Reposted by George PolesEric Rauchway @rauchway.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I am not gonna start a thread of these but our times do seem to be telling us something about the inability to read a text 2245
Reposted by George PolesThe Phantom Tollbooth Quotes @phantomtollbot.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Milo tried very hard to understand all the things he'd been told, and all the things he'd seen, and, as he spoke, one curious thing still bothered him. "Why is it," he said quietly, "that quite often even the things which are correct just don't seem to be right?" 0133
Reposted by George PolesFrances Hardinge @franceshardinge.bsky.social · 04/09/2026ICYMI, there's a limited edition version of TRAITORS' NEST with sprayed edges only to be found in independent bookshops. I've just received my own copy, and I can't stop admiring it. Isn't it pretty? Look at the magpie feather! 23512
Reposted by George PolesJohn Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 04/09/2026Not surprised by this, but it is so patronising from the BBC. I don't need an audience proxy, I just want to hear from people who know more stuff about a thing than me. 1021420
Reposted by George PolesFrances Hardinge @franceshardinge.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Another day, another me-impersonation. Sigh. Someone pretending to be me is sending emails from authorfranceshardinge@gmail.com That's not my email address, and it's not me. There are a lot of scammers impersonating published authors right now. writerbeware.blog/2025/11/14/i...writerbeware.blogIf a Famous Author Calls, Hang Up: Anatomy of an Impersonation Scam - Writer BewareYou open your email program one morning. The usual work stuff. Some spam (annoying that it got past your filters!). A couple of newsletters (maybe later). You sip your coffee, scroll down. Wait. What’... 192
George Poles @georgepoles.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I'm stuck on a spaceship full of zombies, run by a psychotic computer that's out to kill me. Luckily, I'm fully prepared for this challenge after the last couple of decades of living in the UK. 120
Reposted by George PolesSteve Doherty @stevedoherty.bsky.social · 17/08/2026More doesn’t always mean better. But more is still better than our current diet of bugger all. I wonder, given his well known and long running joke, whether the typo in Spike Milligan is deliberate. 372
Reposted by George PolesErica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 14/08/2026This piece (via @doctorow.pluralistic.net) partly explains why the kind of coffee shop I enjoy—mismatched chairs, comfy couches, soup of the day—basically no longer exists, and the kind I hate—sharp benches, blond wood, pothos in white pots—is everywhere. laurenleek.substack.com/p/temperatur...laurenleek.substack.comTemperature Zero for Culture: Why Everything Is Starting to Look the SameWhat 640 London shopping streets, 4,000 Billboard hits, a million films and synthetic AI personas tell us about why everything is flattening into sameness and how to regulate the algorithms behind it. 99211
Reposted by George PolesBethany Black @bethanyblack.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Tech bros: “okay, so you’ve been down on tech recently, but we’ve invented a new thing that’ll either end scarcity, or end humanity, and in the meantime it’ll make most of you unemployed” Everyone “well that sucks, don’t do that.” Tech bros: “I don’t think you’re hearing me right…” 09918
Reposted by George PolesDreadnought Holiday @dreadships.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Under fairground rules I think they've just won that yacht? 1339778
Reposted by George PolesGiles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Attacking net zero as a religious obsession "is gaslighting of the highest order. The truth is, it requires dedicated ideological belief to argue against the scientific evidence that net zero is needed to stop ever more expensive and destructive warming" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...giftarticle.ft.comHow to stop global warmingThe answer is obvious to all except the real climate change zealots: the anti-net zero movement 715362
Reposted by George PolesMM Schill @mmschill.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Well... I'm proud of him for seeking help. 0174
Reposted by George PolesLouie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Has anyone considers that Odysseus's problem is that his men are just too delicious. Yes, he angered the gods, but so many of them getting eaten cant be a coincidence. 471265230
Reposted by George PolesJohn C @badsocialism.bsky.social · 07/08/2026"are there any bad @stephencollins.bsky.social cartoons?" No, of course not, I've been laughing at this one for three minutes 211382404
Reposted by George PolesNatalie Haynes @nataliehaynes.bsky.social · 05/08/2026It was always a risk, having Biggins on the show… Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: Nero, tomorrow at 9am on BBC Radio 4. Behind the scenes of I, Claudius and more… Catch up afterwards on BBC Sounds. 4548
Reposted by George PolesLouie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Boosting for the afternoon crowd 0127
Reposted by George PolesEd Morrish @edmorrish.com · 05/08/2026this is such a bleak read, but wonderfully written my main takeaway is the degree to which the burden of labour has been placed exclusively on creators, meaning Instagram/tiktok/substack get their cut for, basically, doing fuck all 191
Reposted by George PolesMovies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Every time they open their mouths, I swear to god, it’s a confession of how pitiful they are. They are so hopelessly addicted to the sycophantic lie machine that everyone else HAS to be using it too. “Checkmate!” they scream as they slowly turn to reveal their soiled trousers 1122125
Reposted by George PolesBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/08/2026Could Google do better? Provably so. Kagi, a small company that runs a search engine powered by Google's own search index consistently delivers results that are substantially superior to Google's - using Google's own infrastructure: pluralistic.net/2024/04/04/t... 13/pluralistic.netPluralistic: Too big to care (04 Apr 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 1648
Reposted by George PolesDavid Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 03/08/2026A really interesting article on what can be done to reinvent and revise the high street. And, yes, it requires an active state backed up by resources 62212
Reposted by George PolesBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 01/08/2026Neoclassical econ assumes rationality. The corollary of, "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?" is "you're rich, so you must be very smart!" Thus, people assume that if powerful, well-compensated CEOs insist that "AI is changing everything," well then, *AI must be changing everything*. 1/ 19774303
Reposted by George Polesthe Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 01/08/2026can we sometimes be asking "what qualifies this guy to speak on this subject?" or has that ship sailed 573654549
Reposted by George PolesAngus Main @angusmain.bsky.social · 31/07/2026I don’t think anyone could have predicted that the big companies of the Information Age, who built billion dollar industries on providing people with useful information, would pivot their whole business to “lying, and providing tools to make all information indistinguishable from lies” 141
Reposted by George PolesEd Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex.bsky.social · 29/07/2026I've confirmed that the UK's new Sovereign AI Fund does no due diligence on whether AI companies use copyrighted work without permission before investing in them. It took me 3 Freedom of Information requests to find this out: 🧵 1/10 11788465
Reposted by George PolesAndrew Crowther @andrewcrowther.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Originally written by Sarah Harrison and published in the magazine “Slightly Foxed” in Autumn 2010… 26820
Reposted by George PolesTansy Gardam @tansyg.bsky.social · 28/07/2026obsessed with Ian Flemming's daily schedule - swim - brunch - write 1500 words no edits just freestyle - lobster hunting - pink gin - lunch - siesta - sit in garden - another swim - 500 more words - "a couple of powerful drinks" - dinner - scrabble with wife - sleep 1732461
George Poles @georgepoles.bsky.social · 27/07/2026It’s not difficult to control because it’s become sentient, it’s difficult control because it can’t follow a simple instruction like ‘don’t hack other AIs’. 021
George Poles @georgepoles.bsky.social · 27/07/2026www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...lrb.co.ukPeter Geoghegan and Lucas Amin · ‘This looks absolutely rubbish’: Palantir and the NHSA decade ago Palantir was largely unknown in the UK. It now holds public contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds... 000
Reposted by George PolesNeil Brand @neilkbrand.bsky.social · 26/07/2026The new Prime Minister is writing a "10-year plan" for the UK. The arts & culture MUST be part of it. I've signed @campaignforthearts.org's petition urging @andyburnham.bsky.social to revitalise the arts – to revitalise the whole nation 🌱 Join me: www.campaignforthearts.org/petitions/10-year-plan/campaignforthearts.orgPrime Minister – put the arts in your 10-year plan for the UK | Campaign for the ArtsSign our petition urging the UK Government to build a country where the arts are available from childhood, accessible to all and thriving everywhere. 0135
Reposted by George PolesKai TechnoLust (he/him) @technolust.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Watched The Odyssey and I have to say it was completely inaccurate. First, the main character wasn’t named Abe, looked NOTHING like him, and the whole thing didn’t even take place on Oddworld. Do some basic research. At least read the Wikipedia page for fuck’s sake. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddworl...en.wikipedia.orgOddworld: Abe's Oddysee - Wikipedia 082
Reposted by George PolesLouie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Do I need to tap the "I wrote my thesis on the literary value of comics at Oxford 25 years ago" sign and risk sounding like a dickhead to get through to these people? www.tes.com/magazine/tea...tes.comWhat the bestselling books for children tell primary teachersResearch shows that pupils’ enjoyment of reading declines as they move through primary school. Do the bestselling books for this age group hold any clues about how schools can help reverse the trend? 179322
George Poles @georgepoles.bsky.social · 23/07/2026If I hadn't already pre-ordered this, I'd be straight in there. 010
George Poles @georgepoles.bsky.social · 29/06/2026A good WGGB online town hall this afternoon re the future of Children’s TV. These days, that means the BBC. With charter renewal discussion in full swing, this would be a really good time to have a Culture Secretary who was interested in, er, being Culture Secretary. 000
Reposted by George PolesFrances Hardinge @franceshardinge.bsky.social · 21/05/2026The School Library Journal Day of Dialog is happening today, and there's still time to register! www.slj.com/event/school... I'll be appearing in the panel 'A YA Sampler' at 10.05am ET, 3.05pm BST, with Dusti Bowling, Sami Ellis, Beck Kubrick , Kara Storti and moderator Jesse Sanders!slj.comSchool Library Journal 033
Reposted by George PolesThe Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 20/05/2026In 2020, I came up with a suite of different ways to illustrate just how wealthy Jeff Bezos is. Some of my favourites are collected below. Six years later, he is $100 billion richer but I refuse to redo all the sums. bsky.app/profile/seam... 34113
Reposted by George PolesThe Onion @theonion.com · 20/05/2026OpenAI Announces Construction Of New Data Center On Top Of Sick Child 12197742141
Reposted by George PolesStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20/05/2026A government that visibly holds the people it governs in contempt. 8827
Reposted by George PolesStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20/05/2026The Starmer government will do anything to avoid having to persuade the public of something or fund a cash transfer: 36522127
Reposted by George PolesJohn Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 18/05/2026Right - you all thought that quiz was too US-centric. So I've vibe-coded something far more British. Specifically British, because I am *not* making a Northern Irish Political Compass. From taxes to the monarchy, answer the questions and see where you sit. quiz.jmoxley.co.ukquiz.jmoxley.co.ukBritish Political Spectrum QuizFind out where you sit on the British political map across six dimensions. 9926550
Reposted by George PolesJan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 16/05/2026"Heat pumps just shift gas burning to the power station." Wrong. Even if 100% of electricity came from gas, a heat pump at SCOP 3.8 uses 51% less gas than a boiler. At a terrible SCOP 2.5, still 25% less. David MacKay made this point in 2008. The maths hasn't changed. 902438666
Reposted by George PolesEd Morrish @edmorrish.com · 15/05/2026if someone offered you £5m for twenty-seven years' work, that's a tad over £185k/yr 1213
Reposted by George PolesShiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 15/05/2026This mass courtship event typically marks the beginning of Waymo mating season, and the general public is advised to avoid approaching them or their young and maintaining a safe distance at all times as they can get even more unpredictable in their behaviour towards humans at this time 251539383
Reposted by George PolesBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/05/2026This is an incredibly transparent ruse: media companies are artists' class enemies, and if we get a new right to control AI training, our bosses will demand that we sign it away to them as part of their non-negotiable, one-sided standard contracts: pluralistic.net/2024/11/18/r... 19/pluralistic.netPluralistic: Harpercollins wants authors to sign away AI training rights (18 Nov 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 1186