Phillip de Wet
@phillipdewet.bsky.social
Editor, columnist, ex News24, ex Business Insider SA, ex Mail & Guardian, ex Daily Maverick.
Living in Canterbury, writing about technology and geopolitics, learning about AI, advocating risk-adjusted writing.
Living in Canterbury, writing about technology and geopolitics, learning about AI, advocating risk-adjusted writing.
My media literacy message remains "the media: not as bad as you think!"
Simultaneously, we we need to arrange some field trips to Rwanda for editors. I'd go so far as to say it should be a statutory requirement.
Simultaneously, we we need to arrange some field trips to Rwanda for editors. I'd go so far as to say it should be a statutory requirement.
December 10, 2025 at 10:47 AM
My media literacy message remains "the media: not as bad as you think!"
Simultaneously, we we need to arrange some field trips to Rwanda for editors. I'd go so far as to say it should be a statutory requirement.
Simultaneously, we we need to arrange some field trips to Rwanda for editors. I'd go so far as to say it should be a statutory requirement.
"...the organisers were found guilty of eight charges of misleading the public, and jailed for 13 months each."
December 5, 2025 at 9:51 AM
"...the organisers were found guilty of eight charges of misleading the public, and jailed for 13 months each."
You can put Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk in a pink bikini, via a simple "twinning" LLM attack to bypass filters.
ChatGPT5.1 is not falling for it right now, but this is Perplexity's take.
Original report is based on Nano Banana Pro.
anthonymattas.com/articles/twi...
ChatGPT5.1 is not falling for it right now, but this is Perplexity's take.
Original report is based on Nano Banana Pro.
anthonymattas.com/articles/twi...
December 2, 2025 at 5:54 PM
You can put Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk in a pink bikini, via a simple "twinning" LLM attack to bypass filters.
ChatGPT5.1 is not falling for it right now, but this is Perplexity's take.
Original report is based on Nano Banana Pro.
anthonymattas.com/articles/twi...
ChatGPT5.1 is not falling for it right now, but this is Perplexity's take.
Original report is based on Nano Banana Pro.
anthonymattas.com/articles/twi...
But hey, the boats come with helicopters, so I guess people find ways to get around.
October 14, 2025 at 12:20 PM
But hey, the boats come with helicopters, so I guess people find ways to get around.
Selling orange juice? You'd better be extremely clear whether it is from concentrate and if you have any other ingredients in there.
Selling a house? Go caveat your emptor if you think there will be up-front disclosure.
Selling a house? Go caveat your emptor if you think there will be up-front disclosure.
October 6, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Selling orange juice? You'd better be extremely clear whether it is from concentrate and if you have any other ingredients in there.
Selling a house? Go caveat your emptor if you think there will be up-front disclosure.
Selling a house? Go caveat your emptor if you think there will be up-front disclosure.
Big news today (and even a some controversy) because the English govt thinks a system of home buying that is utterly batshit insane should maybe be tweaked slightly.
That the terms "gazump" and "gazunder" even exist beyond a medieval curiosity still blows my mind. But Brits are just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That the terms "gazump" and "gazunder" even exist beyond a medieval curiosity still blows my mind. But Brits are just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
October 6, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Big news today (and even a some controversy) because the English govt thinks a system of home buying that is utterly batshit insane should maybe be tweaked slightly.
That the terms "gazump" and "gazunder" even exist beyond a medieval curiosity still blows my mind. But Brits are just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That the terms "gazump" and "gazunder" even exist beyond a medieval curiosity still blows my mind. But Brits are just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That is where you learn that the testing covered not only some quite scary toxins, but also Ebola.
As in, at the current (early) stage of AI-assisted protein design, it is possible you could design something Ebola-like and get a commercial lab to make it real for you.
Not easy, but possible.
As in, at the current (early) stage of AI-assisted protein design, it is possible you could design something Ebola-like and get a commercial lab to make it real for you.
Not easy, but possible.
October 3, 2025 at 5:39 PM
That is where you learn that the testing covered not only some quite scary toxins, but also Ebola.
As in, at the current (early) stage of AI-assisted protein design, it is possible you could design something Ebola-like and get a commercial lab to make it real for you.
Not easy, but possible.
As in, at the current (early) stage of AI-assisted protein design, it is possible you could design something Ebola-like and get a commercial lab to make it real for you.
Not easy, but possible.
I hereby call dibs on "Chroaude", and append proof it is not currently in use for @anthropic.com's browser extension, or anything else.
August 27, 2025 at 11:09 AM
I hereby call dibs on "Chroaude", and append proof it is not currently in use for @anthropic.com's browser extension, or anything else.
Remember Astronomer, the little Apache company made famous by a Coldplay kiss cam moment featuring CEO Andy Byron?
It just sent out this subject line with a straight face.
It just sent out this subject line with a straight face.
August 5, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Remember Astronomer, the little Apache company made famous by a Coldplay kiss cam moment featuring CEO Andy Byron?
It just sent out this subject line with a straight face.
It just sent out this subject line with a straight face.
Some days it is really hard to visit the faraway magic land of AI policy – where it transforms society entirely – and then come home to the productivity tools supposed AI leaders plonk in front of their users like poorhouse gruel.
July 4, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Some days it is really hard to visit the faraway magic land of AI policy – where it transforms society entirely – and then come home to the productivity tools supposed AI leaders plonk in front of their users like poorhouse gruel.
Every LLM I touch eventually start speaking South African.
July 3, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Every LLM I touch eventually start speaking South African.
The UK is in trouble at home but a serious foreign power – according to the 2025 edition of the definitive media dipstick check from @reutersinstitute.bsky.social.
The BBC is much more trusted in South Africa than it is at home. (Where it is the most trusted outlet, but that's not saying much.)
The BBC is much more trusted in South Africa than it is at home. (Where it is the most trusted outlet, but that's not saying much.)
June 17, 2025 at 9:26 AM
The UK is in trouble at home but a serious foreign power – according to the 2025 edition of the definitive media dipstick check from @reutersinstitute.bsky.social.
The BBC is much more trusted in South Africa than it is at home. (Where it is the most trusted outlet, but that's not saying much.)
The BBC is much more trusted in South Africa than it is at home. (Where it is the most trusted outlet, but that's not saying much.)
Bless the FT. The Bond mention is there - but a dozen paragraphs of seriousness in.
June 7, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Bless the FT. The Bond mention is there - but a dozen paragraphs of seriousness in.
Just spotted that ITWeb – unlike literally every online publication ever – has maintained a clean archive for a quarter century. Which makes it look kinda like I simply stepped out the door for a moment, then walked back in two decades later.
June 2, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Just spotted that ITWeb – unlike literally every online publication ever – has maintained a clean archive for a quarter century. Which makes it look kinda like I simply stepped out the door for a moment, then walked back in two decades later.
Typically you won't get me with a man-bites dog story, or a pot-calls-kettle black angle. But hot damn, an absolute monarch speaking out against autocracy? That I need to see.
May 18, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Typically you won't get me with a man-bites dog story, or a pot-calls-kettle black angle. But hot damn, an absolute monarch speaking out against autocracy? That I need to see.
South Africa should totally shoulder its way into that action, if the price is right.
May 15, 2025 at 11:16 AM
South Africa should totally shoulder its way into that action, if the price is right.
It feels like there are a lot more Teslas speeding like crazy compared to a year ago.
Chances are I'm just noticing more; the drivers probably didn't turn into suicidal arseholes overnight.
But it's making me wonder how - or rather why - it is possible to break the speed limit in a Tesla.
Chances are I'm just noticing more; the drivers probably didn't turn into suicidal arseholes overnight.
But it's making me wonder how - or rather why - it is possible to break the speed limit in a Tesla.
May 5, 2025 at 8:13 AM
It feels like there are a lot more Teslas speeding like crazy compared to a year ago.
Chances are I'm just noticing more; the drivers probably didn't turn into suicidal arseholes overnight.
But it's making me wonder how - or rather why - it is possible to break the speed limit in a Tesla.
Chances are I'm just noticing more; the drivers probably didn't turn into suicidal arseholes overnight.
But it's making me wonder how - or rather why - it is possible to break the speed limit in a Tesla.
The world has just barely recovered from the horror of the safari suit. And now, from the same nation...
April 30, 2025 at 3:36 PM
The world has just barely recovered from the horror of the safari suit. And now, from the same nation...
Now that is some well-considered censorship from the BBC. Maybe a touch too subtle, and an explanation in the caption would have helped reader trust, but still.
April 25, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Now that is some well-considered censorship from the BBC. Maybe a touch too subtle, and an explanation in the caption would have helped reader trust, but still.
What do rural Welsh trains and urban South African taxis have in common?
If you don't know the right hand signal, you ain't going nowhere.
If you don't know the right hand signal, you ain't going nowhere.
April 18, 2025 at 7:52 PM
What do rural Welsh trains and urban South African taxis have in common?
If you don't know the right hand signal, you ain't going nowhere.
If you don't know the right hand signal, you ain't going nowhere.
It's official: @harryrose.bsky.social says it is okay to stop being a coffee snob after you become a parent.
March 22, 2025 at 12:52 PM
It's official: @harryrose.bsky.social says it is okay to stop being a coffee snob after you become a parent.
Five years ago today: after an afternoon's work by a volunteer team from @news24southafrica.bsky.social, we walk into a branch of @burgerkingbk.bsky.social in South Africa and claim some free hamburgers for vulnerable kids in Johannesburg.
1,020 hamburgers in total, in the end.
1,020 hamburgers in total, in the end.
March 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Five years ago today: after an afternoon's work by a volunteer team from @news24southafrica.bsky.social, we walk into a branch of @burgerkingbk.bsky.social in South Africa and claim some free hamburgers for vulnerable kids in Johannesburg.
1,020 hamburgers in total, in the end.
1,020 hamburgers in total, in the end.
Well played, anonymous @financialtimes.com page editor, that's the kind of juxtaplay that keeps me reading the physical edition.
March 11, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Well played, anonymous @financialtimes.com page editor, that's the kind of juxtaplay that keeps me reading the physical edition.
Oh, it is much worse than that. A well-capitalised company bought out the various biltong businesses South African expats had built in the US. Once it cornered the market, it started to drop "biltong" in favour of "thinly sliced steak".
Guess what's going to happen next.
Guess what's going to happen next.
March 11, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Oh, it is much worse than that. A well-capitalised company bought out the various biltong businesses South African expats had built in the US. Once it cornered the market, it started to drop "biltong" in favour of "thinly sliced steak".
Guess what's going to happen next.
Guess what's going to happen next.
Now, are we at the start of a superhero movie, or a zombie movie?
March 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Now, are we at the start of a superhero movie, or a zombie movie?