Dermot O'Halloran
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practicalreason.net
Dermot O'Halloran
@practicalreason.net
100 followers 380 following 120 posts
Extrapolating from experience to form generalizations. Dualla, Cashel, Co. Tipperary https://practicalreason.net https://flickr.com/photos/21857244@N00
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practicalreason.net
Bank robberies in Sligo up 600% www.rte.ie/news/regiona...
Top surfers in Mullaghmore for 'spectacular' winter waves
Some of the world's top surfers descended on Mullaghmore, Co Sligo this morning to make the most of "spectacular" surfing conditions, not seen in five years.
www.rte.ie
December 20, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
samthielman.com
As told by the late dancer and choreographer Agnes DeMille.
The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly: "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. As for you, Agnes, you have so far used about one-third of your talent."
December 20, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
publichealthguy1.bsky.social
this is the greatest feeling, when the cord box proves its utility to a family member
new yorker cartoon by bernstein. watercolor of a middle aged white dad holding a cord up from the cord box in a heavenly light in triumph. title reads THE BEST DAY OF MY FATHER'S LIFE. caption reads “Did you say you needed a six-pin-to-eight-pin FireWire for a 2006 MacBook?"
December 20, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
bucksarchives.bsky.social
slow day in the office so figured we'd start some beef with museums
That Tom Gauld meme of the two opposing nations perfectly mirrored, but edited to be between archives and museums.
December 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
sk-76.bsky.social
"Tough Guys", Northampton, England (1980)
Photo: John Heywood / Victoria and
Albert Museum
From source: Black and white photograph, mounted on card, depicting three boys leaning against a brick wall. They are wearing jeans and bomber jackets, and have short cropped hair. Two are also wearing Dr Marten boots, popular in skinhead fashions.
December 19, 2024 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
seamas.bsky.social
Every time I'm in a restaurant I remember Kevin McAleer's reply to a waiter who told him the Soup Of The Day.

"Where there any other contenders?"
"Um, no?"
"A hollow victory, then".
December 19, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
niamhroisin.bsky.social
Best spot for the Christmas shopping - still cash only!! 🎸
Dark corridor to the sound cellar
December 19, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
opwireland.bsky.social
The #WinterSolstice livestream link is now available
Join us on 21 Dec @ 8:40 am to witness the solstice sunrise live from inside the #Newgrange chamber, weather permitting.
Save the link now and be part of this extraordinary moment.
🔗www.gov.ie/solstice
#ShareTheSolstice
December 17, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
sk-76.bsky.social
Maureen Tucker, Velvet Underground (1967)
Scan of newspaper article "Spotlighting the Single Girl: She Gave Up Computers to Play Drums in Band." Picture shows young woman smiling as she stands behind two drums holding sticks. Caption "Maureen Tucker".
December 17, 2024 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
waxy.org
Public Domain Day 2026: works from 1930 and sound recordings from 1925 open to everyone on January 1, including Betty Boop, Blondie and Dagwood, Animal Crackers, and so much more https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/...
Public Domain Day 2026
January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925! By Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle[1] CC BY 4.0 Please note that this site is only about US
web.law.duke.edu
December 17, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
andy.baio.net
Here's a good video review if you want to see it in action. So many great details, it's clear this was a labor of love. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PnW...
The Commodore 64 Ultimate Is Here – A Brand New C64 in 2025
YouTube video by Dan Wood
www.youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
neal.fun
Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)

The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used

> neal.fun/size-of-life/
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
dublincomicarts.bsky.social
This wonderful made video by Rón Maguire highlights how integral The Complex has been for DCAF's growth #SaveTheComplex
December 16, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
tubemapper.bsky.social
Reflections - Arnos Grove

More wet knees, this time at Arnos Grove London Underground station. I can't resist a good puddle reflection shot so I captured this photo quickly as the train arrived at the station.
Arnos Grove station
December 16, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
Today marks 250 years since the birth of the incomparable Jane Austen
Aerial view looking down on a fictional town from the early part of the 19th century, featuring a grand house, smaller houses and farmland
December 16, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
feljin.ie
They've done it again, they've cut more rail projects. The most criminal one for me is cancelling the reopening of the Waterford-Wexford/Rosslare line. On the left is the All-island Rail Review published by the last government and on the right is the plan published today.
December 15, 2025 at 4:13 PM
practicalreason.net
December light
December 15, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
thoughtrise.bsky.social
this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing

these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous

this is worth sharing and educating people about
screenshot of a post on facebook from Alex Lamoreaux, depicting two versions of the "same" photograph of a bobcat in front of a pine plantation, one labeled original game cam photo, one labeling AI processed the markings have been altered on the AI photo, and the head changed and resized text says: Oh! A neat goose hybrid posted to ‘What’s this Bird?’ but when you zoom in on the photos the bill details have been too manipulated by AI photo editing to be accurately assessed for which species may be involved. Scroll on… A cool-looking Red-tailed Hawk that someone is wondering which subspecies it might be - right up my alley! But when you zoom in on the photos literally every feather group has been so heavily manipulated and altered by AI editing that it’s impossible to determine subspecies because the photo is essentially fake now; just a mashup of whatever AI thinks parts of a Red-tail should look like. Scroll on… WOW! That’s a remarkable trail cam photo of a Bobcat! It almost looks like a painting!… but the head looks oddly small…. hmmmm. After some prodding the original photo is produced and sure enough it had been so heavily altered by AI ‘post processing’ that the photo posted was essentially a digital mock-up with totally different proportions and fur markings. No longer the photo off the trail cam; it may as well have just been ‘created’ by AI from scratch. This stuff is killing me. My days on social media are becoming very limited. We can’t even trust simple, everyday photos of animals to be real. The wildlife community needs to quit editing with AI, and we need to start calling out photographers that are using it. Our reality is being destroyed all around us.
December 15, 2025 at 2:21 AM
practicalreason.net
Bleak reading.
annamegill.com Anna Megill @annamegill.com · 6d
"The work that client firms are settling for is not better when it’s produced by AI, but it’s cheaper, and deemed 'good enough.'”

This is exactly what I feared. Not that AI would replace good writing (it can't), but that good writing would cease to be valued
bcmerchant.bsky.social Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · 8d
When the AI boom began, copywriters were singled out as one of the jobs most vulnerable to AI. Now, three years later, I wanted to hear from workers on the frontlines of the industry, to hear what had actually taken place on the ground.

For many, it was even worse than they'd feared.
December 14, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
jenson.org
My Ubuntu Summit talk is up! Where I talk about:
1. How Desktop UX is effectively dead
2. Why I hate the term UX/UI with the heat of 1000 suns
3. How OSS can actually innovate in #ux

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZT...
Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? | Ubuntu Summit 25.10
YouTube video by Canonical Ubuntu
www.youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
gotta say this set aged pretty well

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy2b...
Jena Friedman: Treat Nazis Like You Treat Women | CONAN on TBS
YouTube video by Team Coco
www.youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
tggleeson.bsky.social
Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Martin Parr.

Britons in their natural environment, a queue.
Blue Ice Cream van on a beach with a queue of people waiting to purchase. via https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/dec/07/martin-parr-photographer-career-in-pictures
December 12, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
jmason.org
This blog post about Google de-indexing a personal blog very much rings a bell for me -- journal.james-zhan.com/google-de-in... . The vast majority of my own blog is no longer in the Google index, for the same reason: "Page is not indexed: Crawled – currently not indexed"
bar chart showing a huge amount of "Page is not indexed: Crawled – currently not indexed"
December 12, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Dermot O'Halloran
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
Pudding basin hair-cut and
snake belt.
‘Peter’, 1974
Artist: Harry Wingfield
An illustration of the 1970s version of the character Peter from the ‘Key words to Reading scheme’ wearing a striped T-shirt, jeans and, unlike his cricket-favouring predecessor, holding a football
December 11, 2025 at 8:12 PM