When I tried to go back to cash I discovered how many places no longer take cash.

We are open, incidentally, I just had customers first thing and forgot to post the board. - Michael

I’m slightly in shock. My rant about education as industrial batch agriculture suddenly gets some affirmation from… Ofsted?

US Judiciary deletes a chapter on law and #climate science because apparently science is a left-leaning concept and MAGAs complained. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Trump-aligned spy-tech firm Palantir is "hosting a lavish party for the Ministry of Defence to celebrate winning a government contract". Palantir was - and still is - a client of Global Counsel, the lobbying firm founded by Lord Mandelson. www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/a...

“Crucially, the design rejects the car-centric model of the late 20th century. "We put the schools in the villages so that people can walk their kids or ride their bikes," @ategov.bsky.social @activetravelcaf.bsky.social @mumsforlungs.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

This is a whole thing

Off the top of my head I can think of a few quite high-profile fights he’s been in and has not won. I know that’s basically irrelevant, but it annoys me.

Intentionally didn’t finish the @nickharkaway.com Smiley novel yesterday so I’d have something to read on the plane. Obviously I forgot to stick the book in my bag as I left this morning. Still, damn engrossing book.

Re-upping this for the Monday crowd... I think my favourite, most revealing detail is that the guy seems to not realise he's in trouble because London Centric's reporting didn't hit anything like his view counts, so therefore it can't really matter.

I began to write LOSS PROTOCOL in 2023, and here at last is a box of copies of the finished book. Published, in the UK, on February 12th.

Just beyond parody at this point

HMT's response to the @financialtimes.com demonstrates www.ft.com/content/7db5... why the government will fail to increase housebuilding as it thinks £500m is meaningful. “The government is committed to go further and faster on growth — with over £500mn investment for new homes, infrastructure and

Meanwhile: the commentary on the Beeb snowboarding is, um, very British.

Patiently booting Linux from thumb drive. It’s kinda cool.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) averaged about 429 ppm in January 2026 10 years ago January averaged about 403 ppm Data available at gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

I welcome the expansion of the world-leading London Cancer Hub, which will further cement London as a global leader in health and innovation and create meaningful jobs and investment for Londoners.

Hate-filled fake videos about London are everywhere. We've obtained a recording of a TikToker confessing to secretly filming Londoners in their homes for clicks. He says it's not political. He just wants to make money from far-right anger. Read what he says: www.londoncentric.media/p/london-tik...

Hmmm. Is it possible that my Mac can’t see a USB stick properly through a hub connection?

But sure, let’s go to the dance.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Well, yeah.

*pinches bridge of nose* I do not think this would be a good idea.

Thinking of putting Linux on an old MacBook Air from 2010. Mint? Budgie? Best how-to?

“Inspired by the project everyone knew was bonkers which has collapsed” is a heck of a pitch.

Today in “but how could we possibly have anticipated?”

‘It’s every conservationist’s dream to help save a whole species – and that’s exactly what we’ve done.’

Plus Russia is heading into recession.

Babs Pease, contemporary artist and printmaker living in rural Scotland #WomensArt

Gosh. www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/27/1...

Yes. In fact I have so far written two books about it, which you should immediately buy! (bsky.app/profile/nick...)

“Cuanf“ is actually quite pleasing to say out loud. You can even double it as a salutation or a goodbye. “Cuanf cuanf, Pete, give my love to your family.” “Thanks, Tori, good doing business with you. Cuanf cuanf!” I would like to propose this addition to the lexicon.

Afternoon

Fascinating: Regulators in Europe deem illegal how many content creation companies define success www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...

Sad. Can't stay at existing building society. Now must go out into the world and find a bank which is not toxic. This seems like a tough brief tbf.

Child at the podium: “A woo woo woo.” Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.

This is all of us right now.

This cheered me up

Today I am prepared to concede that the world is all kinds of fucked up and optimism is somewhat hard to find.

From today’s Russian papers: “You don’t have to be an economist to forecast a recession: Russia’s export revenue is falling, budget revenues are falling, taxes rising, consumer demand shrinking…” Another paper: “Oil & gas revenues fall…rise in bread prices.” #ReadingRussia

*adds to list of things to resist*

It never used to be possible to attribute individual weather events to climate change and map their full consequences. Thanks to the work of two pioneering climate scientists, it is now

David Cameron had a go, way back when: 'a belief in freedom, tolerance of others, accepting personal and social responsibility, respecting and upholding the rule of law' Not sure what's distinctively British about them though. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Starmer's version is outlined here: 'Rules that protect those in need…Respect for difference, under the same flag…The freedom to live and let live…' Again, no real clue what makes them British. Both sets pretty light, Starmer's has flags. labour.org.uk/updates/stor...

this is vicious and correct www.economist.com/britain/2026...

That‘s the spirit.

Interesting write up of the prototype @heat-geek.bsky.social NanoStore - a combined heat exchanger and 60l hot water store. It’s still early days, but when this finally works, it will offer a route for space critical heat pump installations, with the heat pump ~ working like a combi boiler.

Morning Bluesky.

Art from a contemporary promotion for "THE LOST WORLD" (1925). #kaiju #Sizesky #fantasy #silentmovie #dinosaur #movieposter