ireland’s copyright rules were changed a while back to make it easier to harvest data for research and no creative professionals were invited to join our national ‘AI council’.
My week ended with having an article accepted in a journal I really admire. It begins with a trip to work with scholars and students. This morning the airport barista comped my coffee bec I ‘gave good vibes’. Feeling lucky & grateful.
a man wearing a hat that says ' biker ' on it is stirring something in a pot
Alt: Character from The Bear wearing a baseball hat that says ' biker ' on it is grating Parmesan into a pot.
media.tenor.com
February 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
My week ended with having an article accepted in a journal I really admire. It begins with a trip to work with scholars and students. This morning the airport barista comped my coffee bec I ‘gave good vibes’. Feeling lucky & grateful.
Reposted by Fitz Ali
It's not a demolition site it's a mass grave. It's not a demolition site it's a crime scene. It's not a demolition site its a homeland. It's not a demolition site it's Palestine. It's not a demolition site it's a genocide.
Trump, with Netanyahu sitting next to him, says "Gaza maybe is a demolition site right now ... you can't live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location."
February 5, 2025 at 5:47 AM
It's not a demolition site it's a mass grave. It's not a demolition site it's a crime scene. It's not a demolition site its a homeland. It's not a demolition site it's Palestine. It's not a demolition site it's a genocide.
Reposted by Fitz Ali
Unsolicited writing advice, no. #174467:
All traditionally published books have a unique ISBN number, which gives them the right to sell books in bookshops, have them in libraries, and join the ALCS (the organization that collects money on behalf of authors for secondary copyright usage). (1/2)
All traditionally published books have a unique ISBN number, which gives them the right to sell books in bookshops, have them in libraries, and join the ALCS (the organization that collects money on behalf of authors for secondary copyright usage). (1/2)
February 1, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Unsolicited writing advice, no. #174467:
All traditionally published books have a unique ISBN number, which gives them the right to sell books in bookshops, have them in libraries, and join the ALCS (the organization that collects money on behalf of authors for secondary copyright usage). (1/2)
All traditionally published books have a unique ISBN number, which gives them the right to sell books in bookshops, have them in libraries, and join the ALCS (the organization that collects money on behalf of authors for secondary copyright usage). (1/2)