Not a robot

Our Compsci dept staff coffee room in Aberystwyth.

Congratulations on BSides Aberystwyth for its first conference recently on information and cyber security. We are pleased to see Aberystwyth students Thiago Gentles, Aidan Hammond and Sidra Batool, as well as senior lecturer Hannah Dee, present at this first event.

Congratulations Sean

For users of Apple devices, do you know about Shortcuts, which is built into OS? I have been starting to explore some easy ways to setup phone and email tasks. Then I spotted this Music quiz as an example. Didn’t realise they could be this complex. Any interesting examples to share?

Have we reached this time of year yet?

I see the world has given up on subtle metaphors now

It is 0 minutes since I wrote a social media post, thought it was okay, and posted. To realise the glaring typo as I pressed the send button.

Went to Hoo Zoo the other day - which included a meerkat encounter, which came with a surprise bonus if meeting Tim the porcupine ❤️

Image from @aberuni.bsky.social campus this morning, with the moon still visible in the early morning light.

Welcome to everyone joining us for Open Day. We look forward to meeting you.

Croeso i bawb i ein diwrnod agored. Edrychwn ymlaen at eich cyfarfod.

Love this. #FluxCapacitorDay

Just a few organisations and places that offer support - and please add any more you think we should have on the list. filmstories.co.uk/features/men...

🎉 Happy Flux Capacitor Day! On this day in Back to the Future film history (5th November 1955), Doc Emmett Brown had the idea for the Flux Capacitor. The UK will be marking this day with fireworks across the land this evening*. #BackToTheFuture #BonfireNight #Fireworks * oh, and bonfire night.

Cheeky Haggis tonight. If you haven’t had a haggis in a while, a cold, wet, windy November night is a good excuse. Tasty.

For UK citizens, did you know that you can “Report misleading websites, emails, phone numbers, phone calls or text messages you think may be suspicious” to the government? The information is passed to the National Cyber Security Centre for investigation. www.gov.uk/report-suspi...

Great Scott! The restored 40th anniversary print of Back to the Future is an absolute treat. Watched it tonight at Commodore Cinema. The film moves at pace. I don’t think there is a wasted scene. Great script, excellent performances from the cast and the music pops. Seek this out at the cinema. 🍿🎥🎞️

“[we must] change course in order to make sure that the overshoot is as short as possible and as low in intensity as possible to avoid tipping points like the Amazon. [this] is a real risk […] if we don’t make a dramatic decrease of emissions [now] www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Join us for our next Open Day on 8 November 🗓️. Find out about studying Computer Science at Aberystwyth, and student life. #AberOpenDay #ComputerScience #UniversityLife #Aberystwyth www.aber.ac.uk/en/study-wit...

How a note on Facebook from writer-director Kirk Jones set the movie of I Swear into motion. More on the story here: filmstories.co.uk/news/i-swear...

TIL that there are many more mountains in Antarctica than I had ever thought about. The largest is Mount Vinson, about 4,892m high; for comparison, Snowden is 1,085m, Ben Nevis is about 1,300m and Everest is about 8,800m. Mount Vinson is 8th highest in the world. 1/2

Welcome to everyone coming to open day today // Croeso i bawb sy'n dod i'r diwrnod agored heddiw

Nostalgic sound. Haven’t heard that in a long time. Farewell dial-up. You were an important step to today’s connectivity.

Went to Berrington Hall today, a National Trust property near Leominster. Great day. Some more photos next.

An image of mine from the distant past - the early 1970s. On film, before autofocus, and without a motor drive...

TIL that the UK’s Office for National Statistics has a life expectancy calculator. Interesting. www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

Finally watched Emmy winning Adolesence on Netflix. 4 episodes showing events unfold. Excellent performances & storytelling. Each episode is all in one take, so technical challenge too & creative shots moving around the different locations. I highly recommend it. www.netflix.com/gb/title/817...

I LOVE the amazing map that Nosy Crow US created for Alice's first adventure and it's amazing to look at this map of Paris and think about how much changed between A Recipe for Trouble and A Spoonful of Spying. Find out how in my latest blog post. sarahtoddtaylor.com/blog/

Sometime in the future: Me: That dodo seems to run very fast. Do we think that is natural? Scientist: that may be a side effect of the little bit of cheetah DNA we had to use to complete the process. It’ll be fine. 😮😀 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Happy Book Birthday to our 9/16 titles! Suki Cat: Unicorn and Suki Cat: Dinosaur by @gracejhabib Everything You Know About The Human Body is WRONG by @emma_sarah_young and illustrated by @maribellechugaillustration Alice Éclair Spy Extraordinaire: A Spoonful of Spying by @sarahtoddtaylor

Apple Music appears to have a release date, years before the iMac was released, let alone iTunes / Apple Music was created. On the plus side, one of the tracks from this remastered version is available now. The remastered album will be out sometime soon … around 1985 😀

A Saturday snerdle.

Firstly, did you know that there is an account that reports on the urine tank on the international space station? Well, there is. I followed it out of interest. It is now sending messages frequently. So much so that this is the top of my timeline right now. Literally taking the …

I Fought the Law is compelling television, about the case of Ann Ming fighting for justice after the murder if her daughter. This case changed the UK legal principle of double jeapordy. Excellent. Recommended. @itvx.com www.itv.com/watch/i-foug...

Click on the link, which searches for Wizard of Oz. Click on the red shoes that you see. Then, click on the Tornado. www.google.co.uk/search?q=wiz...

One tries not to be full of doom gloom, but numbers are clear and humanity doesn’t appear to be taking notable action to limit GHG emissions. There is a messy and uncertain future ahead with much disruption. 😢

There are many types of AI. This is an excellent form that sounds so useful and beneficial.

From a few years ago, but cropped up in a photo memory today. A seaside shot in Aberystwyth.

Jaws tomorrow 🦈🎉 - check your local cinemas for showings 5pm in #Aberystwyth at the Commodore). Great to see Back to the Future and The Shining and One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest on the list.

If you've spent August scrolling through social media looking at all the fun going on in Edinburgh - don't worry, we've got you covered! We're bringing the best of the festival to Aberystwyth this Autumn 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 📅 03-05 October 2025 📍 Aberystwyth Arts Centre 🎟️ https://f.mtr.cool/wakwvcyjqo

If you're in the mid-Wales area... #scriptsky #UKscriptsky

One week until Jaws 50th anniversary print is on show at the Commodore Cinema in #Aberystwyth - Friday 29th August at 5pm. www.commodorecinema.com/movies/jaws5...

Met this little friendly robin today at Croft Castle (National Trust) in the walled garden. It was brave and not bothered by the humans taking lots of photos.

Dr Dave just got interviewed about the digital skills gap in manufacturing on BBC Radio Wales (07:49) 😀🏭🎓 @dj13730.bsky.social @aberuni.bsky.social @abercompsci.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Was trying to type name of some action characters in recent chat with a friend. Auto correct didn’t judge its suggestion correctly. 😀

VOTE!

There is great buzz about Weapons - a new horror film. A friend has seen it and declared it as ‘very scary’. On at the Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth Arts Centre this week. Tickets booked. 🫣👀 aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/event/weapon...

iOS Dev Weekly – Issue 722 is out! Happy Friday, everyone! 🚀 iosdevweekly.com/issues/722/#... #swiftlang #iosdev