Mastodawn

Cory Doctorow Apr 23

An interesting stunt: Malus.sh will take your money and in exchange it will ingest any free/open source code you want, refactor that code using an LLM, and spit out a "clean room" version that is freed from all the obligations imposed by the original project's software license:

https://www.404media.co/this-ai-tool-rips-off-open-source-software-without-violating-copyright/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/23/poison-pill/#kobayashied

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@pluralistic TL;DR

Product:

Scott Galloway Apr 23

@faraiwe @pluralistic Ironically that painting was elevated to a work of international importance (prior it was nothing notable) and the woman who started the restoration became a celebrity. I stopped using it as an exampel of failure and instead as one of a HUGE mistake paying off.

@scottgal @pluralistic She made some money. She also destroyed a wonderful piece of art, generated heaps of work that may not even be feasible to restore the art work.

She is an obscure, one-hit meme maker, with an even more obscure online shop, to cash in on her shitjob.

Nobody knows her name. You'd have to search HARD.

And the search would need to include the original work title/artist.

It's the PERFECT analogue, what the hell are you talking about, man =D

@scottgal @pluralistic WITHOUT searching online.... WHAT IS HER NAME?

IS SHE ALIVE?

I remember the NAME of the art work.

I don't even know if she is alive.

So, yeah.

Chuckles Apr 23

@faraiwe @scottgal @pluralistic Cecilia Giménez Zueco. She died recently. She's quite well-known in Spain, and widely admired for her dedication to her community.

@celeduc Do yourself a favor: go anywhere else, walk the streets show a picture of her wonderful art.

Ask people her name.

Re-do this in 50yrs.

We still know Martinez´. Painting is from 1930s. I did NOT look this one up online.

And DON'T let me know.

be comfortable in that Venn circle. get a banana, tape to your wall, admire it.

Chuckles Apr 23

@faraiwe you seem nice

@celeduc and you haven´t seen me dance, yet, techbro.

@scottgal @pluralistic The individuals who would "elevate to art" the shitjob of the douchebag who wrecked the Ecce Homo painting, and then became a meme, share a perfect Venn diagram with folks who think a taped banana is "art" worth $1M

So, perfect LLM analogue, indeed.

Galder Gonzalez

@faraiwe @scottgal @pluralistic she didn't sell anything. She was trying to help her community and failed with the artwork, which wasn't even famous. Ironically, now the church is receiving lots of visits to see the mess. She passed away recently.

Um. She opened an online shop.

It profits from the destruction of an art work.

Please, go away. Re=evaluate your entire techbro ish existence.

Shoo.

Chuckles Apr 23

@theklan @faraiwe @scottgal @pluralistic Yes. She attempted - and failed - to restore a piece of forgettable, forgotten religious decoration without asking for anything in return. She overcame the humiliation subsequently heaped upon her, swallowed her pride, and put her town on the cultural map, all while going through dementia. Cecilia Giménez Zueco was a hero, god damn it.

Galder Gonzalez

@celeduc @faraiwe @scottgal @pluralistic the guy blocked me after insulting me without even knowing what I think about the topic.

Chuckles Apr 23

@theklan @faraiwe @scottgal @pluralistic me too, which is probably for the best.

Galder Gonzalez

@celeduc @faraiwe @scottgal @pluralistic I meah, the guy thought that art can only be something that has been done before. Whatever.

General Strike Apr 23

@scottgal @faraiwe @pluralistic I think this is an interesting but ultimately philistine take. Sure, it got more clicks when it was Monkey Jesus, but that, as well as describing it as 'nothing special' (to whom?) prior to the 'restoration', doesn't really engage with it as an artwork.

@GeneralStrike @scottgal @pluralistic ahem.

Humphrey Archer Apr 23

Ah... Potatoe Jesus, my all time favorite

Galder Gonzalez

@faraiwe @pluralistic a LLM wouldn't make the one in the right, because it has only been trained with images like the left one

@theklan ::back breaking, heaving sigh::

Re-evaluate.

Everything.

@pluralistic this toot became an excellent means to detect LLM techbros, and anyone with an inability to understand metaphor, by the way.