iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Come work with me at the Forestry and Land Scotland Community Asset Transfer panel! It's a very rewarding job, provide advice on community asset transfer, you get to look at a range range of projects across Scotland and get to work with a wonderful bunch of people.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

History of heat-related welfare benefits nerds? Here's just the article for you : How warm should the welfare state be? The evolution of Britain’s heating benefit and the challenge of defining adequate heat, 1948–1988 academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...

academic.oup.com

How warm should the welfare state be? The evolution of Britain’s heating benefit and the challenge of defining adequate heat, 1948–1988

Abstract. This article examines how warmth has been a central, but previously overlooked feature of the welfare state. Mapping the internal debates that su

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The next time anyone says wealth taxes aren't possible, remind them we have them already (Last bump of the day!)

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

We often hear that a wealth tax is impractical, can't be collected, will be avoided. Funny how we can tax the 'wealth' of low income households - and have been for decades - but can't find ways to tax the wealth of the rich. So next time someone says we can't tax wealth - remind them we already do!

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Is the asset means test in Universal Credit really just a benefit rule? Or is it a hidden wealth tax? New research looks at how capital limits can impose very high effective rates of taxation on the savings and inheritances of low-income households.

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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Others will have their say about this, but I think it’s worth pointing out that this - or laundered versions of it - are accepted wisdom amongst a big chunk of our political and media classes and it is simply bad for society when the elites have little or no understanding of *the systems they run*

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Anna Dent @annadent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

For the lunchtime crowd - are you interested in how the welfare state is mainly robots and algorithms now* Read my newsletter! *possible exaggeration

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon. many more here: www.newscientist.com/author/tom-gauld/

Image: A graph with lots of red dots clustered together in a curve. The are all looking upwards at a single red dot wearing sunglasses.

Caption: Mike was an outlier and would probably be excluded from the study, but all the other data points secretly thought he was really cool.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It was a pleasure to contribute to the new issue of the Scottish Anti-Poverty Review talking about the stories we tell, and the stories we hear, about social security. We spend a lot of time talking about how much social security costs. We spend much less time talking about what it does.

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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

He who would be Seamaster must know the true name of every drop of water in the sea.

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Scottish Land Commission @scottishlandcom.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Help develop our second Gaelic Language Plan. We want our commitments to reflect the longstanding connection between Gaelic and Scotland’s land, and we need your views. 📅 The consultation is open for six weeks and closes on Monday 26 October. buff.ly/pRDHQv3

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Six Months That Changed the Year Terror's march backwards An Absolute Atrocity Special by Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris www.theguardian.com/world/2002/m... I have a copy of this in a box somewhere - can't see the Guardian publishing something like this these days.

theguardian.com

Terror's march backwards

Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris present a timeline of the months following September 11.

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Prof Ruth Patrick @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

In just more than a week, me & @kittyjstewart.bsky.social are braving Scottish sea temps and jellyfish to swim the 1.3 miles from Holy Island to Lamlash on Arran! Trying to raise a few quid for @hopenothate.org.uk as we do so! Wish us luck www.gofundme.com/f/splashing-...

gofundme.com

Donate to Splashing into Lamlash for Hope not Hate, organized by ruth patrick

In just over a week, me (Ruth Patrick), & a great gang of women (including Ste… ruth patrick needs your support for Splashing into Lamlash for Hope not Hate

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

We need to stop writing dystopia fiction, its being used as a masterplan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hated_i...

en.wikipedia.org

Hated in the Nation - Wikipedia

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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

One of the first "outrageous" claims I saw as Jason Arday's media hounding unfolded was that he ran 30 marathons in 35 days! Wow! What a thing to claim! And the newspapers all suggested there was no evidence he actually did it. Well, they clearly didn't look very hard 🙄 🧵 1/26

Photo after Jason's final marathon taken from his archived blog showing Jason surrounded by supporters in orange charity t-shirts

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Insects play? Of course they do. www.qmul.ac.uk/news/latest-... Although it says something about our lack of connection to nature that we need science to tell us this.

qmul.ac.uk

First-ever study shows bumble bees ‘play’

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

ARGHH.... I remember when a template was just that - a blank document with some standard formatting that you can insert text into. Now, in google docs, it seems that it is a AI prompt to create document..I just want a nice looking font for my report not some AI monstrosity.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

This is interesting for a number of reasons.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

We also need investment in and support of small scale growing, which requires access to land. Crofting provides excellent examples of how this can work, but with no support for horticulture, and very limited access for new entrants it's not, yet, able to play its part.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Links not in Bio - they're here : www.projectchange.scot/wp-content/u... form.jotform.com/262142859338...

Text on the image reads :

Project Change
Applications are open
Get paid to make art about your life
Four places, care experinced young women, 16 to 30, in Scotland
£36.30 an hour, 32 hours a month
Travel, food, childcare and access costs covered
It all ends in a public exhibition of your work
closes midnight, 21st August
projectchange.scot

Text in black on a pink background

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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

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Laurie Macfarlane @lmacfarlane.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I recently published a critique of @danneidle.bsky.social's claim that Scotland’s 48% tax reduced revenue. Dan has now updated his analysis in response, arguing it doesn't invalidate his findings. I don’t think he resolves the central problem – here’s why. 🧵

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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

“The purpose of such interrogations has never been to determine whether someone needs disability benefits, but to make them reluctant to apply for it.” Today’s col. on Pip, its impending overall - and what a humane and effective system could actually look like. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Burnham has a chance to overhaul Pip. Here's what a truly progressive system could look like | Frances Ryan

Last week’s Timms report shows how disability is still vilified. But some pragmatic fixes would help both claimants and the economy, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

RANT! So is there any way to turn of useful AI overview in Gmail, yet retain the categorised tabs in your inbox? No? no! WTF! Maybe I;m late to this, but Phhfft...

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Under 30? In Scotland? Have something to say? Bella Caledonia are recruiting: "Entrants should be aged 30 or under at 30 November 2026, and be living, working or studying in Scotland. Pitches should be submitted by email to bellasletters@yahoo.co.uk. "

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Good piece about shifting the narrative around social security, and it got me thinking, the negative messaging around social security constantly comes from government. When was the last time a national UK government was talking positively around social security? 1/n

A screen shoot of a news paper headlines that says "Disabiliity Benefits systems 'not working' Timms review finds" in black text on a white background, with the title "Benefits" in red text above.
On the right is a photo of a group of disability campaigners at a rally of with handmade cardboard signs, one of which reads "Personal Independence Payments are VITAL for our SURVIVAL"

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Ian Wiggett @wiggett-ie.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

In 2007 Norway’s governing body for sport revised the eight “rights” to protect the participation, safety and joy of every child playing sport. The rules are mandatory and read like heresy to those embedded in the talent-funnel culture found almost everywhere else in world sport.

theguardian.com

No league tables, no trophies: how Norway made sport fun for kids – and built a football team that beat Brazil

The country’s model prioritises joy while offering youngsters choice – and Erling Haaland’s World Cup exploits show that it works

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Daniel Burke - 🍺Innkeep @innkeep.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Le Guin on the idea that there is a secret to getting good at writing.

I will dispose of the first myth as quickly as possible. The “secret” is skill. If you haven’t learned how to do something, the people who have may seem to be magicians, possessors of mysterious secrets. In a fairly simple art, such as making pie crust, there are certain teachable “secrets” of method that lead almost infallibly to good results; but in any complex art, such as housekeeping, piano-playing, clothes-making, or story-writing, there are so many techniques, skills, choices of method, so many variables, so many “secrets,” some teachable and some not, that you can learn them only by methodical, repeated, long-continued practice — in other words, by work.

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Ellie Harwood @ellieharwood.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Think it's important to note that working-age means-tested benefits are also a crucial part of keeping people *in* work - especially reimbursing childcare costs, helping people afford rents that would otherwise be 50%+ of their take home pay, and meeting the extra costs of working when disabled

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

The way to reduce the working age means tested welfare bill is to increase wages, and note: even paying the 'real living wage' only lifts people to a reasonable income standard when COMBINDED with benefit entitlement - it doesn't necessarily lift people above the means tested benefit threshold.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

“Academics want to promote their research outside of the university....However, in an increasingly queerphobic and transphobic public environment, this is becoming more difficult and riskier for researchers working on LGBTQ+ topics and they often face a backlash.” (Dr Charlotte Jones) 1/3

swansea.ac.uk

Academics researching LGBTQ+ topics face hostility and career risks, study finds

They say all publicity is good publicity, but new research has revealed the significant challenges academics researching LGBTQ+ topics face when bringing their work into the public eye.

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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

I especially love this diagram.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

This is fun slow-cial media... Messages travel at the speed of the birds that carry them - my ostrich is currently on the way to London. Join the flock on Roost! Get a free bird when you sign up with my code GAXXAT. roostsocial.app/invite/GAXXAT

roostsocial.app

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Bluesky #film what should I watch this afternoon? Kids are away, can't go out in the sun cos of antibiotics. I haven't watch any recent films. What should I put on? Something interesting! Could be political, or not! Suggestions please.....

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I realise I've missed a trick calling my paper the rather prosaic "Capital Limits and the Hidden Wealth Tax in Universal Credit", much better would have been....

A AI generate mock up of a cover a book that reads 'The Unequal, Un-kool assets means test', in the style of teh Tom Wolf book "The Electric, Kool-Aid Acid Test". The title is written in a psychedelic font in green a blue, on a dark blue background, their is a multicolored bus in the bottom right hand corner.

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Here's the whole tread....

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Ed Pybus @epybus.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

OK, hooked now, but surely can justify this procrastination as it's educational? (i was lucky with North Maluku tho..) www.maptap.gg June 18 98🎯 97🔥 100🎯 91🎉 99🎯 Final score: 965

maptap.gg

🎯MapTap Daily Geography Game

Play MapTap - the daily geography game! Find 5 world locations on a 3D globe with historical stories. Free browser-based daily game for geography lovers.

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