Alex
@alexamarchives.bsky.social
librarian, health sciences;
genre fiction & films
genre fiction & films
Reposted by Alex
When we talk about the costs that LLMs impose on society we should not forget the fact that nothing works anymore because everyone is so scared of getting their shit scraped.
I can't even use google scholar from my university or starlink because they send too much traffic.
I can't even use google scholar from my university or starlink because they send too much traffic.
September 19, 2026 at 4:35 AM
When we talk about the costs that LLMs impose on society we should not forget the fact that nothing works anymore because everyone is so scared of getting their shit scraped.
I can't even use google scholar from my university or starlink because they send too much traffic.
I can't even use google scholar from my university or starlink because they send too much traffic.
@mightygodking.com isn’t this the premise of the joker fish story?
wait are you fucking kidding me how have i not seen this one. they tried to copyright a fish!!!!! not a picture of a fish, not a sculpture of a fish, but an actual fish that they genetically engineered to make glow!!!!!
no, you can't copyright a fish.
www.copyright.gov/rulings-fili...
no, you can't copyright a fish.
www.copyright.gov/rulings-fili...
![I. DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK
GloFish Red Zebra Danio Glowing in Artificial Sunlight (the “Work") is a living Red
Zebra Danio fish that the Applicant has genetically altered so that the fish "fluoresces" when it
is exposed to artificial light. The below image is a photographic reproduction of the Work from
the deposit materials: [Picture of a small pink fish]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xpg46exbr444kdujl2pn3cyx/bafkreig3yugcszlca6ouerumuawjf67pqbfbcuad5zpf3r7qtchtt6hbwy)
September 18, 2026 at 4:50 PM
@mightygodking.com isn’t this the premise of the joker fish story?
Reposted by Alex
"...[E]ven as AI becomes more powerful and companies try to shift the narrative to the supposed existential risk of 'superintelligent' AI, the tools they have already built were created by stealing from human creativity and labor and are by definition existential threats to the human labor market."
OpenAI and Microsoft admitted LLMs are predatory tech built on “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said AI has created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
www.404media.co
September 18, 2026 at 3:22 PM
"...[E]ven as AI becomes more powerful and companies try to shift the narrative to the supposed existential risk of 'superintelligent' AI, the tools they have already built were created by stealing from human creativity and labor and are by definition existential threats to the human labor market."
Reposted by Alex
There are a number of folks who have written extensively on this problem. The fact the critique isn't better known is in part because the critics don't have the money and media power of the AI lobby. Also they're often women, BIPOC, queer, or some combination of all three.
The AI debate has forced me, somewhat agst my will, to grapple a bit more closely with the "longtermists", basically a movement or subculture of morons who propose novel forms of moral reasoning based on sci-fi ideas they imagine might happen hundreds, thousands or millions of years in the future.
Nick Beckstead, noted longtermist and "effective altruist,” just comes out and says it:
"But it now seems more plausible to me that saving a life in a rich country is substantially more important than saving a life in a poor country, other things being equal."
"But it now seems more plausible to me that saving a life in a rich country is substantially more important than saving a life in a poor country, other things being equal."
September 18, 2026 at 1:36 AM
There are a number of folks who have written extensively on this problem. The fact the critique isn't better known is in part because the critics don't have the money and media power of the AI lobby. Also they're often women, BIPOC, queer, or some combination of all three.
Reposted by Alex
The report connects to broader questions about preserving the web. In “Digital Ghosts,” Dr. Andrea Kocsis used interactive and visual works to examine link decay, curatorial bias, crisis archiving, and disappearing online music cultures.
#LocalNews #WebArchives @ire.org @saa-official.bsky.social
#LocalNews #WebArchives @ire.org @saa-official.bsky.social
September 18, 2026 at 2:00 AM
The report connects to broader questions about preserving the web. In “Digital Ghosts,” Dr. Andrea Kocsis used interactive and visual works to examine link decay, curatorial bias, crisis archiving, and disappearing online music cultures.
#LocalNews #WebArchives @ire.org @saa-official.bsky.social
#LocalNews #WebArchives @ire.org @saa-official.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex
The publishing lobby is at it again, using broken data to blame libraries for declining sales. At #eBook Study Group we're fighting their "rental feudalism." Read our joint statement dismantling this deceptive report 👇
ebookstudygroup.substack.com/p/new-joint-...
#Libraries #LibraryAdvocacy
ebookstudygroup.substack.com/p/new-joint-...
#Libraries #LibraryAdvocacy
New Joint Statement: Dismantling the AAP/AG’s Flawed E-Lending Report
Decisions about the library mission do not belong in the hands of multinational publishers manipulating licenses to extract maximum profit from public coffers.
ebookstudygroup.substack.com
September 17, 2026 at 10:54 PM
The publishing lobby is at it again, using broken data to blame libraries for declining sales. At #eBook Study Group we're fighting their "rental feudalism." Read our joint statement dismantling this deceptive report 👇
ebookstudygroup.substack.com/p/new-joint-...
#Libraries #LibraryAdvocacy
ebookstudygroup.substack.com/p/new-joint-...
#Libraries #LibraryAdvocacy
Reposted by Alex
“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”
Docs in A.I. copyright suit reveal startling admission by Microsoft exec over ‘astonishing theft’
The admission appeared in a newly unredacted filing in the landmark copyright infringement legal battle playing out between newspapers like the Orlando Sentinel and tech companies Microsoft and OpenAI...
www.orlandosentinel.com
September 17, 2026 at 9:17 PM
“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”
“Called it.”
Would 20 y/o you be impressed or disappointed by you today?
September 18, 2026 at 1:03 AM
“Called it.”
Reposted by Alex
Want to learn more about the problem and the recommendations? Can you give us a few mins of feedback? Webinar coming up: blog.openalex.org/is-it-time-t...
September 17, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Want to learn more about the problem and the recommendations? Can you give us a few mins of feedback? Webinar coming up: blog.openalex.org/is-it-time-t...
Reposted by Alex
On Wed Sept 16, Montréal hosted "All In," claiming to be the largest AI and tech event in Canada.
I am infuriated that again, @spvmpolice.bsky.social beat and teargassed counterprotesters bad enough many were injured, incl a press photographer who went to hospital.
🧵(linked bc Insta doesn't embed)
I am infuriated that again, @spvmpolice.bsky.social beat and teargassed counterprotesters bad enough many were injured, incl a press photographer who went to hospital.
🧵(linked bc Insta doesn't embed)
September 17, 2026 at 6:40 AM
On Wed Sept 16, Montréal hosted "All In," claiming to be the largest AI and tech event in Canada.
I am infuriated that again, @spvmpolice.bsky.social beat and teargassed counterprotesters bad enough many were injured, incl a press photographer who went to hospital.
🧵(linked bc Insta doesn't embed)
I am infuriated that again, @spvmpolice.bsky.social beat and teargassed counterprotesters bad enough many were injured, incl a press photographer who went to hospital.
🧵(linked bc Insta doesn't embed)
Reposted by Alex
An important piece that also serves as a sign of the gen AI-fueled information ecosystem collapse to come.
September 17, 2026 at 4:18 PM
An important piece that also serves as a sign of the gen AI-fueled information ecosystem collapse to come.
Reposted by Alex
"The union said that its members had rejected Elsevier’s pay offer, which “failed to offer a significant real-terms pay increase to staff” despite the company making an adjusted operating profit of more than £1 billion in 2025."
Workers at The Lancet to stage first strike in title’s history - Research Professional News
Union members at 200-year-old medical journal vote overwhelmingly to walk out over stagnating pay
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 17, 2026 at 6:35 AM
"The union said that its members had rejected Elsevier’s pay offer, which “failed to offer a significant real-terms pay increase to staff” despite the company making an adjusted operating profit of more than £1 billion in 2025."
Reposted by Alex
Oh. That's a heck of a subsidy.
September 16, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Oh. That's a heck of a subsidy.
Reposted by Alex
These companies are a menace. At the very least they shouldnt be allowed to advertise. But really they shouldn't be allowed to exist.
Emergency-room visits for gambling disorders have nearly doubled since Ontario opened its online gambling market to private companies and sports betting, with males aged 10 to 29 accounting for the biggest increases
Gift
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/2a2c65f...
Gift
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/2a2c65f...
Gambling-related ER visits have almost doubled since Ontario opened market to private companies, study finds
Jump was most acute in the 10 to 29 age group, which saw a startling 154% increase in admissions
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 16, 2026 at 11:45 AM
These companies are a menace. At the very least they shouldnt be allowed to advertise. But really they shouldn't be allowed to exist.
Reposted by Alex
iconique
Fair play to the wife of a Caribbean man and mother of mixed race children being informed by the BBC reporter that she’s in the minority in her community regarding immigration and responding with, “Yes, I’m surrounded by bigots.”
September 16, 2026 at 11:09 AM
iconique
Reposted by Alex
I hate how the media legitimizes tech bullshit like Tilly Norwood and promises of Mars colonies by reporting on them as if they’re serious possibilities. It would be like if I said I was going to buy the theme park rights to Ralph Bakshi’s movies and build BakshiWorld and got taken seriously.
September 16, 2026 at 8:09 PM
I hate how the media legitimizes tech bullshit like Tilly Norwood and promises of Mars colonies by reporting on them as if they’re serious possibilities. It would be like if I said I was going to buy the theme park rights to Ralph Bakshi’s movies and build BakshiWorld and got taken seriously.
Reposted by Alex
Reposted by Alex
An MIT report warns AI is causing ‘cognitive surrender.’ Universities are in a bind. www.boston.com/news/educati...
An MIT report warns AI is causing ‘cognitive surrender.’ Universities are in a bind.
The MIT report crystallized some of the thinking in higher education about AI, but administrators have been embroiled in debates for years.
www.boston.com
September 16, 2026 at 2:52 PM
An MIT report warns AI is causing ‘cognitive surrender.’ Universities are in a bind. www.boston.com/news/educati...
#medlibs / #canmedlibs / #academiclibrarians, behold a google scholar update email (I receive these because I do not let it automatically update my profile) in which a female author is incorrectly identified for removal, in favour of adding degree credentials to the remaining authors. PMID 33380353
September 16, 2026 at 1:41 PM
#medlibs / #canmedlibs / #academiclibrarians, behold a google scholar update email (I receive these because I do not let it automatically update my profile) in which a female author is incorrectly identified for removal, in favour of adding degree credentials to the remaining authors. PMID 33380353
Reposted by Alex
I *hate* this "digital divide" framing for AI; even libraries marshal it to justify their "AI literacy classes," ensuring all have "access" for self-actualization and economic opportunity. Maybe instead some folks are sufficiently literate, and they're instead choosing *principled refusal*.
The Gates Foundation has pledged to spend at least $1 billion over the next two years to expand global access to A.I. and help “narrow gaps between the richest and poorest rather than widening them.”
Gates Foundation Pledges $1 Billion to Combat A.I. Inequality
Bill Gates, the foundation’s chairman, has been vocal about the dangers of artificial intelligence. The donation will be invested in A.I. projects to bridge social inequalities.
nyti.ms
September 16, 2026 at 1:15 AM
I *hate* this "digital divide" framing for AI; even libraries marshal it to justify their "AI literacy classes," ensuring all have "access" for self-actualization and economic opportunity. Maybe instead some folks are sufficiently literate, and they're instead choosing *principled refusal*.
Reposted by Alex
GEFILTE PHISHING
Just got a phishing email from someone posing as my Rabbi, so that's a fun escalation.
September 15, 2026 at 10:30 PM
GEFILTE PHISHING
Reposted by Alex
Harper *wishes* he could have said the shit Poilievre says and *wishes* he could do the things Carney does.
Mark Carney is the strongest conservative leader we've seen in decades (derogatory.)
Mark Carney is the strongest conservative leader we've seen in decades (derogatory.)
Carney is engaged in distaster capitalism. He is selling Canada off and gutting the public sector. He is far, far worse than Harper. His MPs are complicit.
www.cbc.ca/radio/asitha...
www.cbc.ca/radio/asitha...
NDP's Avi Lewis says Carney is selling Canadian assets to 'the captains of Wall Street' | CBC Radio
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his Investment Summit in Toronto will help diversify the economy, but NDP Leader Avi Lewis says it will only make Canada more beholden to wealthy American corporations.
www.cbc.ca
September 15, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Harper *wishes* he could have said the shit Poilievre says and *wishes* he could do the things Carney does.
Mark Carney is the strongest conservative leader we've seen in decades (derogatory.)
Mark Carney is the strongest conservative leader we've seen in decades (derogatory.)
Reposted by Alex
I. Can’t. Wait.
Diane Morgan’s latest Philomena Cunk series will see her exploring the world of film and cinema, unleashing her dry sensibilities on Michael Bay, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Kermode, and many more.
Imagine Philomena Cunk Talking to Michael Bay
Diane Morgan’s latest Philomena Cunk series will see her exploring the world of film and cinema, unleashing her dry sensibilities on Michael Bay, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Kermode, and many more.
www.vulture.com
September 14, 2026 at 10:14 PM
I. Can’t. Wait.
Reposted by Alex
This is just a spectacular unintentional self-own
September 14, 2026 at 2:07 PM
This is just a spectacular unintentional self-own