Stephen McCarthy

@misterjabsticks

Data protection and AI, dogs, photography, legislation, science fiction, ancient Greek physics. (he/him). Fervently #TransRightsAreHumanRights. 📷 photography is currently without a home, having left Meta's evil influence.

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Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· 16d

Well hello there, spiffy new Orphic Collection! Love getting a new Loeb.

Picture of the green cover of a new Loeb Classics vilume. The text is:

Loeb Classical Library
"Oprhic Collection"
Edited by Alberto Bernabé
Translated by Michael Chase

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· 18d

without downloading new pics what's it like dating you?

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· 23d

I get this message at least once a week. Yet, not once in years has any update made PowerPoint better.

Screenshot of an update message in PowerPoint, which says: "Update Available PowerPoint keeps getting better - restart to apply the latest updates"

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jul 18

Fuck right off Tescos. It's July.

A Tescos display case for Heineken 0.0, the text says "Reach for the star this Christmas".

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jul 16

Meme of an animated character surrounded by knives and swords with a grin on his face. The unpopular but thoroughly accurate opinion in the text: "George Lucas hasn't directed a good movie since THX 1138".

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jul 14

This, to me, is a beautiful image. I don't understand why.

Black and white image of a wall with a duct in the top half, to the right of which looks like a vent. Minimalist.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jul 8

This is a lovely essay, I'd never read before, by Virginia Woolf: "How Should One Read a Book? Read it as if one were writing it" yalereview.org/article/virg...

Screenshot of text from the essay linked. The final sentence is highlighted. The text reads: "But it is undoubted that these hybrid books, these warehouses and depositories of facts, play a great part in resting the brain and restoring its zest of imagination. The work of building up a life for oneself from skulls, thimbles, scissors, and sonnets stimulates our interest in creation and rouses our wish to see the work beautifully and powerfully done by a Flaubert or a Tolstoi. Moreover, however interesting facts may be, they are an inferior form of fiction, and gradually we become impatient of their weakness and diffuseness, of their compromises and evasions, of the slovenly sentences which they make for themselves, and are eager to revive ourselves with the greater intensity and truth of fiction."

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jul 8

Annoying.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jul 8

Two very small insects (just over 1mm) have found their way *inside* the screen of my iMac. I cannot shoosh them away because they're between the glass and the image. This is unusually disturbing.

A macro photo of a tiny insect inside a computer screen.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jul 5

Always liked this photograph of a cat from Josef Koudelka's "Exiles", somewhere in England, 1972.

Black and white photo of a wall at the side of a house. In the centre od the wall, running down it, is a cat and its shadow.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jun 24

Two panel meme.
Top Panel: screenshot of Richard Harris from Gladiator saying, "There was once a dream that was "The University". You could only whisper it."
Bottom Panel: screenshot of Juaquin Phoenix from Gladiator shouting, "GIVE ME MORE MANAGERSSSSSSSSS!!!"

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jun 20

All data centres should be required to provide their own sources of power and cooling, independent of electricy grid and local water supply.

Free speech meme, with a painting of a man standing in a crowded room to declare his opinion.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jun 19

A robin has foolishly decided to nest in a small tree in our garden, about two foot off the ground. Recently it's been terrorised by magpies so I've tried to build up some branches and grass so only the robin can fit in and out. Not sure what else to do. At least 3 chicks, but probably 4.

Photograph of a robin's nest in one of our trees. Used a very long zoom lens from about a meter away. You can see the heads of two chicks clearly, and one slightly covered on the right. They are speckled light and dark brown, with lighter feathers under their beaks. They initially hid completely, but over the past few days as we've built up the branches around the tree to protect from magpies, they've started to poke their heads out to see what this big hairy human is up to.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jun 16

Went for a walk. #B&W #photography

Black and white photo of trees at the edge of a forest, white bark against a dark background.

Black and white photo of a white horse in a small field, trees behind and a grey sky.

Black and white photo of grass or reeds under the water in a canal.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jun 4

Ah yeah. There's the auld MU in LiDAR (slightly out of date). Very cool. www.arcgis.com/apps/mapview...

A LiDAR image of the Maynooth University campus. The image is black and white, showing the North and South campuses. Information from the website: "LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing technology, i.e. the technology is not in direct contact with what is being measured. From satellite, aeroplane or helicopter, a LiDAR system sends a light pulse to the ground. This pulse hits the ground and returns back to a sensor on the system. The time is recorded to measure how long it takes for this light to return. Knowing this time measurement scientists are able to create topography maps."

I wonder if LiDAR has been or is being used to create 3D models of locations for visually impaired people to experience?

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Jun 4

Whether to laugh or to cry 😔... after presenting a bunch of terrifying statistics, the report then uses an AI-generated image. Most will skip the text underneath, illustrating how much such an image costs in terms of electricity, carbon footprint, water, and land. Still, hire an artist, people.

Screenshot of an AI-generated image in the 'Executive Summary' of the UN's report on the Environmental Cost of AI's Energy Use, p. 11.

The image is of a massive footprint in the dirt, with imprints like those of a shoe, but in the form of electronic circuit lines. In the background on the left are what look like 4 nuclear towers, and on the right three data centres.

The text beneath the image illustrates the environmental cost of producing such an image: "AI-generated conceptual image of AI's environmental footprint, generated using OpenAI’s ChatGPT/DALL·E, May 2026. Estimated footprints per standard-resolution AI image: 2.9 Wh electricity, 1.22 g CO₂e, 28.6 mL of water, and 0.45 cm² of land, based on literature benchmarks and global average electricity footprint factors."

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· May 27

Still from the Lord of the Rings where Gandalf is reading a very large old book. The text on the left of the image says, "Where's the word I was looking for? Schaden... something..."

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· May 26

The image is of the angry goose meme. Two panels. Top panel has the goose questioning suspiciously, "Where's the Romantica?" Bottom panel has the goose chasing a man, shouting "Where's the Romantica???".

For those sadly unaware, Romanticas in Ireland were the greatest ice cream dessert ever created.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· May 24

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan

Black and white photo of Kylie Minogue, the Bob Dylan of Pop Music.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· May 19

Two photos from Edinburgh, taken with the Chroma 24mm f11 lens, which is a fun lens. Basically point and shoot because there's no focusing. None needed at those specs, as everything is pretty much in focus from 1m to infinity. #photography

A black and white photograph inside one of Edinburgh's train stations, on a balcony overlooking a platform. A train is pulled up in the middle of the shot, and there are people all around. The roof is visible with criss-cross metal beams supporting everything. On the right of the image is a ramp road leading up out of the train station.

A black and white photograph of a view of Edinburgh castle which is visible at the top of the hill at the top of the photo. On the bottom left of the photo is a very large ornate fountain. The picture is taken near sunset.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· May 12

I am very, very tired, and coffee has stopped making a difference.

Image of the cartoon Winnie the Pooh, an orange bear in a red t-shirt, reading a piece of paper. His eyes look very, very tired. He is exhausted.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· May 6

A classic scene from Skakespeare's great work, Romeo and Juliet and Godzilla. At this point, I look forward to Godzilla's The Odyssey more than Nolan's The Odyssey.

Two colour panel's from the comic Romeo and Juliet and Godzilla. On the left panel are two characters running towards us. The one on the left says: "Here's much to do with hate, but more with love. Dost... dost thou not laugh?" The one on the right says: "No, coz, I rather weep. For retreat must, if we wish our lives to keep!"

In the panel on the right we see the giant Godzilla stomping on buildings, with our two characters running off to the right. The sound effect is written: BOOM, in large red letters as Godzilla roars.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· May 2

To make custard, one takes custard powder, adds milk, and heats the lot. Or you can buy ready made custard in a carton. For some reason, the ready made contains palm oil, even though no palm oil is required in making custard from powder, or from scratch.

A photo of two varieties of Bird's Custard. On the left is a ready made carton, labelled 'ready to serve'. On the right is a tub of custard powder, which you have to prepare yourself.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Apr 29

I felt it would be wrong not to try this.

Photo of my hand holding a bottle of minrral, Club Sublime 99: ice cream flavour. The liquid is pink.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Apr 24

Well then. That's Timex added to the No Fly list for me. #HarryPotter #transrightsarehumanrights #boycott

Screenshot of an email from the Timex EU list announcing an upcoming partnership to release Harry Potter themed watches. The image in the mail is a depiction of the school, Hogwarts, at night, with the text, Coming Soon Harry Potter Timex.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Apr 22

A photo of some grass and a number of yellow dandelions.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Apr 17

A view from the darkness of ignorance as I attempt to successfully navigate Loeb online, a flash of knowledge, alas, unreachable. (Francis Danby (1793-1861), The Opening of the Sixth Seal, 1828)

Painting by Francis Danby (1793-1861), The Opening of the Sixth Seal, 1828.

This is a depiction from the biblical book of Revelations of the opening of fhe sixth seal. At the top of the image is light and clouds, under which is a scene of gloom, redness from what looks like fire (or perhaps the depths of hell), suffering humans on a rocky outcrop at the bottom left. On the right of the painting is a flashing bolt of lightning, presumably the sixth seal opening. Although I don't know about Revelations, so this is just my interpretation.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Apr 15

This is a subskeet. People, this should not be allowed, especially when academic writers earn so little from these publishers. Also a PDF shouldn't cost the same as a printed book.

A screenshot of two purchase buttons from an unnamed website, for a book. Both buttons are blue with white text.

The first button says: Purchase eBook 109,95€

The second button says: Purchase Hardcover 109,95€

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Apr 9

Since I removed myself from Meta's evil place, I've taken very few photos. Just doodling around in the garden is all. And photos of Riley the dog. Haven't felt the urge in a very long time. I've probably 25-30 undeveloped rolls of mostly 120 film sitting collecting dust. Landscapes and abstract.

Black and white photo of the top branches of a tree in my back garden. It's starting to flower with white blossoms. The sky in the background is cloudy.

Close up black and white photo of some of the white blossoms on a branch of a tree in the garden.

Stephen McCarthy@misterjabsticks· Apr 1

Harry Hill's AI bot, S.A.R.A.H. (Synthetic Animatronic Robot And Helper), is the only AI for me, I think.