Eldest is zeroing in on chemical engineering for uni. Top ten apparently: 1) Cambridge 2) Oxford 3) Imperial 4) Bath 5) UCL 6) Birmingham 7) Leeds 8) Edinburgh 9) Nottingham 10) Strathclyde Manchester only 13th surprisingly? www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-table...

I think about this Tony Benn speech much more than I used to

Thanks to whichever of my cats for the mouse which appeared just as we were leaving the house. And then played no part in trying to catch it...

Well this is a lovely start to the day. Hopefully Labour will learn the right lesson from this

Remembering how a by-election used to be mildly interesting rather than a barometer of how screwed the country is

This is a mental war that we have to win. It's not about being a luddite, it's about destroying or retaining the ability to think. It's about how insidious this becomes in a situation where generative AI is adopted and then subverted intentionally. www.thealgorithmicbridge.com/p/a-new-whar...

Crying

“The guy did a great job for a competitive rate. I’m really pleased with it”

Back at my x-wing miniature shenanigans: Sith Taker Open tournament in Stockport. My target was two wins out of five. I won two!

So it turns out Matt Goodwin's Reform campaign manager was a holocaust-denying Nazi who said he would "never touch a Jewish woman.” When do we start seeing all the coverage of the antisemitism crisis in Reform UK? www.jewishnews.co.uk/reform-uk-su...

Would that every powerful man who breaks the law have this exact moment (and hopefully face further consequences)

Arresting him during his birthday party? Big schadenfreude feelings today

Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.

The Russo-Japanese War was the first major conflict in history that saw more deaths in combat than deaths by disease. Realistically, if you were sent to war any time before WW1, you were more likely to shit yourself to death than die at the hands of the enemy.

My students starting singing “We’re all in this together” when they realized Ramadan and Lent are at the same time this year. 🤣😩

Art Nouveau study

Value added sixth form scores have just been released for results in August 2025. First time they've been really useful for a few years because of the impact of COVID on exams. My school came second in the city. So. Damn. Proud.

Rather annoyingly, I've actually finished the Latin courses on Duolingo. I just assumed it would keep going. All I'm doing now is reviewing my weak words. Which is helpful but doesn't feel like progress. Thinking about an alternative to learn Latin, suggestions welcome!

This is doing really weird things to my brain. Prodding the nerdy 80’s kid bits, but then throwing in some ‘can’t quite focus’ audio shenanigans. youtube.com/watch?v=ryY_...

By the always excellent Erin Davis, a chart of the first names that have seen the greatest (estimated) drop in living Americans with that name. Much more here, including an interactive to look the trends for any first name: erdavis.com/2026/02/16/i...

The Holy Roman Empire in the year 1618, on the eve of the 30 Years' War. I've been working on this map for a week or two, and I finally had the time to finish it. I'm very proud of how it turned out!

17yo has expressed an interest in applying to Cambridge. Day trip tomorrow!

Ice skating fan

roses are red voilets are blue daffodils are yellow daisies are white never interrupt when i am saying the colors of flowers margaret peonies are pink

Five minutes into Predator Badlands and I'm begging filmmakers to MAKE FILMS BRIGHT ENOUGH TO SEE WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING

Small Prophets is rather lovely

Thought I'd managed ok over the frantic last half term but realised my irritation with even minor requests today suggests I had pushed myself harder than I thought.

14yo successfully interviewed for a work experience placement at Sheffield Theatres. So proud!

Earlier this week, a photo of a woman in a bathrobe filming ICE operations in St. Paul, Minnesota, went a little viral. That person was @mprnews.org reporter Sam Stroozas, who left her house without changing out of a sense of duty and urgency. The network leaned into it. More:

New School Guidance announces: Full bathroom ban. Full PE ban. Full school trip accommodation ban. Trans kids will not go to the bathroom, do PE or go on any school trips. 1/

One of the things which I find amusing about Orphan Black is when Cosima, Sarah, Alison, Rachel, or Helena are together and someone reacts to them being identical. I know Tatiana Maslany plays all of them but they all look so different!

Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick

Small joys: comprehensively won both of my x-wing miniatures games at our local club tonight. First time ever winning both games, one against our best player.

Glorious

Holy shit you do not want to miss Mark Kermode's review of Melania 🔥 youtu.be/DTyUni8dbkE?...

One of the wickedest things Wes Streeting has ever done is push politically convenient falsehoods about suicide rates amongst young trans people. We have new data from the National Child Mortality Database that exposes the truth he tried to cover up.

Ladybird walking on our smartboard

This is only related in a sideways manner, but: the story of any small slice of humanity is the story of humanity, just boiled down and distilled. So: In 2020, we had a lot of conversations about harassment at SF/F conventions, and Isaac Asimov came up several times.

My book ASK A HISTORIAN is on offer for 99p on eBook, and it's gone to Number 1 in the Fun Facts category! Because yes, facts ARE fun! www.amazon.co.uk/Ask-Historia...

Sure is a lot of doom to scroll

Not sure if Bridgerton season 4 is more opulent or I've become more sensitive to it. Despite there being a bigger focus on the servants I'm struggling

Looking forward to this, I've not read anything by @aknighton.bsky.social that I haven't loved!

Also featuring Rockhoppers rock hopping.

Peter Mandelson is still in the House of Lords and still a member of Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.

I love this

Holy shit this is amazing

Being a parent doing a great job of making me feel like crap today