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Paul Brown

@pauljkbrown.bsky.social
77 followers 215 following 36 posts

Somerset native enjoying Devon. Husband, parent, geek.

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Reposted by Paul Brown
Laura Gordon @lauragordon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I am the local LD councillor and I have not supported this campaign. No one asked me to, presumably because they knew what I'd say. This just absolutely, categorically untrue.
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Yoel Roth @yoyoel.com · 09/09/2026
Apple quietly dropped a ton of detail about the Apple Watch’s new always-on don’t-call-it-transcription feature and it is FASCINATING. support.apple.com/en-us/148354
Like all of our products and features, Audio Intelligence on Apple Watch was built from the ground up to protect your privacy.
• Audio is not recorded or stored. Audio Intelligence features don't create audio recordings. No audio can be accessed by the operating system, apps, you, or even Apple.
There is no recording to share, forward, or produce if requested by any party, because no recording exists.
• Raw audio is never accessible. Audio flows into a protected buffer inside the S11 chip's Secure Exclave — a hardware-isolated compartment built into the silicon of Apple Watch and iPhone that processes sensor data separately from the rest of the system. Data that is processed and analyzed in the Secure Exclave can't be accessed by the operating system, apps, you, or even Apple. Once processed, this data is immediately deleted.
• Siri Recap and Live Rewind help jog your memory, not provide a detailed record. Siri Recap doesn't produce a transcript. It generates a brief, high-level summary — comparable to notes you might jot down after a conversation. Live Rewind shows a text snippet of what was just said in the last 15 seconds, so you can catch something you missed.• No speaker attribution. By design, Audio Intelligence features don't identify and attribute speakers. Siri Recap may contain names if mentioned in the conversation, but doesn't directly attribute speakers (for example, "John said..." or labeling as "Speaker A" versus
"Speaker B"). Similarly, Live Rewind may transcribe what someone said word-for-word, but does not attribute quotes to speakers.
• Audible and visible signals for Live Rewind.
When activated, an audible chime plays from the speaker on your Apple Watch, even if your Apple Watch is on silent or you have headphones connected. A full-display animation and microphone indicator appear on the display, and a distinct double-press gesture is required to activate Live Rewind. This is to alert those nearby that the feature has been activated.
• Omitted content. Siri Recaps are designed to omit potentially harmful content, such as language that promotes self-harm or hateful speech, and sensitive information, such as financial data, government-assigned identifiers, authentication data, and certain personal identifiers.
• Be mindful of those around you. While audio is not recorded and stored, and no speakers are attributed, consider those around you where conversations might be private or sensitive.
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Anna H @athenepallas.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
From the local paper on Portsmouth (local press can often be far more useful in these kinds of situations, I'm finding) - the RNLI were denied entry to both Portsmouth and Southampton ports and according to this piece were threatened with legal action: www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politic...
portsmouth.co.uk
RNLI 'disappointed' with ports' communication over migrant rescue
The RNLI were denied entry to Southampton and Portsmouth ports
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Hannah Fearn @hannahfearn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Here's the donation link for the RNLI: rnli.org/support-us/g...
rnli.org
Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea
Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.
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ProfAFinlayson @profafinlayson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Stephen Bush, in the FT today writes that Labour “has now produced two governments whose response to acts of thuggery and intimidation is to reiterate that perhaps the thugs have a point”. A key question of political analysis is why Lab (and/or the British state) can’t/won’t be more decisive (x/?)
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
4/ Net zero is the cheaper path for Britain. @thecccuk.bsky.social ran the full numbers in March this year. Net zero pays for itself and then some. Benefits worth around £110bn a year out to 2050, overtaking the costs from 2029. Every pound spent comes back more than double.
carbonbrief.org
CCC: Net-zero will protect UK from fossil-fuel price shocks - Carbon Brief
The “cost” of cutting UK emissions to net-zero is less than the cost of a single fossil-fuel price shock, according to a report from the CCC.
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Also worth noting the Paris Agreement goal was to limit warming to 'well below 2C' by 2100. 10 years later governments are rightly planning for 2C of warming by 2050. Fair to say for all the progress made, things are not going well.
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Oh and finally! The aim back in 2012 was for individuals to bear 60% of the cost of a degree, and the state 40%. Anyone want to guess how much of the burden is estimated to fall on individual graduates now? Any guesses? 95%. www.newstatesman.com/politics/edu...
newstatesman.com
Government mis-sold student loans to a generation, report finds
A new Treasury Committee report has found that the state did not sufficiently communicate the terms and conditions
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Caroline Voaden @carolinevoadenmp.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
And by adopting a blanket ban, we are letting social media giants off the hook, with no impetus for them to change their platforms. Our children deserve a considered, nuanced approach that will genuinely keep them safe, not a cobbled together hodgepodge of restrictions.
theguardian.com
Social media to be banned in UK for under-16s, Starmer announces
UK prime minister says move will bring ‘real change for our children’ amid growing concerns over harmful online content
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 26/05/2026
"In September 2025, nine mosques and cultural centers in and around Paris were targeted...Bloody severed pig heads, each marked with the word “Macron” in blue ink, were left outside their front doors." This was a Russian stunt. From @occrp.org Read more: www.occrp.org/en/investiga...
occrp.org
Leaked Documents Reveal Russian ‘Cognitive Strikes’ Against the West — Including Islamophobic ‘Pig Head’ Attacks in Paris
Leaked chats and documents showcase the Russian presidential administration’s role in false-flag vandalism attacks and election interference campaigns in Europe and beyond.
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Is it morally defensible? No. But is it a coherent response to a difficult situation? No. Ah, but is it effective in bringing down fuel prices? Ha, you're not going to believe this...
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
The real, damning indictment of this government, the true evidence of failure of leadership, is that the Treasury is still making decisions and projections using forecasts that assume the Home Office changes will not happen for them to work. That is why Starmer must go.
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James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 23/04/2026
NEW: The Green Party is STILL bad at being green (FREE TO READ) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-green-...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
The Green Party is STILL bad at being green
We need 'industrial-scale' solar if we want to reach Net Zero.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 15/04/2026
Yeah, a few 'normal' kids who didn't get tuition get in under the wire, but that's really not the majority. Anyone who tells you grammar schools are good for social mobility either hasn't looked at the intake or just doesn't care – or is outright trying to fool you.
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Ash Oro @ashoro.co.uk · 01/04/2026
3/7 The key issue is this: Iran may not need a total blockade anymore. It only needs to prove it can control passage enough to make shipping operate on Iranian terms. That means approvals, delays, checkpoints, selective access and toll-like costs. #Hormuz #Shipping #Oil #Trade #Geopolitics
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 31/03/2026
OOPS! GB News owner Paul Marshall tried to rebut Christian leaders, who criticised his channel's dodgy climate coverage…but in the process he made 25 dodgy claims of his own 🫠 Impressively, he packed the 25 dodgy claims into just 340 words 👏 Receipts: docs.google.com/docu...
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
I was always a bit sceptical of the special relationship but it turns out I was wrong and the Americans have got our backs.
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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
And the deeper problem underlying this is a political culture where populists who simply lie with abandon are on the rise and moderate incumbents, terrified of these opponents, have become incapable of telling voters uncomfortable truths they don't want to hear.
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Reform’s loud opposition to net zero is driven by “the success of populist messages around Brexit plus significant financial backing from the fossil fuel industry and climate sceptics” Not science. Not national interest. Not public opinion. Just personal greed. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Rightwing narrative fuelling false belief UK public oppose net zero, study finds
Reform, Tory and some media rhetoric runs contrary to poll showing far more voters for net zero than against it
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I say again that anyone who thinks Jews, or any minority group, are better off in a world where senior politicians feel comfortable with overt racism is an idiot of the highest order.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I'm not optimistic about it - at least not in the short term. I spoke to a moderate Tory MP a few weeks ago who said there was nothing they could do because the tide was so strongly against them. It's pathetic but they feel cowed and beaten.
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Ciara | Ciaraíoch 🎨 @ciaraioch.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Enough with the elf on a shelf and cartoonish bastardised leprechaun cutesy nonsense, it's time we taught people outside of Ireland about REAL fairies (will swap your baby for a changeling and/or curse your entire family and their livestock if you even look sideways at a ring fort)
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Latest blog is on how if we are facing a full blown energy crisis - and it looks like we are - then it is mad and self-defeating to ignore the clean technologies and climate policies that can have the most immediate positive effect. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...
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James Bloodworth @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
With Reform UK calling for the return of grammar schools, I’ve shared an excerpt from my first book The Myth of Meritocracy examining the evidence on who actually benefits from selection. Clue: it isn’t working-class pupils. www.forthedeskdrawer.com/p/the-enduri...
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Edward @fornbirkibeinn.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
The place where the argument needs to start is by pointing out that no, nobody has paid into their state pension all their life, because it doesn't work that way. They've paid other people's pensions and somebody else will pay theirs.
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Unlock Democracy @unlockdemocracy.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
With the polls so close, many voters in Gorton & Denton won't feel free to vote for who they believe in. That's the unfair choice First Past the Post gives voters: risk your vote counting for nothing, or vote tactically to block someone else. That’s not real choice. That's not real democracy.
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
We don’t have a functioning democracy when the people who lied to our faces to ‘get Brexit done’ are never held to account for the damage they’ve caused… and, worse still, are rewarded for life, for cynically or moronically selling our country out. They deserve nothing but our contempt. Forever.
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Ed Hawkins @edhawkins.org · 27/01/2026
When it rains, it now rains more. For those experiencing the flooding in south-west England, it is worth remembering that rainfall in winter has increased by about 25% overall. And, the rainfall has also become more intense: when it rains, it now rains more, increasing the risk of flooding.
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The Register @theregister.com · 20/01/2026
UK gambling regulator accuses Meta of lying about its struggle to spot illegal ads
dlvr.it
UK gambling regulator accuses Meta of lying about its struggle to spot illegal ads
Labels Zuck’s ad library ‘a window into criminality’ and the Social Network as ‘happy to turn a blind eye’ The head of the UK’s Gambling Commission has accused social media giant Meta of lying about its ability to proactively detect operators of illegal casinos advertising on its services.…
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Recently published figures showing a huge drop don't take into account new restrictions introduced by this government. So further falls are very likely. To give one figure from the post in August 2023 we gave out 18,300 health/care worker visas. Last month it was just 600.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Fantastic piece of work this
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Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 09/12/2025
Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...
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Siobhan Hoffmann Sønderborg @siobhanhoffmann.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Couching it in terms where the "overdiagnosis" implicitly places the blame on the patient for speaking out about their suffering is nasty. If this gov is concerned about mental health as a troubling variable economic factor, they should invest in treating it. Not creating further barriers.
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
My attendance record in the European Parliament was the 4th worst out of 751 MEPs, yet I managed to turn up to vote AGAINST plans to tackle Russian misinformation. Thankfully this is of no interest to the media.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
More than half of ethnic minority Brits say the England flag has now become a racist symbol, with Brits of all colours now tending to say the raising of the flag is mostly about expressing anti-migrant, or anti ethnic-minority sentiment
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James Meek @jamesmeek.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Ed Luce watching democracy die in the United States of America
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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 22/10/2025
People who have come to the United Kingdom legally, played by the rules and made it their home do not need to “go home”. This is their home. I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n
benansell.substack.com
British Politics' Midlife Crisis
Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters
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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Thing about this sort of answer from the BBC is that I don’t remember them adjusting their coverage much in 2022-24 when the polls were in Labour’s favour. I may be misremembering, but I thought they kept to the proportions from GE2019.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
The Labour government's response to a summer of open racism, including physical attacks and the demonisation of some of its own Cabinet, has been to hide. 'Anti-racism' is something you actually have to do, not something you are. Seriously, why can't people like this hear themselves?
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
You couldn't script this stuff. The flag fanatics are defacing war memorials now it seems www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwal...
cornwalllive.com
Idiots deface memorial to Cornish war dead with St George's flag
Cornwall Council's leader, who lives near the defaced clock tower, slammed the 'mindless vandalism' as 'disrespectful' and insulting 'to the memory of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice...
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Excellent. Farage's plan would mean police -or new paramilitary forces - rounding up tens of thousands of people in *every major city* (hundreds of '000s in London). It really shouldn't be hard to make this politically toxic. www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk/p/it-wont-wo...
joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk
"It won't work" Won't Work
Labour's response to Farage is bound to founder
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Liberal Democrats @libdems.org.uk · 27/08/2025
Nigel Farage and the Reform Party’s Taliban Tax means sending hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money to an oppressive regime that British soldiers fought and died to defeat.
Mockup cheque from The British Taxpayer to pay The Taliban £267,000,000, signed by Nigel Farage. Headline reads "Reform's Taliban Tax". Photo of Nigel Farage laughing.
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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
“you have to ignore their reasonable arguments because their end goal is to be terrible, awful people” is IMHO a principle which needs to be applied much more in politics. Moderates assume good faith because they are reasonable people. But that doesn’t work when engaging unreasonable, bad faith ppl.
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Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
One thing I would like more people, and I mostly mean my fellow men, to understand is that no matter how smart you are, other people are also smart and some of them have tried to work on the same problems you’re working on. If a simple solution hasn’t been found yet, there probably isn’t one.
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Techdirt @techdirt.com · 17/07/2025
Fascism For First Time Founders Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who…
techdirt.com
Fascism For First Time Founders
Over the last year or so I've seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train. Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who didn't really surprise anyone—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Elon Musk (pre-fallout)—but the more troubling trend has been watching younger entrepreneurs and VCs listen to their podcasts, read their posts and books, and slowly nod along to the idea that democracy is holding back innovation.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Reform's Richard Tice has written to energy firms to inform them of the 'political risk' of Reform to renewables Labour official: “Reform are now actively trying to discourage businesses from investing in clean energy in the UK... "They are disgracefully... undermining the UK's national interest."
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 09/07/2025
What’s the odds on “a major social network has an antisemitic AI built into it” being raised by lobby with PM’s spokesperson today? A special DCMS committee? Ofcom launching an emergency investigation? Seems it’s so hard to comprehend that people will just focus on more manageable screaming at BBC.
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
New notes from the culture war crossroads... 'Breaking Convention' - Where did hostility to the ECHR come from? Could it be valid? rolandmcs.substack.com/p/breaking-c...
rolandmcs.substack.com
Breaking Convention
Where did hostility to the ECHR come from? Could it be valid?
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