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Ben Curthoys

@bencurthoys.bsky.social
113 followers 115 following 305 posts

Founder, Monad Ticketing. Trustee, The Maltings Berwick. T1 Diabetes. He/him. Berwick-upon-Tweed

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Reposted by Ben Curthoys
RedruM @dorsalstream.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Most people get their skeleton from a breeder. Mine, however, is a rescue.
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Ed Morrish @edmorrish.com · 27/03/2025
sorry aesop, but now we have fed your fables into our llm we have to let you go; we can generate our own version of the goose that laid the golden eggs without having to pay *anyone*.
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Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 26/09/2026
Hey, who remembers that time that Arnold Schwarzenegger said that nazis and confederates were losers, and that if you support them, then you are a loser too? And then half of the GOP turned against him and said "Don't call me a loser?"🤡 And so Arnold told them again, louder this time? I remember!
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It's very similar indeed to the situation with RT - but given its reach and influence and the active participation on it of UK politicians I'd suggest X is far more dangerous.
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DJ Boozy Brunch @griph.bsky.social · 05/10/2024
I was visiting a friend in Denmark and needed help in the airport, found an airport worker & asked if he spoke English, he shook his head & my friend started explaining in broken danish. the guy let him speak for a bit then laughed and said “of course I speak English I work at the fucking airport”
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Party that wants to retrospectively change rules so as to remove migrants also says retrospective rules on party funding are "dictatorship tactics".
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
One reason England does so well is our second generation immigrants outperform their peers which is not true in most OECD countries. We are also very good at integration. And it's v sad that this is never acknowledge in debates on immigration.
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Dan @danielthemaniel.com · 08/09/2026
This part is crazy. Every paragraph is worse than the last. Perhaps I was naive, but I didn't think OpenAI capable of being this dishonest.
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mattzog @mattzog.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Yes, BG3 fans, Charlie Stross invented the Githyanki.
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qntm @qntm.org · 01/09/2026
THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION is Waterstones' Science Fiction & Fantasy Book of the Month for September 2026!! Paperback goes on sale Thursday! Preorders are open now! Plus, it's 15% off right now! All the exclamation marks 🐋😎❗
waterstones.com
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm | Waterstones
Buy There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
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Carol Cao @carolcao.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
wip
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Iain Overton @iainoverton.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The Telegraph has deleted, without fanfare, the word ‘living’ from the headline of Stephen Daisley's article on Professor Arday. Today, it just reads “Jason Arday is proof that you reap what you sow.”
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Jeff Rudd 🇮🇪 🇨🇦 🇵🇸 @jeffrudd.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
REMEMBER: They all knew.
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Pilot @pilotbeer.co.uk · 15/11/2024
We’re often asked who the worst brewer is and the answer is Julia Hartley-Brewer.
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Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Look forward to seeing this even more after reading this
giftarticle.ft.com
Why we’re all Wile E Coyote now
Spry satire ‘Coyote vs Acme’ finds the cartoon anti-hero suing the supplier of faulty goods, with parallels to online retail and the film’s own rocky history
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Environment Briefly @environmentbriefly.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Unprecedented heavy rain in Chiba caused deaths, widespread power outages, mass evacuations, and thousands stranded at Narita airport.
briefly.co
Save What Matters
Curate Feeds | Make Collections | Customize Email Briefs
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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
We say, Airbud style, that there's nothing in the rules that says you can't have Bruce Campbell on the team for a notoriously hard pub quiz that has a Bruce Campbell round. Bruce points out there's a John Carpenter round. says he'll give Empire John's phone number but he may not get here in time /8
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Ben Curthoys @bencurthoys.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
In "Seeing like a State", James Scott describes how people are forced to live in ways that are less efficient and comfortable than they otherwise would be, in order to make their lives more legible and scalable so they can be categorised and taxed. What would "Seeing like Private Equity" describe?
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Okay Clacton. Let’s go.
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Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I thought we were better than this
Google Trends chart showing spiking search interest in "eyes hurt" in the UK just after the eclipse
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Tories beaten by Restore, which is basically one aging racist with a Facebook page. The Keminaissance in action.
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Ben Curthoys @bencurthoys.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Is anyone else having trouble sending email to #Hotmail and #Outlook addresses from #AmazonSES #SES today, or is it just me? smtp; 550 4.4.7 Message expired: unable to deliver in 840 minutes.<421 4.4.1 Unable to connect to remote host>
{
  "Type" : "Notification",
  "MessageId" : "REDACTED",
  "TopicArn" : "arn:aws:sns:eu-west-1:REDACTED:SES_Failures",
  "Subject" : "Amazon SES Email Event Notification",
  "Message" : "{\"eventType\":\"Bounce\",\"bounce\":{\"feedbackId\":\"REDACTED-000000\",\"bounceType\":\"Transient\",\"bounceSubType\":\"General\",\"bouncedRecipients\":[{\"emailAddress\":\"\\\"REDACTED@hotmail.com\\\" <REDACTED@hotmail.com>\",\"action\":\"failed\",\"status\":\"4.4.7\",\"diagnosticCode\":\"smtp; 550 4.4.7 Message expired: unable to deliver in 840 minutes.<421 4.4.1 Unable to connect to remote host>\"}],\"timestamp\":\"2026-07-31T15:31:12.294Z\",\"remoteMtaIp\":\"52.101.11.8\",\"reportingMTA\":\"dns; a54-125.smtp-out.eu-west-1.amazonses.com\"},\"mail\":{\"timestamp\":\"2026-07-31T01:31:11.720Z\",\"source\":\"Rye Arts Festival Box Office <box-office@ryeartsfestival.org.uk>\",\"sourceArn\":\"arn:aws:ses:eu-west-1:REDACTED:identity/ryeartsfestival.org.uk\",\"sendingAccountId\":\"REDACTED\",\"messageId\":\"REDACTED\",\"destination\":[\"\\\"REDACTED@hotmail.com\\\
 " <REDACTED@hotmail.com>\"],\"headersTruncated\":false,\"headers\":[{\"name\":\"X-Sender\",\"value\":\"\\\"Rye Arts Festival Box Office\\\" <box-office@ryeartsfestival.org.uk>\"},{\"name\":\"X-Receiver\",\"value\":\"\\\"REDACTED@hotmail.com\\\" <REDACTED@hotmail.com>\"},{\"name\":\"MIME-Version\",\"value\":\"1.0\"},{\"name\":\"From\",\"value\":\"Rye Arts Festival Box Office <box-office@ryeartsfestival.org.uk>\"},{\"name\":\"To\",\"value\":\"\\\"REDACTED@hotmail.com\\\" <REDACTED@hotmail.com>\"},{\"name\":\"Date\",\"value\":\"31 Jul 2026 02:31:11 +0100\"},{\"name\":\"Subject\",\"value\":\"Welcome To Rye Arts Festival\"},{\"name\":\"Content-Type\",\"value\":\"multipart/related; type=\\\"text/html\\\"; boundary=--boundary_3_a46cc433-0ba9-4982-86ad-18e64678ebb6\"}],\"commonHeaders\":{\"from\":[\"Rye Arts Festival Box Office <box-offic
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Ben Curthoys @bencurthoys.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Into my head, unbidden, as The Rest Is History describe Emperor Franz Joseph (obsessed with wife and natty dresser), said wife Sisi (very thin, long hair), and their son Rudolph (morbid) "They're creepy and they're kooky Mysterious and spooky They're all together ooky The Hapsberg family"
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qntm @qntm.org · 28/07/2026
In one 1995 episode he gave a "cheat for Sonic Six", which did not exist at the time (and neither does today) and thus was a joke. It allowed the user to play "The forest level" as the new character "Elbows the Squirrel"
en.wikipedia.org
Bad Influence! - Wikipedia
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Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Thing about working with famous epics is that they're famous epics for a reason. Tons of people have had opinions about them for millennia. If you're going to work with one, you know your version is going to piss some people off. Even a *sedate* famous epic inflames some of its audience.
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Jo @whatsjo.bsky.social · 06/05/2023
him (a man of wealth and taste): please allow me to introduce myself. me (puzzled by the nature of his game): woo woo
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Mark McGeoghegan @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
UK passport holder who happens to have a baby? Well since the baby can't use an e-gate, you can wait in a queue at the UK border for an indeterminate length of time while one guy works through dozens of passengers. Need to feed the baby? Fuck you. Need to change the baby? Also fuck you.
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Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · 20/07/2026
Unless this “honesty” involves the recognition that immigrants are *not* the root cause of the UK’s problems *but* actually a part of the solution to them, this will be completely pointless. I cannot stress this enough. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Burnham to say UK must be honest about its challenges as he prepares to become PM
Labour leader will visit king to accept role on Monday and will start making cabinet appointments that afternoon
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The Emotion Engine @emotion-engine.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Thinking about how Osprey, a publishing house almost entirely devoted to publishing military uniform/equipment fetish material disguised as dry but picture heavy non-fiction tomes, put out a book dismantling the right wing mythologization of Sparta with an absolute all-timer table of contents.
Table of Contents
Preface
List of Maps

PART I: THE MYTH OF SPARTA
Introduction

PART II: THE REALITY OF SPARTA
I. Cuckold Kings and Wolves' Work: Behind the Spartan Mirage
II. Archaic Sparta at War: Early Losses, Foreign Roots
III. The Greco-Persian War: The Thermopylae Speed Bump
IV. The Peloponnesian Wars: Floundering at Sea, Surrendering on Land
V. Masters of Greece? Sparta Squanders its Hegemony
VI. The Boeotian War: What Cannot Bend Must Break
VII. The End of Sparta: Irreformable and Irrelevant
VIII. Conclusion: The Bronze Lie

PART III: TANGLING MYTH AND REALITY
IX. The “Moron Label”: The Spartans and the Political Far Right
Appendix A. Historiography and Objectivity
Appendix B. The Fundamentals of Ancient Battle

Glossary
Bibliography
Index
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Caroline Mortimer @carolinmortimer.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
This is a wild piece of political trivia from the BBC about Burnham’s wife that I am shocked @popbitch.bsky.social hasn’t clocked yet…
Screen grab of an article from the BBC News website saying his wife went on Blind Date in the early days of their relationship - with his blessing - and went on a date to Gibraltar with a guy named Will. Years later the couple ran into Will in parliament as he had just become the Conservative Director of Communications
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
What’s that, Dale? You want to give me an unconditional personal gift of £5million to do whatever I want with? Sure! I just need to fill out a form. If I didn’t declare it that would be silly.
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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Padme meme; ‘so people are going to be allowed to work while they seek asylum, right?’
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Saskiarghhhhh Daniel @saskiadanielceramics.com · 27/06/2025
I'm amazed by the number of people with sash windows who don't know how they work to properly air a room. Tbf, I didn't either but now I do, so PSA:
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Birb_at_Arms @birblib.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
If you apply a fairly modern concept of work as "labour you get paid in currency to perform" then medieval peasants definitely worked less than we do. If you define work as "labour you must perform in order to survive" then they worked a hell of a lot more.
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nige 'dear ratboy' @niall.codes · 20/06/2026
That's enough Death of the Author. It's time for Death of the Audience. Start running fools
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Leftist Gamer Memes @leftistgamermemes.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
💰🦆🐥🐤
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Bethany Black @bethanyblack.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
The other day a comedian asked me what podcasts I listen to and something in me finally snapped, without engaging my reasoning I said “I don’t listen to podcasts because I believe I am fundamentally better than anyone who makes them and so I don’t get anything from them. But sometimes Conan O’Brien”
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Simon Pegg @simonpegg.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Once turned round too quickly whilst standing outside Norwich Train Station and nearly (accidentally) elbowed Ann Widdecombe in the face. Nearly, so nearly.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 10/06/2026
How I Learnt To Stop Worrying And Love The Chicago Pope
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Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
it's cool that we get to re-live the 1936 olympics
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
guys I just tried googling this to find the exact Andor quote and jesus fucking christ guys what the fuck is happening here
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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
I think in some senses libraries have not been protected bc it seemed fundamentally insane that they should ever be in danger. The idea of a university without a fully functioning research library is like designing a car without an engine.
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Dr Victoria Austen @vickyausten.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Adding a “How To Use The Library” scavenger-hunt assignment to my intro to Roman culture class was the single best addition to my pedagogical practice last year. Am now creating versions for basically all my classes moving forward. Also, the students LOVED it.
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Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 24/05/2026
I stand with trans kids *because* there's so few of them and *because* they're so vulnerable. In some of these states passing anti-trans laws, there are only 100 trans kids in the entire state. Those are impossible odds to fight. 101 people vs an entire state is still impossible odds. I don't care.
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Ste Jormur @stejormur.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Oh man, Northumberland is trying so hard. Even the Geordies don't think Newcastle is the second city. You don't need to pretend, Northumbrians
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Weird Alex @jackalpants.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
For business owners, the important part of the new ECHR advice is this: 13.179: There is no type of official record or document in the UK which provides reliable evidence of sex. [...] Therefore, it is unlikely to be proportionate or practical to ask for further evidence of a person’s sex.
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