wewantarock.bsky.social
@wewantarock.bsky.social
Exactly. You can argue that the law shouldn’t work this way, but it does.
The reason, I suspect, is to eliminate the once common defence that “the computer downloaded [large cache of CSA material] without me knowing.”
Hard to see how X couldn’t be made co-defendant though.
The reason, I suspect, is to eliminate the once common defence that “the computer downloaded [large cache of CSA material] without me knowing.”
Hard to see how X couldn’t be made co-defendant though.
This is quite an important point; if you are a UK citizen with Twitter on your phone, opening it up is like playing Russian roulette that the algorithm might commit a strict liability offence on your behalf.
Has everyone whose scroll the illegal image appeared on also committed an offence by downloading it? This is one of those AI worst case scenarios that ought to make everyone aware of the current direction of travel.
January 2, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Exactly. You can argue that the law shouldn’t work this way, but it does.
The reason, I suspect, is to eliminate the once common defence that “the computer downloaded [large cache of CSA material] without me knowing.”
Hard to see how X couldn’t be made co-defendant though.
The reason, I suspect, is to eliminate the once common defence that “the computer downloaded [large cache of CSA material] without me knowing.”
Hard to see how X couldn’t be made co-defendant though.
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
December 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
Responding to a mandate from Trump and Biden's cyber EOs, NIST's secure software development consortium has published draft guidelines for creating a secure development environment. www.nist.gov/news-events/...
NIST Consortium and Draft Guidelines Aim to Improve Security in Software Development
NIST is soliciting comments from the public on the draft until Sept. 12, and the agency is planning a virtual event to showcase the project and gather feedback on Aug. 27
www.nist.gov
July 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Responding to a mandate from Trump and Biden's cyber EOs, NIST's secure software development consortium has published draft guidelines for creating a secure development environment. www.nist.gov/news-events/...
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
Yikes. Turns out you can send a plaintext radio signal to cause any train in the USA to do an emergency break. The original 'security' was just a checksum, no encryption or authentication. Reporting this took them 12 years (!) because the vendor dismissed it initially www.cisa.gov/news-events/...
End-of-Train and Head-of-Train Remote Linking Protocol | CISA
www.cisa.gov
July 12, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Yikes. Turns out you can send a plaintext radio signal to cause any train in the USA to do an emergency break. The original 'security' was just a checksum, no encryption or authentication. Reporting this took them 12 years (!) because the vendor dismissed it initially www.cisa.gov/news-events/...
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
June 21, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
"The world's richest man logs onto the platform he bought to yell at the AI he had built for fact-checking conservative mega-influencer Catturd2" is a sentence so stupid that future history books may just skip this decade.
he said that too lol
June 21, 2025 at 11:50 AM
"The world's richest man logs onto the platform he bought to yell at the AI he had built for fact-checking conservative mega-influencer Catturd2" is a sentence so stupid that future history books may just skip this decade.
Doesn’t it make you miss Clippy. Your metal pal who was fun to be with.
It is the shit of the world. So obviously the design of someone who has never written, will never write, cannot write. It's taken one of my favourite low-hassle high-performance ultra-affordable applications and turned it into a demeaning AI swamp.
The new Google AI functionality in Docs is total mind-ruining shit. Hit enter in docs, it takes over your cursor to offer to help you write. Every. Time. You. Hit. Enter. Do you know how annoying that is when you are writing something? It's someone interrupting you every minute. MAKE IT STOP.
May 20, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Doesn’t it make you miss Clippy. Your metal pal who was fun to be with.
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
Noticed a bunch of these ornate gold medallions slapped all over the Oval Office. We found em on Alibaba. “High-density Home Decoration Polyurethane Appliques Ornament PU Foam Veneer Accessories” from seller Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited.
sherwood.news/power/shop-t...
sherwood.news/power/shop-t...
April 15, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Noticed a bunch of these ornate gold medallions slapped all over the Oval Office. We found em on Alibaba. “High-density Home Decoration Polyurethane Appliques Ornament PU Foam Veneer Accessories” from seller Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited.
sherwood.news/power/shop-t...
sherwood.news/power/shop-t...
Fascinating (in a totally scary way) how FPTP breaks in a multi-party environment.
We need electoral reform. The lowest vote share to win on Thursday was in Truro Moresk & Trehaverne, Cornwall where the winner got less that 19% of the votes cast:
🔶 Liberal Democrat 18.9%
➡️ Reform 17.4%
🌳 Conservative 17.0%
🌍 Green 14.1%
🙋 Independent 13.3%
🌹 Labour 11.4%
🙋 Independent 7.9%
🔶 Liberal Democrat 18.9%
➡️ Reform 17.4%
🌳 Conservative 17.0%
🌍 Green 14.1%
🙋 Independent 13.3%
🌹 Labour 11.4%
🙋 Independent 7.9%
May 5, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Fascinating (in a totally scary way) how FPTP breaks in a multi-party environment.
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
🚨 My book "In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular" is finally out today with
@ColumbiaUP! 🚨
It tackles one of the biggest challenges today: How can we make freer human mobility between countries more politically sustainable? 🧵
@ColumbiaUP! 🚨
It tackles one of the biggest challenges today: How can we make freer human mobility between countries more politically sustainable? 🧵
April 29, 2025 at 5:34 PM
🚨 My book "In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular" is finally out today with
@ColumbiaUP! 🚨
It tackles one of the biggest challenges today: How can we make freer human mobility between countries more politically sustainable? 🧵
@ColumbiaUP! 🚨
It tackles one of the biggest challenges today: How can we make freer human mobility between countries more politically sustainable? 🧵
My father had no social media (or e-mail for that matter), so not an issue for me
I fear my kids are in for an avatar that like niche security and programming content, snarky posts here and on Reddit and upvotes for “dad jokes” and shaggy dog stories.
Not great for them, but quite true to life…
I fear my kids are in for an avatar that like niche security and programming content, snarky posts here and on Reddit and upvotes for “dad jokes” and shaggy dog stories.
Not great for them, but quite true to life…
as someone who managed to lose quite a remarkable amount of people in the space of about two years recently: this is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard of, jesus christ
You and me, we gonna live forever… as avatars, at least.
New ‘grief tech’ apps allow grieving families to communicate with dead relatives via an AI afterlife.
✍️ @paticlarke.bsky.social
Read more:
New ‘grief tech’ apps allow grieving families to communicate with dead relatives via an AI afterlife.
✍️ @paticlarke.bsky.social
Read more:
May 5, 2025 at 11:41 AM
My father had no social media (or e-mail for that matter), so not an issue for me
I fear my kids are in for an avatar that like niche security and programming content, snarky posts here and on Reddit and upvotes for “dad jokes” and shaggy dog stories.
Not great for them, but quite true to life…
I fear my kids are in for an avatar that like niche security and programming content, snarky posts here and on Reddit and upvotes for “dad jokes” and shaggy dog stories.
Not great for them, but quite true to life…
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
I love him I must marry him.
April 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I love him I must marry him.
“If she wants to know something specific, but doesn’t want people to notice her asking questions, she should simply make incorrect statements while in the company of experts. Her companions will correct her, especially if they're men.”
- Advice for female agents in WW2, provided during SOE training
- Advice for female agents in WW2, provided during SOE training
March 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Nice idea, but we don’t have the infrastructure to use them. Nothing like DARPA, under resourced universities, far weaker venture capital network, difficult R&D investment environment, and I could go on…
Fix this or they will go elsewherez
Fix this or they will go elsewherez
This would be a wonderful opportunity to get the and the brightest from the US to come to the UK, especially those targeted by Project 2025. Do they leverage it? Of course not.
March 9, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Nice idea, but we don’t have the infrastructure to use them. Nothing like DARPA, under resourced universities, far weaker venture capital network, difficult R&D investment environment, and I could go on…
Fix this or they will go elsewherez
Fix this or they will go elsewherez
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
Elon Musk’s accomplishments in full…
From the new Private Eye, in shops now.
From the new Private Eye, in shops now.
March 5, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Elon Musk’s accomplishments in full…
From the new Private Eye, in shops now.
From the new Private Eye, in shops now.
Insightful.
I fall into “curious” group, and find AI good at giving overviews on new topics (I.e. nonsense easy to spot and AI training set has material).
I find it poor at giving answers.
Understanding what AI is helps in best use, and the hype is actively unhelpful. It’s another tool. No more.
I fall into “curious” group, and find AI good at giving overviews on new topics (I.e. nonsense easy to spot and AI training set has material).
I find it poor at giving answers.
Understanding what AI is helps in best use, and the hype is actively unhelpful. It’s another tool. No more.
March 2, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Insightful.
I fall into “curious” group, and find AI good at giving overviews on new topics (I.e. nonsense easy to spot and AI training set has material).
I find it poor at giving answers.
Understanding what AI is helps in best use, and the hype is actively unhelpful. It’s another tool. No more.
I fall into “curious” group, and find AI good at giving overviews on new topics (I.e. nonsense easy to spot and AI training set has material).
I find it poor at giving answers.
Understanding what AI is helps in best use, and the hype is actively unhelpful. It’s another tool. No more.
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
BREAKING: Critic magazine proprietor Lord Kronsteen announces an important change of direction for the SKETCH.
February 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
BREAKING: Critic magazine proprietor Lord Kronsteen announces an important change of direction for the SKETCH.
This is very bad news, even (especially) if you have nothing to hide.
The British government has reportedly ordered Apple to start using iCloud encryption that authorities can break, deploying a controversial law enacted in 2016: https://wapo.st/3ErQ0wq
The secret directive "has no known precedent in major democracies."
The secret directive "has no known precedent in major democracies."
February 7, 2025 at 8:01 PM
This is very bad news, even (especially) if you have nothing to hide.
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
Looks fake doesn't it? This reconstruction of Medieval Bologna shows how Italian towns used to be a forest of towers, dense as Manhattan skyscrapers!
Here's a stable blog-formatted version of my thread from yesterday about the lost towers of the Guelph-Ghibelline wars www.exurbe.com/the-lost-tow...
Here's a stable blog-formatted version of my thread from yesterday about the lost towers of the Guelph-Ghibelline wars www.exurbe.com/the-lost-tow...
January 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Looks fake doesn't it? This reconstruction of Medieval Bologna shows how Italian towns used to be a forest of towers, dense as Manhattan skyscrapers!
Here's a stable blog-formatted version of my thread from yesterday about the lost towers of the Guelph-Ghibelline wars www.exurbe.com/the-lost-tow...
Here's a stable blog-formatted version of my thread from yesterday about the lost towers of the Guelph-Ghibelline wars www.exurbe.com/the-lost-tow...
The Internet Archive is an astonishing, entertaining and immensely valuable treasure trove of digital history.
Amazing how often it is the only reliable record of now-dead sites.
Amazing how often it is the only reliable record of now-dead sites.
This year, we worked swiftly to save legacy media sites Vice.com and MTVNews before decades worth of valuable journalism could be erased. These sites are now searchable on the Wayback Machine!
Help us in saving these resources:: https://archive.org/donate/?origin=blsky-eoy2024
Help us in saving these resources:: https://archive.org/donate/?origin=blsky-eoy2024
December 28, 2024 at 6:06 PM
The Internet Archive is an astonishing, entertaining and immensely valuable treasure trove of digital history.
Amazing how often it is the only reliable record of now-dead sites.
Amazing how often it is the only reliable record of now-dead sites.
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
this is a fascinating read by david spiegelhalter (nature magazine) arguing that any practical use of "probability" to calculate an outcome involves judgements that are entirely subjective. i am reminded of einstein (and hawking) on our perception of time.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
Why Probability Probably Doesn’t Exist (but It’s Useful to Act like It Does)
All of statistics and much of science depends on probability—an astonishing achievement, considering no one’s really sure what it is
www.scientificamerican.com
December 28, 2024 at 10:28 AM
this is a fascinating read by david spiegelhalter (nature magazine) arguing that any practical use of "probability" to calculate an outcome involves judgements that are entirely subjective. i am reminded of einstein (and hawking) on our perception of time.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
What is also astounding is just how much time reviews take from the day job. Done well, they require a great deal of time and attention.
I agree with a lot of this. For me a big contributor to productivity is also the nature of the work. I absolutely despise performance reviews and all that comes with it. If there is a week packed with all the things I hate I start to distract myself until I need to crunch before the deadline.
December 22, 2024 at 2:36 PM
What is also astounding is just how much time reviews take from the day job. Done well, they require a great deal of time and attention.
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have a bunch of Opinions™ on work-life balance and time management. Lately, I've been particularly bugged by the common belief that employer incentives don't align with employee well-being. So, I wrote a thing (with graphs!): thesquareplanet.com/blog/about-4...
About 40 hours
I often hear, especially from folks working at younger companies and the
tech giants, that the 40 hour workweek is a lie. That “the company”
secretly (or not so secretly) always wants you to work more...
thesquareplanet.com
December 22, 2024 at 9:04 AM
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have a bunch of Opinions™ on work-life balance and time management. Lately, I've been particularly bugged by the common belief that employer incentives don't align with employee well-being. So, I wrote a thing (with graphs!): thesquareplanet.com/blog/about-4...
Reposted by wewantarock.bsky.social
As someone who spends his life trying to secure devices, I approve every word of this.
Especially (in the comments) sending me a code which I can only get by switching away from in the-app browser window which then disappears forever.
Especially (in the comments) sending me a code which I can only get by switching away from in the-app browser window which then disappears forever.
Ok I know nobody cares about this but me, but GOD I care:
1. I have just downloaded your app.
2. You want me to make an account. I don’t want to make an account!
3. When I enter my email, you inform me that I already have an account! This seems like a good thing, but I know it means only pain. 1/2
1. I have just downloaded your app.
2. You want me to make an account. I don’t want to make an account!
3. When I enter my email, you inform me that I already have an account! This seems like a good thing, but I know it means only pain. 1/2
December 14, 2024 at 9:35 AM
As someone who spends his life trying to secure devices, I approve every word of this.
Especially (in the comments) sending me a code which I can only get by switching away from in the-app browser window which then disappears forever.
Especially (in the comments) sending me a code which I can only get by switching away from in the-app browser window which then disappears forever.