Aidan O’Brien
@aidanobrien.bsky.social
Talks about: internet governance, counter-violent extremism, and counter-disinformation but (mostly) movies
(He/Him)
(He/Him)
Counterpoint; Russia knocking out the internet globally for a couple months would be an absolute win for humanity…
Ireland’s pivotal location on the edge of Europe means that an attack on its undersea cables could disrupt financial markets across continents, spark devastating internet outages and profoundly damage the Big Tech infrastructure upon which the island has grown rich.
November 25, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Counterpoint; Russia knocking out the internet globally for a couple months would be an absolute win for humanity…
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
@teni.bsky.social don't seem to use their bsky account so I'm posting this over here from their facebook because people should see it: one of the first things our new President Connolly did last week was write the community a letter for TDOR 🏳️⚧️
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
November 24, 2025 at 6:51 PM
@teni.bsky.social don't seem to use their bsky account so I'm posting this over here from their facebook because people should see it: one of the first things our new President Connolly did last week was write the community a letter for TDOR 🏳️⚧️
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
1. Use a password manager to create unique, complex passwords
2. Don't use SMS for 2FA if at all possible: use an app or a hardware key
3. Never type your password into a site that's been sent to you as a link you weren't expecting
4. If your phone number stops working, go straight to your provider
2. Don't use SMS for 2FA if at all possible: use an app or a hardware key
3. Never type your password into a site that's been sent to you as a link you weren't expecting
4. If your phone number stops working, go straight to your provider
Scammers hacked her phone and hijacked her digital life - so how did they get her details? We tried to work out how 3 victims of scams were targeted and which data breaches criminals used. The results once again highlight how data breaches cause real harm to individuals
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Scammers hacked her phone and stole thousands of pounds - how did they get her details?
Sue Shore told the BBC how scammers targeted her - and we found her information had been leaked online.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:51 AM
1. Use a password manager to create unique, complex passwords
2. Don't use SMS for 2FA if at all possible: use an app or a hardware key
3. Never type your password into a site that's been sent to you as a link you weren't expecting
4. If your phone number stops working, go straight to your provider
2. Don't use SMS for 2FA if at all possible: use an app or a hardware key
3. Never type your password into a site that's been sent to you as a link you weren't expecting
4. If your phone number stops working, go straight to your provider
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
A movie that takes place where I am from
November 24, 2025 at 9:24 PM
A movie that takes place where I am from
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
A movie that takes place where I am from.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
November 24, 2025 at 12:32 PM
A movie that takes place where I am from.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
Ok, no wrong opinions but even if you don’t like Rogue One you have to acknowledge it’s a finely crafted piece of filmmaking. You might not like it, it might not be to your tastes but it’s *very* hard to claim it is a bad film.
November 24, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Ok, no wrong opinions but even if you don’t like Rogue One you have to acknowledge it’s a finely crafted piece of filmmaking. You might not like it, it might not be to your tastes but it’s *very* hard to claim it is a bad film.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
Seeing how much of the right-wing on Twitter is just bot farms, kinda lays bare how much hate and hatred is a project that needs to be constantly maintained, a fire that needs to be fed all the time lest it go out for a moment, so much time, effort, and resources to keep people angry and hateful.
November 24, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Seeing how much of the right-wing on Twitter is just bot farms, kinda lays bare how much hate and hatred is a project that needs to be constantly maintained, a fire that needs to be fed all the time lest it go out for a moment, so much time, effort, and resources to keep people angry and hateful.
A movie that takes place where I am from.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
November 24, 2025 at 12:32 PM
A movie that takes place where I am from.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
(Grabbers is like an Irish version of Tremors, set on a remote Donegal Island, with the twist that aliens/eldritch horrors are deathly allergic to alcohol.
So, to survive, ours heroes must do battle, by ensuring they are moderately pissed at all time.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
A movie that takes place where I am from.
November 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
A movie that takes place where I am from.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
A movie that takes place where I am from.
Both Ballymun and Dublin.
Both Ballymun and Dublin.
November 24, 2025 at 11:55 AM
A movie that takes place where I am from.
Both Ballymun and Dublin.
Both Ballymun and Dublin.
A movie that takes place where I am from*
(*They filmed some of the exteriors in UCD)
(*They filmed some of the exteriors in UCD)
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 AM
A movie that takes place where I am from*
(*They filmed some of the exteriors in UCD)
(*They filmed some of the exteriors in UCD)
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
"We need to stand up against unaccountable NGOs", says Maria Steen, spokesperson for the Irish. NGO, The Iona Institute. At the "Battle Of Ideas", an event hosted by Gript Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Life Institute, another NGO.
November 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
"We need to stand up against unaccountable NGOs", says Maria Steen, spokesperson for the Irish. NGO, The Iona Institute. At the "Battle Of Ideas", an event hosted by Gript Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Life Institute, another NGO.
"We need to stand up against unaccountable NGOs", says Maria Steen, spokesperson for the Irish. NGO, The Iona Institute. At the "Battle Of Ideas", an event hosted by Gript Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Life Institute, another NGO.
November 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
"We need to stand up against unaccountable NGOs", says Maria Steen, spokesperson for the Irish. NGO, The Iona Institute. At the "Battle Of Ideas", an event hosted by Gript Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Life Institute, another NGO.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
what gets me is the same companies (google, meta, tiktok) that actively sabotage access to platform data, deter independent auditors & aggressively retaliate against auditors are also at the forefront of academic events talking about consumer rights, meaningful regulation & ethical & responsible AI
hive-mind, know of any research/academic work that has detailed the various ways social media/large platforms have made audits/critical investigation of these platforms practically impossible. exuberant API fees, access only to partial data even when you can pay fee, retaliation again auditors, etc
November 23, 2025 at 4:25 PM
what gets me is the same companies (google, meta, tiktok) that actively sabotage access to platform data, deter independent auditors & aggressively retaliate against auditors are also at the forefront of academic events talking about consumer rights, meaningful regulation & ethical & responsible AI
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
Social media could work differently. We teach digital literacy, but ppl often can’t apply those lessons w/in systems that obscure where info comes from & how it gets to them. What might social media look like if users had better signals of information provenance? www.rawstory.com/maga-foreign...
Internet erupts as MAGA influencers exposed for being based in other countries
A large number of MAGA social media influencers were exposed over the weekend as being being based in other countries.Podcaster Matt Binder posted screenshots showing that Charlie’s Voice Rising, a po...
www.rawstory.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Social media could work differently. We teach digital literacy, but ppl often can’t apply those lessons w/in systems that obscure where info comes from & how it gets to them. What might social media look like if users had better signals of information provenance? www.rawstory.com/maga-foreign...
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
Will never not share this lol happy birthday Doctor Who!
November 23, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Will never not share this lol happy birthday Doctor Who!
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
A whole host of Garda Stations on the Moon you say?
New: major overhaul of immigration laws to see citizenship denied to those who got welfare, or are in debt. Family reunification only for close family, tighter rules around self sufficiency. Changes to revoke residency for those who commit serious crimes
www.thetimes.com/world/irelan...
www.thetimes.com/world/irelan...
No Irish citizenship for refugees on welfare benefits
Ministers to crack down on migration after UK review of asylum-seeking rules
www.thetimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:03 PM
A whole host of Garda Stations on the Moon you say?
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
The Irish Times published and lauded John Collison's op-ed, but did they fact-check it?
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
I’ve written something on John Collison’s Op-Ed and environmental democracy
Next time you’re out in Dublin, check if you’re being “socially de-risked” by a friendly face from his think-tank
elajucd.com/2025/11/21/o...
Next time you’re out in Dublin, check if you’re being “socially de-risked” by a friendly face from his think-tank
elajucd.com/2025/11/21/o...
On Environmental Democracy and the Collisons’ “Abundance-Verse”
Andrew Jackson 21 November 2025 I. Introduction A clamour of praise greeted John Collison’s “how to get Ireland moving” Op-Ed following its publication in the Irish Times on 25th October: the Irish…
elajucd.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:28 AM
The Irish Times published and lauded John Collison's op-ed, but did they fact-check it?
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
🇮🇪 Ireland has effective moratorium on new data centres due to lack of capacity
Unrelated: Ireland’s govt plans emergency powers & limits on access to the courts
Unrelated: €3.5 billion budget for infrastructure
Unrelated: Meta & Amazon are building nuclear reactors to power data centres for AI
Unrelated: Ireland’s govt plans emergency powers & limits on access to the courts
Unrelated: €3.5 billion budget for infrastructure
Unrelated: Meta & Amazon are building nuclear reactors to power data centres for AI
November 18, 2025 at 11:17 AM
🇮🇪 Ireland has effective moratorium on new data centres due to lack of capacity
Unrelated: Ireland’s govt plans emergency powers & limits on access to the courts
Unrelated: €3.5 billion budget for infrastructure
Unrelated: Meta & Amazon are building nuclear reactors to power data centres for AI
Unrelated: Ireland’s govt plans emergency powers & limits on access to the courts
Unrelated: €3.5 billion budget for infrastructure
Unrelated: Meta & Amazon are building nuclear reactors to power data centres for AI
We could just build a prison around the Burkes' house? It would be terribly convenient for all concerned.
November 21, 2025 at 12:17 PM
We could just build a prison around the Burkes' house? It would be terribly convenient for all concerned.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
Finally, I know of at least one case where the letter writer, deep into an episode of AI-induced psychosis, asked the LLM why scientists were not responding. The machine suggested that perhaps the scientists were trying to steal his discovery.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
November 21, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Finally, I know of at least one case where the letter writer, deep into an episode of AI-induced psychosis, asked the LLM why scientists were not responding. The machine suggested that perhaps the scientists were trying to steal his discovery.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
Moxon’s Shaving Cream: “Never exonerate malice simply because it is also stupid.”
November 20, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Moxon’s Shaving Cream: “Never exonerate malice simply because it is also stupid.”