It was a scene exactly like this which once caused me to say out loud "stop pretending to be dead you idiot, I can see your nose moving"

I've discussed this with my Labrador, and she thinks it's fine to go to a cocktail bar. This is why it's never a good idea to do what your dog suggests.

Just as a reminder, 80mbps is the practical maximum over short distances of copper. Today's cutting-edge experimental technology can put 400Tbps over an optical fibre. That's 5 million times faster. Optical fibre is good stuff.

Openreach are doing their first pilots for full transition away from the 110 year old copper network. Doing so means they only need 1/5 of the exchanges they currently have. However, it means transitioning those last few users - some of whom might be vulnerable, and they don't know who they are.

A charming story about Thanksgiving and clashing cultures (both US and U.K. and, more specifically, US Army versus British Army).

If everything is a top priority, then everything gets done quickly. That's basic management

The only report on the Beeb's governance you need to read. Although it does make you wonder if someone at the water company accidentally flipped the switch from 'fluoride' to 'crazy pills'.

I guess it’s a compliment that the top story on BBC London’s TV/online output today is a direct lift of a month-old London Centric story? But once again the BBC is consistently the worst news outlet for actually remembering to credit others.

Re-gauging a national rail network sounded to me like a very expensive catastrophe, so when I read that I assumed it was just someone pretending to do so in order to troll the Russians.

The mistake a lot of people on my bit of Bluesky make is to singularly fail to believe that everyone thinks like they do. Ordinary people don't do that.

Not my favourite David Evans. Not my least-favourite either, but certainly not on the David Evans Christmas Card List either.

I think this could have been written at pretty much any stage of development of the commercial Internet - it really isn't new. "This is what Y2K would have been" is a terrible take. Y2K threatened to be the whole world shutting down unrecoverably. www.nbcnews.com/tech/rcna245...

I must say that Marion Cotillard's French accent in The Morning Show is impeccable.

Quite the correction by the Telegraph. The publication in question is @freemovement.bsky.social

Just reflecting that the burrito would be a lot more popular if there was a day of the week beginning with ‘b’.

Lovely short thread (with a v good piece at the end). I think Ruth's point at the end is entirely right. Also I think shows that 'being an effective minister' is a skillset in itself. Castle was not a transport wonk or labour market wonk or a welfare wonk, yet she was v effective in all three roles.

It’s getting to that time of year, so just to say that yes it is a Christmas movie.

"asylum seekers and refugees I have spoken to are panicked, trembling and crying at the prospect of having to be uprooted once again after feeling safe in the UK, often after experiencing years of risk and danger"

Hey folks. I have spent *days* reading and meticulously drafting comments on a very lengthy manuscript. Which I have just found includes an AI-faked quote. Attributed to ME. Here is a thread of my feelings

It’s like that Catcher in the Rye thing. Every time I go to IKEA I compulsively buy a USB C cable.

Is there a Home Secretary who, since 2005, *hasn’t* “introduced” safe return reviews for refugees? Other than Grant Shapps, who only had a few hours. Re-announcing an old, existing and totally pointless policy is very, very tired.

Neither the existing nor the new policy will cause any additional refugees to leave the UK. But prolonged “temporary” status will make it harder for refugees to get on in life here, with bad effects for them, their children, our society and our economy.

Personally, I couldn't be less happy with this. On top of everything else just from a practical perspective simply stupid. Most of the angst comes down to integration, so let's ensure people won't integrate. Great.

🔉What dangers does X pose to our democracy? And should the government stop using it? Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics. @commonswec.parliament.uk

I give Catholic bishops a hard time often for all the obvious reasons, but this is beautiful and loving, and I'm deeply grateful to hear it. This can change hearts and save lives.

Eldest is doing economics A-level, and yesterday we were discussing the problems of contagion in the 2008 financial crisis. This seems more like the dot-com bubble. The exciting thing is that each market crash is different. What will this one be like? Guess we're going to find out...

"S&P Global warned that a third of Oracle’s revenues will be tied to a single customer by 2028, referring to its reliance on OpenAI... “That is a huge liability and credit risk for Oracle. Your main customer, biggest customer by far, is a venture capital-funded start-up"" on.ft.com/43wiTBk

Apparently they became useful to Stone Age settlements as they cleaned up carcasses and warned of predators. Pretty much the same as our Labrador today, in other words. Our dogs' diversity can be traced back to the Stone Age www.bbc.com/news/article...

WALKED INTO A DIFFERENT PUB TODAY AND THE LOVELY MAN BEHIND THE BAR JUST LOOKED AT HIS BIG BOOK AND LET ME MAKE A ROOM RESERVATION JUST WITH A NAME AND NUMBER, SUCK IT "THE FUTURE"

Randomly decided to dip into the White House press briefing - new journalist there gets the first question. Asks about the BBC being sued by Trump. Where are they from? GB News 🤯

"Don't write anything down you wouldn't want on the front page of a newspaper tomorrow". That was the mantra hammered home in my induction training at Intel Corp 25yrs ago. Since then I've been genuinely surprised to the extent that other people don't operate by that rule.

we’ve never used three-cueing in the UK (we use sounding out/phonics). maybe that is why the experience of Americans finding one of your posts is so jarring.

There are quite a few people in senior positions in this government who seem to me to be very able, but are clearly failing. The received wisdom on this site is that they're inept, and that their failings are for obvious and stupid reasons. I wonder what our perspective on this will be in 20 years.

The new Church Housing Association wants to buy up homes on Benefits Street www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/church-...

Me to middle daughter: 7.00am: Have you had breakfast? 7.05am: Have some breakfast. 7.10am: Would you like some scrambled eggs? 7.20am: Have some breakfast 7.25am: Have some breakfast

Very funny, and at the risk of sounding like a clickbait writer, the last few sentences made me properly laugh out loud.

There's a lot to like in this, if you're minded to, but the thing that always strikes me is the fundamental and dramatic change in attitude compared to what has dominated the last 1,000 years: no longer are we trying to kill each other over our differences.

I for one will welcome our Chinese overlords #Beerjacket #China #Tsingtao

Story time. This is about the actor Fulton Mackay, who Brits will know best as the stern Scottish prison warden, Mr. Mackay from Porridge - and rest-of-worlders, I guess, as the Captain (the lighthouse keeper) on Fragile Rock.

"Attempting to evaluate the political situation is a bit complicated isn't it" - Understatement of the year finalist, 1979

One of my insights some years ago into the type of people who like this sort of thing is that being able to argue about split hairs is not just product marketing and engagement strategy: Sometimes, it is the product.

"Don't Be a Sucker" by the US War Department (1947) The film follows a young American, drawn in by a speaker promising an end to jobs for minorities and removing foreigners. He encounters a Hungarian professor who explains this is how Nazis grab power for themselves. archive.org/details/Dont...

If, in the UK, a law enforcement officer gave this level of drama about getting hit *on their body armour* with *a sandwich* I think they'd have to go into witness protection to escape the shame. Unless of course, the were doing a Blackadder "that mango was very sharp" tribute.

Would absolutely meet the criteria for the George Medal.

Naomi is I think bang on here. I have said many times to many people that AI is like any other technology shift: it changes jobs and how we work. Naomi builds on that (and expresses it much better), and lands on "learn the skill of discernment". Do read this.

I wrote this yesterday about what to tell young people who are worried about what work will be in the age of AI: naomialderman.substack.com/p/preparing-...

Today I went to the funeral of the former chair of the parish council - was chair when I was on it. One of those people who really believed in public service, listened hard, and with empathy, wasn't afraid of taking decisions. Sad to see him go, but lovely to consider a life well lived.

How are the news going to talk about him now? "The person formerly known as Prince" is already pretty much taken.

"Marrying intentional harshness with sloppy incompetence" is an apt description of not only this specific occurrence, but perhaps of the whole political age we are in.