Seems fitting that my new phone's first photo should be of my old phone. Featuring moisture visible through the camera lenses 4.5 days after the event...

The old phone is dead, long live the new phone. And curse my lazy stupid failure to back my files up so infrequently

My recollection is that "Danish immigration policy" means sending lots of people here on small boats, occupying half of England for a century or so and eventually taking over the monarchy, but then being remembered mainly for a fable about how national leaders are powerless to stop the tide

The unbearable lightness of being on hold

"Ok, you can have asylum, but we're going to spend 20 years treating you as an outsider and telling your neighbours to view you with suspicion. We are doing this to oppose the far right rather than to help them."

Fascinating that the cause of collapse of both major parties has not just been basically identical (cost of living and service failings creating unpopularity, chasing radical right tail on immigration fuelling in-bloc schism), but that doubling down has persisted long after failure became clear.

Riot Women. Just superb.

We regret to inform you the duck is bankrupt

They seem to think that the only way policy affects public opinion is via media coverage

The term "large language model" actually refers to wordcount of the output

Drop as in abandon, rather than drop as in unveil

Rachel Reeves is going to raise £700bn a year by taxing Bluesky users for facepalming

OK, I am now understanding why the rich ruling class wants generative AI to write their emails for them.

Going to put on my best sad face and wander round the local shoe shops asking if they have any spare silica gel

Well quite frankly I do not think that elected public servants should be commissioning crime

This is an outrageous affront to the dozens of people who voted in those elections

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

Is it as simple as just putting it in rice or do I have to take it apart first?

Gang - does the "put a wet phone in rice" thing actually work?

Can't find my phone. Washing machine is 20 mins into cycle. Horrible feeling developing.

Every office has an executive tier whose emails are like: saw on news , , can we replce complianc dept with web 3 and a worker tier whose emails are like: Dear Jim, First of all, I *love* this idea! Unfortunately, I spoke with Legal and identified a few issues with this approach. For starters…

Could this conversation about our massive criminal conspiracy have been an email

Didn't see the northern lights, but I had a lovely peaceful half-hour on a bench in Alexandra park

My watching of Trespasses slightly undermined by forgetting the name of one of the main characters at a crucial point

All will be held to a count

It's clear that one of the things Starmer doesn't understand how to do is hire and manage people who can help him understand how to do the numerous other things that he also doesn't understand how to do

If you've never enjoyed the exploding whale video, here is your chance to enjoy the exploding whale video

I'm really enjoying this view along the river which has opened up after the mass of branches next to the footbridge was cleared away #NewRiverBirds

Every now and then I remember that Theresa May survived as PM for a full two years after she bungled the 2017 election. In "things can't go on like this" situations, things often do go on like that for a surprisingly long time.

Ahem

Owing to a typo, my 5th-level ranger is now wielding a B-road sword, which inflicts 2d4 points of damage but is only usable while travelling along medium-sized thoroughfares that connect to larger roads

Ahem

Well the Daniel Craig movies were a reboot rather than sequels to the previous ones, so we can now simply return to the Connery-Lazenby-Moore-Dalton-Brosnan timeline

Egyptian geese getting it on. At first rather sweet, then a bit awkward, then comically loud #NewRiverBirds

News reporting, like justice and science, is as much about integrity of process as it is about accuracy of results. Fudging the evidence as a shortcut to the conclusion is unjustified, whether or not ample good evidence for that conclusion exists.

In Donald Trump, I think the anti-BBC right may have finally found a champion who is popular enough to win over the hearts of the British public

Sure, I read books! A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium.[1] Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent.[2][3] Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mostly of writing and images.

I love the Volvo ad where the daughter is driving the dad around and he keeps doing the intensely annoying thing of telling her what to do next but in fact the car's AI beats him to it, telling her what to do next, and it's not in any way intensely annoying, honest

I sure hope Trump never finds out that The Apprentice was edited to create the false impression that he was an astute businessman who could process information, remember names, stay awake, make wise decisions, and utter whole sentences without soiling himself

"We retract and apologise for the broadcast, which used falsely edited remarks as a shortcut to the finding of the US House of Representatives January 6th Committee's 845-page report, namely that President Trump incited a mob to storm the Capitol and steal the election. Here's a three-dollar bill."

BBC leadership seems like Starmer's No10: repeatedly blundering into gaffes and rows; handling these in a way that maximises damage sustained; responding to certain sorts of criticism with abasement and others with disdain; above all, failing to think seriously about what they're doing, why and how.

It strikes me that US government shutdowns would generally put much more pressure on a party that cares about using government to help people than they put on a party that doesn't

Intensely sceptical about bringing back The Night Manager for a second (and third) season. I'll give it a go, but it does have a huge neon sign on the front saying "THIS IS PROBABLY NOT GOING TO WORK"

Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?

"Strong message here"

If BBC News's rivals who are today damning it for bias were held to similar standards, most of them would be shut down on the spot.

These two swans are getting on a bit - they've been raising cygnets locally since at least 2007 - but they're still devoted to each other #NewRiverBirds

BBC News is a news organisation. It is there to do proper news not "represent the views of its viewers" - as funneled through right wing press/social media. If the next DG understands that it will be in a far better place.

Kingdom is good. First Attenborough I've seen that ends with a cliffhanger.

Hate to say it, but I’m underwhelmed by The Rose Field. It and The Secret Commonwealth just feel like a big macguffin hunt whose purpose never quite materialises. Lots in there that’s good – prose, characters, scenes – in fact most of the chapters are good – but it doesn’t amount to much of a story.