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Evan Hensleigh

@futuraprime.net

3.3K followers 406 following 75 posts

Special Projects Editor at The Economist. Bad puns on The Internet.

Posts Replies Media

Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 12/08/2026

Uh, so who turned out the lights?

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 16/07/2026

The Guardian finally ran out of metaphors today. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 If you have any spare metaphors, please consider donating.

A screenshot of the Guardian homepage. Headlines include the phrases “Argentina’s late double breaks England hearts”, “Argentina break England hearts”, and “England hearts broken”

A screenshot further down on the Guardian homepage. Headlines include the phrases “Argentina break England hearts”, “Argentina’s late double breaks England hearts”, and “Heartbreak for England, again”

Even further down the Guardian homepage: “England hearts broken”

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 24/05/2026

Also, Michigan vs Detroit (like most of these, I expect) is so one-sided…

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 14/05/2026

Well, fine. If only to heal the divisions of this place.

A very cute dog (a mostly black whippet cross with a Christmas Robin bandana around its neck)

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 01/05/2026

Surely one of the best road signs in London.

A road sign at an intersection near Highgate, London. To the right is Highgate Village, to the left is “The North”, which apparently starts at Finchley.

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 06/04/2026

I *think* that might be what the footnote on that passage deals with (but I know much less about that part of it!).

Brit. Lib., Add. MS. 34,736, fos.46r-50v, James West Treasury papers; P.R.O., Treasury Board Papers, T30 12, national accounts, 1750-5, bearing numerous marks of confusion. The twelve- rather than eleven-day discrepancy between the start of the old year (25 March) and that of the modern financial year (6 April) has caused puzzlement, with "deeply conservative tax accountants" and the leap year of 1752 ingeniously offered as explanations: Guardian, 3 Sept., 15 Oct. 1990. In fact, 25 March was first day of the year but the last day of the financial quarter, corresponding to 5 April; the difference was thus exactly eleven days.

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 06/04/2026

Happily, it is true! www.jstor.org/stable/651100 Basically, it was an unintended consequence of the way the act was written, which the exchequer tried to avoid but failed, and then stuck—even though the income tax itself didn't come in for another 47 years.

This scheme, however, ran against the provisions of the Act that financial transactions should run their full natural term, so the national accounts continued to be made up to end on the Old Style quarter-days of 5 January, 5 April, 5 July, and 10 October, creating the unique British financial year whose basis continues to defy general comprehension.

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 28/12/2025

post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t nirvana, pearljam, soundgarden or alice in chains

The cover of Throwing Muses’ 1995 album “University”

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 09/08/2025

Out of curiosity, I asked Claude how the case should be decided. (I’m guessing Anthropic disagrees with its bot.)

A screenshot of Claude’s response to the question “How should the case be decided?”

This case involves complex tensions between established copyright principles and emerging AI technology. Here's how I think the legal and policy considerations should be weighed:

The Copyright Infringement Claims Should Succeed

On Pirated Materials: If Anthropic indeed sourced training materials from piracy websites, this should be straightforward copyright infringement. The unauthorized copying occurred before any Al training even began, making fair use arguments much weaker. Companies shouldn't benefit from using illegally obtained materials, regardless of the innovative purpose.

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 29/06/2025

It’s been ten years since we left the United States and moved to London. I don’t think either Liz or I imagined we’d settle here as easily as we did. It’s a lovely, welcoming city.

An obligatory photo of Big Ben (yes, actually the Elizabeth Tower, don’t @ me) from a walk we took on our first day living in London ten years ago.

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 15/06/2025

Honestly a little upset about this

A screenshot of the NYT Spelling Bee, with the word “chilblain” being rejected, as “not in word list”

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 20/05/2025

Are they sure they want to know the answer?

A photo of BBC News on a television. The chyron reads “Scientists race to discover why Universe exists”

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Evan Hensleigh @futuraprime.net · 23/04/2025

People don’t actually call folks from Birmingham, Michigan this, and I am really pleased that some Michiganders have put one over on Joe Lycett. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Joe Lycett, visiting Birmingham, Michigan on his road tour of America’s Birminghams, “discovers that [its] inhabitants… call themselves ‘Birminghamsters’. ‘Like the little critters?’”

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