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You can find more info on my userinfo page - but this is just here to say that I'm very happy to be friended by anyone that wants to read me. I rarely post friends-only, and that only tends to be about things that mention work, so if I don't friend you back you're not actually missing much...
If you do friend me, this would be a good place to leave a comment introducing yourself, and letting me know how you found me!
I have lots of awesome friends - if you want to make a few more then take a look at here for Dreamwidth, add a few people, and leave comment so people can add you too.
The links posts come from my page at Pinboard and are posted to DW via a web app which I wrote and runs as a daily PowerShell job on Azure. You can grab it to run yourself from here.
A note on correcting people's grammar in the comments.
Official Spoiler Policy.
Photo cross-post
Sep. 21st, 2026 09:25 am
Gideon and Sophia's school photos came out well.
Original
is here on Pixelfed.scot.
The kids have discovered Pokémon Go and so I've spent about half an hour of today shepherding them around the local area while they squeak excitedly at each other about what they've discovered.
Interesting Links for 19-09-2026
Sep. 19th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. How To Write With An LLM
- (tags:ai writing )
- 2. Making sense of the Scottish Parliament vote on data centres
- (tags:scotland Technology environment planning politics viaPatrickHadfield )
- 3. Putin's options for a 'hybrid attack' on Europe - and how Nato would respond
- (tags:russia europe uk war ukraine )
- 4. Canada 'excited' to move closer to EU after reviewing Britain's ten-year experiment with doing the opposite
- (tags:UK Europe Canada satire funny )
- 5. US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report
- (tags:USA china war AI OhForFucksSake )
Tags:
- ai,
- canada,
- china,
- environment,
- europe,
- funny,
- links,
- ohforfuckssake,
- planning,
- politics,
- russia,
- satire,
- scotland,
- technology,
- uk,
- ukraine,
- usa,
- viapatrickhadfield,
- war,
- writing
Photo cross-post
Sep. 19th, 2026 05:56 am
This child has either had a run in with a serial killer or she's had
far too much fun with the blackberries she's found.
Original
is here on Pixelfed.scot.
Interesting Links for 18-09-2026
Sep. 18th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. Speedrun Nvidia's climate talking points
- (tags:Nvidia globalwarming ai doom video )
- 2. Scottish Government issues new data centre planning rules
- (tags:Scotland ai regulation planning )
- 3. Work to reduce stench from Edinburgh's Seafield wastewater site begins
- (tags:Edinburgh waste sewage GoodNews smell )
- 4. Scotland's bike lane networks break new records
- (tags:cycling Edinburgh bicycles GoodNews )
- 5. The end of the age of (mathematical) heroes
- (tags:mathematics research ai )
Interesting Links for 17-09-2026
Sep. 17th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. Australia 'on the same page' as Canada as it seeks deeper EU alliance
- (tags:australia europe canada trade )
- 2. Autism is genetic - and why this information matters now
- (tags:autism genetics )
- 3. People with ADHD share what that feels like
- (tags:adhd )
- 4. 'Massive course & programme closures' expected at Edinburgh University
- (tags:edinburgh university )
- 5. Bruce Campbell Gives an Update on His Cancer Diagnosis
- (tags:Cancer video life movies )
Links of Interest - 2026-09-16
Sep. 16th, 2026 02:22 pm- 1. US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons
- (tags:weaponry space usa OhForFucksSake )
- 2. Pubs in England and Wales to allow digital ID apps to prove age
- (tags:uk identity age pubs )
- 3. What it really feels like to debate your existence
- (tags:bigotry LGBT transgender TV )
- 4. The Oil Supply Crisis - What's happening to the price and when will we run out?
- (tags:oil doom war USA Iran )
- 5. An e-ink frame that hears birds and draws them as 1800s illustrations
- (tags:art birds sound ai e-ink )
Interesting Links for 15-09-2026
Sep. 15th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. Why everyone interested in law should see Coyote vs Acme
- (tags:law movies animation )
- 2. SNP, Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru sign self-determination declaration
- (tags:Ireland Wales Scotland independence )
- 3. Donald Trump adds Ireland to list of countries to which he has brought everlasting peace
- (tags:satire politics usa Ireland OhForFucksSake )
- 4. There are only twelve 4x4 sudoku grids and 85632 puzzles.
- (tags:puzzles mathematics )
- 5. Long COVID's brain fog finally has a biological explanation: Dopamine loss
- (tags:Pandemic dopamine viaKenny )
- 6. 18 snippets of joy, wisdom, and strange meaning.
- (tags:tumblr life )
Interesting Links for 14-09-2026
Sep. 14th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. Original Star Wars Officially Returns in IMAX 70mm for the First Time
- (tags:StarWars movies cinema )
- 2. A full day of Edinburgh's bus network, 1.5 million recorded vehicle positions in 60 seconds
- (tags:transport visualisation buses edinburgh viaDanielDWilliam )
- 3. What Did Tolkien Really Think about Narnia?
- (tags:Tolkien CSLewis narnia history )
- 4. The wind farm that's paid £300m via your bills… to stop producing any power
- (tags:economics renewables windpower scotland uk )
- 5. The ideas shaping Europe's pitch to Canada
- (tags:Canada Europe politics trade )
- 6. Italy eyes nuclear power comeback by 2035
- (tags:italy nuclearpower )
Life with two children: it burns
Sep. 14th, 2026 08:08 amWhen I find out who taught my children how to be sarcastic they're in big trouble.
Interesting Links for 12-09-2026
Sep. 12th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. Richard Taylor reminisces about his VFX work and how things have changed since Lord Of The Rings was made
- (tags:lotr history specialeffects movies )
- 2. Ectopic pregnancy deaths in the USA have nearly doubled. It's worse in states with abortion bans. -
- (tags:USA death women abortion OhForFucksSake healthcare )
- 3. 'NAZA' Review: A Devastating Exposé of Israeli Genocidal Policy
- (tags:Israel genocide documentary review Palestine Gaza )
Tags:
- abortion,
- death,
- documentary,
- gaza,
- genocide,
- healthcare,
- history,
- israel,
- links,
- lotr,
- movies,
- ohforfuckssake,
- palestine,
- review,
- specialeffects,
- usa,
- women
Interesting Links for 11-09-2026
Sep. 11th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. 300th anniversary of the Edinburgh man who discovered deep time
- (tags:prehistory edinburgh time history )
- 2. Universal Child Care pays for itself
- (tags:childcare economics )
- 3. Nudge or tax? At last, some data
- (tags:economics tax behaviour )
- 4. August 2026 Was the Hottest Month Ever Recorded (so far)
- (tags:globalwarming doom )
- 5. Tusk warns of future attacks after 'direct threat' averted at Poland-Ukraine border
- (tags:Russia Poland Ukraine war )
- 6. SCP-8980 is one of the more horrifying things I've read
- (tags:abuse short_story scifi )
- 7. Edinburgh's Doors Open Days are in two weeks. Definitely worth seeing what's available!
- (tags:edinburgh tourism )
How long did people really live for?
Sep. 10th, 2026 07:15 pmI watched a video about lifespan, which talked about two myths - first that we used to have a really low lifespan where everyone used to die in our 40s, and secondly that actually there was a lot of child mortality, but then we were *fine* after that.
And it made me wonder how the age we die at has actually changed over the last few hundred years. So I got some data from the Human Mortality Database, popped it into one of those cool bar chart race apps, and produced this:
What I find particularly interesting, other than being able to see child mortality drop dramatically and lifespan slowly lengthen is that you can see the effects of WWII as a bump in the death rates of people in their 20s.
And it made me wonder how the age we die at has actually changed over the last few hundred years. So I got some data from the Human Mortality Database, popped it into one of those cool bar chart race apps, and produced this:
What I find particularly interesting, other than being able to see child mortality drop dramatically and lifespan slowly lengthen is that you can see the effects of WWII as a bump in the death rates of people in their 20s.
Interesting Links for 10-09-2026
Sep. 10th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. Eiffel Tower employees strike after female staff removed for Hindu group
- (tags:misogyny religion France OhForFucksSake )
- 2. Andy Burnham lays out conditions for second Scottish independence referendum
- (tags:Scotland independence referendum Labour )
- 3. Mercator ↔ Equal Earth - an animation
- (tags:animation maps visualisation )
- 4. Majority of Britons back UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in West Bank (52:17)
- (tags:Israel polls UK )
- 5. Self-driving cars could prevent 580,000 deaths every year
- (tags:automation driving safety )
Tags:
Interesting Links for 09-09-2026
Sep. 9th, 2026 12:00 pm- 1. Aphantasia and autism
- (tags:autism vision imagination )
- 2. 15-year-olds who use AI for schoolwork are on average a year behind ones who don't
- (tags:education AI doom )
- 3. Thousands of teens missing education without that appearing on official reports
- (tags:UK children education doom )
- 4. Scottish watchdog calls for police to stop using Tasers on children in custody
- (tags:Scotland children police )
- 5. France and Canada join UK in issuing trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements
- (tags:UK Canada France Israel trade )
- 6. Labour Government Did Not Pursue Legal Advice On Uyghur Genocide Despite Pre-Election Pledge
- (tags:china genocide uk lies labour )
- 7. UK public support for disability benefits remarkably strong
- (tags:disability welfare uk polls )
Groundhog Day
Sep. 8th, 2026 01:13 pmYesterday: lying on the sofa feeling sick watching season 8 of Rick and Morty. Today: lying on the sofa feeling sick watching season 9 of Rick and Morty. With a headache.
(I get to take more painkillers in twenty minutes though. Quite looking forward to that.)
Sick and Morty
Sep. 7th, 2026 02:10 pmSick on the sofa and finally catching up with season 8 of Rick and Morty.
I have to admit I did not expect James Gunn and Zack Snyder to guest star as themselves.
(The "Prometheus" episode was also great fun)
