Sign in

Ben Hazell

@benhazell.bsky.social
69 followers 72 following 27 posts

Dad. Lead content designer at GDS.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Ben Hazell
James Ball @jamesrball.com · 04/10/2026
The "zionism is racism" motion that has just passed on the Green Party's conference floor is truly gross, and deeply racist. The party's MPs deserve some credit for opposing it, though they should've done so more stridently and sooner. This is now a millstone around the party's necks. Deservedly.
42509145
Reposted by Ben Hazell
A Reader of the FT @a-reader-ft.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Dear all: how bosses should talk to the troops–Ultimately, what matters most is understanding one’s priorities and conveying them as thoughtfully, regularly and non-tediously as possible… www.ft.com/content/de27... @pilitaclark.bsky.social @financialtimes.com
ft.com
Dear all: how bosses should talk to the troops
And what they should always try to avoid
172
Ben Hazell @benhazell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In a listy mood #my9games
000
Reposted by Ben Hazell
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"why don't men wear more color." i only dress for the approval of dogs, who mostly see blue, white, gray, black, and brown in the way that we do, so i don't wear other colors.
1417729624
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The fact that the two best shows in the world — TASKMASTER and BLUEY — didn’t make the list is utterly baffling to me
101416
Ben Hazell @benhazell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I still often think of this cartoon, and how we are where we are. The assumed confidence of the type.
000
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...
6428101168
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 08/09/2026
There's a lot of focus right now on employers’ plans for AI. But if you're worried about your job being automated, the more proximate threat could be that colleague of yours with a Claude subscription and a manic glint in their eye. www.ft.com/content/ed21...
ft.com
AI is ushering in an era of mass toe-treading at work
Boundaries between different occupations are blurring at the cost of a collaborative company culture
55721
Reposted by Ben Hazell
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 04/09/2026
The first item on a typical Amazon search results page is 29% more expensive than the best match for your search. The top row is 25% more expensive. The best result is usually on the second screen, somewhere around the 17th position: pluralistic.net/2023/11/03/s... 34/
pluralistic.net
Pluralistic: Big Tech’s “attention rents” (03 Nov 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
2268115
Reposted by Ben Hazell
James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 28/08/2026
Now FREE TO READ – why we need more data centres. I feel like an epidemiologist in February 2020 – the dangerous threat in the near future is so clear, and we need to prepare for it. Please consider sharing it with the data centre-sceptics in your life. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-case-f...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
The case for Nightingale Datacentres
Britain isn’t prepared for the looming AI national security crisis
22917
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Reminder: Dolly Parton helped fund the Moderna vaccine for COVID.
nytimes.com
Dolly Parton, who helped fund the Moderna vaccine, gets a ‘dose of her own medicine.’ (Published 2021)
The country music star broke into song before she was inoculated, and urged her fans to “get out there and get your shot.”
247238535775
Reposted by Ben Hazell
John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 25/08/2026
PS: Today is a very fine day to donate to the Imagination Library. imaginationlibrary.com
imaginationlibrary.com
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library | USA, UK, IE, CA, AU
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas.
4697159
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Holger Hestermeyer @hhesterm.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This incident needs to be thoroughly investigated. If true, no public office in the EU or any member state can continue to run any microsoft products. nltimes.nl/2026/05/22/m...
nltimes.nl
Microsoft accused of leaking Dutch civil servants' names to U.S. government
Microsoft has reportedly shared the names of Dutch civil servants working for two regulatory agencies with the U.S. House of Representatives. The agencies involved include the Authority for Consumers ...
28783427
Reposted by Ben Hazell
James Ball @jamesrball.com · 16/08/2026
This is absolute rookie stuff. There is just absolutely no way that a headline like this should ever make the BBC News website. It being the weekend is no excuse, either: political news *always* drops on Saturday night, for the Sunday papers.
56920177
Reposted by Ben Hazell
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/08/2026
Then she busts out a beautiful, *perfect* little statistics aphorism: "Personalisation under a standard loss function is regression to the collective mean with extra steps." 32/
19217
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.
The Times: Net zero risks blackouts. Below a photo of French wildfires.
23247482019
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
✍️A TNT shortage, a world at war and why an obscure factory next to a Sheffield fast fashion warehouse could help explain how to reindustrialise Britain. An essay on the new Chancellor, the old Chancellor and whether anyone can actually turn our economy around👇 edconway.substack.com/p/the-factor...
edconway.substack.com
The Factory We Had to Build Again
Rachel Reeves, John Healey, and the surprising story of Britain’s return to manufacturing. With some big explosions along the way
37530
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
No school should be on X or oblige parents to get updates from it. A site that actively promotes porn, bullying, hate and fascism is not an appropriate place to post pictures of sports days.
831527421
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 30/06/2026
London stands in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ community. You are, and will always be, loved and wanted in London. Proud to host my annual Pride Reception at Outernet, celebrating the enormous contribution of LGBTQIA+ Londoners.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaking on stage at the Pride Reception at Outernet, with screens behind him displaying the message “You are loved & wanted in London.”Mayor of London Sadiq Khan poses for a group photo with Pride in London and LGBTQ+ community leaders at the Pride Reception at Outernet.Mayor of London Sadiq Khan takes a selfie with guests at the Pride Reception at Outernet.
344353
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Rory Blank @roryblank.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Zohran Mamdani never taking off the suit is really funny and also I think genuinely a really good bit of personal branding. He is to some degree making himself a character by always having the same costume on, with occasional modifiers
482158173
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This is the thing with the BBC. One section of it will cover the far right disastrously while another is diligently digging out the truth. It runs the gamut from courageous gold-standard reporting to Justin Webb
14688168
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Will 🇺🇦 Absolute Shower 🇺🇦 @showerabsolute.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
I mean, one of them fractured a woman's spine with a sledgehammer Zack.
1311726
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Michael Savage @michaelsavage.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
So this is the BBC’s neat way to watch overnight World Cup highlights with no spoilers… bbc.co.uk/nospoilers This will take you to a World Cup highlights page on BBC iPlayer, which will have highlights for every match without telling you who has won.
bbc.co.uk
World Cup Highlights - BBC iPlayer
Watch TV programmes from the World Cup Highlights collection on BBC iPlayer.
1011857
Reposted by Ben Hazell
James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 11/06/2026
The government quitting Twitter won't stop Musk (but they should do it anyway) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/displaceme...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
The government quitting Twitter won't stop Musk (but they should do it anyway)
Skip the displacement argument and let's talk about something real.
22710
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Adil Ray @adilray.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
If Muslims or members of the Asian and Black community had set fire to white people’s homes with children running for their lives, do you think we would be discussing legitimate concerns or focussing on who radicalised them and ideological and contributing cultural factors?
14375912371
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Patsy “Resistance Kitty” Evans Ph.D. @drharmony.net · 04/06/2026
77106072425
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
This was a groundbreaking piece of work. A work so good it means a life well spent. Millions of people understand Iran, the diaspora and the weird bittersweet details of the immigrant experience through the work she did.
17781156
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Kieron Gillen @kierongillen.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Hugely sad. We've lost John Blanche. It's hard to know where to begin. He set fire to a generation's imagination, and those fires show no sign of stopping burning. His work very much illuminated the darkness.
202505741
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Huw C. Davies @huwcdavies.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Got to be one of the most inflammatory statements ever broadcast on the BBC, let alone a current affairs show. Apparently, there’s a ‘regime’ that for ‘30 years’ has been operating against the interests of whites.
114549164
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
The value-add of private providers is either or both of “it allows you to harness the power choice and competition” or “the profit motive helps drive innovation”. If you think there are “excessive profits”, what do you think the value add IS?
16996
Reposted by Ben Hazell
ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 18/05/2026
you too can experience Billionaire Madness, for only a modest fee
1031677
Reposted by Ben Hazell
James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 10/05/2026
And here’s a fantastic example of how NHS data can be used to drive forward medical science and save lives. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/how-to-use...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
How to use NHS data for scientific research – without creating a privacy nightmare
What happened when Ben Goldacre stopped writing fun popular science books and got a real job instead.
0155
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
I fear Labour people risk falling into an ecological fallacy visible from space when reacting to these results. Here is what is very clear in results so far: Labour are losing *seats* to Reform, but... Labour are losing *votes* to the Greens Greens split the vote, Ref comes thru middle
811227440
Reposted by Ben Hazell
James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 03/05/2026
This is grotesque on multiple levels.
1511409468
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Dustin Moskovitz @moskov.goodventures.org · 27/04/2026
The original sin is the ML-based News Feed. It may have started somewhat useful, but it quickly goodharted into an addiction machine that damaged its users. Mark does not understand the idea of second-order desire, so the fact that they wanted to keep using it was all the justification he needed 2/
624115
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Natasha Walter @natashawalter.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
I’ve been hearing so much anger and disappointment from frontline workers about the BBC investigation into fraudulent asylum claims. One of the most damning responses has come from one of the experts they interviewed, solicitor Ana Gonzalez. It’s really worth reading her response in full:
4520461181
Reposted by Ben Hazell
John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 25/04/2026
OR JUST WRITE THE THING YOURSELF FOR FUCK'S SAKE IT WILL TAKE LESS TIME THAN WHATEVER THE FUCK THIS IS mashable.com/article/sinc...
mashable.com
Sinceerly is an AI tool to 'un-AI' your writing
A new ouroboros in the tech world has emerged.
14357091327
Reposted by Ben Hazell
MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 16/04/2026
Pete Hegseth quoted a fake Bible verse from the Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction yesterday during a Pentagon prayer service
64247771758
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Maria Farrell @mariafarrell.eurosky.social · 12/04/2026
So many of us are now textual Case Pollards, physically averse to pre-digested, mass extruded machine verbiage just as William Gibson's Pattern Recognition protagonist was made physically sick by fashion and brands.
1341499
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 07/04/2026
Whoa 🤯 The Moon, in full eclipse, with the #Artemis II Orion spacecraft. Part of the Moon and spacecraft are lit by Earthshine, and both Saturn and Mars are visible to the lower right. Incredible. Details: images.nasa.gov/details/art0...
[alt text by NASA] The Moon, seen here backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse on April 6, 2026, is photographed by one of the cameras on the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the Moon’s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars. Credit: NASA
6175511912
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her) @moudhy.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
We therefore learn from this learned commentary made by a Babylonian scribe over 2000 years ago, that in the Akkadian language, the word shitti means "shit"
Photo of a cuneiform tablet with some dark spots on it.
14521155
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Jordan @jordanpfot.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
This is heartbreaking. Please stop for a moment and consider the children caught up in this. Imagine you're a trans child - already a difficult experience, to put it mildly - and you've found a hobby you enjoy with friends, and now you're being kicked out for being trans. It's cruel.
6365137
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Ada Lovelace Day @adalovelaceday.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Marie Maynard Daly co-discovered the link between high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the clogged arteries that can cause heart disease and strokes. She also studied the damage that cigarettes have on the heart & lungs. adalovelaceday.subst...
adalovelaceday.substack.com
Prof Marie Maynard Daly, Biochemist
Marie Maynard Daly was a biochemist who co-discovered the link between high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the clogged arteries that can cause heart disease and strokes.
4494154
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 02/03/2026
Honestly the collective national level of disdain for Brits living in Dubai on all my social media platforms today really is bringing the UK together as one in a way that's hard to achieve in the modern era.
884558751
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Colin Gorrie @colingorrie.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle. It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get. www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...
deadlanguagesociety.com
How far back in time can you understand English?
An experiment in language change
19936561333
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
📽️EXCLUSIVE For the first time ever, @skynews has been into the @bankofengland's gold vaults to see the world's second biggest trove of physical gold. An extraordinary place. An extraordinary sight. Have a watch of our film👇 youtu.be/dDlY4AFqV7o?...
youtu.be
Sky News gains rare access to Bank of England's gold vaults
YouTube video by Sky News
2258
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Nigel Whitfield @nigelwhitfield.uk · 14/02/2026
In one sense, this is democratisation - those with money have always been able to play games with the law, spending way more to avoid a parking ticket they feel they don't deserve than the actual fine, etc. Now, AI slop means everyone can waste official time, regardless of their wealth.
272
Reposted by Ben Hazell
James Ball @jamesrball.com · 14/02/2026
The final item of this article feels like another early rumbling of something bigger – public services are getting swamped with AI-generated complaints and appeals, often citing fictitious legal precedents etc. It’s already a serious headache and it’s only going to get worse.
1413036
Reposted by Ben Hazell
Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Not today's main point, but I do find it odd that ministers are signalling their support of Keir Starmer - pretty important as their silence is interpreted as a sign they might quit and force him to resign! - by... posting on X. You know, the site condemned for being an AI porn hellscape last month
23402106