Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 29/09/2026Unpopular opinion, but I think that the utility of Knuth's TAoCP is much overstated. It's comprehensive, and has for many years been considered the sine qua non, but I've found that other reference works on algorithms are far more useful in practice (e.g. Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest and Stein). 310
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 28/09/2026The credulity of some people continues to amaze me. Alas, this is not "Cary Grant's mugshot when he was arrested for being drunk & disorderly in 1959", as claimed by @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social This is a continuity photograph taken during the filming of North by Northwest, for scenes 48 and 49. 020
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 25/09/2026Thermodynamics is *among* the issues. Inter-satellite latency is another, as are environmental hazards (both radiation and debris), and the difficulty of upgrading servers when they’re on-orbit. 310
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 17/09/2026Oh, and Brexit was obviously a third significant source of damage to UK HE, in terms of both student recruitment and international research collaborations. 010
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 17/09/2026At what point do we admit that the financial crisis in UK HE has left the “gradually” phase and entered “suddenly”? This was all predictable, due to the erosion of tuition fee income (no meaningful uplift since 2010) and the hostile environment making the UK unattractive to overseas students. 120
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 16/09/2026The *only* reason for watching Birth of a Nation* is to more fully understand it as the propaganda it is. * likewise Olympia, The Triumph of the Will, arguably Gone with the Wind… 021
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 12/09/2026A couple of impulse buys during an exam board last week turned up today - and now I own a comptometer and an Odhner arithmometer that my students can play with on my history of computing module. Now looking out for a Burroughs calculator. 141
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 10/09/2026I’ve just realised that this is the same Lewis Page that used to write for The Register a decade ago. Given that his stablemate Orlowski ended up in Spiked, I shouldn’t be surprised, but yet here I am. 250
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 29/08/2026The US government is being run by 14yo edgelords. This is just pure cringe. 030
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 28/08/2026Regarding unilateral changes to long-established hydronyms, I’m quite surprised that there hasn’t been a campaign to rename sewage works. “The Donald J. Trump Wastewater Treatment Plant” has a nice ring to it, and is especially fitting given that both are full of shit. 020
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 19/08/2026I shall be stealing this analogy for OAuth when I come to teach it again this coming semester. (I like my existing slides, but it’s a fiddly protocol and anything that makes it easier for students to understand is fine by me) edshare.soton.ac.uk/21143/edshare.soton.ac.uk Authentication and Authorisation - EdShare Southampton 220
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 18/08/2026Paul Simon - The Rhythm of the Saints. Still a cracking album 36 (!) years later. 021
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 17/08/2026For me, it’s the early-60s library in Upminster, where I grew up. Despite the unprepossessing exterior (I wish they hadn’t glazed in the porch), it was light and airy inside with a mezzanine at the front of the building that let you look down over the book stock. 110
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 17/08/2026The response to @sainsburys.bsky.social claiming a 99.98% accuracy for their facial recognition system should be to ask them to give the formal definition of accuracy, and then to state the rate of Type I (false positive) and Type II (false negative) errors. 261
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 09/07/2026The score is now one-all in the mischaracterisation of UK vs US cuisine; this is presumably revenge for the “UK food has no flavour” taunts. Shenandoah is the only part of Appalachia that I’ve visited, but I would have thought that seaweed was not a common ingredient. 210
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 08/07/2026I’m stepping down from my admin role of 20 years - an unprecedented innings, and a role I greatly enjoyed. My loading for it was about 2.5 hours per week, but it took far more in practice. My replacement is getting a day and half per week, plus two deputies. It’s a compliment of sorts. 290
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 08/07/2026He is not the real Count Binface; he inherited the costume from the previous Count Binface. The man he inherited it from was not the real Count Binface either - his name was Cummerbund. The real Binface has been retired for fifteen years and is living like a king in Patagonia. 810126
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 26/06/2026There is nothing quite so depressing as a conversation with an old and dear friend who has thoroughly AI-pilled themselves and is now convinced that they’ve discovered (with the help of an LLM) a Theory of Everything that will upend all physics. 170
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 23/06/2026Me, packing my bag before leaving the house for work: there’s no point lugging around an umbrella today, is there? 420
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 18/06/2026The mature lime tree outside our house is now in full bloom. Not only is the air full of its scent, but there’s also a pronounced hum from the hundreds and hundreds of bees that are harvesting nectar from it. 060
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 16/06/2026Three-way split between: * Usenet before the Eternal September * LiveJournal before it was sold to the Russians and * Cheeseplant’s House[1] before it got shut down. [1] orchid.warwick.ac.uk:2001 as ane fule kno. 110
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 04/06/2026Tired: Who would win - the Hulk or the Thing? Wired: Who would win - Mr Blobby or Gritty? 4111
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 03/06/2026The aftermath of last night’s riot in Southampton. Certainly doesn’t look like a peaceful protest. (photo by my friend Chris WINOBS) 1215147
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 02/06/2026I guess we’re going to be listening to helicopters and sirens all night here - and we’re a mile and a half from the ongoing riot in Southampton. It’s going to be a long summer. 071
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 02/06/2026Drop some Wings 🛩️🪽youtu.beWings Tracking ShotYouTube video by Murderous Ink 010
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 30/05/2026Took a break from marking to dabble in a first attempt at leatherworking. Quite pleased with the results. 260
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 25/05/2026There’s been much criticism of the NYT for its reporting of SpaceX’s latest flight, but I think that we should just acknowledge that the rocket made “an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm” and then move on. 051
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 22/05/2026My favourite TTRPG Classes: 1. My character is [three hours of intricate yet superfluous character background deleted] 2. I am Bob McBob. 3. Remind me again how you roll to hit. 4. What’s the name of the fifteenth bar customer and what’s his backstory? 5. I roll to seduce the Great Old One. 050
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 22/05/2026Time for my story about the time that I was the only customer in a bookshop when Bill Gibson was doing a signing, and yet we failed to do anything but smile shyly at each other… 1/8 140
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 21/05/2026Introduce yourself with 10 bands/artists you've seen live. All About Eve The Divine Comedy Fairport Convention Front 242 John Otway The Proclaimers Psychic TV Steeleye Span Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy The Wonderstuff 340
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 14/05/2026"Under the agreement the institutions would merge by the end of summer 2027, and be known as King’s College London." That's a takeover, not a merger. We're going to be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing.theguardian.comKing’s College London to merge with Cranfield UniversityMerged institution will become second largest mainstream university in UK with about 47,000 students 220
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 13/05/2026And there was I thinking that "brought low by squirrels" was something that only happens to hateful characters in Roald Dahl books. Warning: contains Ken Whitman. 120
Reposted by Nick GibbinsThe Oldhammer Fiction Podcast @oldhammerpodcast.bsky.social · 07/05/2026I always loved those Les Edwards Call of Cthulhu 4th edition colour plates. 910229
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 23/04/2026This place is not a place of honour. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing valued is here. What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger. 040
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 22/04/2026Jellied eels. Believe me, I’ve tried. I like the taste of the eels, but the texture is a bit too much, and there’s an awful lot of bone for not much meat. Just as well they’re critically endangered. 240
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 11/04/2026Amongst the very many reasons to miss the late great David Barron is his way with a good epigram. (this from his 1977 book An Introduction to the Study of Programming Languages, published by Cambridge University Press) 010
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 03/04/2026That's the last episode of The Long Dark finished. Good to see @hinterland.bsky.social wrap the story up, and lay the groundwork for Black Frost. A bit more linear and expositionary than I'd expected, but that's just what happens when you have to tie up so many loose ends. The best bit: the train! 110
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 31/03/2026Tonight, I shall be mostly following @thelongdark.bsky.social to its conclusion. Excellent start - this is the sort of robust statement against the use of generative AI in the creative industries that I think should be standard. All of us - players and developers alike - deserve this much. 020
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 16/03/2026The ISO 216 paper sizes originated in an early C20th utopian project that ironically was funded by one of the people most responsible for the bloodshed of World War 1. A thread... 🧵 181
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 16/03/2026This is awful news. We had a similar outbreak here at Southampton (two deaths in my hall of residence) when I was just starting my PhD in 1997.theguardian.comTwo dead and 11 seriously ill in meningitis outbreak at University of KentStudents in Canterbury given antibiotics for fast-acting and invasive meningococcal disease, says UKHSA 000
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 15/03/2026Para el desayuno esta mañana: Chorizo con papas Frijoles refritos Huevos revueltos Mexicanos (with a little salsa roja) Guacamole Salsa bandera Tortilla To the side, café de olla and a Paloma. Everything made from scratch (including the chorizo), except for the tortilla. 100
Reposted by Nick GibbinsJames Goss @gossjam.bsky.social · 11/03/2026We are trying to find the people who did this.gif 16620
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 02/03/2026It is right that our local Labour MP’s first priority is as she says. However, I would hope that behind the scenes she’s also questioning why our government is allowing the US to use UK bases to make preemptive strikes on targets in Iran. 132
Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net · 01/03/2026From where I’m sitting, it’s the current Labour leadership that looks pretty extreme. It’s certainly not the party that I had supported for thirty years. 1102