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Ali King

@aliking.bsky.social
1.5K followers 3.3K following 208 posts

Data botherer & code tinkerer in Edinburgh. Queer Code Scotland organiser, support diversity in tech as I live here. Opinions model's own. They/them Mastodon: ali_king@blahaj.social Twitter (deleted): @ali_king

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Reposted by Ali King
Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 12h
Hi, I’m a sighted alt text user! Here are some reasons I use it: - Slow Internet on an airplane - I’m over 40, I have no idea who that celebrity is - Bluesky broke images again - My vision sucks and that text is too small to read otherwise - Conveys further context and authorial intent
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Suella Braverman selling 106 copies of her book after all that publicity is so delicious.
Crack 'em while you can, though, because Suella's star might just be on the skids. Despite plugging her book on Question Time, on Tim Shipman's Spectator podcast, in serialised excerpts in the Daily Mail, and in a fawning interview with Allison Pearson in the Telegraph, in its opening weekend, Patriot sold precisely 106 copies.

— from Ian Winwood’s New World piece.
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Mike (They/Them) 🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @mxmike.co.uk · 22h
Bethany wore a “Protect The Dolls” t-shirt during rehearsals. The BBC posted it on their socials then quietly deleted and reposted it without showing her from the front. On TV last night they actually blurred the message #Strictly
Bethany Antonia rehearsing for Strictly Come Dancing in a Protect The Dolls t-shirt Bethany Antonia rehearsing for Strictly Come Dancing in a Protect The Dolls t-shirt that’s been edited to look like a plain white t shirt
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Nat Guest @unfortunatalie.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Also ignores how much later people now become home owners; shared space, flatmates; smaller homes or flats once you do manage to buy one.
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Bouba's Delivery Service @fernmonkey.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Very important news: there's a new litter of cheetah cubs livestreaming. Right now they're at the "furry sausage" stage.
nationalzoo.si.edu
Cheetah Cub Cam
The Cheetah Cub Cam streams live from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia.
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fesshole 🧻 @fesshole.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I used to work in IT for credit card processing. It was boring. There are initial mathematical checks done on credit card numbers. Somewhere out there is a credit card system, authorising transactions, with a function called NumberWang. It was a slow afternoon.
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Bugs, Yaoist @bugsmaytrix.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
maybe i'm old fashion but the coolest thing about video games is being taken to new worlds that i hadn't thought up and experiencing something exciting that the artists behind the game want to show me
Paul Ifeanyichukwu Gabriel @ @...•2h
Can you explain to me like a 5 yrs old ?

Nikita Bier
@nikitabier • 2h

Every video game -- and every piece of software -- will be personalized exactly to your preferences.
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Sathnam Sanghera @sathnam.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Dear tv and radio producers. Thankyou for the invitation. But, no, I do not want to appear on your show to defend the idea that I am English, after 50 years of living and working here, because the increasingly feral right want to turn this into a "debate" and you cannot see how you're being played
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Jorge Liboreiro @jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
🚨 Just in: The US has sanctioned the ICC. "We ​will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate," Marco Rubio said in a statement.
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: US imposes sanctions on ICC hours after former judge wins Nobel Peace Prize
The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges.
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Jaundiced Brains @johnnymains.co.uk · 09/10/2026
In honour of #THEDEVILS getting its long overdue re-release this month, I've dug out my Italian bus stop poster.
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Open Education at The University of Edinburgh @openededinburgh.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Join our free Wikipedia edit-a-thon on the history of fifteenth-century witchcraft with a guest speaker! Let's discover fascinating historical figures and untold stories, and make them accessible together. Book your spot on Eventbrite today! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-witchi...
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Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵 @threadinburgh.scot · 09/10/2026
I am once again asking/begging cultural, heritage and environmental groups in Edinburgh to stop using Gen AI images of a city that has been photographed from nearly every conceivable angle and for which a vast portfolio rights-free images already exist to use if you don't have a budget to pay
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Alistair Coleman @alistaircoleman.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
ANYWAY, Holborn and St Pancras, and it’s always weird to have candidates who somehow got the required ten signatures to stand, but polled less than ten votes. Quite the achievement. Come to think of it, the Communist League probably schismed several times during the campaign.
Holborn and St Pancras results an independent got seven votes, the Communist League nine.
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
‘Culturally British by my standards’ is one of the most chilling phrases uttered in British politics. Entirely unsurprising to me who it’s from.
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Robert Lloyd Parry @nunkie.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Christmas Eve: this year's Ghost Story For Christmas is a livestreamed solo performance of M R James's "The Tractate Middoth" Register here xmastractate.eventbrite.co.uk
xmastractate.eventbrite.co.uk
"The Tractate Middoth" by M R James
a livestreamed ghost story for Christmas
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Amanita Design 🔧 @amanita-design.net · 08/10/2026
Seventeen years later… The time has come for Machinarium 2 🦾🔧 Wishlist NOW on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1619280/...
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
“She asked the powers at NASA to let her add a safeguard to prevent that error in a real flight, and they laughed it off as too unlikely… When an astronaut did make that blooper during the Apollo 8 mission, it caused necessary navigational data to vanish, and they called Hamilton in to get it back.”
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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Literally a selling point of the pervert glasses. And now no one can feel safe getting undressed in front of anybody wearing spectacles, in case they’re being secretly filmed. Thanks a lot, Mark Zuckerberg, for making anyone with bad eyesight now inherently an object of suspicion.
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Small Robots @smolrobots.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Fascinating to imagine what activity you could be freeing up time for that would be more rewarding than reading to your child.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I notice that everything the press doesn’t like is “social contagion” now, except for the escalating crankery of the press, which is an organisation of a couple of thousand people mostly concentrated in one city, who largely all know each other - one thing that definitely *is* social contagion.
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Anita Gohdes @argohdes.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This image says more than a 1000 words. Abysmal to see countries bowing to US pressure to withdraw from sponsoring a conference on disinformation. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
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M a r c u s 🏳️‍🌈🇧🇧🇬🇧 @marcusjdl.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The whole meme is about ignoring what’s on tv and having sex instead
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s. e. smith @sesmith.lol · 08/10/2026
I REALLY like this @anildash.com piece on 'unalive' and algospeak in general, particularly the exploration of the implications for a generation of people growing up steeped in it.
anildash.com
We are going to kill “unalive” - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
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bryan newbold @bnewbold.net · 07/10/2026
ah damn, RIP Margaret Hamilton. she took safety-critical software engineering seriously, and got people to the moon and back. news.mit.edu/2026/margare...
old photos of a woman (Margaret Hamilton) standing next to a tall stack of books (printouts of Apollo space mission software source code)
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Archive of @britishacademy.bsky.social Fellow Stuart Hall is now live. Includes looking at his impact on the history of communication theory, culminating in the architecture of contemporary AI models www.theguardian.com/society/2026... Archive link: stuarthalldigital.bham.ac.uk/archival_mat...
theguardian.com
Thatcherism via the Walkman: Stuart Hall’s British cultural studies preserved online
Project lead says it celebrates ‘incredible contributions’ Jamaica-born sociologist made to Britain’s culture
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Trimontium Trust & Museum @trimontiumtrust.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
⛰️ #HillfortsWednesday Burnswark: (Dumfriesshire) hillfort surrounded by two Roman camps. One of the most remarkable concentrations of Roman fire power found at a native site in Britain. Lead sling bullets, ballista balls & bolts, & arrowheads tell the story of a Roman assault. 📷 ©TrimontiumTrust
Burnswark hill from the airA replica ballista at BurnswarkBurnswark hill panoramic viewLead sling bullets on a table
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Isaac Samuel @rhaplord.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
“Africa was a haven for religious minorities (heretics), political exiles, and other refugees from beyond the continent during Late Antiquity.” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-migrat...
africanhistoryextra.com
The Migration of “Heretics” and Refugees To Africa During Late Antiquity
Africa was a haven for religious minorities (“heretics”), political exiles, and other refugees from beyond the continent during Late Antiquity.
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tpwrtrdmn @tpwrtrmnky.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Anine is one of the people who worked to expose the research misconduct against trans people at Oslo University Hospital. Yesterday, she was told she is no longer on their waitlist to receive gender-affirming care. This is so obviously retaliatory, it's hard to put into words!
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Samantha Asumadu @samanthaasumadu.substack.com · 06/10/2026
Nearly 70% of Police Scotland officers currently suspended while under criminal investigation are accused of offences relating to violence against women, according to figures obtained by STV News. The allegations include domestic abuse, sexual offences and stalking. news.stv.tv/scotland/nea...
news.stv.tv
Nearly 70% of suspended police officers facing criminal probes accused of violence against women
Allegations against suspended Police Scotland officers include domestic abuse, sexual offences and stalking
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Leah Feiger @leahfeiger.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Elon Musk's America PAC is quietly donating to the most consequential races of November's midterms, and @wired.com is tracking all of it - in real time. amazing work from @dell.bsky.social, who built this, and big lifts from @hugolowell.bsky.social, @dmehro.bsky.social, and @regret.bsky.social:
wired.com
Elon Musk’s America PAC Is Spending Big on the Midterms. We’re Tracking It Daily
To follow Elon Musk’s America PAC money, WIRED created a live-updating tracker that highlights the trillionaire’s overall influence on November’s elections.
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toilet bones @toiletbones.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Found the email I sent when I got accidentally added to the faculty listserv of an orthopedic surgery clinic and nobody would remove me so I sent this email to all faculty/staff/med students and they removed me almost immediately
Hello Bone Colleagues, 
I have invented a new type of ankle and I'm very excited to show it to you. Early raccoon trials suggest a 60% increase in scurrying speed and dramatic increases in fine motor banditry. I know we are not supposed to create super raccoons, but I think you'll change your mind and professional ethics when you see how cute they are. I believe we are on the cusp of a new era in advanced human scurrying because if medical science has taught me anything, it's that improvements in raccoons correspond 1:1 to improvements in humans. 

--
[My name]
Chief Bone Inventor
Chair, Department of Foot and Leg Innovation
Lord Mayor, Musculoskeletal Medicine 
Hartford HealthCare,
The Bone & Joint Institute at Hartford Hospital.
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rj @rj.dcellgames.com · 06/10/2026
I actually literally do not think they realize what they've done here. Sonic isn't just a game with fans. It's basically embedded in the fabric of the internet. Since I clicked the link ten minutes ago, two THOUSAND more people joined. And it only has five channels to post in and four moderators.
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Rob 🏳️‍🌈 @rotster.net · 06/10/2026
This is an excellent piece for a) setting the record straight and b) giving space and voice to Monica Coghlan. Also, read through to the end for a surprise appearance from Ringo Starr and his startlingly accurate description of Archer that made me laugh out loud.
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Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Just for fun and your knowledge, I'm going to be running a history of queer romance course next year through the Uni of Liverpool. Online and for everyone. I *think* it's the first of it's type in the UK but I could be wrong?
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 06/10/2026
I wasn’t prepared…
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onion person @junlper.beer · 06/10/2026
one of the deepest sicknesses in the world are the people who feel personally attacked over other people getting the same rights as them
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Dr Holly Nielsen @hollynielsen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Please enjoy this very normal cottage :) www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/9...
rightmove.co.uk
Check out this 1 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove
1 bedroom detached house for sale in The Wellhouse, 3 Machpelah Yard, Hebden Bridge, HX7 for £250,000. Marketed by EweMove, Covering Yorkshire
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Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
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shafer brown @shaferbrown.com · 05/10/2026
evening at the cat office (2025)
2025 full color commission 
portrait of a cat office at evening

in a dimly lit wooden study, a black long haired cat sits at a desk beginning needlework. She wears a plaid suit and sits in a sturdy chair, her tail wrapping around the frame of the desk. on her desk is a table cloth, and a top that is a whirring fan, a rotary phone, two books, a sake bottle and cup. A short hair siamese cat brings a steaming cup of tea. He wears a grey sweater with a red collar and cuff, and his tail sticks up energetically behind him.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A new trade union has just been officially registered, the UK Hospitality Union It's a v under-represented part of the workplace re. unions: "Members include...baristas, hotel staff, restaurant staff, chefs, event caterers, bar staff, housekeeping." Be interesting to see how they fare
ukhospitalityunion.com
UK Hospitality Union | trade union
At the UK Hospitality Trade Union, we are the united voice for workers across the UK's hospitality sector. Our mission is simple: to advocate for fair treatment, safe working conditions, and equitable...
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Alex Awoos @alex-awoos-backup.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I feel like more people should be talking about this part
Screenshot from the article that reads, The Stud, San Francisco's oldest gay bar, was only able to have its Meta pages restored because of the bars popularity among gay tech executives with connections to Meta
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
seeing conservative men debate how to dress online is very funny. can't dress up or wear interesting casualwear bc you've made any visible interest in dress to be a sign of homosexuality. but you feel the need to dress better bc you've linked dress to respectability. a prison of your own making.
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Hell Dunkin @halduncan.com · 04/10/2026
toilet is pretty high up on the list of places I do NOT want events to be happening in the wrong order
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Abigail Thorn @theabigailthorn.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
My friend Nova has been on a surgical wait list for 11 years and might finally be getting healthcare in Spring. She wrote this little piece about persistence and how much worse the NHS has gotten since she was first referred
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Dom @dommgoss.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Oh I didn’t know it was filmed, you can all take part and listen to the names here youtu.be/4a-k9oQH4qE?...
youtu.be
UK AIDS Quilt: Reading of the Names, Glasgow 2026
YouTube video by AIDS: The Lost Voices Podcast
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Isaac Samuel @rhaplord.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
What Did Africans Know About The Outside World? On British “Spies” and News from India www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/what-did-a...
africanhistoryextra.com
What Did Africans Know About The Outside World?
On British “Spies” and News from India
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Amy Vants to Suck Your Blood 🩸 @msfoxifurnasty.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
sundays are for dissociating for three hours because you have to do A Chore
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) looks like a ferret dressing up as a cheetah for Halloween. They're native to a semi-desert grassland strip from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. Like a skunk, they can spray a foul-smelling fluid from anal glands. Let's talk about them. (📷: Petra Prager)
A marbled polecat photo from Petra Prager.  It looks almost exactly like a ferret, but the arched back is sort of orange with brown dots on it similar to a cheetah, and the head has a white stripe that reminds me of a skunk, with a long floofy tail and dark limbs.  This one looks alert and at rest.
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It's Pipes, Mum! Pipes is here! @scriblit.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The UK Arts & Ents industry contributes over £10bn to the UK economy a year & one of these days our politicians might even realise that instead writing it off as icky girlie flouncing bc you can't do a photoshoot in a hard hat & hi-vis gilet at the national theatre without looking like a tit
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