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Ben

@benfields.net
848 followers 750 following 2.9K posts

🇺🇸immigrant in LDN recovering academic Trying to understand humanity with data, music, libations Might not be looking in the right places – currently: Head of Data @lakaHQ previously: @bbc @futurelearn @funandplausible cf assemblag.es/@alsothings

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Reposted by Ben
mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 18h
look, if you're worried about being remembered, don't try to pursue immortality or whatever, the smart move is to start selling substandard copper and then make sure anyone who complains deposits a physical copy of that complaint in a site that will later be archaeologically significant
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 6h
“Unlike A.I., climate change’s existential threat is not hypothetical. It is killing people now." Amidst the AI-pocalypse, we can't lose sight of the climate crisis and the urgency of electrification. Gift link! shorturl.at/On4Jk
nytimes.com
The Big Threat Has Been Climate Change. Now Comes A.I. (Gift Article)
Both are human-caused, both are frightening, and one of them has raced to the forefront of the global conversation.
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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 4h
"It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it."
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Ben @benfields.net · 4h
I think the Greens that are actually pushing this way in good faith would do well to understand Boehm's perspective and how it's different than the fingers in ears let's pretend the last 80 years didn't happen single staters
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Ben @benfields.net · 4h
This reminds me, if people would like to engage with a single state solution that has a truly inclusive understanding of the current population and all their circumstances I highly recommend Haifa Republic by Omri Boehm www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/609142...
penguinrandomhouse.com
Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel by Omri Boehm: 9781681373935 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A provocative argument for a new way of seeing Israel, Zionism, and the two-state solution. Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel is an urgent wake-up call. The philosopher Omri Boehm argues...
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Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 5h
urine trouble
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jon christian @jonchristian.net · 5h
NEW: People who chug their own piss have emerged as MAJOR supporters of AI futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
People Who Drink Their Own Pee Are Obsessed With AI, Using It to Reassure Themselves That It's a Miraculous Cure-All
Urine therapy devotees are sharing ways to break past AI guardrails in order to brainstorm ways to use pee as medicine.
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phil @philjamesson.com · 8h
as always when this is posted, i have to fondly remember the time someone stole this tweet word for word, including using my name as the punchline, then claimed it was just independent discovery
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 5h
Even hotter take: the fact that ebikes let teens in the suburbs suddenly have freedom to move around the public realm unsupervised is precisely why many older people are trying to ban them (using safety as a pretext)
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Neato Tito @neatotito.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Illustration of a man firing a rifle at two bears attacking him

Man - Me
Further away bear - self doubt
Closer bear- This one is just a real bear
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
finally! breaking that link is so important for allowing renewables to be competitive, hope this happens quickly.
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
Honestly might have been worth it for this though giphy.com/gifs/art-spa...
giphy.com
Digital Art GIF by YEECHI - Find & Share on GIPHY
Discover & share this Digital Art GIF by YEECHI with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
😱
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
Also, such tedious coverage when it can be summarised as 'critics are critical', which UK broadcast news does on lots of policies
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
I don't worry about today (though if I was in agriculture I might) but I do worry about what it implies about summer in a handful of years
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
fair. Though I will admit that I really love a nice low 18 high 26 sort of day, reminds me of growing up. It is just deeply unnerving when I think, this weather reminds me of San Diego, which has happened at least a dozen times this year
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
I am less familiar with Edinburgh temperature expectations, is that also way too hot for September? That feels like what I expected in London right now
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
A good 5 degrees above the 90th percentile of historic temperatures for this time of year. Haven't checked but wouldn't shock me if we're pushing records today
The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures.
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
static.klipy.com
This Is Fine Meme
Alt: This Is Fine Meme
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Ben @benfields.net · 29/09/2026
It is the second to last day of September; I am in London
A snippet of a weather report, showing today will be overcast with a high of 26 and a low of 19
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Wore this tshirt yesterday and someone tried to explain it to me
Star Wars number one fan. Image of the enterprise from Star Trek 
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Everest Pipkin @everest.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I'm very please to announce a public release of my drag-and-drop bookmarking, game-making, and wandering tool Scrubjay! Scrubjay is a weird website builder that lets you cobble together web elements, images, links, text fragments, etc into a series of nested rooms...
"SCRUBJAY" sits over a bunch of images of frogs, birds, doors. it's a very 90s look
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Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Now that the BBC has picked up this story, it has gone "viral" and gone beyond the bubble of experts on German politics and society. www.bbc.com/news/article... I thought I would add some more context that isn't in the article. #Stoplersteine #Germany #HolocaustMemory
bbc.com
German town bans stumbling stone memorials to Nazi victims
Germany's education minister has branded the ban on the small brass memorial plaques a "scandal".
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
Now if can just get more than one well considered east-west cycle superhighway, and move CS1 to a freshly removed lane of the A10, then we'll really be cooking
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
What a lovely birthday present. Thanks!
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Reposted by Ben
John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 28/09/2026
Remember, Jenrick is not stupid. He's a trained lawyer, he knows the difference between police and court bail. He's just a turd.
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
it is basically the lowest form of democracy vs capital extraction though, from every angle. Ours is a small building which helps, but we've found it's better we're possible to have proactive policies in place rather than reacting when stuff needs doing, but that's not easy bsky.app/profile/benf...
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
It also raises the sale price of your flat by <something> but this is weird and fuzzy
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
yeah, unquestionably. It's continuously work to manage the building, but this kind of community engagement where the alternative to the effort of self-determination is just some entity whose interest is detached and monetary. Getting your neighbours to agree a budget vs external entity setting one
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
Ooof. No idea you circumstances but organising your fellow leaseholders in the building and taking over the freehold is usually very doable even with an antagonistic freeholder www.lease-advice.org/buying-and-s...
lease-advice.org
Buying a share of the freehold for your flat
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
Yeah absolutely. It's basically an extra mortgage payment now and if the freehold was in the hands of the old owner I'm sure it would be at least 50% higher if not double.
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
(though that brings it back to the level it was at before the building took over the freehold a decade ago, just to underline the parasite point...)
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Ben @benfields.net · 28/09/2026
Yeah so much this. I'm in basically the same situation (share of freehold, on building board) and we've had to raise our SC about 2.5x over the last couple years and that's basically all insurance increases. And we've narrowed the scope of the cover as touch as well 🫠
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daniel sieradski @self.agency · 26/09/2026
he’s blaming the abraham accords
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Kate Devlin @drkatedevlin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Hey you guys, Weizenbaum called and he said: "how easy it is to create and maintain the illusion of understanding, hence perhaps of judgment deserving of credibility. A certain danger lurks there."
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026
I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
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Ben @benfields.net · 25/09/2026
They aren't even in different area codes. Since he doesn't have them.
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 24/09/2026
this lady on threads posted this big huge thing about how artists are just jealous that everyday people can now use AI to create better art that gets more attention so i click through to see her “art”… i wish there was an unveil feature here:
AI slop dragon in sunglasses 

BIGGER IDEAS
MESSIER CREATIVE PROCESS
MORE MAGIC
PET MORE DRAGONS
SAME SARCASM
Fueled by Coffee Chaos
BIG IDEAS
AI CHAOS
* DRAGON ENERGY
* SARCASM & SPELLS
WOMEN WHO CREATE
FANTASY OVER FEAR
PROMPTS & POSSIBILITIES
CREATE WEIRDER BRAVER
KINDER
COOLER WORLDS
FABULOUS
CHAOS
LIVES HERE
Same
Human
Different
Magic
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Ben @benfields.net · 24/09/2026
But yeah getting kids into much less algorithmically mediated spaces is better, but that is true for adults too! That's actually a good path for regulation rather than age gates. The difference between age minimums for driving cars and installing segerated cycling infrastructure
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Ben @benfields.net · 24/09/2026
Yeah I think this is not quite right though. Sure current behaviour tracking is bad, but mandating that every adult needs to send a ID scan to a private company is materially worse, while creating regulatory moats for possible competitors to come in without the behaviour tracking
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Ben @benfields.net · 24/09/2026
though otoh a bunch of weird indie forums is probably a lot better than some massive shitty walled garden
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Ben @benfields.net · 24/09/2026
I did so much work as a 15 year old to find phone numbers to dial into BBS's. People aren't going to stop trying to be social just because a reg makes everyone give tiktok a scan of your passport
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Ben @benfields.net · 24/09/2026
A poorly understood problem with age bans for social media is that all the adults give up the privacy (since that's what it means to verify your age) and the kids will still be social on the Internet, because, well, they're kids and it's the Internet.
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 24/09/2026
lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
My take on "who gets to be English" & why Braverman rules can not explain the last 9-10 centuries, not just the last half century www.britishfuture.org/who-gets-to-...
britishfuture.org
Who gets to be English? - British Future
People become English if they were born in England and identify as English, argues Sunder Katwala in response to Suella Braverman's article.
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Ben @benfields.net · 23/09/2026
Nationalize SpaceX! Say it from the rooftops!
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Ben @benfields.net · 23/09/2026
*make use of it* that should say, sigh
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Ben @benfields.net · 23/09/2026
(I love this law and have had to make us of on transit to the US multiple times, alas)
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Ben @benfields.net · 23/09/2026
What matters is this was a UK to US flight, that was delayed by like 15 hours and counting. Hanging out in Iceland is incidental, what matters is time to destination versus stated arrival time
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