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Tim Barham

Tim Barham

@timbarham.bsky.social

140 followers 610 following 160 posts

Travelling... motorcycle rides... astronomy. Ex-Microsoft (Visual Studio)... currently focused on @waypoint.guru Motorcycle stuff mostly posted to @timsrides.bsky.social

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Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jan 15

Hey everyone! I'm a software developer living in sunny South-East Queensland.

I also ride motorbikes, but mainly post about that at @timsrides.bsky.social, and manage some astronomy related automated accounts on Bluesky, mostly for the fun of it 🙂.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

That's fair... I honestly can't remember precisely what my thoughts were when I added that particular emoji... perhaps just a lame attempt to lighten the mood. Reading it back after the fact, yeah, I can see how it makes it read as insincere.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Nah, it's fair. All I can do is try to learn and do better.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Yeah, it wasn't what I intended, but it's a fair interpretation given my jerk of a post that started all this.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Yeah, that's completely fair. I kneejerk reacted without thinking it through.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Sorry, I actually intended that reply as a genuine mea culpa.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

You seem to be arguing against claims I've not made. I do see the limitations inherent in the architecture, and totally agree there's no "possibility of emergent intelligence" with LLMs by any reasonable definition of the word "intelligence".

That doesn't contradict anything I've said.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Fair enough! 🙂

And hey... at least if you do I'll know why, and I'll probably be able to resist the compulsion to go overboard trying to figure that out.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Hey... You may well be right on all counts! 😉

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

That was also what was mystifying to me... I was genuinely curious why someone without prior context would block over what I had said. Sigh... yeah... I accept I handled it poorly. Apologies for that.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Aw, that's adorable 😂

It's actually more a demo of an inquisitive brain, wanting to understand how people think. But hey... feel free to read into it whatever you like. 🙂

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

No magical thinking here at all... I understand how they work, their limitations, and how they can be useful to me.

LLMs certainly have significant limitations, but the fact remains we're well beyond some of the oversimplifications being described here.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 19

Hey if I left you feeling sanguine then at least something good came out of it 😉

I just found it a weird thing to block someone over, and was interested in the logic behind it.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 16

I certainly have less of an issue with it when it is presented honestly, rather than being passed off as genuine.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 16

My thought? Genuine photos I've seen don't pop as much visually, and so aren't as attention grabbing on social media.

A shame to see this stuff showing up more and more on Bluesky… zero respect for anyone who posts it with without coming clean (even if they initially posted it innocently).

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 15

I think the more serious problem is it's not real (and hey... no credit needed for AI images 🙂).

A colorful, surreal landscape of vividly striped flower fields on rolling hills, with tiny human figures walking among the rows; detected as 99.5% likely to be AI-generated or deepfake content by Hive Moderation.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 15

Because it is.

A colorful, surreal landscape of vividly striped flower fields on rolling hills, with tiny human figures walking among the rows; detected as 99.5% likely to be AI-generated or deepfake content by Hive Moderation.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 15

Sadly, no. It's an AI generated image.

A colorful, surreal landscape of vividly striped flower fields on rolling hills, with tiny human figures walking among the rows; detected as 99.5% likely to be AI-generated or deepfake content by Hive Moderation.

Reposted by Tim Barham

Tim's Motorbike Rides @timsrides.bsky.social · Jun 15

Enjoying pizza in Nimbin 🙂

#NimbinPride

A group of eight men are seated around an outdoor café table, smiling and enjoying drinks after a meal. Several empty plates and bottles are visible on the table. One man is standing in the background holding a coffee. The setting appears to be a small town with shops and parked cars in the background. The atmosphere is casual and friendly, with clear blue skies overhead.

Reposted by Tim Barham

Tim's Motorbike Rides @timsrides.bsky.social · Jun 14

Off on a ride to celebrate Pride Month tomorrow morning. First time I've done this, but I'm keen to support everything this month stands for—and it has become more personal to me this year.

Nimbin, a centre of counterculture, seems like a fitting destination 🙂.

Illustrated poster featuring a large, weathered rainbow overlaid with the text 'Nimbin Pride Ride' in a distressed typewriter font. The background shows a colorful forested landscape with native Australian wildlife, a red and white VW van, and two characters—one with a guitar and another smoking in a tree. The style evokes a retro, psychedelic, and counterculture aesthetic.

Reposted by Tim Barham

Johnnie Jae @johnniejae.bsky.social · Jun 3

On Sunday, my friend, Jonathan Joss was murdered and it took me a minute to find the words...

Like so many of our lives, Jonathan's existed at the powerful intersections of Indigeneity, queerness, visibility, and vulnerability. He was fierce, funny, flawed, and real in every way that mattered.

A blavk amd white portait of Jonathan Joss

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 4

The impact of the TACO administration is global, and millions will die as a result of its anti-science agenda.

A tweet by Joseph Allen (@j_g_allen) reads: “Harvard researcher Dr Sarah Fortune was only two years away from creating a vaccine that could have saved the 1.25 million people killed each year by tuberculosis. But last month, she received a letter telling her that the $60 million grant funding her research was being halted by President Trump.” Below the tweet is a quote on a white background: “She knew the president was threatening to pull grants from the university, but she had hoped her research might be spared. ‘I thought maybe somehow Harvard will escape,’ Fortune said. ‘I was very naive. Then the scope of the attack became clear.’” Below the quote is a photo of Dr. Sarah Fortune standing in a laboratory, wearing a black coat with red glasses hanging from the collar. She has shoulder-length blond hair and a serious expression. Laboratory equipment and shelves with supplies are visible in the background.

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 4

A truly beautiful place to visit! 🙂

Nature 🔴 Gallery @nature-gallery.bsky.social · Jun 3

Jul 17, 2019: Photo by Sheng L on Unsplash

Discover Hallstatt, Austria, a picturesque town surrounded by mountains and a serene lake, showcasing a blend of old and new architecture.

unsplash.com/photos/q2dUSl9S4X<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/houses-near-lake-q2dUSl9S4Xg" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">g

Aerial view of Hallstatt, Austria, showcasing its architecture, lake, and surrounding mountains. Photo by Sheng L on Unsplash

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · Jun 2

Just one reason promoting Pride Month is so important. I have treasured friends whose lives are at risk simply because of who they are. This is not hyperbole... this is the reality they live with every day.

A Facebook post on the account of Jonathan Joss, contains a statement from Tristan Kern de Gonzales, husband of Jonathan Joss. The statement reads:

"My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. That home was burned down after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire. We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.

Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.

When we returned to the site to check our mail we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw.

While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.

Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.

Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future.

He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.

I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.

To everyone who supported him, his fans, his friends, know that he valued you deeply. He saw you as family.

My focus now is on protecting Jonathan’s legacy and honoring the life we built together.

If your concern is how someone coped with trauma or how loudly they speak when recounting injustice and being ignored by authorities then you never truly cared about my husband.

Jonathan saved my life. I will carr…

Tim Barham @timbarham.bsky.social · May 30

What horrible, but unsurprising, news. But does this mean, at least, dang the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has survived the cuts?

Reposted by Tim Barham

Tim's Motorbike Rides @timsrides.bsky.social · May 27

Here's a playlist of four Relive videos of our recent Painted Silos Tour in South-East Queensland!

We started out in the rain, but the skies quickly cleared up, and we had blue skies and sunshine for most of the trip.

Please enjoy! 🙂🏍️

Painted Silos Tour – Day 1: Brisbane to Mount Perry

YouTube video by Tim's Motorbike Rides

www.youtube.com