The Onion ass headline

The cold light of day thought on UK election results is the near impossibility of sensible democratic politics in the social media age. A global phenomenon which is systematically under played by nearly everyone but because every more obvious.

Your day will be like... when a deer unknowingly settles her newborn sucklings in a lion's lair. She goes off to forage. The lion returns bringing death. Odyssey 4.335-40

Get ready to become obsessed. As of today, you can watch our two new nest box cams: we’ve got a pair of blue tits and pied flycatchers, both starting families in their new nests. Follow along as we watch these birds raise their broods: bit.ly/4t5cLK4

This is the short story I wrote for the splendid Mat Baynton to read. Quick hit of bittersweet school band nostalgia... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Finishing the audiobook early meant I had a free day. Went up The Shard, had a blue cocktail and was given a free novelty photo of us on the way out.

Peonies I bought from a bucket by the side of the road for a few quid. My photo’s inspired by the paintings of Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750):

A CAT ENTERED THE RING DURING BLUE PANTHER VS HECHICERO IN GUADALAJARA #CMLL 🤼

Wherever you are in the world (providing you've got an Internet connection) you can hear me talk about the History of Manga on 16 June. If you're in London, you can get a signed copy of the book. Please share this post to spread the word! Tickets via EventBrite, click the poster below.

ウミウシに興味もったきっかけなので、磯で見かけるとなんか嬉しくなる子

Big news everyone! The one and only @curatorrob.bsky.social is now on Bluesky. If you love a Roman palace, hypocausts (not standing in them obviously) and Huxley the dog - do give him a follow. 😃

Your occasional reminder that "AI" is shit: Every assertion in this "AI Overview" of the question "What coffee does John Scalzi drink" is wrong. I don't regularly drink coffee (and never black) I've never had black sesame jasmine cream tea, and I don't hang in coffee shops. Don't trust "AI" ever!

Posts shared thousands of times online claim hantavirus is listed as a side effect of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine. This isn’t true. Hantavirus is listed as one of many health conditions monitored during vaccine trials for safety, not a side effect. (1/2) fullfact.org/health/hanta...

the problem with using LLMs is that they cannot actually "follow instructions" in the causal sense. they can only perform a series of actions associated with the instructions, which is, as this incident demonstrates, not the same thing

Never forget:

his was a human error. but it occurred to me that it's the *kind* of mistake you get from AI because the form was perfect. he seemingly did the thing, used the tools, went through the motions, produced exactly what you would expect to see

with a feeling of both certainty and dread welling in my stomach, i asked him where he'd gotten the cleaning supplies. but i already knew. i poured out the cup, threw away the brush, and from then on trusted nothing i had not washed myself immediately prior to use

so I get a cup, i'm filling it up in the sink, i'm like man thank you so much, this is amazing. and then i noticed the scrub brush on the edge of the sink. which looked extremely distressingly similar to the scrub brush we kept under the sink. with the toilet bowl cleaner. to clean the toilet.

Tonight in the ai reading group i was reminded of something that happened in 2006 after I dropped out of college, when I was living in a run-down old house next to jb alberto's in rogers park with a bunch of dudes. it was, as you can imagine, not clean.

“You have to know where the scrub brush comes from”.

lately what i think is that a person can be wrong in the same way that an LLM is wrong, but an LLM cannot be right in the same way that a person is right

but there was a key piece of context missing. and it *completely changed* the meaning of his actions you have to understand why you're doing things. you have to know where the scrub brush comes from.

Commiserations to Sir David Attenborough on his 100th birthday, as he is now too old to be allowed to play with LEGO.

Look at Kent - reduced budgets for SEND but £600K to create 8 parking spaces for councillors at the council offices. Look at Durham where they've lost a couple of by-elections because of the mess they're making. The more councils they win the clearer it is they don't understand how to govern.

more evidence AI “agents” are incredibly inefficient. so much of these generative AI use cases will make no sense when people have to pay the true cost of the technology.

The elections in the UK yesterday are so far showing Two Englands with a gulf between them - and maybe by the end Four Britains. A Disunited Kingdom. In areas that voted heavily for Brexit, Reform got 41%. Everywhere else they got an average of 10%.

If you have, or know someone, with a Yarbo robot lawn mower... they might want to read this. www.theverge.com/tech/925696/...

Millions around the world celebrated Victory in Europe 'VE Day' on this day 1945, marking news of Nazi Germany’s surrender after nearly six years of war. Pic: VE Day, by L.S. Lowry (Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum).

So Reform’s campaign was “We will literally build concentration camps,” and the British people said, “Wow, yes please.” That’s very depressing.

Come and see THE LEHRER EFFECT at the Brighton Fringe on May 13th (and whatever the Prof has on the go as well, I suppose) www.brightonfringe.org/events/mitch...

After a fabulous weekend at @guernseylitfest.bsky.social, I found my poem in the departure lounge! ⛴️ 😊

My husband asked me what I was proudest of in my career and I thought about it. I think it may be that I built it not on Batman or Spider-Man, but on books no one really wanted at the time. Often books scheduled to be cancelled. Often after unsuccessful runs. Over and over. 1/

In 2021 I wrote Over There* “I want to be the Gail Simone of my field” & I realize anew today in 2026 what that means (among other things) — to love the obscure & if I’m lucky have the talent & skill to get more folks to discover they care, too. *Archived at: bsky.app/profile/frie...

Anyway, such is the political moment, which we will all now be instructed to ignore as we're told that there must be more immigration crackdowns to make people happy because that has worked so well for the last ten years

But then I go to these areas of England and life isn't actually as grim and insular as claimed, it is just very easy for populist politicians to claim that everyone is looking down on these places in the absence of anyone else apparently having much of a message

Morning. Tempted to say something rude about those areas that have dominated English politics for over ten years still being unhappy despite their agenda largely being followed. A vicious democratic cycle that we see also in other countries.

I have been informed that ten years ago today - May 7 2016 -, Arnold Kemp of @goblinpunch.bsky.social posted the GLOG Happy birthday, GLOG

Update: Kiddo is now Bingo. I am Chili. @teaberryblue.net remains Bluey.

How The Ufology Holy Grail Became The Dracula Dossier #writer #horror #paranormal

This database is like if Goodreads existed between 1450 and 1945. "I have read the whole of Jane Austen and think of beginning over again. What a perfect woman" www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading...

incredible work, the most thin skinned people alive

The Whizzer and Chips strip "Beat Your Neighbour" is notorious for having very little consistency about who was drawing it at any one time. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than the 1979 Christmas annual, where it appears four times with at least three different artists.

Pick up Lazy DM books and fantastic adventures at the Sly Flourish Bookstore! https://shop.slyflourish.com/ #dnd #ttrpg

Google can no longer handle questions like, "Are two guys with different names different people?"

had an all-time classic the other day telling me that my post celebrating the sixers and knicks taking Amtrak failed to consider that the pro teams were likely taking spots from everyday travelers who would have to fly instead

Are you joking? A post from over a year ago *explaining* the situation? That’s what we’re banning for?

Automated moderation at work folks. That post you made 2 years ago that the current guidelines now violate? Suspended.

The brilliant @kierongillen.bsky.social joins us to talk all things TTRPGs, including telling us about the DIE Metadungeon, and why he thinks GMs make for good players at the table (normally!) Watch: youtu.be/YyigFu8Ex9Q Listen: linktr.ee/narrativedam...