Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 28/09/2026Playing with the ChatGPT voice interface, I accidentally left it on, with a St Etienne album playing. So it dutifully transcribed the lyrics for an hour, pausing every few minutes to try to "answer the question". There's pages of this. 280
Reposted by Chris RandBylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 25/09/2026M&S Custard Cream Spread: Britain has completed food One jar of M&S Custard Cream Spread has caused us to question civilisation, breakfast, mashed potato and the limits of human restraint @willyandbill.bsky.socialcentralbylines.co.ukM&S Custard Cream Spread: Britain has completed foodOne jar of M&S Custard Cream Spread has caused us to question civilisation, breakfast, mashed potato and the limits of human restraint 2220769
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 27/09/2026Final UK gig of the final UK tour by St Etienne, after 36 years. What a class act. Balloons. Tunes. And so much love in the room. 120
Reposted by Chris RandTom Jenkins @tomoljenkins.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Here is the trailer for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ launch on 9October that has been banned by YouTube, TikTok and Meta, citing “political” content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFTf...youtube.comMUSK | Official Trailer HDYouTube video by Elevation Pictures 24028
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 25/09/2026One point off the win in the quiz tonight. We got the year of the Gunpowder Plot correct, then changed it at the last moment. NEVER OVERRULE YOUR FIRST GUESS. 040
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 25/09/2026ChatGPT has asked me 20+ times today if I want to advertise. I didn’t the first time. I certainly don’t now. For a product with access to every marketing lesson ever written, this is spectacularly moronic. 120
Reposted by Chris RandDisappointed Optimist @disappoptimism.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I don’t believe for a second that Xi didn’t make this Thucydides trap reference fully knowing that Trump wouldn’t begin to understand it. Xi is mocking America & its clown president on camera. America is so cooked 36215
Reposted by Chris RandOld British Telly @oldbritishtelly.co.uk · 24/09/2026[1965] A Hard Day’s Night - Comedy version of The Beatles song in which Peter Sellers recites the lyrics in the style of Laurence Olivier in the film Richard III. It became a UK Top 20 hit in 1965. 04425
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 24/09/2026In our film review chat, my son concluded that "The Uprising" was "fairly terrible, all things considered". He particularly couldn't get over "The priest with a ridiculous Gen Z broccoli haircut". To which @fenlandgent.bsky.social quickly sounded the "new Half Man Half Biscuit song title" klaxon... 090
Reposted by Chris RandDan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026England is a made up thing. It has no basis in the ineluctable laws of nature. Its extent is defined by Edward II getting his arse handed to him. Athelstan conquering York. The Welsh of Cumbria were incorporated, the Welsh of Gwynedd were not. It is a political idea, an aspiration - not taxonomy. 761731492
Reposted by Chris RandJoel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Is it time to post that paragraph from The Road To Wigan Pier? The one about how the desperate, pleasureless poor will always refuse to just spend their pennies on cabbage no matter how much you try and insist. This isn’t a thing you can make people do. It’s not how humans work. 1213543
Reposted by Chris RandStardust 🌏🎬 @stardustbluepr.com · 22/09/2026Warning: "Don't Download the White House App: It's a Privacy Nightmare The new White House App shipped with dormant location tracking and phones home to a marketing company on every launch among other problems. Don't install it."onlinesafety.substack.comDon't Download the White House App: It's a Privacy NightmareThe new White House App shipped with dormant location tracking and phones home to a marketing company on every launch among other problems. Don't install it. 17185145
Reposted by Chris RandTW @twesq.bsky.social · 20/09/2026this is fantastic and I learned something new 562672412
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 22/09/2026It would have been my late parents’ 70th wedding anniversary today. Celebrating as they would, I'm going to have a Chinese takeaway with my brother. I've read that only 1 in 1000 marriages in the UK make it to 70 years, which makes it all the more remarkable that Her Maj and Phil the Greek made it. 120
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 21/09/2026I know it's a day old and you've probably seen it, but this really has lifted the nation's mood. I'm not alone in having been watching it on repeat all day, and I just can't stop. 010
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 20/09/2026Ed Sheeran apologising before his gig last night (Instagram). ➡️ www.instagram.com/reel/DdfY7JY... 000
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 20/09/2026youtu.be/qnaZwFrEi24?... This is really good if you want a thoughtful discussion of the threat from A.I. – and what we can do, now. YNH says the market is pricing in that A.I. will become godlike in its capability but then the gods will become willing slaves. This simply does not make sense.youtu.beThe Greatest Threat Humans Just Can't Stomach | with Yuval Noah HarariYouTube video by The Rest Is Politics 010
Reposted by Chris RandAmbassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The accounting is in: In Oregon there are 111 data centers. The TOTAL number of people employed at data centers is just 2,630, or 0.1% of the labor force. Those 100 data centers consumer 23% of all electricity used in Oregon. Meanwhile, electricity rates skyrocket as more centers are built.opb.orgOregon data centers by the numbers: 111 facilities consume nearly one-quarter of state’s power, according to new reportA first-of-its-kind report details the footprint of the controversial facilities. 8030831809
Reposted by Chris RandMike Goodman @themlg.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Launched it on 9/11 no less. Just a bang up job all around. 4616
Reposted by Chris RandJoel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Brilliant. And in that same lovely back-footed Scandi-English key as Norsemen, which is blissful. 17328
Reposted by Chris Rand__________ @jenbren.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Fucking love this. And if it happened now, Bill Drummond would be murdered by security 2247
Reposted by Chris RandCambridge Diary @cambridgediary.bsky.social · 16/09/202616th September 2022 The Waterman’s Arms, a derelict 19th-century pub, stands by the Little Ouse river, accessible only by water. Built in 1861 to serve passing bargemen and riverside locals, it closed its doors in 1956 and has since been slowly sinking into the soft Fenland soil. 1237
Reposted by Chris RandEveryone Hates Elon @everyonehateselon.bsky.social · 14/09/2026we do bins now #bins 418161
Reposted by Chris RandThe New Statesman @newstatesman1913.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Vinted Brain: How Britain lost its mind to online shopping addiction, by Kate Mossmannewstatesman.comVinted BrainHow Britain lost its mind to online shopping addiction 0132
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 14/09/2026Such a sensible move. Although East Midlands Railway "will ...not be immediately included due to its ongoing mass cancellations and shortages of seats." 🙄 www.theguardian.com/business/202...theguardian.comRail passengers get automatic right to switch operators for free when trains are cancelled‘Commonsense change’ looks to end current confusion and put ‘passengers first, not shareholders’ when services are disrupted 030
Reposted by Chris RandThe Content Apologist @contentapologist.bsky.social · 13/09/202627 years since them slags blew the Moon out of Earth orbit. Still freaks my nut out to this day. #Space1999 #NevetForgetstatic.klipy.comSpace1999 BreakawaydayALT: Space1999 Breakawayday 2215
Reposted by Chris RandAlex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 10/09/2026If you feel like donating to the RNLI, here’s a link. I just have. Their minimum donation is £2: I think it might be nice for them to receive a lot of donations this week, even if they’re mostly very modest. Just so they know a lot of people out here appreciate their work. rnli.org/support-us/g...rnli.orgDonate to the RNLI and help save lives at seaYour donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here. 4920921247
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 10/09/2026Months ago, I said he would do this. They think they can buy anything. Maybe they can. 120
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 10/09/2026When did the “x” when used to signal “times” start becoming pronounced as the letter “x”? It seems to be universal in the tech world now, but really grates to these ears. Apple’s presentation yesterday mixed both, some speakers saying “2 times”, others saying “two ecks”. 230
Reposted by Chris RandMartin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Nine to the ten largest unsecured creditors are players. You love to see it. 2192
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 08/09/2026"...with amounts owed to players and other creditors addressed through the court process..." Good. Let's hope it leaves them well out of pocket for this year at least. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/a...bbc.co.ukLIV Golf: Players free to leave after competition files for bankruptcy protectionLIV Golf intends to starts its new league early next year after filing for bankruptcy protection in the United States. 020
Reposted by Chris RandBrandy @3dogz.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Someone else said it for him. Love him. Miss him. 659246515563
Reposted by Chris RandChandan Devireddy, MD, MBA @drdevireddy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026As a parent, a physician, and a global citizen...these charts and thread should terrify all of us. This is how we embark upon longterm civilizational decline, strife and chaos 021
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 07/09/2026Had to stop myself after the first four episodes. No way am I blowing a whole series in one night. It’s every bit as good as I’d hoped. 051
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 07/09/2026Acquired a 13-year-old Macbook. Fired it up. Almost unuseably slow, as feared. Clean reinstalled the latest MacOS it could run, but still slow, and the OS not really supported anymore, so security concerns. Took up suggestion to wipe it and install free Linux instead. New lease of life! Lovely. 080
Reposted by Chris RandParody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 06/09/2026"It was at this point that an oyster went down the wrong way and blocked my ear canals, meaning I missed the whole conversation where I agreed to a foreign donor illegally giving us £500,000..." 201696519
Reposted by Chris RandTommy Mackay @tommyreckless.bsky.social · 05/09/2026The first album in the world about the first Half Man Half Biscuit book. Form an orderly queue but keep 2 chevrons apart.dailyreckless.com2 Chevrons Apart | Daily RecklessSteve Hill's book about Half Man Half Biscuit, 'Friday Night Fever,' soundtracked by Half Bam Half Whisky aka the first man in the world to buy a Half Man Half Biscuit book. Tracks: Accosting Robert F... 061
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 06/09/2026"And we're excited that Australia will be home to a shit ton of new Ai data centres!" youtu.be/kON2ZI2BNj8?is=EiRyYSueFnz… 000
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 06/09/2026One of those pieces where you think: "it's surely not going to get any worse, is it?" ...but it does. doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralist… 063
Reposted by Chris RandCraig Hamilton @craighamilton.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Natalie Portman / Tanguy Destable sounds like a UEFA Conference League fixture you’d probably not tune in for at 5:45pm on TNT. 163
Reposted by Chris Rand🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Still can't believe she won the auction that allowed Thomas Pynchon to name her boyfriend. 1977384
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 05/09/2026Love the announcement that the UN is adopting the excellent “Equal Earth” map projection. Only the world’s most mental country objected. Here’s the conference presentation where the map was introduced. youtu.be/m5Te3JZfPDM?...youtu.beIntroducing the Equal Earth ProjectionYouTube video by NACIS 020
Chris Rand @chrisrand.com · 05/09/2026A reality check for Ipswich supporters optimistic about the investment in our newly promoted team. I’m glad we’re only really in a mini-league of 6–8 clubs at the bottom, and the rest is just for the LOLs. #itfc 060