Tim Dobbs
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Tim Dobbs
@tim.dobbs.world
I run autobio.blog and I am well-liked.
Come, attend to my beautiful japes
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
So all of the info on Wikipedia is shared under a Creative Commons Share Alike license. Does this mean that MSFT, Meta and Amazon will be making their models freely available?
I wonder how Wikipedia editors and contributors feel about this.

Wikipedia signs AI training deals with Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon

Wikimedia Enterprise signs Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral AI to paid deals.

arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/...
Wikipedia will share content with AI firms in new licensing deals
Wikimedia Enterprise signs Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral AI to paid deals.
arstechnica.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:37 PM
The Dreadstone thread is the most photorealistic depiction of modern life available today
By now, asteroid 2026 Dreadstone has impacted the Indian Ocean, sparking a firestorm not seen on this planet since the K–Pg Extinction Event. Most people just want to be with their families. Here are three ways effective business leaders can leverage targeted KPIs to turn tragedy 😔 into triumph 💪
January 14, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
I did flipbooks for all of the Animorphs covers I did, but they appeared in black and white and very small, so I am posting them here so you can see them large and in color. No AI here--just Elastic Reality and painting. You can buy a signed print of this cover here:
www.etsy.com/listing/897954595
January 13, 2026 at 2:36 PM
A lot of people have been saying this
Common Sense, published 250 years ago today.
January 10, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
ICE murdered a woman in Minneapolis. Do not be silent! Emergency protest of the ICE murder in Minneapolis. 630 Sansome at 6 PM. This is a non-violent, peaceful protest organized by ISF. Come join us and learn how to fight ICE: Observe! Respond! Abolish! #USPol #ICE #Minneapolis
January 7, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Paradise Killer is a trip. Don't miss!
Paradise Killer is free on the Epic Store for a few more hours and it's one of my all-time favourite detective games. I bounced off the demo, and un-bouncing off it turned out to be a great decision.

store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/para...
Paradise Killer | Download and Buy Today - Epic Games Store
Download and play Paradise Killer at the Epic Games Store. Check for platform availability and price!
store.epicgames.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
Paradise Killer is free on the Epic Store for a few more hours and it's one of my all-time favourite detective games. I bounced off the demo, and un-bouncing off it turned out to be a great decision.

store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/para...
Paradise Killer | Download and Buy Today - Epic Games Store
Download and play Paradise Killer at the Epic Games Store. Check for platform availability and price!
store.epicgames.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Not sure the temperature control is going particularly well here
ASN: AS207456 Pangea Connected Limited
Country: GB
City: London
State: England
Scanned: 2025-05-07T19:43:59
https://computernewb.com/vncresolver/browse#id/299353

#vnc #infosec
December 22, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Realizing that in a Pluribus situation I would ask them to keep making podcasts for me
December 22, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
Accessibility without verifiability isn’t clarity—it’s risk transfer. AI summaries don’t simplify truth; they abstract accountability. If readers can’t validate claims, the output degrades from aid to liability.
I don't know how many times this needs to be said, but apparently a lot: If you are not in a position to verify the accuracy of some synthetic text, the synthetic text is not useful/has a high potential to be misleading.

This is one of those cases.
The rationale I was given for AI Summaries *alongside* ordinary abstracts:

* The AI-generated summaries are intended to be more accessible to non-experts.

(1/3)
December 18, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Good thread on differing incentives in funding tech companies, and why so much energy goes to things no one wants instead of things that are, like, good businesses
These ridiculous mega-projects like "datacenters in space" (doomed by thermodynamics) make a LOT more sense when you realize they're massive Ponzi schemes designed to transfer wealth from pension funds to VC's through "fee stacking."

It's the old Assets Under Management con. It should be illegal.
“.. Skeptics believe the technical risks are being underestimated and say space-based data centers won’t be competitive on cost, especially if power and other constraints ease on the ground.”

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/tech/bezos-a...
December 12, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
The thing that gets me about this is that even if we wanted to make a positive AI ad, they never showcase AI being used to enhance someone’s day or improve their workflow. There’s no “it allows me to more easily do what I love.” It’s always presented as a failsafe for the dispassionate and incurious
Every ad for AI is like

Person: FUCK!! I don’t know what to get my loved one for Christmas!!!!!! I love them so much!!! Tell me what to do, AI!!

AI: get sock

Title Card: You are literally the smartest person for doing this
December 11, 2025 at 12:53 AM
At our house, the rule of thumb is "AI is a pretty good solution if you don't actually care about the final product"
The thing that gets me about this is that even if we wanted to make a positive AI ad, they never showcase AI being used to enhance someone’s day or improve their workflow. There’s no “it allows me to more easily do what I love.” It’s always presented as a failsafe for the dispassionate and incurious
Every ad for AI is like

Person: FUCK!! I don’t know what to get my loved one for Christmas!!!!!! I love them so much!!! Tell me what to do, AI!!

AI: get sock

Title Card: You are literally the smartest person for doing this
December 11, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Is there some way I can just get PDFs of cool zines to show up in my e-reader whenever they're published? Like, this is what RSS is for, right? But no one does that anymore?
I just think it would be cool to have a little digital magazine rack without having to move files around like a chump
December 10, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
Senior center
Robinson, ND
December 10, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
incubent. daminance.
cuda cuda
December 8, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
computer culture
December 7, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Anybody know any cool bands I can support on Bandcamp Friday?

Suggesting your band or you friend's band strongly encouraged!
December 6, 2025 at 2:12 AM
APE SKETCHES
December 5, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
Happy Birthday (Observed) to the uncontested KING Jonathan The Tortoise, estimated to be 192 years old

192 MORE YEARS! 192 MORE YEARS!
December 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Got any holiday music recommendations? Looking for something festive to spruce up the old December playlist
December 1, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
October 17, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Reposted by Tim Dobbs
This is me being pontkessly contrarian but re AI usage and management I feel like it's less that management is a fake job and more that being in position of power enables one to be increasingly worse at their job in increasingly visible ways without any personal consequences
November 29, 2025 at 7:31 PM