Author | Lightnews

Gavin Chait;

@gavin.whyqd.com

940 followers 730 following 390 posts

I am a data scientist, researcher, engineer, sometime-traveler, and African SFF author. I am fascinated by the frontiers of human progress: innovation vs ignorance; wealth vs poverty, migration vs stasis. I also drink a great deal of coffee.

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · Nov 11

What gifts hath Fate for all her chivalry?
Even such as hearts heroic oftenest win;
Honour, a friend, anguish, untimely death.

Not sure I entirely agree with Homer. Anguish, yes, but we will endure. Not because we believe in an inevitably better future, but because we believe in living a better us.

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 18h

Yeah, I was actually surprised that he wasn't threatening to invade South Africa.

Reposted by Gavin Chait;

Doug Saunders @dougsaunders.bsky.social · 18h

As Geoffrey York observes, the "persecution of Christians" that has led Trump to threaten war against Nigeria is about as real as the "violence against white farmers" in South Africa -- that is, not real at all, just an easily fact-checked online meme

www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Trump threatens military attack on Nigeria in response to alleged persecution of Christians

Threats are response to a campaign by U.S. Christian groups and politicians who describe Nigerian attacks as genocide, a claim analysts say is inaccurate

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 1d

If it was a toy - combine a game engine with LLMs to give NPCs more 'natural' interactions - I think it could be fun. But everything else 🫣

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · 1d

i’ve said this before but lemme say it again. it makes absolutely 0 sense to talk about “misuse” of llms because there is no clear use or purpose for llms to begin with. genAI is a purposeless tech floating around looking for uptake

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 2d

We'll tell him it's on Amérique du Nord.

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 2d

Does he have any idea 1) how enormous Nigeria is & 2) how enormous Nigerians themselves are?

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 2d

How'd that work out for responding to climate change?

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 2d

That was the thing that obliterated his argument. He never actually did anything about it, so his entire logical chain fell apart at the very first step. If he never championed his "easy" targets with the most impact, where was the momentum supposed to come from to address climate change?

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 3d

I'm visiting a walkable, livable North American city. Excellent food, lots of culture, parks, trees, boulevards, public transport, accessable... Hell, they even have public hire bikes, & the place is so safe parents are out chatting while their kids play under the trees. Welcome to Mexico City.

Chinese community in Mexico City. A art with red paper lanterns strung across the street, with crowds walking happily amongst restaurants and goods, with their wares displayed under umbrellas.

Entrance to the main city park, a large distinctive figure of the head and torso of a woman has been built such that visitors walk through her chest to get into the park. She is painted black with her clothes and hair in bright pink, and white filigree is painted as if to reveal her skeleton. It is a bright blue day.

A series of enormous painted skulls are placed in two long rows, one above the other. They are decorated to celebrate the Day of the Dead festival, with bright contrasting colours in bold patterns. Each is over a metre in height. And the are a lot of them.

A casual outside restaurant on the pavement serving freshly-made tacos. Four people sit on high chairs eating, while people walk past. There are other food stands serving different dishes in the background. Trees and apartment buildings are visible behind.

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 4d

More like, he won't be cooking the turkey till it's been served 🫣

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 4d

Sucks for refugees, but this seems wonderful news for South Africa. We get to rid ourselves - through voluntary self-selection nogal! - of some of the stupidest, vilest, most entitled and least capable people in the country. So selfless of the US.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 4d

BREAKING: The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. to 7,500 and they will be mostly white South Africans.

Trump administration limits number of refugees to 7,500 and they're mostly white South Africans

The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. to 7,500 and they will be mostly white South Africans.

bit.ly

Reposted by Gavin Chait;

Daily Maverick @dailymaverick.co.za · 5d

There are few books that quietly rearrange the way one sees a landscape. Fading Footprints is one of them.

Fading Footprints: Ancient culture found hiding in plain sight

www.dailymaverick.co.za

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 6d

It was at exactly this point that I uninstalled Microsoft and switched to LibreOffice.

Matthew Noe @noethematt.bsky.social · 7d

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 11d

Given how many local councils are staring bankruptcy in the face, which ultimately ends up as a national government problem, I don't see that as a downside...

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 11d

Instead of milk, I just poured grapefruit juice into my tea. It's that sort of day.

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 12d

She's "Australian-American" too... sounds like one of those multi-identity immigrant, citizen-of-nowhere types 🫣

Reposted by Gavin Chait;

Shoaib M Khan @shoaibmkhan.bsky.social · 12d

Over 460 Jewish figures, including former Israeli officials, Oscar winners, authors and intellectuals, have signed a letter calling on the UN and world leaders to impose sanctions on Israel over its “unconscionable” actions amounting to genocide in Gaza.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Jewish figures across the globe call on UN and world leaders to sanction Israel

Exclusive: In an open letter, Israeli ex-officials, artists and intellectuals say ‘unconscionable’ actions in Gaza amount to genocide

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Gavin Chait;

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 13d

This obsession with reaching across the aisle to people who want to tear your arm off will kill democracy. Find everyone who doesn't want to do that and work with them, there are plenty of them.

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 14d

My first sci-fi novel, published in 2016, featured warlords in equitorial Africa fighting for control of valuable space debris while farmers & communities tried to prevent resulting fires. Didn't think, at the time, that small mcguffin would be the most prescient part of the story.

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 14d

There was a brief moment during covid when it genuinely felt that the whole "we should stop listening to experts" garbage was reversing, & then it all snapped back with a sickening crunch filled with conspiracy theories, lies, & hate. Very dispiriting.

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 14d

Looks like @theonion.com is going to get a whole lot of extended use out of their "No way to prevent this" headline, this time for mass childhood deaths easily preventable by cheap and readily-available vaccines arstechnica.com/health/2025/...

After success in Idaho, anti-vaccine activists want to export their idiocy nationwide

The Idaho Medical Freedom Act makes it illegal to require anyone to take a vaccine.

arstechnica.com

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 15d

Years ago, in a Dublin backpackers, I was accosted by a dude who - in an impenetrable accent - badgered me with memorable statement, "The British are sooooo racist," then, tapping his forehead, "but they're cleeever!" Um, sure, dude <backing carefully for the exit>...

Reposted by Gavin Chait;

Culture Crave 🍿 @culturecrave.co · 16d

“Fuck AI”

— Guillermo del Toro

🎥 Vanity Fair

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Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 16d

You came to me, tell me I don't know what I'm talking about without telling me why, then demand I explain myself? You want a free education, read my textbook at data-as-a-science.com. Until then, fuck off like the troll you are.

Data as a Science

data-as-a-science.com

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 16d

You're the one who sought me out to tell me what you think of me. If you want to engage, define what you mean. I don't work for you, so it really isn't up to me to do the work for you.

Gavin Chait; @gavin.whyqd.com · 16d

Nope, it tells me you're engaging in bad faith. You won't define what you mean - not data science, or "AI" - giving you ambiguity to claim whatever you like. You make weird statements about me while knowing nothing about what I do, or my field of research. Define what you mean, or go away.