Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Matt Smith

Andrew Harmel-Law @andrewhl.bsky.social · 23d

🏃‍♂️ I'm running the Berlin Half Marathon 2026 for Sea-Watch.org.

They conduct vital search & rescue operations in the Mediterranean, saving lives when others turn away.

21.1km for me = solidarity with their life-saving mission.

Please support me: sea-watch.org/en/join-us/m...
#BerlinHalf #SeaWatch

Half Marathon Berlin 20256 – My charity run • Sea-Watch e.V.

sea-watch.org

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 28d

If you're on LinkedIn, here's the opt-out for LinkedIn's AI bullshit using your content.

www.linkedin.com/mypreference...

LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn

Login to LinkedIn to keep in touch with people you know, share ideas, and build your career.

www.linkedin.com

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · Sep 14

Shot, chaser

Young men more likely to vote Green than Reform. Young men second most progressive group of any demographic. Combined right-wing vote barely bigger than Green vote alone for young men

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Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · Sep 9

📣 NEW -- In The Economist, discussing the privacy perils of AI agents and what AI companies and operating systems need to do--NOW--to protect Signal and much else!

www.economist.com/by-invitatio...

An illustration of me, and the headline: "AI agents are coming for your privacy, warns Meredith Whittaker
The Signal Foundation’s president worries they will also blunt competition and undermine cyber-security"

To put it bluntly, the path currently being taken towards agentic AI leads to an elimination of privacy and security at the application layer. It will not be possible for apps like Signal—the messaging app whose foundation I run—to continue to provide strong privacy guarantees, built on robust and openly validated encryption, if device-makers and OS developers insist on puncturing the metaphoric blood-brain barrier between apps and the OS. Feeding your sensitive Signal messages into an undifferentiated data slurry connected to cloud servers in service of their AI-agent aspirations is a dangerous abdication of responsibility.

Happily, it’s not too late. There is much that can still be done, particularly when it comes to protecting the sanctity of private data. What’s needed is a fundamental shift in how we approach the development and deployment of AI agents. First, privacy must be the default, and control must remain in the hands of application developers exercising agency on behalf of their users. Developers need the ability to designate applications as “sensitive” and mark them as off-limits to agents, at the OS level and otherwise. This cannot be a convoluted workaround buried in settings; it must be a straightforward, well-documented mechanism (similar to Global Privacy Control) that blocks an agent from accessing our data or taking actions within an app.

Second, radical transparency must be the norm. Vague assurances and marketing-speak are no longer acceptable. OS vendors have an obligation to be clear and precise about their architecture and what data their AI agents are accessing, how it is being used and the measures in place to protect it.

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Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · Apr 26

A key difference here is that while either can be incorrect, the structure of Wikipedia *creates context* and the structure of LLMs *destroys context*

Wikipedia has linked sources and an edit history showing where information came from and who added it when

An LLM just generates text

Eugene Vinitsky 🍒 @eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · Apr 26

Some of the anti-AI stuff feels a bit like when people would say "don't use Wikipedia as a source." It's just like anything else, a piece of information that you weigh against multiple sources and your own understanding of its likely failure modes

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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · Aug 7

If you just really want to hear me explain why so many publishers are just utterly useless now, here's a talk for you.

INDIGO @indigo-showcase.bsky.social · Aug 6

NEW INDIGO 2025 TALK AVAILABLE ONLINE!

Rami Ismail (@ramiismail.com) – Games Industry Studio & Project Advisor, Agent and Mentor

Talk: Rami’s Talk
Video: youtu.be/tb-gcg6g-FY

Rami brings sharp and practical (business) advice for developers.

#techtalk #gamedev #indiedev #gameevent #indigo2025

Rami Ismail - Rami's Talk - INDIGO 2025

YouTube video by INDIGO Showcase

youtu.be

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Reposted by Matt Smith

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · Aug 6

It’s the lack of thought that counts

Saleem @seemo.bsky.social · Aug 5

Grounds for divorce imo

A screenshot of a news article from the verge. It reads “With Gemini, Williams says, you can just give the details of the message and a tone. Maybe you're running late, so you say, "Tell my spouse I'm 15 minutes late and send it in a jokey tone." Instead of having to think of what to say, the bot will write it for you.”

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · Jul 29

Aside from everything else can we all just stop to note the, uh, intriguing gender gap in awareness of these rules.

Will @will-rich.bsky.social · Jul 29

Emphatically agree - the public haven't heard of the new rules, but they like the sound of banning things

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Matt Collins @mattophobia.ie · Jul 11

It’s my birthday in a couple of days, and what I’d appreciate more than anything is for people to send this list to their friends and family - BUY MY STUFF PLEASE THANKS

Matt Collins @mattophobia.ie · Jun 20

IT'S THE MATT LEGO CAR BOOT SALE! Please send me a DM if you're interested in buying any. All are fully built, complete, and in great clean condition - but don't come with the original box or manual. Prices include UK shipping!

I'm looking to sell fast as I need money, so I'm open to offers.

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Matt Smith @harmelodic.com · Jul 6

Inscryption being 4 years ago already, good GOD 💀

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Alex Strook 🐭⚡️SQUEAKROSS @alexstrook.bsky.social · Jul 5

when you open a service you've been using for a decade only to find it out it caught the virus

Fake website servic welcome page. text reads:

"Your favorite tool is now ruined by AI"
"you might not like it but shareholders love it"

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · Jun 19

'Meredith,' some guys ask, 'why won't you shove AI into Signal?'

Because we love privacy, and we love you, and this shit is predictable and unacceptable. Use Signal ❤️

Guardian headline saying, "‘It’s terrifying’: WhatsApp AI helper mistakenly shares user’s number
Chatbot tries to change subject after serving up unrelated user’s mobile to man asking for rail firm helpline"

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Matt Smith @harmelodic.com · Apr 25

Hannah is an incredible artist and did an AMAZING job with this.

It was a joy to bounce ideas back and forth with Hannah about how best to capture the character.

Thank you again, Hannah ☺️❤️🙏

Hannah @justhannahreally.bsky.social · Apr 25

A super fun commission I finished recently of the Lady Melanie Prim!

Pieces like this always remind me how much I love hearing about other people’s campaigns and characters!

Thanks @harmelodic.com for commissioning me!

#dnd #ttrpgart #illustration #characterdesign

An elderly aristocratic lady in torn up aristocratic gown and tarnished jewellery. She has runes carved into her skin. The same runes float around her, glowing an ominous red. She brandishes a wide grin, teeth and hair are unkempt.

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Hannah @justhannahreally.bsky.social · Apr 25

A super fun commission I finished recently of the Lady Melanie Prim!

Pieces like this always remind me how much I love hearing about other people’s campaigns and characters!

Thanks @harmelodic.com for commissioning me!

#dnd #ttrpgart #illustration #characterdesign

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Filipe Acosta 🕹️ Devil's Drizzle @filipethoo.bsky.social · Mar 3

Hey! After a lot of hard work, I’m thrilled to announce that the Kickstarter campaign for Devil’s Drizzle is now live!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/coz...

If you love platformers, now’s your chance to support an indie project. With your help, I can improve art, animations, localization, and more!

Devil's Drizzle Indie Game

A Brazilian indie pixel art platformer, launching in early 2025. It combines the challenge of Celeste with the charm of Adventure Time.

www.kickstarter.com

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Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 @reshetz.bsky.social · Mar 1

W h a t

Ukrainska Pravda 🇺🇦 @pravda.ua · Mar 1

⚡️ A crowd gathered outside a Tesla dealership in Manhattan, chanting “Zelenskyy is a hero” as anti-Elon protesters occupied the showroom. The demonstration comes amid growing criticism of Musk’s stance on Ukraine and his alleged ties with Russia.

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Chris Terry-Enescu @cjterry.bsky.social · Feb 28

The Ukrainian government has a list of places where you can donate to the war effort here. I personally just donated $100: war.ukraine.ua/donate/

Slava Ukraini.

Donate to Ukraine’s defenders

The National Bank of Ukraine has decided to open a special fundraising account to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

war.ukraine.ua

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Finn @thegoblinpoet.bsky.social · Feb 28

We can't afford it? taxes are going to go up, deal with it, do it now

NATO is basically dead? Fine, Europe will do it alone

Can't rely on the US nuclear umbrella? Looks like nuclear proliferation is back, it's good again

worried you'll get voted out? Think like that you deserve to be.

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Matt Collins @mattophobia.ie · Feb 17

Now it’s Monday, I’d appreciate if people RT and share this quoted post around!

Matt Collins @mattophobia.ie · Feb 15

🛰️ Hi, I'm Matt and I'm LOOKING FOR WORK.

I spent over 10 years working for Nerd³ doing video editing, streaming, thumbnails, community management, packaging logistics, PA work, and more! If anyone knows of anything, please send me a DM.

Here's my editing portfolio: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

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Matt Smith @harmelodic.com · Feb 17

Trevlig flyga! ✈️

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Reposted by Matt Smith

Matt Collins @mattophobia.ie · Feb 15

🛰️ Hi, I'm Matt and I'm LOOKING FOR WORK.

I spent over 10 years working for Nerd³ doing video editing, streaming, thumbnails, community management, packaging logistics, PA work, and more! If anyone knows of anything, please send me a DM.

Here's my editing portfolio: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

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Matt Smith @harmelodic.com · Feb 13

Heheheh ☺️🥰

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Matt Smith @harmelodic.com · Feb 13

Maybe a little bit of Rhav.

Mostly it's you being knowledgeable and good at what you do and having the ability to argue well. (I find intelligence and convictions intimidating)

Good god it's been a decade.

Squishy jumpers and wholesomeness definitely dropped it though ☺️😅

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Matt Smith @harmelodic.com · Feb 13

... Wouldn't drop it all the way to a 4.
7 initially, but then dropped to a 5 or 6.

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Matt Smith @harmelodic.com · Feb 9

Free idea for Spotify.

Search by listening, like Shazam, SoundHound or the various Assistants.

Just bake it in, I don't need my assistant really, if the app functionality is good enough.

And no, Lyric Match is not good enough as a replacement. I don't speak all languages.