Jack o’lantern 2025. From a pattern from Zombie Pumpkins.

I need to repost a picture of one of our cats, Copurrnicus, rather than just posting the neighbour’s cat who has adopted me.

The final line of this short 'I knew the shooter' clip really, really needs to be memed and sampled - "This 'internet' shit is seriously no joke" ought to be the defining line of, well, the past three decades really: www.tiktok.com/@1brxnn/vide...

The reporting on Charlie Kirk’s killer in the UK & US highlights again how fundamentally ill equipped mainstream media is to report on political violence in the digital age. They do not know anything about online far right meme culture & it’s starting to do real harm. #r4today

She gasped so loudly that I almost jumped. Her favourite beer at our local community pub - The Castle Tap. (They are launching a fund to buy it.)

It’s been 20 years since we met. She says she was playing hot or not when one of the cute ones walked right towards her because he was interviewing her about her recently launched digital rights group.

It has been too long since we were in Sheboygan, a place we called home for four wonderful years. And so wonderful to be welcomed back by friends here.

It is never any fun to have flight delays. But at least we can say we were caught up in the great London radar failure. Will miss a connection in the US and will see if we can get to Chicago tomorrow.

@suw.bsky.social and I are enjoying a cool summer evening at our local indie pub, the Castle Tap.

Something you don't see (or hear) every day. This plane flew over the house just a while ago. Wow, what a scream its engine made. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havi...

On a rainy Saturday in York on the wonderful local museum, I tried on an antler headdress found at a Mesolithic village - Star Carr. I think I look like an eccentric pilot. What do you think?

Me looking very pleased with myself after making a Roman Gin Fizz with @yorkgin.bsky.social Roman Fruit gin we got in York last weekend. Wonderful summer drink with some lovely strawberries from M&S.

I hadn’t heard this frame of democratic vs disordered discourse, but it is useful. So much noise is being pumped into the system these days.

As much as I hated doing this, I had to buy a test slot on the black market. I paid more than twice the official rate. Otherwise, there weren’t any test slots in the town I took my training. I can afford this but many can’t. It’s a scandal.

I've written a couple of times, including in a recent book, about about the Global Engagement Center, which worked to expose networks of Russian and Chinese disinformation around the world. As a result, along with many others, I am on what appears to be an enemies list

Watching the footie with @suw.bsky.social Wrexham - we are going up! We are going up! X3

one of the world's top cancer scientists, who works for Harvard, is at risk of deportation to Russia where she might be killed for criticizing Putin, because she allegedly failed to disclose carrying frog embryos at the border. it's upending American medical research: prospect.org/health/2025-...

Well worth reading. The obvious point here is that some presented "woke" as an existential risk to speech and academic freedom, and some people warned about govt censorship as a bigger threat. The former were not just wrong but paved the way for govt censorship. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/o...

@suw.bsky.social and I first had Barolo Chinato at a hotel just outside of Bologna (the restaurant at a Holiday Inn if you can believe it). It is high end aromatised wine - the same family of wines as Vermouth. We struggle to find it, but I found a bottle in Perugia. I had to buy it for her birthday

Phony Stark says parents are for the weak. I would like to know what he means by the weak. Non-billionaires who can’t pay for top shelf legal teams, or those too poor to buy their way into government? techcrunch.com/2025/04/13/j...

The United States is threatening Italy with 25% on automotive imports due to this non-tariff barrier limiting the sales of American cars because they are too fat for Italian streets. 😉

Rand Paul warns tariffs could cause GOP ‘decimation.’ He has a point. From the Washington Post. After Trump’s hero McKinley rolled out tariffs, Republicans lost 50% of their seats in the next election. After the 1930s tariffs, the GOP lost Congress for 60 years, Paul said.

Republicans in the US have settled on the sound bite that President Trump's tariff strategy is akin to having your kitchen remodelled. It will be a bit messy and disruptive, but it will be better in the end. My fellow Americans, here is your remodelled kitchen.

My friends and I are mourning Val Kilmer's Chris Night. As nerds in the 80s, we dreamed of growing to become Real Geniuses who used our powers for good. Instead, we have Evil Geniuses in Silicon Valley who hate democracy and whose brains have been poisoned by neo-monarchist nonsense.

Thanks to @suw.bsky.social for the kind words about my latest newsletter. And one thing I'll add that isn't in my newsletter - greater levels of trust in one another leads to better health, educational and economic outcomes.

The Streisand Effect in full effect: In what world is it acceptable to allow a person in need to sit in their own shit for a few days. It's not a question of whether this is a medical issue. It is a question of morality. Medicine for profit = fail.

I ran my second Reading Half Marathon on Sunday, and I was so thrilled to support Berkshire Women's Aid again. Thanks to everyone who supported me in fundraising and also in the race. It helped to keep me going when my barely-recovered-from-infection lungs were aching.

Yeah, that SAS would drop you and your bags via parachute somewhere in the middle of the night in a field. It’s a bit of an extreme way to maximise your duty-free allowance.

Welcoming Wrexham to Reading.

I am taking a break from the multiverse’s dumbest timeline to rest and get rid of this chest infection.

It would be good to hear from Democrats and Republicans their plans to make housing in the US more affordable. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/b...

It would be good to hear from Democrats and Republicans their plans to make housing in the US more affordable. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/b...

A clarion call for Republicans and Democrats - including the names of specific members of the House and Senate - to stand up for traditional American values in support of our allies and democracy. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...

For the second year in a row, I'm running in the Reading Half Marathon and raising money for Berkshire Women's Air. They support women and children who are victims of domestic violence. Help me raise at least £500 for their important work. www.justgiving.com/page/kevin-a...

In case you missed it.

For the second year, I'm running in the Reading Half Marathon, and for the second year, I'm running to support Berkshire Women's Aid. They do incredible work, and I'm proud to fundraise for them so they can help more women and children. Please consider a small donation.

I was honoured to be included in @damianradcliffe.bsky.social 's group of industry experts. A good roundup of what publishers are doing to do more than just survive in '25.

The details about fixed and zero-term contracts raises some questions about employment policies. Casual contracts are so common in media. pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/n...

I've been mulling the issues around the Creator-Influencer Economy. In my latest newsletter, I compared and contrasted them with an earlier generation of media disruptors - bloggers and podcasting pioneers. (Yes, me as a much younger reporter.) kevins-newsletter-ad1cdb.beehiiv.com/p/the-creato...

USAID does incredibly important work. Musk wasn’t elected by anyone, and Congress needs to do its job as a co-equal branch of government. Thought experiment. What would Republicans do if this was the other party? Stand up for the Constitution! www.wired.com/story/usaid-...

I put the spotlight on Big Diva - my souped up DP PowerMax G4. This is LilDiva - my recapped, networked SE/30. She is in stunning condition for her age. She shipped in 1989. She had a BMOW ROM and an IBM SCSI 500 MB main drive. She runs all the classics on Retro Game Night like Spectre and Star Wars

Big Diva, a dual 500Mhz G4, and big sister to Lil Diva, my working SE/30 powered a fun retro game night. The highlights were playing Shufflepuck on the SE/30 and the original Myst on the PowerMac.

@suw.bsky.social and I are celebrating our anniversary by seeing Sigourney Weaver as Prospero in The Tempest. We do love a bit of Shakespeare

This is middlemen break the US healthcare system and bankrupt people. So many cost centres and such poor outcomes. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/u...

"We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity." -- MLK Jr., 11/8/56

“The alliance between Donald Trump and social media platform bosses such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg represents a global threat to free access to reliable information.” @lemonde.fr on why it’s leaving X www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a... musk_6737224_23.html

I remember when we used to value a new social media platform for its social utility. How often did it lead to a serendipitous meeting with a friend? This piece asks important questions of what it has become. open.substack.com/pub/annehele...

Keep an eye on your WhatsApp account it would seem. Don't you love the fantastic names for Russian hacking groups? therecord.media/russia-star-...

This is a Sonos-level bad feature rollout, and in the current information environment, it's irresponsible to release this feature.

Having done a fair number of data journalism projects in my career, this is great. The tools keep getting better and better and more accessible.