Went to the circus!

Oops

I mean, the gutting of local government didn't happen by a conspiracy, people in suburbs essentially everywhere in the UK voted enthusiastically for it to happen.

The problem being, as always, that they had no idea what they were voting to demolish as everyone was utterly useless as describing it meaningfully. If you talk about “streamlining resources” rather than “stopping your weekly bin collections” then people will vote for it.

This is astute and pertinent on how to evolve European monetary policies in a new world order www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/a-g...

No one has ever been able to adequately explain what Putin is meant to have thought NATO expansion would threaten him with, apart from limiting his expansionist ambitions. "He was worried they'd invade Russia." No he wasn't. He just wasn't. That's not a thing anyone thought might happen.

Imao word processor software did everything it needed to do around 1999. There haven’t been any real improvements in a quarter of a century. In fact, things like keystroke combinations worked better then.

I *know* I shouldn’t share the NYPost but I got served this BUTT PHRENOLOGY article !!!! And people should know that we have entered the era of BUTT PHRENOLOGY !!!!

another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls

This is a metaphor for the tech industry overall circa 2025

Funny thing though: Musk and the other tech lords are still saying such things, and the media credulity has not lessened one whit. And they are richer than ever.

Finally, after much delay from the BBC, Marnie Chesterton's "What Is Quantum?" is being broadcast at 9.30 am on Radio 4 on Tues 30th Dec. Recorded on Helgoland in the summer, with input from the leading figures in quantum mechanics (and me). www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Whereas I will be working till I die, having saved approx 30p and some out of date tins

Hidden damage from Amazon fires now outweighs deforestation as carbon emissions surge https://www.europesays.com/2659800/ Hidden damage from Amazon fires now outweighs deforestation as carbon emissions surge Hidden damage from Amazon fires now…

Boxing Day digestion track

Trouble is, all these US de-regulators grew up in a world where’s there’s a button saying ‘Game Over. Try Again.’

Only 34 years ago, yet we have become so complacent

It’s not too late

🔴⚠️⛈🇺🇸A very hard #Christmas time for southern #California:six counties in state of emergency and 40 milions people under #flood alert due to atmospheric rivers hitting the state since yesterday. ⬇️latest 24hrs seen by #GOES18+rainviewer via @zoom.earth #ClimateEmergency

Metallica on @6music.bsky.social feels quite alternative for Xmas …

:)

Joyeux Noel 🎄 Enjoy this thread 🎅

Tongue twister: Where she sits she shines; where she shines she sits. Go!

Brave man. The opposite of a “sinner in history”. Link to YouTube post in article.

There is a genuine sadness to this era of tech. This IS the Rot Economy, and what you get when growth is all that matters. Every person defending LLMs is ultimately defending growth itself. It’s not about technology and hasn’t been for a long time. It’s about more things to sell and develop for.

Parents & anyone else up early on Christmas morning: there’s a bright pass of the International Space Station over the UK, just after 6.15. Well, I say it’s the ISS. Could be Santa heading home… Exact timings for where you are at www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary....

This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.

We analysed 73,000 articles and found the UK media is divorcing ‘climate change’ from net zero theconversation.com/we-analysed-...

Bear in mind that some phones special-case the moon specifically: www.theverge.com/2023/3/13/23... (bah! Broken image links all over that article!)

[Quietly opens briefcase] I’ve just got a fresh shipment of YouGov trackers, or if you want something a little stronger, I can get you an MRP if the price is right.

On the subject of different perspectives and illusions, theres a fab one at London Bridge station at the moment , which fails when filmed because the phone sees differently

I had cataract surgery. I now perceive colours, dimensions, and shapes differently from before surgery. What I saw before was 'real' to me. What I see now is 'real' to me. But they are two very different ways of seeing. The experience has really brought home to me how subjective perception can be.

Interesting article. Photos I take are such a poor representation/record of the vibrancy of real life that I think I would appreciate some help, but how much? I can never take a good photo of a beautiful moon for eg

🪸 According to the IPBES #GlobalAssessment , nearly a third of reef-forming corals, sharks, and their relatives are threatened. The whale shark is just one of many species at risk. The protection of biodiversity is essential to maintaining the health and balance of ecosystems.

via The New Yorker, Ellis Rosen cartoon

Recipe for spicy chewy gingerbread men biscuits please! (Or failing that, the thin snapable kind)

Pretty climbing thing is flowering in December!

Yes!

You can’t drink oil

It will surprise nobody that the cataloguing system that is slopwashing like this turns out to be Primo. (If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)

"Polymathic in the best sense.” Almost tripped over my cor-blimey trousers when I learned this morning from this very kind article by John Mitchenson that I am a Zeitgeister. The editor spells my name wrong two out of three times in the first paragraph subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/81/z...

As I suspected!! Grok specifically tailors its fabrications / output to the profiles of users. I reckon this is a big part of why so many progressives / leftists not just still use X but increasingly seem to use Grok: they 'think' it's providing accurate responses www.thenerve.news/p/grok-bot-c...

Canada Water wins nicest Xmas tree. Simple, irregular, cheering!

:)

You could be a climate and/or political refugee tomorrow. No matter how safe you feel right now. That’s how fast the world is changing. Act with that in mind—toward yourself, and towards others.

The days will start to get longer again next week, thank goodness! Meanwhile, watch the magical solstice from the warm 👇

Recipe for spicy chewy gingerbread men biscuits please! (Or failing that, the thin snapable kind)

First UK-France Nuclear Steering Group took place on 10 December. UK and France presented their national approaches to strengthening deterrence in Europe and confirmed desire to cooperate. They observed operation POKER, French strategic nuclear exercise. First time foreigners have done so.

"U.S. intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to capture all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire" www.reuters.com/world/europe...