Josh's harp
@joshsharp.bsky.social
Tech person in Melbourne/Naarm, AU. By now we should know that corporations cannot be trusted to have our best interests at heart. Maybe the solution doesn't involve capitalism at all. He/him
More active on mastodon: https://aus.social/@Joshsharp — come!
More active on mastodon: https://aus.social/@Joshsharp — come!
Pinned
Josh's harp
@joshsharp.bsky.social
· Oct 23
That photo of Kurt Cobain, except his tshirt says "Corporate social media still sucks"
People here just really hate adding alt text huh
November 11, 2025 at 2:36 AM
People here just really hate adding alt text huh
Doesn't it piss you off that companies keep cramming "AI" features into every damn app? I'm so tired of it. I wanted a way to show that we don't and won't do that with Hello Code stuff, and I thought other folks might like to be a part of it.
Introducing... Slop-Free Club.
slopfree.club
Introducing... Slop-Free Club.
slopfree.club
Slop-Free Club
Rejecting AI and slop crammed into every single app and site.
slopfree.club
October 31, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Doesn't it piss you off that companies keep cramming "AI" features into every damn app? I'm so tired of it. I wanted a way to show that we don't and won't do that with Hello Code stuff, and I thought other folks might like to be a part of it.
Introducing... Slop-Free Club.
slopfree.club
Introducing... Slop-Free Club.
slopfree.club
Reposted by Josh's harp
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Reposted by Josh's harp
people playing music/videos on their phone speakers in public is more than just mildly annoying and is instead a leading indicator of the decline of community and empath
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 19, 2025 at 8:54 PM
people playing music/videos on their phone speakers in public is more than just mildly annoying and is instead a leading indicator of the decline of community and empath
Reposted by Josh's harp
But the problem is (as the thread also points out) most users treat this as "Twitter, but no Nazis", and expect central moderation to enforce that.
Honestly if you want Twitter, but with communities that have norms and moderation, your best bet is to find a good Mastodon instance.
Honestly if you want Twitter, but with communities that have norms and moderation, your best bet is to find a good Mastodon instance.
October 5, 2025 at 1:57 PM
But the problem is (as the thread also points out) most users treat this as "Twitter, but no Nazis", and expect central moderation to enforce that.
Honestly if you want Twitter, but with communities that have norms and moderation, your best bet is to find a good Mastodon instance.
Honestly if you want Twitter, but with communities that have norms and moderation, your best bet is to find a good Mastodon instance.
Reposted by Josh's harp
United Nations Declaration of Universal No Yanks On The Thread
Given the contagion of batshit reaction to Kirk's death, I think there might be a case for cutting the rest of the world off from US media for a while.
September 16, 2025 at 1:52 AM
United Nations Declaration of Universal No Yanks On The Thread
Reposted by Josh's harp
The thing about living in a human society is you either decide that everyone (except those for whom it would be medically dangerous) has to take VACCINES into their bodies or everyone (with no exceptions at all) has to take VIRULENT PATHOGENS in from those around them and, look, the first is better.
September 3, 2025 at 9:49 PM
The thing about living in a human society is you either decide that everyone (except those for whom it would be medically dangerous) has to take VACCINES into their bodies or everyone (with no exceptions at all) has to take VIRULENT PATHOGENS in from those around them and, look, the first is better.
Reposted by Josh's harp
X is a nasty janky website full of Nazis and I can't understand why anyone voluntarily uses it. On the other hand the people who run this place are not your friends and they will rug pull everyone here in a second if it suits them. Why are people stanning any of these companies.
September 2, 2025 at 2:08 PM
X is a nasty janky website full of Nazis and I can't understand why anyone voluntarily uses it. On the other hand the people who run this place are not your friends and they will rug pull everyone here in a second if it suits them. Why are people stanning any of these companies.
Reposted by Josh's harp
Inequality is much worse in Australia than most people think it is. "The average chief executive officer of companies listed on the ASX earns more than 100 times as much as the average full-time worker - but people think they earn just seven times as much".
August 25, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Inequality is much worse in Australia than most people think it is. "The average chief executive officer of companies listed on the ASX earns more than 100 times as much as the average full-time worker - but people think they earn just seven times as much".
What have I been up to? Thank you for asking. Just making a whole new android app for tracking stuff about your life. I know, it took a lot of effort, thank you, you're too kind
exist.io/blog/exist-2...
exist.io/blog/exist-2...
Our 2025 redesign
exist.io
August 21, 2025 at 7:14 AM
What have I been up to? Thank you for asking. Just making a whole new android app for tracking stuff about your life. I know, it took a lot of effort, thank you, you're too kind
exist.io/blog/exist-2...
exist.io/blog/exist-2...
Reposted by Josh's harp
I really and truly need people to understand that a chatbot does not and cannot know anything. Like, I need them to understand that in their bones. It is very good at looking like it knows something, but it does not and cannot know anything.
August 11, 2025 at 10:56 PM
I really and truly need people to understand that a chatbot does not and cannot know anything. Like, I need them to understand that in their bones. It is very good at looking like it knows something, but it does not and cannot know anything.
Reposted by Josh's harp
We live in an increasingly individualised, atomised, lonely society — technologies are offered as solutions to societal problems caused by neoliberalism. Loneliness is commoditised by these corporations. Let’s not get too busy making fun of each other to see it’s our tech overlords profiting off us
August 11, 2025 at 7:47 PM
We live in an increasingly individualised, atomised, lonely society — technologies are offered as solutions to societal problems caused by neoliberalism. Loneliness is commoditised by these corporations. Let’s not get too busy making fun of each other to see it’s our tech overlords profiting off us
Mainstream media doesn't really talk about how "AI" tools actually work under the chat interface and why you can never trust them to be correct. I've finally finished writing a non-technical explainer and I'd really appreciate you sharing it if you find it useful.
joshsharp.com.au/blog/how-to-...
joshsharp.com.au/blog/how-to-...
How to think about "AI" (and why not to call it that) / Josh Sharp
At its heart, ChatGPT is just a system for making up stuff that sounds plausible, trained on billions of examples of what’s plausible.
joshsharp.com.au
July 31, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Mainstream media doesn't really talk about how "AI" tools actually work under the chat interface and why you can never trust them to be correct. I've finally finished writing a non-technical explainer and I'd really appreciate you sharing it if you find it useful.
joshsharp.com.au/blog/how-to-...
joshsharp.com.au/blog/how-to-...
Reposted by Josh's harp
Australian content and engagement is much better on Mastodon than Bluesky (my experience). Sign up to aus.social if you don't want constant America crap.
July 13, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Australian content and engagement is much better on Mastodon than Bluesky (my experience). Sign up to aus.social if you don't want constant America crap.
I am just so, so tired of having to hear or think about anything to do with the United States of America.
Anyway time to log on to Bluesky and see what's up
Anyway time to log on to Bluesky and see what's up
June 6, 2025 at 3:47 AM
I am just so, so tired of having to hear or think about anything to do with the United States of America.
Anyway time to log on to Bluesky and see what's up
Anyway time to log on to Bluesky and see what's up
Reposted by Josh's harp
everything's computer
March 11, 2025 at 11:53 PM
everything's computer
Reposted by Josh's harp
🚨First day CO₂ at Mauna Loa >430 ppm🚨
This is:
-Much higher than ever in the past 800,000 years.
-Likely not seen in >3 million years (mid-pliocene warm period).
-A CO₂ forcing equal to 2.5-4°C of warming and a 5-25 meters higher global sea level!
This is:
-Much higher than ever in the past 800,000 years.
-Likely not seen in >3 million years (mid-pliocene warm period).
-A CO₂ forcing equal to 2.5-4°C of warming and a 5-25 meters higher global sea level!
March 9, 2025 at 10:31 PM
🚨First day CO₂ at Mauna Loa >430 ppm🚨
This is:
-Much higher than ever in the past 800,000 years.
-Likely not seen in >3 million years (mid-pliocene warm period).
-A CO₂ forcing equal to 2.5-4°C of warming and a 5-25 meters higher global sea level!
This is:
-Much higher than ever in the past 800,000 years.
-Likely not seen in >3 million years (mid-pliocene warm period).
-A CO₂ forcing equal to 2.5-4°C of warming and a 5-25 meters higher global sea level!
Reposted by Josh's harp
In 2011, David Graeber wrote: Revolutions in Reverse
This is an extract!
This is an extract!
February 10, 2025 at 8:03 PM
In 2011, David Graeber wrote: Revolutions in Reverse
This is an extract!
This is an extract!
Reposted by Josh's harp
A new study shows more than 20 per cent of climate and environment protests in Australia lead to arrests, more than in the UK, Norway, and the United States.
Australia leads the world in arresting climate and environment protesters
A new study shows more than 20 per cent of climate and environment protests in Australia lead to arrests, more than in the UK, Norway, and the United States.
www.abc.net.au
December 14, 2024 at 11:11 PM
A new study shows more than 20 per cent of climate and environment protests in Australia lead to arrests, more than in the UK, Norway, and the United States.
Reposted by Josh's harp
Anyway I can’t recommend bsky to anyone anymore. I think you’re better off managing to find a fedi instance that takes their responsibility to moderate seriously
I’ll prob only stick around here for the artists and the occasional reply. But this isn’t a safe place for me. Thanks @aaron.bsky.team
I’ll prob only stick around here for the artists and the occasional reply. But this isn’t a safe place for me. Thanks @aaron.bsky.team
December 14, 2024 at 12:18 AM
Anyway I can’t recommend bsky to anyone anymore. I think you’re better off managing to find a fedi instance that takes their responsibility to moderate seriously
I’ll prob only stick around here for the artists and the occasional reply. But this isn’t a safe place for me. Thanks @aaron.bsky.team
I’ll prob only stick around here for the artists and the occasional reply. But this isn’t a safe place for me. Thanks @aaron.bsky.team
Reposted by Josh's harp
Bluesky is not decentralised, and not really federated. At some point that might change but for now, it's all controlled by Bluesky Social, PBC.
anderegg.ca/2024/11/15/m...
anderegg.ca/2024/11/15/m...
Maybe Bluesky has “won”
November has sucked so far. One upside of the terrible nonsense is that more people are fleeing X. Many are choosing Bluesky. I’ve seen a bunch of takes about this recently, but I keep seeing things I...
anderegg.ca
November 16, 2024 at 12:07 AM
Bluesky is not decentralised, and not really federated. At some point that might change but for now, it's all controlled by Bluesky Social, PBC.
anderegg.ca/2024/11/15/m...
anderegg.ca/2024/11/15/m...
Reposted by Josh's harp
Generally we think of alt-text as the domain of those with accessibility needs.
However alt-text is useful for many reasons, which benefit your viewers, as well as you, the creator!
However alt-text is useful for many reasons, which benefit your viewers, as well as you, the creator!
October 28, 2024 at 10:20 PM
Generally we think of alt-text as the domain of those with accessibility needs.
However alt-text is useful for many reasons, which benefit your viewers, as well as you, the creator!
However alt-text is useful for many reasons, which benefit your viewers, as well as you, the creator!
It should be illegal to own more than one house.
November 8, 2024 at 4:21 AM
It should be illegal to own more than one house.
Top tips for new followers:
1. Stop using Chrome. Switch to Firefox where you can to support an open web
2. Set up an ad blocker on every device
3. Stop thinking that VC-backed corporate social media is your friend
4. Look into anarchism theanarchistlibrary.org/library/pete...
5. Eat the rich
1. Stop using Chrome. Switch to Firefox where you can to support an open web
2. Set up an ad blocker on every device
3. Stop thinking that VC-backed corporate social media is your friend
4. Look into anarchism theanarchistlibrary.org/library/pete...
5. Eat the rich
Anarchy Works
Peter Gelderloos Anarchy Works 2010 Anarchy Works was originally published by Little Black Cart
theanarchistlibrary.org
November 8, 2024 at 12:08 AM
Top tips for new followers:
1. Stop using Chrome. Switch to Firefox where you can to support an open web
2. Set up an ad blocker on every device
3. Stop thinking that VC-backed corporate social media is your friend
4. Look into anarchism theanarchistlibrary.org/library/pete...
5. Eat the rich
1. Stop using Chrome. Switch to Firefox where you can to support an open web
2. Set up an ad blocker on every device
3. Stop thinking that VC-backed corporate social media is your friend
4. Look into anarchism theanarchistlibrary.org/library/pete...
5. Eat the rich