Obscura
@manifoldobscura.bsky.social
Reposted by Obscura
The federal AI hearing getting underway now. ABC up first. OpenAI/Anthropic et al are later today. Streaming here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzzR...
Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence | Sydney, NSW | 06/10/2026
YouTube video by Australian Parliament House Streaming Portal
www.youtube.com
October 5, 2026 at 10:32 PM
The federal AI hearing getting underway now. ABC up first. OpenAI/Anthropic et al are later today. Streaming here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzzR...
Still trying to get my head around all the intricacies of VLAN networking to deal with all the IoT nonsense
September 30, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Still trying to get my head around all the intricacies of VLAN networking to deal with all the IoT nonsense
Why is the Home Assistant vibe so off? It smells vaguely of TESCREAL in there
September 27, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Why is the Home Assistant vibe so off? It smells vaguely of TESCREAL in there
Gobbledok vs Babadook
September 27, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Gobbledok vs Babadook
Even hacking is Bitcoin now
Both things can be true, but LLMs have the benefit of speed and scope. It's like hundreds of hackers using every hacking technique ever known. If you can fund the computational energy required, it's hard to stop.
Has anyone noticed that’s it’s no longer the sophisticated state actors doing all the hacking? It’s always AI.
Maybe, just maybe, none of this was ever very hard. Could it be organisations have always been bad at security?
Maybe, just maybe, none of this was ever very hard. Could it be organisations have always been bad at security?
September 24, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Even hacking is Bitcoin now
I continue to be fascinated by the way psychologists tend to use the word "dissociation"
September 24, 2026 at 11:48 AM
I continue to be fascinated by the way psychologists tend to use the word "dissociation"
Reposted by Obscura
...once again: bsky.app/profile/lite...
September 24, 2026 at 4:35 AM
...once again: bsky.app/profile/lite...
I continue to be a medical oddity
Impervious to steel
Toppled by iron
Impervious to steel
Toppled by iron
September 23, 2026 at 10:28 AM
I continue to be a medical oddity
Impervious to steel
Toppled by iron
Impervious to steel
Toppled by iron
How much wood would a wood hoe hoe if a wood how could hoe wood?
September 22, 2026 at 1:17 PM
How much wood would a wood hoe hoe if a wood how could hoe wood?
Does anyone have the trans bone density paper?
September 22, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Does anyone have the trans bone density paper?
TBF the sun does have scaring the hoes energy
September 22, 2026 at 6:38 AM
TBF the sun does have scaring the hoes energy
So uh, it seems like qld may be legalising child slavery?
September 21, 2026 at 10:56 PM
So uh, it seems like qld may be legalising child slavery?
Reposted by Obscura
It's an honor to share this upcoming anthology from Norton, edited by two of our collective members (Dr. Nick Walker and Andrew Reichart, AMFT).
If you are in the United States and want to pre-order, there is a large discount too.
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
If you are in the United States and want to pre-order, there is a large discount too.
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
September 4, 2026 at 4:07 PM
It's an honor to share this upcoming anthology from Norton, edited by two of our collective members (Dr. Nick Walker and Andrew Reichart, AMFT).
If you are in the United States and want to pre-order, there is a large discount too.
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
If you are in the United States and want to pre-order, there is a large discount too.
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
Reposted by Obscura
I never understood why anyone would believe in presentism when I was studying it, but people might end up with a better understanding of evolution if they did.
September 20, 2026 at 3:15 PM
I never understood why anyone would believe in presentism when I was studying it, but people might end up with a better understanding of evolution if they did.
Reposted by Obscura
as always, if you are an apologist for trans-exclusionary Dems, and especially if you do so in the name of supposed concern for the GOP putting trans ppl into "camps", & especially especially when you won't listen to trans ppl telling you why this is fucked up logic & strategy, I will block you.
September 20, 2026 at 2:28 AM
as always, if you are an apologist for trans-exclusionary Dems, and especially if you do so in the name of supposed concern for the GOP putting trans ppl into "camps", & especially especially when you won't listen to trans ppl telling you why this is fucked up logic & strategy, I will block you.
The thing about effective altruism is that our philosophy club grilled Peter Singer about it over a decade ago and he had no answers for the obvious issues it has that are painfully felt today.
It's not like they didn't know it was bad, it's that they didn't want to see it.
It's not like they didn't know it was bad, it's that they didn't want to see it.
September 19, 2026 at 2:57 AM
The thing about effective altruism is that our philosophy club grilled Peter Singer about it over a decade ago and he had no answers for the obvious issues it has that are painfully felt today.
It's not like they didn't know it was bad, it's that they didn't want to see it.
It's not like they didn't know it was bad, it's that they didn't want to see it.
Turns out theft pretty good for GDP
September 19, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Turns out theft pretty good for GDP
Reposted by Obscura
*sigh* Under this justification, a whole class of offensive language may become permissible.
Before we get to that, I do think that this decision (intentionally or not) chooses not to take seriously cultural context or the history of "camps" in modernity.
CONTENT WARNING IN THE NEXT POST.
Before we get to that, I do think that this decision (intentionally or not) chooses not to take seriously cultural context or the history of "camps" in modernity.
CONTENT WARNING IN THE NEXT POST.
September 18, 2026 at 9:21 AM
*sigh* Under this justification, a whole class of offensive language may become permissible.
Before we get to that, I do think that this decision (intentionally or not) chooses not to take seriously cultural context or the history of "camps" in modernity.
CONTENT WARNING IN THE NEXT POST.
Before we get to that, I do think that this decision (intentionally or not) chooses not to take seriously cultural context or the history of "camps" in modernity.
CONTENT WARNING IN THE NEXT POST.
Reposted by Obscura
Know the Bluesky Posting Rules
September 17, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Know the Bluesky Posting Rules
Adding Ceteris Paribus to all my arguments like a magic word
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 17, 2026 at 11:28 PM
Adding Ceteris Paribus to all my arguments like a magic word
If you maximise the rights for those at the top they will naturally trickle down and liberate all people eventually.
No wait don't touch those chains
No wait don't touch those chains
September 17, 2026 at 1:41 PM
If you maximise the rights for those at the top they will naturally trickle down and liberate all people eventually.
No wait don't touch those chains
No wait don't touch those chains
People who try to be a radical centrist in Disco Elysium when they get to the end of the game
September 17, 2026 at 1:37 PM
People who try to be a radical centrist in Disco Elysium when they get to the end of the game
Reposted by Obscura
This project looks at colonial violence in QLD, incl Native Police violence (which has parallels w/the Kapos in #Holocaust camps). They found violence all over QLD mapping >2,500 of these conflict events across colonial QLD from 1623 until 1911. #genocide #AUS theconversation.com/our-mapping-...
Our mapping project shows how extensive frontier violence was in Queensland. This is why truth-telling matters
Frontier violence was widespread across colonial Queensland and has real life implications for contemporary Australia.
theconversation.com
September 16, 2026 at 5:39 AM
This project looks at colonial violence in QLD, incl Native Police violence (which has parallels w/the Kapos in #Holocaust camps). They found violence all over QLD mapping >2,500 of these conflict events across colonial QLD from 1623 until 1911. #genocide #AUS theconversation.com/our-mapping-...
Is "the West" just secular Christendom?
September 13, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Is "the West" just secular Christendom?