Éibhear Ó hAnluain

@eibhear

Matrix address: @eibhear:matrix.gibiris.org Free Software user and supporter Civil Liberties enthusiast 100% personal account Also operating @theauldsthretch.bsky.social Re-post policy:

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Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y eibhear.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· 15d

Posted in the last 20 minutes (i.e. I confirmed about 20 minutes ago that the correction notice wasn't there.)

A screenshot of the bottom of the original story: "Correction: An original version of this article referred in error to Syria. This reference has now been corrected to read 'the political party Saoradh'. We apologise for the inadvertent error."

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· 15d

Goose chasing man meme: "What outlet? What fucking outlet, guys?!?!"

A screenshot of a portion of the story: "An initial report from one outlet present at the hearing reported that the defendant had spent time in Syria; an online version of the article has since been corrected to say that she had spent time in Saoradh.

The claim has since been repeated online and by international media."

I have the "one outlet" portion highlighted in the screenshot.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· 18d

Continuing a long tradition, I see.

A screenshot from the Royal Irish Academy's Irish Historical Towns Atlas commentary on Cork (RIA's IHTA no. 31, published in 2024): "Monks of Cork fought two recorded battles with other monks in the early ninth century, suggesting the presence of a sizeable community. Indeed the Latin word familia, ‘community’ is used to refer to a battle with a similar community from distant Clonfert in Co. Galway in 807, which resulted in ‘a slaughter of a countless number of ordinary ecclesiastics and of eminent men of the community of Cork’. Just over twenty years later an estimated two hundred men were left behind for dead in Muskerry, in another presumed dispute about control over lesser churches."

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· 19d

This is meme-worthy!

Luke Flanagan, MEP, holding his face in despair declaring (in the subtitles!) "This is like we're not normalising this shit"

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jul 10

Depends on what you regard as "England" at the time. Mind you, there's wasn't much of English spoken by the ruling class at the time.

A portion of the wikipedia page for the Bayeux Tapestry (including a detail picture of the tapestry featuring William The Bastard's brother, Odo):

"Origins

The earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral, but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy.

French legend maintained the tapestry was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda, William the Conqueror's wife, and her ladies-in-waiting. Indeed, in France, it is occasionally known as La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde ("The Tapestry of Queen Matilda"). However, scholarly analysis in the 20th century concluded it was probably commissioned by William's half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who, after the Conquest, also became Earl of Kent and, when William was absent in Normandy, regent of England.

The reasons for the Odo commission theory include:

1) three of the bishop's followers mentioned in the Domesday Book appear on the tapestry;
2) it was found in Bayeux Cathedral, built by Odo;
3) it may have been commissioned at the same time as the cathedral's construction in the 1070s, possibly completed by 1077 in time for display on the cathedral's dedication.

Assuming Odo commissioned the tapestry, it was probably designed and constructed in England by Anglo-Saxon artists (Odo's English power base being by then in Kent); the Latin text contains hints of Anglo-Saxon; other embroideries originate from England at this time; and the vegetable dyes can be found in cloth traditionally woven there. Howard B. Clarke has proposed that the designer of the tapestry (i.e., the individual responsible for its overall narrative... "

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jul 10

From: @news.rte.ie I wonder did BlueSky and Mastodon get a letter from the EU Commission? www.rte.ie/news/busines...

A screen shot from the story: "Meta should disable features such as autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introduce effective screen-time breaks and make its recommendation system less focused on driving engagement, the Commission said."

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jul 7

I'm staying TF away from the Irish Times. They could go to the Active Travel Collision Tracker (www.collisiontracker.ie), where people can have recorded their incidents (like mine) already for others (like the IT) to review and report on.

A screenshot from the Active Travel Collision Tracker showing my report. It's a portion of a map (https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=53.339443&mlon=-6.239593#map=18/53.339443/-6.239593) showing Grand Canal Quay and the dot representing my collision. It also shows the details:
- My report: "Car pulled out in front of me on wet, cobblestoned road. Braked, losing control of bike. I fell off; broke 2 bones in my foot"
- Other details: "Collision", "Outcome: Serious injuries", "Thu. January 24, 2013 at 5:40 PM", "Reported by Victim".

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jul 6

... as the blocking screen on mu.social that asks for my date of birth, and as the only explanation for requiring this is "[t]o give [me] an age-appropriate experience..." (i.e. *not* a legal req.) I similarly won't use mu.social. 3/5

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jul 3

The humo[u]r is not childish enough for the workplace:

A portion of the screen I get when I go to that site from my work desktop:

"Sorry, you don't have permission to visit this site.

Website blocked

Not allowed to browse Mature Humor category

You tried to visit: ..." following by the URL.

I'm inclined to raise an objection to the spelling of "Humor", but the people who make decisions like these are probably not going to get the joke.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jul 2

"... catalogue of missed payments that caused financial hardship and martial difficulties" Was she also fighting a war?

A screenshot of the story with the typo mentioned in the post: "Company fails to appear to defend catalogue of missed payments that caused financial hardship and martial difficulties"

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 30

There's probably not a lot they can do directly, but I wrote to my TDs all the same.

The first half of my e-mail to my TDs Tom Brabazon, Barry Heneghan, Cian O'Callaghan, Naoise Ó Muirí and Denise Mitchell:

"A chairde,

I am looking forward to the 12th August. On that day, there will be a total solar eclipse visible from continental Europe (mostly Spain), and I plan to travel to catch it. It will be my second total solar eclipse (my first been in December 2003, which I caught when I was in Australia), but I have seen/experienced all solar eclipses in Ireland since 1984.

Do you know who else is looking forward a stellar event on the 12th August in Ireland? Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal and Palantir, who will host more than 200 of his best "friends" in Powerscourt Hotel to talk in secret about all the things of interest to billionaires like how to help run world war three when it comes, and whether money (something most of these people have way too much of) could buy happiness.

You are likely aware of Peter Thiel, but I would like to point out that while he is not as well known as Elon Musk, he is far more dangerous to the world, mostly because he is in far greater control of his mouth and his actions. Mr. Thiel rejects democracy (see his 2009 essay /The Education of a Libertarian/ in Cato Unbound, https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian/), and even suggests that granting women a right to vote damaged the notion of "capitalist democracy" (which, even if it's true, may not necessarily be a bad thing). Mr. Thiel founded Palantir, a global surveillance company, which -- among other very shady things -- has been used by the government of Israel in its genocide in Gaza (see https://www.thenation.com/article/world/nsa-palantir-israel-gaza-ai/)."

"I am also sure you are aware that some are calling for the event on the 12th August to be cancelled (the meeting in the Powerscourt Hotel, that is; not the eclipse). I am not terribly sure that its cancellation can be forced, but I am quite certain that cancelling it would be counter-productive. Mr. Thiel and his excessively rich, extractive, human rights destroying buddies and their sycophantic supporters have a right to meet wherever they want, as long as they are not engaged in illegal activities (such as conspiring to violently overthrow the government or to fix prices, neither of which I would put past that crowd).

It's good, however, that we know that this secret meeting is taking place, that we know who the invitees are and what the agenda is. This affords journalists, and politicians like you, the opportunity to pose questions like "What were you talking about there?" and advise them that to be taken seriously, they need to be transparent about their attendance at these secret meetings.

... and this is what I expect from my TDs. I believe you should make it clear that secret meetings of oligarchs and their hangers-on are dangerous to the democratic process, and that you will not trust anyone who has attended such meetings unless they are fully open (with everybody!!!) about their reasons for doing so (and only if such openness can be corroborated). I believe your policy positions and your votes in the Oireachtas should reflect this. And I believe I am justified in advising friends and family not to vote for those who think such secret meetings are fine and dandy to stay secret until it's too late for us to do anything about it, which is Mr. Thiel's expectation.

Is mise,

Éibhear Ó hAnluain,"

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 30

Hi @thejournal.ie, protests are *not* a "National Security" matter.

A screenshot of my #RSS reader (yay! for RSS) showing the story I am quoting. I see the story headline ("Top garda pledges 'robust enforcement action' if protesters try to disrupt EU Presidency"), where the story is from ("TheJournal.ie") and when it dropped ("30 minutes ago"), the story category ("National Security") and the story introduction that TheJournal.ie posted in the RSS feed ("Commissioner Justin Kelly said the EU Presidency will be the biggest security operation in the history of the State."). We also see the various interaction buttons offered by my RSS reader (respectively, "Mark read/unread", "Star/unstar", "Share", "Tags" and "Open story URL").

I have highlighted "... protesters ..." of the headline and "National Security" category with red ovals, and I have drawn a red arrow going from the former to the latter and I have hand-written "??!" beside that arrow.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 26

"Wolfhound features on new ‘unmistakably Irish’ passport" ... and don't worry about all the high-tech, intrusive, surveillance embedded in the document because look at all the pretty pictures. www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...

A screen shot from the story showing this snippet: "Ms McEntee said the document gives Irish citizens visa-free access to 186 countries.

On the refresh, she said: “It combines some of the world’s most advanced security technology with a design that proudly reflects who we are as a nation, our heritage, creativity and natural beauty."

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 25

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 24

As I guessed would happen, I got blocked.

The post that got me blocked. @alexhammy209.bsky.social claiming that "The children of Gaza deserve parents that don't start wars."

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 18

With a wink, and a flick of its tongue, the shopping bag told me a secret; I was so shocked, I immediately forgot it.

A photo of a shopping bag. The handle on the side I can see looks like a mouth with a tongue stikking out, and the knots of the handle of the other side look like a pair of eyes, with one twisted in a way that makes it look as though it's winking. Part of the black ribbon embedded into the bag to allow it to be tied closed is immediately above the "mouth", making it look like a nose.

The branding/label on the side of the bag is "Serena".

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 17

I found this little guy on the ground outside my home, and it took me back a little more than 10 years.

A photo of a stick on the footpath outside my home. It's shaped like Julia Donaldson's "Stickman" in mid-run, which is why I took the picture.

The cover of the Julia Donaldson book, Stickman. It shows the eponymous character running through the woods on a blanket of snow, with a big happy smile on his face. A rabbit and a bird are watching him, there's a fox and a dog in the background and we see a squirrel climbing up a tree. The artwork is by Alex Scheffler.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 17

Post the best picture you have ever taken of your pet (if you feel like it):

My then-puppy Gracie (collie/retriever/husky mix) on our couch. All we see of her is her face, as she is so small and the angle of the pic is so low, the rest of her is obscured.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 16

Hi @news.rte.ie, why is this story in the "Business" section?

A screenshot from my #RSS reader (RSS is just brilliant!!!). It shows the following:

News story headline: "European trade union leaders meet in Dublin"
News feed: "RTÉ News Headlines"
Time of posting: "10 minutes ago"
Section (though that's not terribly obvious from the normal view): "Business"
Snippet (as provided by RTÉ with the feed): "Senior trade union leaders from across Europe are meeting in Dublin to discuss a plan to develop trade union capacity in conflict resolution and peacebuilding."

I have highlighted "Business" with a red oval.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 12

I note they cropped out the West Clare railway which, if I remember my Percy Ffrench correctly, qualifies.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 12

I#m guessing it's not going anywhere, but this is what I wrote to Madam on Wednesday morning.

The letter I wrote to the Irish Times, dated 10/06/2026 at 08:56. The subject was "Belfast Riots" and the text was as follows:

A chara,

As far as those who are burning innocent people out of their homes in Belfast are concerned, they are "the lads" that Sinn Féin leader Mary-Lou McDonald has spoken about. They believe they are acting on the "genuine concerns" that Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has often described. They are just executing the measures that Minister for Justice and Fianna Fáil leader-aspirant Jim O'Callaghan has set out as appropriate.

As far as I am concerned, any condemnations from these political leaders are inauthentic.

Is mise,

Éibhear Ó hAnluain,

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 12

Big nope.

A screenshot of what greets me when I log onto mu.social.

It says:

"Age Assurance

Hi there!

To give you an age-appropriate experience, we need to know your birthdate. This is a one-time thing, and your data stays private."

Then there's a button labelled "Add your birthdate"

and then there's a box that says "For organisational accounts, use the birthdate of the person who is responsible for the account."

And, finally, it tells me "To log out, click here. Or if you’d prefer, you can delete your account."

I seem not to be able to get past this. Thus: won't be using it.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 10

My sympathies to all who are walking around Dublin city centre, except for this fascist shites.

A screen shot of the Met Éireann rainfall radar map right now, showing a great big blob of rain falling on that area of Dublin often referred to as "between the canals".

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 9

I'm hoping the dice fall well for me for my cycle home from work today.

A brief screengrab of the met.ie web page for my part of Dublin, showing that at 17:00 (when I set out for home), there'll be a 40% chance of rain and at 18:00 (when I arrive home), there'll be a 55% chance.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 4

I genuinely don't know what to think about this nugget.

A screenshot of the web page on The Economist's site where the story is. It shows the story headline "How to fight back against Gen-Z socialism" above which is what I guess is the story category, "Leaders | Our cover". Below the headline is what I think is called "the subhead", and it reads "The me-first doctrine is a threat to prosperity" and below that is the obligatory "Share" button.

I have highlighted "me-first".

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· Jun 3

What a terrible shame and lost opportunity

The note at the top of the ballot paper stating both "Vote for One" and "Vote por Uno". I am decrying that it's a non-transferable ballot, not the dreadful, arbitrary, nonsensical, but oddly consistent capitalisation.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· May 30

That so reminded me of the decoration for the Christmas cake I made from orange peel some (i.e. many, many) years ago.

A cake (officially an orange cake, but that's not obvious from the pic; keep the secret to yourself, now) with a white sugar icing on a large dinner plate, which itself is sitting on a brown, dappled counter. There is a lone decoration on the cake, a nativity scene carved out of a piece of orange peel, sitting in the middle on the cake. Above the representation of the stable is an asymmetrical 5-prong star, also carved out of a piece of orange peel.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· May 26

The premise of @micheal-martin.bsky.social's concern is that the opinions of US-based corporations are more important than Ireland's reputation and standing in the international community (and, of course, the 1,000s of innocent lives that Israel persists in destroying).

A portion of the article: "Speaking to reporters before the Cabinet meeting, Mr Martin said that including services in the bill could potentially damage Ireland.

He said that it could do so "more than anybody else in terms of potential impacts on US multinationals based here back in America.

"We need to be realistic and need to be honest with people in respect of what we can achieve via this legislation," he said."

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· May 26

"Sweden goes live with Matrix-based federation!" It's interesting to note how in the diagram in the article Ireland doesn't feature at all as a user of #Matrix in the public sector. element.io/blog/sweden-...

A diagram from the linked-to article showing all the uses of matrix in the public sector throughout Europe.

The map is crowded with icons representing the very large number of independent apps that use matrix, each plonked onto the country that uses it.

Thus, Germany has 19 icons on it, between them, Belgium and The Netherlands have 8 icons, France has 4, Switzerland, Poland, Finland and Sweden each have 3 icons, The UK, Norway, Estonia and Austria have 2 each, and Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Romania, Ukraine, Denmark and Luxemburg have one each. Ireland, country that pretends to be a tech leader, has 0 icons.

Éibhear Ó hAnluain@eibhear· May 21

I regularly find myself pointing to this bit.