I, BS
@thebenshaw.bsky.social
Luddite/technologist, social justice worrier, recalcitrant masters student poking at media-ecologies and socio-technologies. Tangata tiriti, trying to be a better guest on unceded Djarra country.
Pinned
I, BS
@thebenshaw.bsky.social
· Dec 19
Me, struggling to write a short bio: "How can I possibly capture all of my life's rich experience and my many nuanced and thoughtful perspectives in so little space?"
My doctor:
My doctor:
I feel like I've gone insane reading this. The imagery in the article shows surrounding city blocks reduced to rubble, and we're hand-wringing over the corner of a cemetery. I guess 100 year dead Australians are more newsworthy than Palestinian lives.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Australia vows to repair ‘distressing’ damage to war graves in Gaza bulldozed by Israeli army
Satellite photographs show rows of gravestones removed and soil disturbed at the Gaza War Cemetery where more than 250 Australians are buried
www.theguardian.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:06 AM
I feel like I've gone insane reading this. The imagery in the article shows surrounding city blocks reduced to rubble, and we're hand-wringing over the corner of a cemetery. I guess 100 year dead Australians are more newsworthy than Palestinian lives.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by I, BS
"I am my own original sin. One someone is always willing to forgive. Until enough of you demand that I be better."
I’m Still Your America
Hey, patriot. It’s been a week. As ICE spreads terror through the streets, and Teacup Eichmann presided over the murder of yet another innocent civ...
buff.ly
January 30, 2026 at 7:27 PM
"I am my own original sin. One someone is always willing to forgive. Until enough of you demand that I be better."
Dang some of these are absolutely seared into my childhood brain. Farewell Bob.
January 29, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Dang some of these are absolutely seared into my childhood brain. Farewell Bob.
Not 50 yet, but on a slippery algorithmic slope towards "buying tools and making jigs for building garage storage for storing the tools and jigs you need to build garage storage"
every time i see a white guy in their fifties radicalized by the twitter algorithm into racism and extremism i think about how it's a total failure of the youtube algorithm to instead radicalize him into home brewing, elaborate A/V setups, or DIY solar
January 29, 2026 at 5:06 AM
Not 50 yet, but on a slippery algorithmic slope towards "buying tools and making jigs for building garage storage for storing the tools and jigs you need to build garage storage"
So the urban myth is true! Someone *is* poisoning Halloween candy (the manufacturer).
Candy found with elevated levels of arsenic, Florida investigation finds
Candy found with elevated levels of arsenic, Florida investigation finds
Out of 46 varieties of candy from 10 companies tested by the Florida Department of Health, 28 contained arsenic.
www.krqe.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:35 AM
So the urban myth is true! Someone *is* poisoning Halloween candy (the manufacturer).
Reposted by I, BS
So initial experiments with Open AI's vibe-coding science tool Prism are going about as well as expected.
January 27, 2026 at 10:42 PM
So initial experiments with Open AI's vibe-coding science tool Prism are going about as well as expected.
Reposted by I, BS
*whispers* hey. hey i have a question
confidence to do what
confidence to do what
NEW Economist/YouGov Jan 23-26: ICE
% of U.S. adult citizens saying they have very little confidence in ICE, according to polls conducted...
Jan 23-26, 2026: 55%
Jan 9-12, 2026: 49%
Dec 12-15, 2025: 45%
today.yougov.com/politics/art...
% of U.S. adult citizens saying they have very little confidence in ICE, according to polls conducted...
Jan 23-26, 2026: 55%
Jan 9-12, 2026: 49%
Dec 12-15, 2025: 45%
today.yougov.com/politics/art...
January 27, 2026 at 11:18 PM
*whispers* hey. hey i have a question
confidence to do what
confidence to do what
Reposted by I, BS
Anyone at the so-called #AustraliaDay #InvasionDay rally in #Naarm #Melbourne today, please be careful when leaving the rally.
Large numbers of fascists reported near #Flinders, assaulting anyone travelling to/from the protest.
This alert just went out, please share widely. Thanks 🙏
Large numbers of fascists reported near #Flinders, assaulting anyone travelling to/from the protest.
This alert just went out, please share widely. Thanks 🙏
January 26, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Anyone at the so-called #AustraliaDay #InvasionDay rally in #Naarm #Melbourne today, please be careful when leaving the rally.
Large numbers of fascists reported near #Flinders, assaulting anyone travelling to/from the protest.
This alert just went out, please share widely. Thanks 🙏
Large numbers of fascists reported near #Flinders, assaulting anyone travelling to/from the protest.
This alert just went out, please share widely. Thanks 🙏
Legit curious as to what Gramsci would have made of a "commemorative" bumbag with his name on it. bsky.app/profile/work...
#OtD 22 Jan 1891 Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci was born in Sardinia. His key contribution was his theory of hegemony, which describes how the capitalist class maintains its power through its domination of culture. Commemorative merch here: shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/...
January 23, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Legit curious as to what Gramsci would have made of a "commemorative" bumbag with his name on it. bsky.app/profile/work...
Evergreen.
Young replies: ""Well, I don't know, Martin. It's not the entire system. It's only part of it, and I think we can fix that."
King's reply begins: "I don't need to hear from you, Andy," he said. "I've heard enough from you. You're a capitalist, and I'm not."
King's reply begins: "I don't need to hear from you, Andy," he said. "I've heard enough from you. You're a capitalist, and I'm not."
January 20, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Evergreen.
Reposted by I, BS
So they're going to build a little prison at the hospital? In a country where building a hospital appears to be almost impossible. So instead they're building a prison, which can always be afforded.
The only reason that Corrections is starting an absurd trial of hospital hubs for incarcerated people sent to hospital is because Corrections continues to deny high-quality healthcare to incarcerated people inside prison. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Corrections to trial 'hospital hub', current model of hospital escorts 'no longer fit-for-purpose'
It comes after a prisoner was on the run for more than a week after escaping while in a hospital escort in Auckland.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 17, 2026 at 11:01 PM
So they're going to build a little prison at the hospital? In a country where building a hospital appears to be almost impossible. So instead they're building a prison, which can always be afforded.
As a horrified onlooker I appreciate David's excellent writing on the specific socio-historical stuff playing out in the US rn, but "that guy" sure as hell exists here too, and there's no shortage of self-interested numbskulls who'd love to wind him up and "front toward enemy".
I wrote about The Tantrum State and living in it. Personally I do not care for it very much. defector.com/fascists-are...
Fascists Are Pathetic | Defector
Two days before a shouting cluster of its agents surrounded the car of a Minneapolis mother and shot her to death last week, ICE was demanding answers from the Hilton hotel group on X.com. “Why did yo...
defector.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:22 PM
As a horrified onlooker I appreciate David's excellent writing on the specific socio-historical stuff playing out in the US rn, but "that guy" sure as hell exists here too, and there's no shortage of self-interested numbskulls who'd love to wind him up and "front toward enemy".
I know this is far from the most important thing about this but... Is my guy wearing a raincoat at an official state event? Paging @trufelman.bsky.social
Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Greenland did not want to be 'owned', 'governed' or 'be part of the US', while Danish leader Mette Frederiksen insisted: 'Greenland is not for sale.' ft.trib.al/vnEiS7X
January 13, 2026 at 10:58 PM
I know this is far from the most important thing about this but... Is my guy wearing a raincoat at an official state event? Paging @trufelman.bsky.social
Feeling very fortunate to have friends and community that will take us and our various animals in after a (to be totally honest, underprepared) escape from the situation in central Vic. Our power going out was the last straw. Hoping everyone out there has been able to find safety.
January 9, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Feeling very fortunate to have friends and community that will take us and our various animals in after a (to be totally honest, underprepared) escape from the situation in central Vic. Our power going out was the last straw. Hoping everyone out there has been able to find safety.
Reposted by I, BS
without revealing your age, get off the internet
January 9, 2026 at 10:02 AM
without revealing your age, get off the internet
In a fit of pique yesterday I reported xdotcom on the google play store for violating the Australian online safety act. They came back saying I needed to cite "specific laws" (which I did?) I guess "we finally figured out non-consensual nudes and CSAM as a service at scale" is just nbd these days.
X. It’s what’s happening
From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, get the full story with all the live commentary.
x.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:43 PM
In a fit of pique yesterday I reported xdotcom on the google play store for violating the Australian online safety act. They came back saying I needed to cite "specific laws" (which I did?) I guess "we finally figured out non-consensual nudes and CSAM as a service at scale" is just nbd these days.
Reposted by I, BS
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
Rotated my torso to the left while vacuuming, slipped a disc
What's the most ridiculous way you ever hurt yourself? I got out of the tub, skidded in water and tripped over the toilet. Ankle sprain.
😅
😅
January 5, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Rotated my torso to the left while vacuuming, slipped a disc
Reposted by I, BS
"if you scoff at the idea that one should have any ethical boundaries at all, and think that there’s no reason to care about the overall utilitarian impact of this technology, that it’s worth using no matter what else it does as long as it makes you 5% better at your job, that’s sociopath behavior."
Deciphering Glyph ::
How To Argue With Me About AI, If You Must
Deciphering Glyph, the blog of Glyph Lefkowitz.
blog.glyph.im
January 5, 2026 at 8:05 AM
"if you scoff at the idea that one should have any ethical boundaries at all, and think that there’s no reason to care about the overall utilitarian impact of this technology, that it’s worth using no matter what else it does as long as it makes you 5% better at your job, that’s sociopath behavior."
Look upon my works ye mighty and despair
December 25, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Look upon my works ye mighty and despair
Reposted by I, BS
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
I would 100% watch an alt-Eurovision of say 5 entrants from each of these countries. You've got your Euro disco classics (Netherlands, Iceland), some unapologetic easteuro pagan psy-pop-metal (Slovenia) and your "wildcards, with unsubtle socialist messaging" (Spain, Ireland). What more do you need?
So now that’s a founding member and biggest financier outside the Big Five (Netherlands), a member of the Big Five (Spain), a country with the joint-most wins (Ireland), a country pivotal getting other former communist states involved (Slovenia), and a country where most watch the contest (Iceland)
Iceland to boycott Eurovision over Israel's participation
December 11, 2025 at 10:15 AM
I would 100% watch an alt-Eurovision of say 5 entrants from each of these countries. You've got your Euro disco classics (Netherlands, Iceland), some unapologetic easteuro pagan psy-pop-metal (Slovenia) and your "wildcards, with unsubtle socialist messaging" (Spain, Ireland). What more do you need?
Reposted by I, BS
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by I, BS
A massive problem today is the uneven distribution of shame. Some of us are running dedicated on-site shame servers 24/7 while others have no access to shame at all, even though they desperately need it. What we need to do is put shame in the cloud
December 6, 2025 at 2:54 AM
A massive problem today is the uneven distribution of shame. Some of us are running dedicated on-site shame servers 24/7 while others have no access to shame at all, even though they desperately need it. What we need to do is put shame in the cloud
Spoilers for Season 2 of Andor, but still reeling from the inspired creative choice in ep9 to posit that Galactic Standard is exactly the same as modern English, except for how they pronounce "adversaries".
December 2, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Spoilers for Season 2 of Andor, but still reeling from the inspired creative choice in ep9 to posit that Galactic Standard is exactly the same as modern English, except for how they pronounce "adversaries".