j4
@jaffa.bsky.social
Mostly badger, occasionally mermaid. Terminally online.
Reposted by j4
November 27, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by j4
Today is the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Mahna Mahna on Sesame Street. You’re familiar with it by now, of course, but... well, it never hurts to be reminded, does it?
Sesame Street - Mahna Mahna (1969)
YouTube video by Tiny Dancer
youtu.be
November 27, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Today is the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Mahna Mahna on Sesame Street. You’re familiar with it by now, of course, but... well, it never hurts to be reminded, does it?
Reposted by j4
My nephew: Are you a girl or a boy?
Me: a boy, I used to look more like a girl but then I turned into a boy
Nephew: How???
Me: I went to the doctor and they gave me some medicine
Nephew: …
Nephew, bragging now: I’M a boy and I didn’t even HAVE to go to the doctor
Me: a boy, I used to look more like a girl but then I turned into a boy
Nephew: How???
Me: I went to the doctor and they gave me some medicine
Nephew: …
Nephew, bragging now: I’M a boy and I didn’t even HAVE to go to the doctor
November 27, 2025 at 3:41 PM
My nephew: Are you a girl or a boy?
Me: a boy, I used to look more like a girl but then I turned into a boy
Nephew: How???
Me: I went to the doctor and they gave me some medicine
Nephew: …
Nephew, bragging now: I’M a boy and I didn’t even HAVE to go to the doctor
Me: a boy, I used to look more like a girl but then I turned into a boy
Nephew: How???
Me: I went to the doctor and they gave me some medicine
Nephew: …
Nephew, bragging now: I’M a boy and I didn’t even HAVE to go to the doctor
Reposted by j4
Also in UK and elsewhere, you can get HPV Vax up to age 45 (not always free), which a lot of folk don't know.
This is wonderful news, and also means it’s time for me to beat the drum I always do when HPV vaccines make the news:
They are not only for women! HPV also causes penile, anal, and head and neck cancers. The latter are particularly deadly. Please vaccinate ALL your children.
They are not only for women! HPV also causes penile, anal, and head and neck cancers. The latter are particularly deadly. Please vaccinate ALL your children.
Australia recorded ZERO cases of cervical cancer in women under 25 for the first time since they started tracking the cancer in the 80s.
This is the power of vaccines.
The HPV vaccine is extremely effective at preventing cancer.
Viruses can be oncogenic. Get your vaccines and protect yourself!
This is the power of vaccines.
The HPV vaccine is extremely effective at preventing cancer.
Viruses can be oncogenic. Get your vaccines and protect yourself!
November 27, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Also in UK and elsewhere, you can get HPV Vax up to age 45 (not always free), which a lot of folk don't know.
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Install a life-size Krynoid sculpture.
November 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Install a life-size Krynoid sculpture.
Reposted by j4
I'm all for road safety but you could have every cyclist in the land wearing a full suit of Christmas lights and drivers fucking around on their phones will still knock them down
November 27, 2025 at 9:41 AM
I'm all for road safety but you could have every cyclist in the land wearing a full suit of Christmas lights and drivers fucking around on their phones will still knock them down
Reposted by j4
“A survey […] finds that while 87% of executives use AI on the job, just 57% of managers and 27% of employees do.”
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
www.economist.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:23 PM
“A survey […] finds that while 87% of executives use AI on the job, just 57% of managers and 27% of employees do.”
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
This is UNBELIEVABLE
November 27, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This is UNBELIEVABLE
Reposted by j4
"[...] the Labour leader said the homophobic attack left him worried for the future of the UK"
*clears throat*
I HAVE OPINIONS
metro.co.uk/2025/11/26/k...
*clears throat*
I HAVE OPINIONS
metro.co.uk/2025/11/26/k...
Keir Starmer's fury after neice and wife 'beaten by blokes for holding hands'
'I thought the days of beating up people because they were gay were well behind us.'
metro.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
"[...] the Labour leader said the homophobic attack left him worried for the future of the UK"
*clears throat*
I HAVE OPINIONS
metro.co.uk/2025/11/26/k...
*clears throat*
I HAVE OPINIONS
metro.co.uk/2025/11/26/k...
Reposted by j4
I feel you, ancient Mongolian ceramic hedgehog. I feel you.
November 26, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I feel you, ancient Mongolian ceramic hedgehog. I feel you.
Reposted by j4
@cstross.bsky.social
I believe this has been debunked; it's just marketing.
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
I believe this has been debunked; it's just marketing.
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
Don’t cite the Adversarial Poetry vs AI paper — it’s chatbot-made marketing ‘science’
Today’s preprint paper has the best title ever: “Adversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language Models”. It’s from DexAI, who sell AI testing and compliance services. So this is a marketing blog post in PDF form. [arXiv, PDF] Here’s the big claim: Across 25 frontier proprietary and open-weight models, curated poetic […]
pivot-to-ai.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:56 AM
@cstross.bsky.social
I believe this has been debunked; it's just marketing.
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
I believe this has been debunked; it's just marketing.
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
Colleague giving a talk about IDM keeps referring to "humans" in a way that makes me wonder whether he is actually a robot.
November 27, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Colleague giving a talk about IDM keeps referring to "humans" in a way that makes me wonder whether he is actually a robot.
Reposted by j4
"Raising the cost of driving EVs discourages people from adopting the more sustainable option."
Cool, now do public transport.
Cool, now do public transport.
It'd be cool if the "increasing the cost of motoring hurts poor people" people cared anything like as much about cost to people who rely on public transport - who are disproportionately likely to be poor and disabled, and who consistently face far greater increases in cost.
November 27, 2025 at 11:20 AM
"Raising the cost of driving EVs discourages people from adopting the more sustainable option."
Cool, now do public transport.
Cool, now do public transport.
Realising I have no idea how to make a GP appointment any more. The app won't let you book an appointment but will let you fill in a long web form about your symptoms. Phoning them involves putting up with unpleasantness from the receptionist. Neither feels even slightly possible at the moment.
November 27, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Realising I have no idea how to make a GP appointment any more. The app won't let you book an appointment but will let you fill in a long web form about your symptoms. Phoning them involves putting up with unpleasantness from the receptionist. Neither feels even slightly possible at the moment.
Every day has a million things to do & sometimes I get things done & sometimes I don't & nobody cares. I guess they're all the little things that if I was a housewife I'd want to tell my husband when he got home from his important city job, so he could not care either. Sometimes I tell the cat.
November 27, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Every day has a million things to do & sometimes I get things done & sometimes I don't & nobody cares. I guess they're all the little things that if I was a housewife I'd want to tell my husband when he got home from his important city job, so he could not care either. Sometimes I tell the cat.
Reposted by j4
Long shot but do I know anyone who knows anyone doing reproductive rights work/activism in 🇫🇷 France?
(For an abortion funding project).
Boosts appreciated!
(For an abortion funding project).
Boosts appreciated!
November 27, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Long shot but do I know anyone who knows anyone doing reproductive rights work/activism in 🇫🇷 France?
(For an abortion funding project).
Boosts appreciated!
(For an abortion funding project).
Boosts appreciated!
Reposted by j4
Reposted by j4
You may have seen some headlines about welfare spending going up to £406.2bn by 2030/31.
That is correct, it is the OBR figure.
Here is what you may not have seen.
Of the £406.2bn
A) £195.4bn goes to pensioners
B) £13.9bn goes on child benefit.
Facts matter.
That is correct, it is the OBR figure.
Here is what you may not have seen.
Of the £406.2bn
A) £195.4bn goes to pensioners
B) £13.9bn goes on child benefit.
Facts matter.
November 26, 2025 at 7:49 PM
You may have seen some headlines about welfare spending going up to £406.2bn by 2030/31.
That is correct, it is the OBR figure.
Here is what you may not have seen.
Of the £406.2bn
A) £195.4bn goes to pensioners
B) £13.9bn goes on child benefit.
Facts matter.
That is correct, it is the OBR figure.
Here is what you may not have seen.
Of the £406.2bn
A) £195.4bn goes to pensioners
B) £13.9bn goes on child benefit.
Facts matter.
Reposted by j4
People talk shit about Gen X but only we respond with apoplectic rage to stuff like "your refrigerator is sending you a text" or "your desk lamp's AI would like access to your credit card data" instead of complete bafflement (previous generations) or grudging acceptance (subsequent generations)
November 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
People talk shit about Gen X but only we respond with apoplectic rage to stuff like "your refrigerator is sending you a text" or "your desk lamp's AI would like access to your credit card data" instead of complete bafflement (previous generations) or grudging acceptance (subsequent generations)
Reposted by j4
![van haley (@vanhaley_yt) posted on twitter: "friends w benefiits [sic] implies the existence of friends w consequences"
Jonathan Edward Durham (@thisoneØverhere) quotes: "In many cases they are in fact the very same thing"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4djfp3b27soxcfkxhirydi6d/bafkreign3r2s2gstxbbycfsuub5bz5rvlnpfcujeio5y2dt773kqi7ar4m@jpeg)
Reposted by j4
nose down ass up
that's the way we cyberstuck
that's the way we cyberstuck
November 26, 2025 at 3:58 PM
nose down ass up
that's the way we cyberstuck
that's the way we cyberstuck
I don't actually care if people get plastic surgery, even for frivolous reasons, even to give them features that I personally think are ugly or ridiculous. Their body, their choice. I would care VERY MUCH if every interaction came with enforced plastic surgery, however elegantly or subtly executed.
AI use is gonna be like plastic surgery: when it's obvious and over the top will incur some stigma, when done well, you won't even know.
You can, but it's going to be demo and social network based. There's definitely going to be a major stigma towards being a Clippy addict in a lot of white collar professional circles.
November 26, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I don't actually care if people get plastic surgery, even for frivolous reasons, even to give them features that I personally think are ugly or ridiculous. Their body, their choice. I would care VERY MUCH if every interaction came with enforced plastic surgery, however elegantly or subtly executed.
Fuck OpenAI, fuck it all the way into the flaming fires of hell, and fuck every institution that embraces and supports and encourages it.
OpenAI says they aren't liable for the suicide of a user their chat bot urged to kill himself because suicide is a violation of the TOS
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 26, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Fuck OpenAI, fuck it all the way into the flaming fires of hell, and fuck every institution that embraces and supports and encourages it.
Reposted by j4
Nobody should go hungry in Oxford this winter. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/nobody-sho...
Nobody should go hungry in Oxford this winter.
Ensure nobody goes hungry this christmas. Emergency food requests are surging this winter: we need your help to feed our neighbours in need.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Nobody should go hungry in Oxford this winter. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/nobody-sho...
Reposted by j4
Generative AI is convenient and useful in the same way the Broad Street water pump was convenient and useful in 1854
November 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Generative AI is convenient and useful in the same way the Broad Street water pump was convenient and useful in 1854