The 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at a jolly ceremony at the Boston university’s George Sherman Union on Thursday. I’m taking time-out from my usual ranty Friday column this week to give you a roundup of what went down. (PLUS more Korean spam!) autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/eat-this-o...

A group of people stopped me on the street and tried to sell me the idea of letting AI book my next holiday vacation. Should I? Would YOU? Imagine arriving at an airport that didn't exist. [Con in 60 Seconds] Episode 27 autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/on-the-roa...

As of this week – until I get bored or forget – I will post a mid-week exhibit from Dabbsy's Curious Museum of Korean Spam for everyone to enjoy, including FREE subscribers. Every Wednesday. Sign up to receive it FREE by email. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/free-post-...

🔊 We are delighted to announce our all-singing, all-dancing new website! Take a look here and let us know what you think: nujparis.fr Thanks to our chair, @alidabbs.bsky.social, for all his brilliant work in making this happen. 🙌 @nujofficial.bsky.social @nujlfb.bsky.social

Une noisette done properly. What a rarity! Beautiful layering, correct temperature and an amaretto cookie on the side. Merci Gazette Café, Montpellier! www.gazettecafe.com

You can no more roll back a killer robot’s firmware than persuade AOL not to ditch dialup. A column from me, from the future. [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring classic Numan, heavy metal Reznor and (hooray!) more Korean Spam! autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/trust-a-hu...

Unexpected item in LUGGAGE area! The maniacs that brought you self-checkout tills in supermarkets now bring you… self-check-in machines in hotel lobbies. [Con in 60 Seconds] autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/do-not-dis...

I hadn't been counting the years so IEEE did it for me. Apparently I have been an IEEE member for 15 so far. IEEE now runs a certification program for AI Ethics. Shall I sign up?

The complexity of in-store discounts that only apply when I buy multiple identical products continues to baffle me. “Buy FOUR circumcisions by the end of September and get your FIFTH at no extra cost!” [Con in 60 Seconds] Episode 25. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/buy-one-ge...

Artificial Intelligence at its finest: Instagram looked at my recent photos and suggested the following soundtracks for my story reel.

I was chuckling away while scrolling through the multicoloured array of spammy nonsense that I had received overnight and I turned to my team leader and blurted out: “Want to see my junk?” [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring unwanted emails from Korea. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/im-done-wi...

"The ads pop up in the most inconvenient moments. Not just in the middle of some action scenes but often mid-dialogue. I suffered one ad last night that interrupted the dialogue mid-word." [Con in 60 Seconds] featuring my fake call to PrimeFlix. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/is-there-a...

Express your support for war reporters, photographers and media crews working in Gaza. Simple motion of solidarity passed unanimously at last night's meeting, as part of NUJ's "48 Hours of Action": "NUJ Paris branch deplores the targeted killings of journalists reporting from Gaza. [continues...]

Another 5, add them to the previous, er, how many? If you have lost count, it can help to humanise the journalists being systematically killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Photos and bios updated daily by Médiapart here: www.mediapart.fr/studio/panor... @nujparis.bsky.social @nujofficial.bsky.social

My other tractor's a Porsche.

Once you’ve been declared dead in France, it sets in motion a sequence of automated digital-only procedures that sprint towards completion with alarming rapidity. [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring Ledger, Brazil and the Army of the Not-Yet-Dead. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/are-you-de...

The company is about to replace staff with AI. There are still some human idiots left behind to organise a nice leaving party for them, though. Using AI, of course. What could possibly go wrong? [Con in 60 Seconds] Episode 23 out now. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/worried-ab...

"It’s not entirely his fault that he felt he could spout outrageous bollocks about GPT-5, emboldened as he was by millions of unquestioning sycophants." [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring Altman, Jobs, Cook, OS/2 and Scorpions singing T.Rex. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/speaking-u...

Looking for your next IT job? Digging out your old CV and updating it won't work any more. Read your most useful free article of the week here: www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/f...

Not content with leading a calm and conflict-free existence, I have decided to ruin it all by bringing the wrath of culture wars upon my head – for a laugh. But which side of the inclusivity debate have I chosen? [Con in 60 Seconds] autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

Recommended: an unfussy and (IMHO) reasonable guide to replacing some questionable classic IT terms ("blacklist" etc) with friendlier alternatives, written by a Linux group. Distribute to tech writers and subs. @nujparis.bsky.social @nujofficial.bsky.social www.aswf.io/inclusive-la...

Outside a shop in France, possibly run by Glaswegians.

"Nestled alongside five members of the sales team – in a huddle of high-backed, red-quilted benches evocative of a padded cell in a brothel – is our loudmouth." [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring Linkin Park, Foo Fighters and Thomas Dolby. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/keep-the-n...

This week you find me dressed as a Looney Tunes cartoon burglar breaking into an already open window on the ground floor of an AI office in the middle of the morning of a work day. Beats doing a night shift. [Con in 60 Seconds] autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/i-am-a-mil...

Those who think OpenAI is some sort of Hogwarts tend to hold senior management positions, believing that AI is magic enough to replace everyone else’s jobs. Not their own jobs, obviously. [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring The Dickies and Talkie Toaster autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/your-espre...

"I need to check in some weighty luggage for the aircraft hold. Simple, surely? I just head to the Bag-Drop queue and await my turn, right? Up to a point, yes. To be precise, up to the point where I actually need to drop the bags." [Con in 60 Seconds] autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/the-bag-dr...

"A thick leather wallet… with the Psion logo embossed on the corner! Could it be…? Oh yes, it could!" [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring a Psion S5mx, a Motorola RAZR and the music of 2dees (UK) and Nine Inch Nails. It must be the weekend! autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/palmtop-no...

"The general din of the open-plan area leaves me feeling testy – and in the mood for a pointless argument about abbreviations not necessarily being acronyms." [Con in 60 seconds] : Your weekly audio treat every Thursday. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/thats-an-a...

"Ah yes, NFTs. You’d almost forgotten about them, hadn’t you? That’s understandable. We all try to forget about embarrassing moments in our lives, hoping that we can wish them out of existence." [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring Tank Girl and Garbage autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/meme-coins...

“Sorry, we cannot complete your paperwork over the internet. You will need to come in to our office.” In which I have to take a 3,000km round trip in order to confirm my home address with a government official. [Con in 60 Seconds] autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/i-am-my-ow...

I initially thought this was posted by The Onion. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Journalists reach their boredom threshold a third of the way into a Powerpoint deck. For me, it’s a third of the way into the first bullet point. [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring luxury police cars, sweary t-shirts and The Stranglers. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/thank-you-...

Join me in my quest to persuade a news editor to buy my article on the latest hack… and in a reverb-enhanced flashback to experience what it was like trying to do the same thing before the Millennium. [Con in 60 Seconds] autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/how-much-s...

"Freewheeling hedonism" in the Camargue as reported by our very own NUJ Paris regular in Montpellier, Phil Hoad. @nujparis.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

What links the Swedish sci-fi movie 'Watch The Skies' with Klunk from 'Stop The Pigeon'? [Autosave is for Wimps] this week features Kung Fu overdubs, sports clichés, mumble-recognition devices, Nouvelle Vague cinema and A Flock of Seagulls. Phew! autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/ai-can-rea...

"One thing that is likely to jolt you into straying into an adjacent lane is a deafening and erroneous 'weep-weep-weep' in-car alert to tell you it thinks you are about to stray into the adjacent lane... when you aren't." [Con in 60 Seconds] autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/in-car-aud...

Sleeps up to three people under the bonnet.

Good choice of replacement headlights for a hearse.

For Thomas Dolby fans. I just want the key to this...

France Radio is at it again: they're playing Gary Glitter. I really must drop them a line about this some day to let them know.

"Every other seat in the auditorium was filled by an influencer. The stench of cheap and ineffective deodorant was overpowering." [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring spycams, a little cat, Rise of the Northstar and plenty of Wha-hey! autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/hey-parano...

Launch party tonight aux Salins d'Aigues Mortes for the new 'annuaire' for members of the media in Occitanie. Lots of com, a few journalists too. :-)

Due to a cockup, a movie streaming service has designated a comedy film as an orgy sex movie - and vice-versa. I decide to ring the customer support line to tell them of their metadata mishap. What could go wrong? 'Con in 60 Seconds' episode 14. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/your-metad...

Boastful Christian dictator literally deports Jesus out of the country. www.bbc.com/news/article...

“How was your experience of airport security today?” Four large emoji buttons indicate: Happy, Expressionless, Unhappy and Pissed Off. Which one to punch first? [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring Ursula A, Vic R & Bob M, and Bob M too, and Paul O. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/customer-s...

Summer! Flowers bloom, grapes swell, and clients ask you to refresh their websites. But here’s the big question: why do you keep designing them not to work in any browser other than Chrome? {Con in 60 Seconds} is free this week. autosaveisforwimps.substack.com/p/my-website...

Can you see into the future? Do you have the gift of foresight? You might just be an LLM. [Autosave is for Wimps] featuring Blackpool urinals and Robbie Williams. open.substack.com/pub/autosave...

In which I hold down seven keys with one hand while clicking on two on-screen buttons simultaneously with the other. {Con in 60 Seconds} Episode 12 out now. open.substack.com/pub/autosave...

France Radio 'fip.rock' channel is playing Gary Glitter. Has no-one told them? Then again, they were playing Noir Désir last night.

Completely vegetarian, if you don't count the shellfish, fish and molluscs.