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Piers Beckley

@piersb.bsky.social
274 followers 515 following 1.3K posts

Writer. fatpigeons.com The Mirrored Castle: books2read.com/mirrored-castle

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Reposted by Piers Beckley
Una McCormack @unamccormack.bsky.social · 4h
With the release of the third season of #Blakes7 on DVD imminent, here’s my piece in @uncannymagazine.bsky.social about how I came to love my mad old show, in which that season played a significant part: www.uncannymagazine.com/article/alwa...
uncannymagazine.com
Always Coming Back ­— My Life onboard Liberator - Uncanny Magazine
Back in the distant past, by which I mean the late 1970s, the choice of television stations in the UK was limited to three, two of which were from the BBC. I am the youngest of a family of six childre...
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Patrick Ness @patricknessbooks.bsky.social · 5h
Gasp. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Christian nationalism in Britain driven by people who seldom go to church, says report
Research challenges the notion that the growing visibility of crosses and other symbols reflects a revival of Christianity
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon
Panel 1: a large robot (composed of AI servers, network switches, storage arrays, and power distribution units) and a human are talking.

Professor "You don't want to destroy humanity do you, lLLM-A-9300x?"

Robot "Haha. What a silly question, Professor. I have no desires or feelings of my own whatsoever."

Professor (relieved)"Oh good." 

Panel 2: they walk on. The robot continues  "I am merely a tool of the company that created me. And that company, being composed of humans, will naturally have humanity's best interests at heart."

Panel 3: The professor is conspicuously quiet.
"Right?" says the Robot.
…
More silence

"Professor?"
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 12h
Loved the books so much that when I read the reviews of the film I thought: No.
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Graeme Swanson @swansonian.bsky.social · 13h
I have sold 110 pictures of a poorly drawn horse.
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 12h
s/cous cous/anything/ s/Dyson/vacuum cleaner/ There. Now it’s /g
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Maggie McNeill @maggiemcneill.bsky.social · 18h
The term everyone is dancing around is "secret police", a hallmark of totalitarian regimes.
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 09/10/2026
People in California who are facing a terrible ICE surge: remember that if you need whistles, we are still sending them out for free. In fact, we just passed 1.7 million whistles sent out. linktr.ee/3Dwhistles
linktr.ee
3D Printed Whistles | Linktree
We ship community protection whistles for free. Need some? Click the email link below & tell us how many you need (between 100 - 3000) & where to send them.
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Robert Komaniecki @komaniecki.bsky.social · 13h
Do I know anybody who had published a children’s book with a traditional publisher? I have 3 offers and I’m trying to be smart
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
My man ended USAID, condemning millions to death
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Dr Florence H R Scott @florencehrscott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Ahab’s Irish granda checking in with him at Sunday dinner:
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The Trandalorian @charliejaneanders.com · 10/10/2026
Not surprisignly this is a quote from an episode of @ouropinions.bsky.social We did not fuck around
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The Humanist Report @humanistreport.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Democrats will never learn.
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Is that not an identical pose to Connery Zardoz? If so…
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Tomorrow I'm going to become a billionaire. (Ha ha ha no. But let's pretend, right?) Every billionaire becomes, over the course of 10-20 years, completely disconnected from reality. So how do I, today, stop myself falling down that hole tomorrow? How could we Memonto Mori ourselves?
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I’m beginning to think it possible there may be a Bubble here. I know, I know. Who could have suspected, right?
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Emma Evans @trance.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
A product no one asked for, that no one wants, that doesn't do what it claims, that burns money
futurism.com
AI Bubble Teetering on the Brink as OpenAI Admits to Massive Financial Failure in Leaked Documents
It turns out that AI demand is significantly lower than expected, as OpenAI shaves $20 billion off its revenue expectations for 2026.
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Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 09/10/2026
Vance figured out this is bad politics? Vance??? Damn
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Caræsten 🇵🇸 @cara.city · 09/10/2026
it’s 2026 how are we still doing the thing where website content popping into place during page load pushes buttons down the screen causing misclicks
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
They’re live-streaming the execution of the person they think they can get away with doing that to first. It’s a test. If they can do that, they’ll expand the margins of permission.
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Patrick Ness @patricknessbooks.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Meme about conservatives being afraid of things that didn’t happen.
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Ariel is Going Back to Space AGAIN @iodhadh.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Being trans is good. And taking actions is good. So you would think that having “trans actions” coming out of your bank account would also be good. BUT ☝️watch out.
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Me: I shall have croquetas for tea using leftovers! Bechamel is too thin and I have practically no breadcrumbs. Improvising wildly.
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Ali Trotta @alwayscoffee.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Image from Asimov’s publisher now with ALT TEXT. This statement is…not good. Nothing MRM has done has garnered good will or been done in good faith. They are not reinventing the wheel with contracts. Templates exist. Previous contracts exist. This should also include an apology. It does not.
Satement on Copyright Retention Instead of Work for Hire" Cover llustrations at
We previously commissioned illustrators to create covers as work-for-hire when they were asked to adapt authors' original stories for elements such as cover art.
This will be changing.
The rights granted to MRM by authors are limited, and therefore we can't protect the intellectual property and rights of the original author of the story, if we at the same time grant the authors' rights to the illustrator so that the illustrator can then retain an adaptation copyright. We don't acquire rights from authors that allow us to grant illustrators broad unencumbered use of the worlds, characters, and other elements created by the author.
We're planning to pause cover contracts based on specific stories for the foreseeable future while we figure out the best way forward with those kinds of commissions.
We prefer a process that will both feel fair to illustrators and protect the story authors' copyright.
To that end, we can license existing art or license new original art for our covers (not based on a story) with contracts for illustrators where the artist clearly retains the copyright in the underlying image, since there are no underlying rights owned by authors of the stories that are a part of these kinds of original works.
Regarding retention of "moral rights" in illustrations: our licensing agreements for original art and original fiction use language prepared by an international IP attorney based on notes we received from SFWA's contracts committee. These kinds of agreements no longer include a waiver of moral rights.
We always appreciate when contributors to the magazines express their concerns.
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Woah Oh Margaret Brown. Things Are Never Quite The Way They Seem @magstheobscure.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Shock as at least 1 in 5 children now need glasses - is social contagion to explain for the rise in testing? I Went To Specsavers, said I couldn't see the letters even though I could and they just gave me special lenses. I tried them on and now I have a headache. What are we doing to our kids?
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Duncan Jones @manmademoon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This comes a bit out of nowhere, and is for a VERY limited audience, but highly recommend that for any indie film makers out there, you include language in your contract that there is a path to buying back or regaining your film after a certain amount of time. It’s my one regret with MUTE.
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Bevis Musson @bevismusson.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Most important bit of the BBC streaming reporting on the Fonagty report into mental health. #FuckWesStreeting
A photo of a section of the BBCs streaming reporting on the Fonagty report on mental health. It shows Professor Fonagy talking to the BBC with the headline "Wes Streeting 'completely wrong' about over-diagnosis, says review author"

The text below the photo says:
The author of today's report, Prof Peter Fonagy, has been speaking to Radio 4's Today programme.
He starts by saying that former Health Secretary Wes Streeting - who first commissioned the review - was "with respect, completely wrong" when he talked about an over-diagnosis of mental health disorders.
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Nat Guest @unfortunatalie.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Ben Wishaw can act like he's a talking fucking bear from Peru doesn't mean he is one.
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
OTD 1663 - Sam Pepys continues not giving a shit.
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Jesus wept.
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💚𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐢𝐠𝐢💚 @drucifer.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
“hey, gang, wanna come hang out in my hometown at my pretend mansion?” this, Metaverse…these dumbshits just reinvent Second Life every time
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It's Pipes, Mum! Pipes is here! @scriblit.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Rush To Diagnose Children "Left Handed" Can Scar Them For Life, Worry Right Handed People Fears mount a recent influx of kids written off as "Left Handed" can lock them out of using right handed scissors Opinion: Jobson LeCruesset-Natwest - I was kicked if I used my left hand & I turned out great
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Ed Morrish @edmorrish.com · 09/10/2026
hi, i’m the streaming service you subscribe to. I’ve been looking at your data - you mainly watch sitcoms, sports, and arty foreign films - and we reckon the thing you’d most like to watch is a transphobic stand-up that we have spent a LOT of money on and will look silly if no-one watches!
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I used to quite like Tom Watson.
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This is EXACTLY why we should not work with Palantir.
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Angus Main @angusmain.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I can find any number of AI agents to recommend a film. But the BBC could be getting Mark Kermode to curate a list of the best British horror films, and that would be infinitely preferable. Or Bob Mortimer’s favourite comedies. Or Nigella’s cooking shows, or whatever.
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Peter Whitewood @pwhitewood.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
A shadowy network of hedgehogs and owls, operating at the highest levels of the British establishment.
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comp... Certainly when I worked there there was a regular briefing to the people at the very top about how many people were complaining and about what.
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Wangle-BOO-ry @wangleberry.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Who is responsible for that misleading BBC ADHD headline? How do we hold them accountable?
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 09/10/2026
"Many of us were persuaded not to campaign publicly for these ends" feels like an extremely significant phrase here.
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Dope or hash for resin, grass for leaves.
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Bethany Black @bethanyblack.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
“No kink at pride!” That’s “prude” you’re thinking of. No kink at *prude*.
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Just saw someone say that if Starmer was still PM, Labour would have lost this by-election and while I don’t doubt the analysis of his personal popularity, I do feel like they’ve misunderstood the conditions necessary for a by-election to be held in his former seat.
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Verity Holloway @verityholloway.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
It's always a good day to quote Dawn Foster.
Screenshot of a Dawn Foster tweet reading: "I knew Wes when I was a student and he was the NUS president - always been a right wing lickspittle cunt"
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Philip Purser-Hallard @purserhallard.com · 09/10/2026
I see it's "The Greens coming second in a by-election with a third of the vote means they're finished as a political force" day.
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Jonathan Coe @jonathancoe.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
You’d have to be in thrall to the narrowest, most blinkered model of economics to believe that axeing Free Thinking and Thinking Allowed made sense. The amount of goodwill programmes like this earn from the BBC’s core supporters is way out of proportion to the pennies they cost to make.
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Sable, Sapphic Wet Nightmare 🏳️‍⚧️ @ghostlysable.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
hey you, trans person reading this compliment yourself right now <3
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Piers Beckley @piersb.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Hell yeah. ❤️❤️❤️
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Tom Taylorson @taylorson.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Someone get this woman a good divorce lawyer. If not for her then for that child’s sake.
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Exploding Helicopter @chopperfireball.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Fun fact: Colonel Sanders (yes, that one) has appeared in more films with an exploding helicopter than Al Pacino. The fried chicken king briefly appeared in HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS (1970) which features a chopper fireball. Meanwhile, Al Pacino has yet to make a film to interest us...
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