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Simon Laycock

@notsofastmatey.bsky.social
106 followers 111 following 104 posts

Teacher, geek, crafter, board gamer.

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Reposted by Simon Laycock
The Dobson Family and Colin the Dalek @dobbersw.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I wish the government and the NHS would proactively publicise this site, printing the costed bill and handing it to patients at the end of treatment with a 'Paid by the NHS' heading - it would soon make anyone who wants a private US style medical insurance think again. mynhsbill.com
mynhsbill.com
My NHS Bill - Find out how much you would pay!
Find out what your NHS care would cost under US insurance-based healthcare - and see why keeping the NHS free at the point of use matters.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
@djackthompson.bsky.social Been playing a lot of General Orders: Sengoku Jidai. Did you ever consider how the system might work with > 2 players? I'd love a small, easy setup, quick-playing wargame we could play in a larger group. (I appreciate that historical 3/4 sided scenarios are very rare).
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
@breakintoprogram.co.uk If you haven't seen it, I think you'd enjoy The Rubber Keyed wonder - it's currently free on Amazon Prime video.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Big thank you to @roxley.bsky.social for replacing my missing Burton-On-Trent card from Brass:Birmingham at no cost.
The Burton-On-Trent card from Brass:Birmingham, sent at no cost from Roxley.
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Reposted by Simon Laycock
Ian Goldsworthy @iangoldsworthy.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
I’m not normally one to share these petitions but this would remove so many of the hoops parents have to jump through to continue to have a voice in their children’s lives once they become adults. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Continue Parental Responsibility Automatically when disabled children turn 18
Change the law to automatically allow parents or carers to retain parental responsibility when their disabled child turns 18, if the child lacks capacity and remains in the parent’s care. We think thi...
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Really sick of saving things in the Documents folder on my Windows 11 laptop, only to find they're not really there. There seems to be 3 locations for Documents. It's needlessly difficult to get to the c: drive as well.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
How are passkeys meant to work? I keep getting asked to sign in with one, scan a barcode etc, but how? I'm pretty tech-savvy. This should be much better explained if it's going to be generally adopted.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Had a nice half term board games day yesterday. Played The Great Wall for the first time, then immediately played it again.
The Great Wall game, with 3d printed walls.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
My GCSE Computing class took a look at the components inside my old ZX Spectrum under the visualiser, marvelled at tapes and floppy disks, then had a quick go at Manic Miner. What a day!
Manic Miner ZX Spectrum game on a school whiteboard, via a projector.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Had a fun day trying to get my old ZX Spectrum (48k) working. I've owned this since 1984. Successfully did the mod to output composite video and game it all a good clean, but it crashes after a few minutes of use. Multimeter ordered. Now I need to learn how to use it.
The back of a Spectrum computer from 1983.The inside of a Spectrum computer, with a composite video cable connected.The components of a Spectrum keyboard, laid out for cleaning.It lives! The bootup screen of the Spectrum on a modern TV.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Really enjoyed Mickey 7 (the book). Enjoyed the first half of Mickey 17 (the film), then it deviated from the book and quickly became rubbish.
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Reposted by Simon Laycock
CALL TO ACTIVISM @calltoactivism.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
This is Marco Rubio explaining how the USA promised to defend Ukraine forever if they got rid of their nuclear arsenal left after the Soviet Union fell. This is why lil marco was sinking into the couch. He was hoping we wouldn’t find it…so don’t RT right now this very second.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Surely pinnace and plaice are words, @nytimes.com #spellingbee ?
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Reposted by Simon Laycock
Dr Jane Park 🎻🏳️‍⚧️ @viola-jane.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Gave blood this afternoon; met the loveliest people & heard stories of inspiration & compassion for others ❤️ There's so much good in this world. Find the glimmers & maintain hope ❤️ (Register to give blood in the UK here: ow.ly/G7hz30bLhww )
Text reads Become a blood donor, next to an image of a bag of donated blood.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
Enjoyed a blustery #parkrun at Catton Park this morning. Great way to kick off 2025. Thank you to all the volunteers!
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Had an idea for a Christmas -themed game, so I knocked up a prototype. Needs work, but there are some interesting decisions already.
A prototype of Santa Duel, a simple card game for 2 players.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
2 player games tonight: Ahoy, Sky Team and a homemade version of High Tide. Enjoyed them all - we like placing dice for actions. I might make a nicer version of High Tide.
Sky TeamHigh TideAhoy
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Apart from the buzz of completing the puzzles in #AdventofCode, what I really enjoy is learning new things. Today I learnt how to use map(), any(), all() and the pattern for generating a new list without a given item in it. It also helps to consolidate things I've used before, but don't use often.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Been busy all day and suddenly remembered #AdventOfCode. Relieved to find that day one was fine. Phew.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Today's project: www.thingiverse.com/thing:6707272 #boardgames #3dprinting
A 3d printed token holder for Arcs, by Leder Games.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Imagine you're enough of an idiot to throw away the doors from Undaunted Callisto, assuming they're just part of the punchboard. 3D printer to the rescue!
3d printed doors for Undaunted Callisto.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Played New Bedford and Bausack this week at #boardgames night. I really enjoy the amount of game in a relatively small box (New Bedford) and Bausack is just very silly. Pay to refuse?
New Bedford board game.A game of Bausack
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
All of a sudden my Bluesky feed is full of content I really like. Feels like a tipping point.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Today I had to order a new phone. My OnePlus Nord still does everything I need, performance is great, but battery life is terrible. A new battery is £12, but I haven't had a security update for 11 months and there won't be any more. Maybe manufacturers could charge a monthly fee for updates?
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Working our way through Undaunted Callisto. Today was scenario 5, with bridges and doors. Tense finale with victory for the LFA as they destroyed the escape pod with the prisoner waiting next to it to board. Does the red line indicate you can't shoot through it? #boardgames
LFA destroy the escape pod with the prisoner just about to board. Undaunted Callisto.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 12/10/2024
Played the first scenario of Undaunted Callisto today - twice. Enjoying the new elevation rules and the quick, familiar play in a fun new environment. Felt like there should be a line of sight rule given elevated areas, but there isn't.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 25/09/2024
Fantastic game of Root last night. Lizards, otters and rats all kept each other in check, the board a desolate wasteland. Rats won.
Root. A lone rat, no otters, and a few lizards. A single trade post is the only building.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 21/09/2024
You wait ages for a new game, then 2 turn up at once. Exciting!#boardgames
Landmarks and Undaunted Callisto.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 19/09/2024
Been looking forward to this one @ospreygames.bsky.social #boardgames
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 18/09/2024
Random #boardgames experience: last night at the pub we enjoyed introducing a small group of Americans to Chronology. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/83...
boardgamegeek.com
Chronology
Draw a card and add it to the ever growing, more difficult timeline.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 14/09/2024
I finally got access to GitHub Education. Quite exciting setting assignments with an online VSCode IDE powered by Codespaces, plus potential for auto grading, but sadly I think it's just going to be too complicated for most of my GCSE students. Back to Trinket.io for now! #TeamCompSci
trinket.io
Trinket
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 14/09/2024
Beautiful morning for a #parkrun. Thank you to all the volunteers!
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 08/09/2024
Having a really frustrating time trying out different online IDEs. I'm considering paying for trinket.io connect. Has anyone on #Teamcompsci already done that and can report back?
trinket.io
Trinket
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 30/08/2024
I took some great little games on holiday to play with the family: Coup, Bandido, Love Letter, Bohnanza... Of course I couldn't get anyone to actually play them. Lovely holiday though.
A beach on the Algarve.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 28/08/2024
This small investment has some potential. It would be interesting to see what exactly is in the 'content store' (assessments, planning, resources to be used as training data by AI developers) and how much difference that makes to the quality of what is generated. www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Teachers to get more trustworthy AI tech as generative tools learn from new bank of lesson plans and curriculums, helping them mark homework and save time
The UK government announced a new project today that will enhance AI's ability to assist teachers in marking work and planning lessons.
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Simon Laycock @notsofastmatey.bsky.social · 13/08/2024
Fun game of #Arcs tonight. Big raid on the final turn of chapter 3 for yellow to win. 3D printed resource token holder worked well.
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