iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Thanks for the great reporting. A question - when this all started it seemed to be part of a 'sports washing' project. That aim is now in tatters regardless of appeal/punishment. Was that ever the aim, did the aims change or were they never really bothered about sports washing and PR?

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It's infuriating. I've spent the last forty years trying to attain this hallowed status, and now no one gives at toss. Just have to post on bluesky instead.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The big question is who are the 11% who want a private police force, and a 14% who want a private army?

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is a pathetic thing for a normal member of the public to say at this early stage, let alone a bloody reporter/journalist.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I read for a living and I've noticed a definite simplification of a lot of books that are aimed at adults now, as if the reading age of the population as a whole has dropped. People seem to expect Harry Potter level prose now, which is fine but also, that's a children's book!

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ron-hill.bsky.social @ron-hill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Fascinating point of view. Controversial in liberal circles, which means it should probably be read. @helenlewis.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.com

How to Destroy a Lesbian Bar

The scourge of COVID led to drive-by whinings disguised as activism.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It's a magnificent gas-lighting machine. Every time I think, 'I'm sure I had an email about that', I fail to find it, think I'm mad, then open a different email client and find it straight away.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

We're not an hour away! Free Tooting, I say. 30 mins on tube tops to H/St P. We are in Zone 3 though, so that's true.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I think they should go down the Talking Pictures TV channel route, which is trigger warnings at the start - on their Rumpole repeats, they simply point out that language, themes etc. reflect the times and not the attitude of the channel

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Ghoul-in’ Dickey @colindickey.com · 16/09/2026

“Have no antecedents, no established character, no cultivation, no ideas, no manners; have Shares.” Charles Dickens eviscerating the investment class, from Our Mutual Friend (1865):

The mature young lady is a lady of property. The mature young gentleman is a gentleman of property. He invests his property. He goes, in a condescending amateurish way, into the City, attends meetings of Directors, and has to do with traffic in Shares.? As is well known to the wise in their generation, traffic in Shares is the one thing to have to do with in this world. Have no antecedents, no established character, no cultivation, no ideas, no manners; have Shares. Have Shares enough to be on Boards of Direction in capital letters, oscillate on mysterious business between London and Paris, and be great. Where does he come from? Shares. Where is he going to? Shares. What are his tastes? Shares. Has he any principles?
Shares. What squeezes him into Parliament? Shares. Perhaps he never of himself achieved success in anything, never originated anything, never produced anything? Sufficient answer to all; Shares. O mighty Shares! To set those blaring images so high, and to cause us smaller vermin, as under the influence of henbane or opium, to cry out, night and day, "Relieve us of our money, scatter it for us, buy us and sell us, ruin us, only we beseech ye take rank among the powers of the earth, and fatten on us!”

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Does anyone really like David Hare's plays (apart from successive artistic directors of the National Theatre?) Is he big in country's outside the UK?

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Definitely airport traffic. Also I reckon there's a huge amount of traditional minicab traffic to and from hospitals.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Oh yes, my post wasn't contra your position. It's a difficult issue either way and I'm not sure myself, but as I say, it's hard to take too seriously those against the bill unless they also confront the current situation. And I think this is where the public are ahead of them.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The problem with arguing against the (flawed) bill, is that the status quo is also deeply flawed. Drs are currently doing this on the fly, people are dying in pointless agony etc. The question then becomes 'which is more flawed?' the present, or the Bill?

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Why do you still keep publishing Simon Jenkins? A mystery.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Thank you for getting back to me. An agent reached out to us on the phone, so hopefully he can resolve the issue today otherwise I will follow up with you again.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I know it's a fairly well worn trope to complain about airline service on here but @aircanada.bsky.social are really taking the biscuit Someone hacked our booking, then cancelled it. We told @aircanada.bsky.social at once. the reply: 'sorry, nothing we can do. you can rebook at 4x the price?'

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

So you're blaming Starmer for Clive Myrie's relief at not having children? Anything else to put in the basket - climate change? War in ukraine? England loss to Argentina? I don't think KS will have much of a legacy, but don't give us the inverse bullshit either.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Any doom narrative is bound to be wrong, but calling for nuance never really helps policy making either. And any argument that centres on content alone also misses the point that many of these apps are inherently designed to be addictive.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

ah yes, I see. There's two different registers - competence and politics - and I'm sometimes a bit at sea with the first of these re the coverage. I thought Nandy might be quite capable at DCMS, for instance, but got that totally wrong.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I know this isn't your job, but I would quite like to see what your 'best 11' cabinet line up would be - same with all the political pundits, like they do in the football. The vibe I get from a lot of pol comms is that 'every appointment is bad' - it would be nice commentariat line up.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Why not let it out? One of our cats goes out the front now (has done for years), lots of cats in the front. Yes, there's a danger from cars but probably a small one.

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Cethan Leahy @cethanleahy.com · 07/07/2026

Bluesky this morning:

Tintin and Snowy in a parade where everyone is cheering. (Still from Tintin in America)

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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Good to hear Burnham champion often overlooked London devolution – London currently keeps just 7% of the tax revenue it generates, compared to 50% in New York and 70% in Tokyo.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Maybe they can start at 630am or similar

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

It won't be hard to resist at all. Just watch. Almost no one in the real world wants an elex (they rarely do), there's plenty of precedent, and it makes more sense for him to try to be PM first. I'd be surprised if there is an elex, and any noise about there not being one will be short-lived

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

The sheer volume of new shows is bewildering. I managed my first rewatch of Mad Men before the streaming age really kicked in, thankfully. Still my number one show. Almost no violence or crime, no fantasy, no overt spectacle yet utterly, continually compelling.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Try not to post on it Paul, cut the cord. You're welcome here!

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I think Cameron must be up there as 'most damage done', if you consider austerity plus referendum plus deserted pre-actual brexit. A real shit show of a legacy.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Yes, I agree that bans can be a blunt instrument and certainly no panacea. What I do welcome, though, is the recognition that the platforms themselves (apart from the content, different discussion) and how they operate can be dangerous, to both kids and adults.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

It's also about doing what's easier. It's a bit like the smoking ban. It's easier to stop people taking it up, than it is to stop people already using it, and you're not denying anyone anything good.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Why will a ban reduce take-up of social media by new (child) users? In my experience there are lots of children who take the law quite seriously, especially when it's about harm, and the law also gives parents leverage. But I'm no expert, I have no idea whether this will do any good or not.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

And the evasion rate argument applies to people already using it. Ignores the fact that a ban will surely have quite a profound effect on take-up rates for new users - which is arguably the single biggest point of any ban.

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Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

The social media ban doesn’t have to stop every under 16 from using social media - if it stops most of them using it, and causes those who still do to use it less, that's a big win. 10 responses to common objections to the ban. www.edrith.co.uk/p/social-med...

edrith.co.uk

Social Media Ban: Responses to 10 common objections

And six ways in which we could tackle broader social media harms.

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Dr Fern Riddell @drfernriddell.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

But that is exactly how the suffragettes operated. With a nationwide organisation of sleeper cells of arsonists and bombers. I’m gratefully people have reached out and referenced my work today. I remain (I believe) the only academic expert on the terrorism of the suffragettes. Links below:

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

It's all a matter of degree though isn't it? Clearly this ban is ill-advised, but presumably all laws are broken by someone, so the success or otherwise of a law isn't defined by its extremes. I wonder, for e.g., what would constitute a successful reduction in soc media use? Half? 80 percent?

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Yes, you're right. This is partly a question of framing - i.e., I'm not even sure which 'Problem' the policy is designed to address. However, I do think that there is some value in starting to take steps to protect people against the pervasive power of the algorithms, at least in principle.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

It's not easy though. I mean when expert consensus is nuanced, that kind of means there isn't a consensus - especially when their isn't an agreement about what problem to even tackle. E.g. most comms here are bemoaning online radicalisation, which of course has little to do with kids

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

It's a very different environment from then, though. Not only the smart phone (instant continuous access), but also the algorithms are very powerful and designed to keep you on. This is a danger to us all, of course, and bans don't really work but head-in-the-sand isn't a great response either.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

There's lots of posts by (heavy) social media users decrying the gov's proposed under 16 ban, but I would like to read a reasoned argument against (I'm agnostic.) Seems a big disconnect between what public and gov want, and commentators response. Anyone seen a good anti piece?

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I thought the ITV studio looked cheap and messy - only ITV could make the manhattan skyline look cheap.

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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

we should be proud of this British success story

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I can see that, but to me this covers more the lack of enthusiasm rather than the hatred. The strength of the anti feeling is what I find odd, rather than dissatisfaction.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

This is the one that baffles me slightly - the hatred of Starmer combined with no one piece of evidence to justify it. Maybe he's just the figurehead of decline, or whatever, but I do find it odd that so many dislike him without strong reasons. (Not good news for him, of course, regardless.)

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

I don't think quoting this stat is evidence that it simple 'won't work'. I mean, that stat suggests that a third of people who were using have stopped, and what of the children who now won't start? I don't know whether it's a good idea, but to say banning has 'no effect' needs more evidence for me.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Other than the assertion 'it doesn't ignore it', I have no idea what the rest of this post means - are you saying that the attempt to make the police less racist has led to 'bad outcomes'? i.e. worse than before? And for who? I have no idea what the final two sentences mean.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

This nonsense about two tier policing also happens to totally ignore the context of the last 150 years. The police have been institutionally racist for a long time, and policy makers have been trying to do something about that - that's the context of the guidelines.

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HB Lyle @hblyle.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

In general, I find this 'they're all the same' one of the most damaging and pernicious myths about politics. They are just not, whether it's different parties or different leaders - fine if you can't be bothered to vote (up to you), but don't peddle such nonsense to cover yourself.

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