Sign in

Paul Silver

@paulsilver.bsky.social
167 followers 159 following 93 posts

Freelance web developer living near Brighton (UK) with a minor old VW obsession and major notebook addiction. Runs the @brightonfarm.bsky.social freelancers meet ups.

PostsRepliesMedia
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
There's always a range. You could well be more efficient with AI. You were probably already more efficient than 90% of the companies they studied pre-AI, because you've put a lot of effort into being able to develop quickly without screwing yourselves. With AI you could well see gains others don't
000
Reposted by Paul Silver
Matt Binder @mattbinder.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
the tech industry is about to invent books
Andrew Yeung 
@andruyeung
X.com
We created gyms because modern day work no
longer required physical activity. Without exercise,
our muscles atrophy.
I predict we'll need gyms for our brains too, once Al
starts doing our knowledge work.
10:53 PM • 10/4/26 • 1.3M Views
572215124192
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Tomorrow we're having a tech industry freelancers meet up in the Battle of Trafalgar pub in Brighton. 8pm-11. Please join us for chat about freelancing and random stuff with a bunch of nice people Last week: www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting... Map: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM...
brightonfarm.com
How to cope with constantly being given new tasks, notes from 30th September 2026 - Brighton Farm
On the 30th September, nine freelancers got together in the beer garden of the Battle of Trafalgar pub in Brighton. This is some of what we talked about: Banning bots from contributing to your project...
003
Reposted by Paul Silver
jess m. ☕🍂 @jametc.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Something AI is responsible for that doesn't get enough talk: How, when it scrapes a website to illegally steal everything on it, it uses up a ton of its bandwidth allotment, crashing it or racking up massive fees for site owners.
1087423991
Reposted by Paul Silver
Chris Limb @catmachine.com · 04/10/2026
Do the railway companies have a competition with each other to see who can come up with the oddest excuse for disruption?
Screenshot of news item from Hastings Observer reading “Southeastern Railway: Services disrupted after bedbugs reportedly found on trains near Sussex” with a picture of a train.
131
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Freelancer? In Brighton? Come to our meet up tomorrow evening! It's very relaxed, usually 10-15 freelancers along for a nice chat. We'll be in the Battle of Trafalgar pub from 8pm-11 Last week: www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting... Map: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM...
brightonfarm.com
Python work and app stores, notes from 23rd September 2026 - Brighton Farm
On the 23rd September, nine freelancers got together in the beer garden of the Battle of Trafalgar pub in Brighton to talk almost everything except freelancing, but it did occasionally come up. This i...
005
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Tomorrow we're having a freelancers meet up in the Battle of Trafalgar pub in Brighton, 8pm-11pm. Freelance or want to be? Please join us! Last week ten people came along: www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting... Map to the pub: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM...
brightonfarm.com
Rolling out updates, blocking bot traffic and more - notes from 16th September 2026 - Brighton Farm
On the 16th September, ten freelancers got together in the Battle of Trafalgar to talk all things self employment, tech, and singers who have got themselves in a bit of bother. This is some of what we...
012
Reposted by Paul Silver
Cyriak @cyriak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Saw a man with no face today, sitting on a bench. Turns out it was a bald guy looking down at his phone with his sunglasses propped up on the top of his head, but for a brief moment i was transported to a world of cosmic terror
Literally a drawing of what I just described
1469475
Reposted by Paul Silver
b3ta @b3ta.com · 13/09/2026
B3ta newsletter 998, out now "HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO B3TA DOT COM FROM BIN LADEN AND CHUMS" * GURNING CHAMPIONSHIP - Squish face for points * MAKE EVERYTHING AMERICA - with map plug-in * GRAPH QUIZ - no, come back, it's quite good b3ta.com/newsletter/i...
b3ta.com
B3TA newsletter: "HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO B3TA DOT COM FROM BIN LADEN AND CHUMS"
B3TA newsletter: "HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO B3TA DOT COM FROM BIN LADEN AND CHUMS"
23811
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Tomorrow our freelancers meet up is in the Battle of Trafalgar pub in Brighton, 8pm-11ish. We'll be in the beer garden if the weather is good. Freelancer? Come and chat freelancing, tech & some nonsense too Last week: www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting... Map: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM...
brightonfarm.com
035
Reposted by Paul Silver
Chris Limb @catmachine.com · 05/09/2026
Mars's two moons Phobos and Deimos orbit so closely to Mars that they can't be seen from the poles.
0101
Reposted by Paul Silver
Felix Colgrave @felixcolgrave.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Housing Inspection
3054731093
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Tomorrow we're having a meet up for freelancers in the Battle of Trafalgar pub, near Brighton station. Join us from 8pm - 11ish for lots of freelancing chat, and a fair amount of nonsense too. There's usually 11-15 people along Map: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM...
maps.app.goo.gl
001
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
They are stone cold classics
010
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
That's fantastic! I'm trying to up my reading at the moment too, it's definitely helping me relax more. (It would be great if you've just finished The Tiger Who Came To Tea and The Gruffalo 😉)
110
Reposted by Paul Silver
HappyToast @happytoast.co.uk · 26/08/2026
Off to work 😭
338363
Reposted by Paul Silver
beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A New Color (1/5🧵)
Page 1: A man is walking home, smoking a cigarette, being quietly trailed by a UFO above him. As he enters his apartment, two aliens watch from inside the ship. Alien 1, who has a large head, says, “that’s him. Let’s move.” Page 2: The man walks upstairs as the aliens watch from the entrance of the building. The man enters his apartment and greets his little dog. Suddenly there is a knock at the door.Page 3: he peers through his peephole, and sees the two aliens standing in the hallway. Alien 1 is holding a briefcase. From behind him, the voice of alien one: “don’t scream.” Page 4: The aliens are seated across the room on the man’s couch. Sadie is in her bed next to them. Alien 1 says, “you’re not in any danger. Have a seat.” The man looks at his dog and thinks, “sadie is unusually calm.” Alien 1: don’t scream, or it’s a problem.
85116733915
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This Wednesday we're having a freelancers get together in the Battle of Trafalgar in Brighton, from 8pm - 11ish. Freelancer? Please join us! Last week 15 people and one ginger cat came along: www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting... Map: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM... #freelancing #brighton
brightonfarm.com
The good and bad of clients using AI tools and more notes from 19th August 2026 - Brighton Farm
On the 19th August, fifteen freelancers met in the beer garden of the Battle of Trafalgar in Brighton to talk clients, tech, cats, and other random things. This is a little of what we talked about: Conversational interfaces vs traditional interfaces New work! Clients exploring ideas via Claude AI Clients exposing confidential information via n8n […]
003
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Luigi is insisting he can sleep in a box that is way too small for him. He keeps shifting about because he's not comfortable, but he won't give up on it
A large tabby and white cat is curled up in a small, open cardboard box. His head is resting on the side as he's way too large for the box
010
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Ouch!
000
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I had that for 4-6 months of a job and found it got me down. Mine were a boss constantly changing his mind, much like other replies. I was happier at my next job where we got quite a lot live, although many projects were shut down & forgotten before they had much of a chance
100
Reposted by Paul Silver
Matt Round @mattround.com · 20/08/2026
Just remembered the former colleague of a friend, a coder approaching retirement who’d never had any of their code go live. Every corporate software project they’d worked on had dragged on for years then been scrapped or restarted with newer tech, a whole career producing nothing
5370261
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Thanks, we'd already found one and worked it out before I posted, which is how I know he beat my grades
010
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Son got his GCSE results today. Would have been really helpful to have a translation table between numbered grades and the previous system I went through printed on the same sheet. He's a bit grumpy about them but he handily beat my grades across the whole range, which took a while to work out
120
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Yeah, the process was a bit crap but the care he got was good and the carers themselves were great.
110
Reposted by Paul Silver
Chris Condron @chriscondron.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This will fail. And impact the vulnerable. And once they sign those contracts, and sack those people, there will be no going back.
392
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Fortunately, the assessor was sensible enough to not use it, and I thanked her for that. All the non-techie people I met during that time were starting to hate AI as all the stuff that they had to use with it made mistakes all the time, a terrible thing given they're dealing with vulnerable people
100
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
My parents lived in West Sussex County Council. Late last year my dad had a care assessment. The woman doing it apologised as it was taking a while. They were supposed to use an AI tool to help do it, but it kept making up care needs people didn't have, and missing important things they needed
200
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Maybe, I suspect it's not hard to find selfish people, which I'd say covers your second definition
010
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A while ago I read the argument that this was because the generation at the time (mainly Boomers) did get more right wing as they got old... potentially because they owned property and saw their decisions as protecting it. As GenX onwards has lower property ownership, it's less of an effect
110
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I really miss Caroline Lucas as Green Party leader. I know ZP is popular, but seeing CL talk she is unmistakably a professional who knows what she's talking about. I hope ZP grows into the role as she did
020
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Catching up with Newsnight from last night. Caroline Lucas making good points and being talked over by fossil fuel supporters who don't want to listen. I can't tell if newly ex-Reform person Tim Montgomerie is drunk or ill. He can't keep his head still and he's slurring his words.
110
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
We're having a freelancers meet up tomorrow in Brighton. We'll be in the Battle of Trafalgar pub from 8pm - 11pm, please join us! Last week 11 people came along: www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting... Map to the pub: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM... #sussex #event
brightonfarm.com
Eclipse! Eclipse! Eclipse! Notes from our meeting on 13th August 2026 - Brighton Farm
On the 13th August, 11 freelancers got together in the beer garden of the Battle of Trafalgar pub to talk… mainly the eclipse, which happened just before our meeting and had 96% coverage of the sun in...
012
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Yup! I can't remember if Bosch is going that way. I think Hotpoint have already gone full flush. Makes it really bloody difficult
001
Reposted by Paul Silver
SussexDigital @sussexdigital.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
A small Sunday reminder: the SussexDigital newsletter lands on Monday with a roundup of events, communities, coworking news and useful links from around the county. If that sounds useful, you can sign up here 👇 sussex.digital/newsletter/
001
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Don't get a Candy, my parent's one went wrong in less than two months last year. Argos can be quite good if they stock the make and model you want
100
Reposted by Paul Silver
Crow @abbyjane.cloverdalelane.com · 14/08/2026
I think about this a lot.
Tim Henke
@TimHenke9
eat shit, René Magritte
Translate Tweet
Mauv @ThatsMauvelous • 1d the machine refused to recognize my humanity until i professed to believe that a sign painted to look like a traffic light is indeed a traffic light.
Show this thread
Select all squares with traffic lights
7895102495
Reposted by Paul Silver
François K @francoisknyc.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
One more for #Caturday !
14766451044
Reposted by Paul Silver
Brighton Farm Freelancers Group @brightonfarm.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Tomorrow we're having a freelancers meet up in the Battle of Trafalgar pub in Brighton, from 8:30pm - 11ish (late start due to the eclipse.) All freelancers welcome! Last week: www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting... Map to the pub: maps.app.goo.gl/CbGLaPkoPuXM...
brightonfarm.com
001
Reposted by Paul Silver
VOLE.wtf 🐹⁉️ @vole.wtf · 10/08/2026
↔️ NEW THING ↕️ See a different Wikipedia article for every browser width × height combo, with over 7.2 million possible results! vole.wtf/widthipedia/
vole.wtf
Widthipedia ↔️
Get a different Wikipedia page for every width × height browser size combo.
42616
Reposted by Paul Silver
Sarah Andersen @sarahseeandersen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
The image is of a four panel comic.
The title is “Cats living together”.
The first panel shows a black cat and orange cat cuddling with their eyes closed. The orange cat says “I love you”. The black cat says “I love you too”.
The second panel zooms in on them. 
The third panel shows the orange cat opening its eyes.
The fourth panel shows the orange cat raising its paw to punch the black cat. It says, “Actually you know what”.
153281335985
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I find it bad enough watered down and with honey, definitely couldn't do it neat!
000
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I find Asda cider vinegar not too harsh tasting, or Aspalls brand ones, but I find their "raw" version gives me an upset stomach. There's an enormous amount of bullshit around about cider vinegar but it has helped at least one mate with gout so worth a try and I get lots more joint pain without it
100
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
So it's... 2 teaspoons of cider vinegar in a couple of inches of warm water, put some honey in it to improve the taste, drink it. Try a couple of times a day for a week or so and see if it improves things. Something in it helps your body shift the uric acid making the crystals that are gout
110
Reposted by Paul Silver
Animation Obsessive @ani-obsessive.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts are amazing even now. He animated the sequence by himself for more than four months -- without computers or even an easy way to check his work. We're looking into how he did it: animationobsessive.substack.com/p/how-ray-ha...
6831411011
Reposted by Paul Silver
Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Soft Rains Day. "Today is August 4, 2026, in the city of Allendale, California. Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills." RIP Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012
There Will Come Soft Rains
By: Ray Bradbury

In the living room the voice-clock sang, Tick-tock, seven o'clock, time to get up, time to get up, seven o 'clock! as if it were afraid that nobody would. The morning house lay empty. The clock ticked on, repeating and repeating its sounds into the emptiness. Seven-nine, breakfast time, seven-nine!
In the kitchen the breakfast stove gave a hissing sigh and ejected from its warm interior eight pieces of perfectly browned toast, eight eggs sunny side up, sixteen slices of bacon, two coffees, and two
cool glasses of milk.
"Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake.
"Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills."

Source:
https://www.btboces.org/Downloads/7_There%20Will%20Come%20Soft%20Rains%20by%20Ray%20Bradbury.pdf
11361208
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
And - my sympathies! Nagging pain fully sucks
000
Paul Silver @paulsilver.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Do you know about the cider vinegar thing? I use it for arthritis but a friend who gets gout put me onto it
200
Reposted by Paul Silver
Nettlecake @nettlecake.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Brilliant letter from Stuart Thompson to Jeremy Clarkson about his comments that benefit claimants should write weekly thank you letters to tax payers detailing how they spend their benefits each week.
17170872920
Reposted by Paul Silver
Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Didn’t learn about “compassion fatigue” til I was an adult. It’s not a moral failing but a perfectly normal response to the role of being a carer. You really do need to take care of yourself too. This goes out to all my friends who are finding themselves with new caring duties in middle age
56617