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Simon Jones

@simonrjones.net
576 followers 394 following 243 posts

Founder of digital agency Studio 24, UX design and technology. Believes in creating an accessible web for everyone. Web tech, PHP, content and accessibility. Trustee Cambridge Film Festival. www.simonrjones.net/links

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 4h
Agree with this. It's hard enough to run projects like Wikipedia - ideally Mappa Mundi would be a project to help raise female voices on Wikipedia...
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 4h
Apple's HomeView looks pretty neat (the video with the family at breakfast is certainly excellent!). The most interesting thing is the privacy: the device supports up to 6 users. That's super useful and would be good to see on the iPad too.
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TetraLogical @tetralogical.com · 01/10/2026
Move over Harry Styles and Oasis, our very own @stevefaulkner.eurosky.social is taking his talk "No industry for old men" on tour. If you're curating a conference, a meetup, or simply looking to fill Wembley Stadium, get in touch with Steve for a chat.
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 14/09/2026
One thing not getting as much attention re: Dario's essay. In it, he talks about the need for third party evaluators to review models for safety. But a few days before the essay, Anthropic... refused to submit its latest models to the UK's evaluator: www.ft.com/content/560e...
ft.com
Anthropic withheld latest AI model from UK testing agency
Decision to exclude Aisi has prompted fears inside British government of protectionist shift among tech groups
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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 11/09/2026
Ifeoma just gets shit done and you find out about it because of the impact. No fanfare. ✴️ Like the extensive tech worker handbook she created: techworkerhandbook.org ✴️ Like passing the Silenced no more act!
techworkerhandbook.org
The Tech Worker Handbook
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Kate Devlin @drkatedevlin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Me for the ipaper: "it’s likely they do believe this, viewing themselves as the Oppenheimers of the modern age. They see the race to develop bigger and better models as something that must be done despite potentially lethal consequences" inews.co.uk/opinion/worr...
inews.co.uk
Worried about the end of humanity thanks to AI? Here's what's really happening
It's not superintelligence we need to worry about, it's the people who are recklessly pressing ahead with powerful new systems
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Jen Simmons @jensimmons.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
As a web designer or developer, what questions do you have about iPhone Duo?
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 09/09/2026
I visited a link to a tweet today (which I rarely do). A hot mess of UI from Twitter/X. A QR code hovers on the right and overlaps a Continue to X button, which in turn overlaps a cookie banner that I cannot read. I was most amused by the animated hand pointing insistently. X marks the spot clearly!
The user interface of the bottom of the screen of Twitter (X) with overlapping banners and text and an hand pointing to Continue to X
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The PHP Foundation @thephpf.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Don't forget to join us tomorrow for the first monthly PHP Foundation Community Hour! We will be talking to Matt Stauffer about the contribution opportunities that exist in PHP. 🙌 More info: www.phparch.com/php-foundat... Thanks to our friends at PHP Architect for providing the technical support!
phparch.com
PHP Foundation Community Hour Podcast | PHP Architect
The 🎙️ PHP Foundation Community Hour Podcast is a new podcast produced by the PHP Architect team with The PHP Foundation. Join us for our first episodes live on September 10th at 11:30 Central, 16:30 UTC live on the PHP Architect YouTube channel. You can chat along with the show live by joining Discord. 🗓️ […]
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Baldur Bjarnason @baldurbjarnason.com · 05/09/2026
“The age-gating of history – Hi, I'm Heather Burns” heatherburns.tech/2026/09/05/the-ag… > Enter the pearl-clutching brigade, who have deemed real history to be “age inappropriate” content so shocking that it requires age and identity verification to view.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 14/08/2026
Enjoying our new record player. Currently listening to a rather funky tune by the Wings (I Lie Around) on the B side of Live and Let Die, picked up from Cambridge market. 😀🎶
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 14/08/2026
Yes that was a bit of a shock! First use of the emergency messaging system isn’t it?
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Cambridge for Europe @cambsforeurope.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
The climate emergency is not looming; it's here. 200,000 forced to flee wildfires in France and Spain. The Rhine at record low levels. Fires in the Cairngorms. Hosepipe bans across England. No meaningful rain in Cambridge for 6 weeks. www.france24.com/en/europe/20...
france24.com
Wildfires force more than 200,000 people in France and Spain to flee
Massive wildfires burned out of control in southwestern France and central Spain on Friday, prompting authorities to evacuate more than 200,000 people. French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the mil...
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Happy UK paperback release day to our book! www.penguin.co.uk/books/468070... w/ @alexhanna.bsky.social
Image of cover of the UK paperback edition of The AI Con. The background is a blue gradient, with the title in black and white letter press font: THE AI CON How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want. Author names Emily M. Bender & Alex Hanna. Blurb quotes: 'You need to read this book' -Brian Eno, 'A powerful antidote to the hype' -Grace Blakeley, 'Truly eye-opening ... indispensable' -Ha-Joon Chang, 'A book to inoculate your mind' -Yanis Varoufakis
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Lou Downe @loudowne.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
It’s HEREEEEE!! Bad Services ships tomorrow but here’s a sneak peak of the long awaited sequel to Good Services. good.services/writing/bad-services-has-landed
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 14/06/2026
Just finished reading The AI Con by @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social A fantastic book dismantling AI hype and talking about a more human future for AI. It’s refreshing to read, so many business meetups are caught up with the AI dream, it’s good to take a hard, critical look.
A book laying on a wooden table, white cover with large words in black and red: The AI Con - How to fight big tech’s hype and create the future we want.
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Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 14/06/2026
As part of #IndieNewsWeek, join Bylines Network for a special webinar exploring the future of UK independent journalism. How do we tackle news deserts? What role will citizen journalism play? And how does Indi News respond to AI, disinformation, Big Tech and political extremism? bit.ly/BylinesINW26
As part of #IndieNewsWeek, join Bylines Network for a special webinar exploring the future of UK independent journalism.

Meme for the latest Bylines Webinar 

How do we tackle news deserts? What role will citizen journalism play? And how does Indi News respond to AI, disinformation, Big Tech and political extremism?
http://bit.ly/BylinesINW26
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 12/06/2026
@neillyneil.bsky.social hi - just bought BFI membership via the website (on a mobile). Do you know the direct debit form is a bit hooky (sort code requires no dashes, just numbers, but doesn’t say that). And order summary is unreadable on mobile. Would be lovely to see that improved! :)
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 12/06/2026
Sad to read the news that the wonderful artist David Hockney has passed. The Modo gallery in Cambridge has some lovely examples of his work. I love the vitality of his art. #RIP modoart.co.uk/in-memoriam-...
modoart.co.uk
Remembering David Hockney (1937–2026): A Life That Transformed Modern Art
We remember David Hockney, the celebrated British artist whose bold vision, colour, and innovation reshaped contemporary art for over six decades.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 06/06/2026
Just watched this, along a bunch of other talks in track 2. Very informative! Crazy that 74% of plugin vulnerability attacks got through the hosts you tested. I agree on a layered approach to security. The WP_Query optimisation talk & NIS2 incident report talks were also very good.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 05/06/2026
This evening we watched the superb Once More With Feeling & videos of Anthony Head as Frank-n-Furter in Rocky Horror. An amazing talent and a wonderful actor. RIP Anthony Head #buffy
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Terence Eden @edent.tel · 03/06/2026
New blog post: London Data Store Relaunch shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/06/london-dat… It has been sixteen years since the launch of data.london.gov.uk. Back then, it was a trailblazer as one of the first major cities to release Open Data in this way. Now, over a decade later, …
shkspr.mobi
London Data Store Relaunch
It has been sixteen years since the launch of data.london.gov.uk. Back then, it was a trailblazer as one of the first major cities to release Open Data in this way. Now, over a decade later, it is more than a mere repository; it is a celebration of Open Data and the way it can improve Londoners' lives. So, time for a refresh front and back. As well as a bunch of back-end updates, the front-end…
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
NEW Marilyn Monroe, the Hollywood system, and the law of contract How Marilyn Monroe took on Twentieth Century Fox and defeated a major studio By me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk, on Monroe's centenary www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/7367...
his year marks the centenary of the birth of Marilyn Monroe. She was born on 1st June, a couple of months after Elizabeth II, and within a few weeks of David Attenborough and Mel Brooks, both of whom are still with us. But, of course, Monroe is fixed as a figure of the mid-20th century. 

She is also fixed as a victim. One standard history of the movie business says that she “was never in charge”. And because of her early (most likely accidental) death, hindsight makes her film career look as though it was always going to end in tragedy. The Monroe story is one that many people feel they already know: a morality tale from our parents’ and grandparents’ times.

But 70 years ago, things looked very different. In 1956, Monroe was very much in charge, having taken on and defeated one of the great Hollywood studios. According to Time magazine, she “had brought to its knees mighty Twentieth Century Fox”. In a campaign that began in 1953, Monroe forced the studio not only to abandon holding her to an unfavourable contract—but also to offer her, on 31st December 1955, the most lucrative and advantageous terms imaginable.

Far from the popular image of her as shallow and lightweight, Monroe was a highly intelligent participant in the movie business, with a solid grasp of how to use leverage in negotiations and an understanding of the economics of her trade.

Title and picture of Monroe with Ella Fitzgerald, who also benefitted from Monroe's negotiation skills.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 19/05/2026
I’ve been reading the Odyssey so thought this rather nice porter, Blind Poet from New River was rather apt! An excellent Cambridge Beer Festival :)
A smiling man with a checked shirt holds aloft a pint of dark porter, the glass is inscribed with a bear spreading marmalade on toast. A crowd of people are behind in a large beer tent.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 10/05/2026
Excited to start reading this translation of The Odyssey by Emily Wilson, as recommended by @wmarybeard.bsky.social. I skipped the intro (for now), but the translator’s notes is an interesting read and talks about the care Emily took in translating this ancient epic poem for a modern audience.
A book cover with three Minoan women in elaborate headdresses at the top, a pretty blue wave border at the bottom. It has the words: The Odyssey - Homer - translated by Emily Wilson
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 09/05/2026
Yesterday I was in London with Kate for a rather special garden party! It was a wonderful experience - military bands playing James Bond tunes, beautiful palace gardens, and a lot of fabulous formal wear. We were invited thanks to Kate’s excellent work on community cafe www.cherryhintonhub.org
A man and a woman smiling and standing in front of the back of Buckingham Palace, both dressed smartly in a brown lounge suit and blue tie, and a dark red dress with vertical stripes. Many people in formal dress mill around in the background.A view of the garden trees and flowers. Many strange tall pointed flowers, which taper off to a thin point and have spiky green leaves, surround three old, bent tree trunks.A dozen royal guards dressed in bright red wig gold trim and black caps march past a couple sat on chairs. A woman in formal service uniform (Navy?) takes a photograph.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 09/05/2026
Wonderful. I was at the Friday garden party, it’s an amazing experience.
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Paul Clarke @paulclarke.com · 09/05/2026
No. Have better ideas. That's the approach. This strategy is futile.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 09/05/2026
Agree. You always need to give people something positive to grab hold of. Focusing on the negative never ends well.
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
now thats an anecdote with a punch, from Gillian Tett www.ft.com/content/c0ae...
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 22/04/2026
Crikey, these are not easy! I got 5 out of 8. My favourite one is wazzock - the English language is great, isn’t it!
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 22/04/2026
Would be great to welcome you in Cambridge one time! It is a lovely place :)
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 21/04/2026
For a brief moment I thought you meant Cambridge, UK (where I live)! Hope you have a good time. Good to see Mary Hubbard speaking. As you probably know WP leadership has been rather disruptive and alienating to a lot of people in the WP community of late, so engaging with WP groups is important.
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Antony Carpen @acarpen.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
"....there is a deeper problem no one has really reckoned with openly: expanding Cambridge from its centre makes very little sense." capx.co/cambridge-do... Re Forest City. John Parry Lewis said similar back in 1974. You can see his plans... -->
capx.co
READ MORE
There is a bold new plan to harness Cambridge’s growth potential
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 15/04/2026
Interesting article about online search engine to allow Germans to find out if their ancestors were members of the Nazi party. But why in this modern age does the BBC still not link to the website? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... The Die Zeit website appears to be www.zeit.de/wissen/2026-...
bbc.co.uk
Nazi search engine shows if ancestors were in Hitler's party
Christian Rainer told the BBC he found his grandfather within seconds using the online tool, which also helped clear other members of his family.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 14/04/2026
That is awesome, and what a great example of how the Olympics inspires people!
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Scott Jenson @jenson.org · 12/04/2026
Good example of the particle-wave aspect of LLMs: These tools can allow you to do amazing things very quickly, but they are often the wrong things. Something is still missing. annaecook.com/writing/2026...
annaecook.com
AI Prototyping: Harder. Worser. Faster. Wronger. — Anna E. Cook
As teams use AI tools to generate high-fidelity prototypes, the focus shifts to output instead of purpose. Prototyping should be about testing ideas and learning what actually works before building.
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Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 11/04/2026
Even better: stop treating tech monopolies as if they're an immovable part of the landscape which we can only accept, ban, or regulate. We have the means to replace toxic social apps with better ones, including youth-designed and youth-governed alternatives.
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 10/04/2026
Just watched The Assembly with @nicolasturgeon.bsky.social and @stephenfry.bsky.social. A joyful, intelligent programme, well worth a watch. Some great questions & the performance of I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free at the end of Stephen’s episode was beautiful. #itv
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 10/04/2026
How many pinta have you had before that post! 😄
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 06/04/2026
Watching the livestream on BBC as the Artemis 2 astronauts become the furthest people from Earth. Incredible :)
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Eva Amsen @evaamsen.com · 05/04/2026
This is about how to detect these fake citations, but I'm trying to wrap my head around *how* fake citations end up in papers. (thread) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Hallucinated citations are polluting the scientific literature. What can be done?
Tens of thousands of publications from 2025 might include invalid references generated by AI, a Nature analysis suggests.
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Rachel Andrew @rachelandrew.co.uk · 03/04/2026
"The real threat is a slow, comfortable drift toward not understanding what you're doing. Not a dramatic collapse. Not Skynet. Just a generation of researchers who can produce results but can't produce understanding." ergosphere.blog/posts/the-ma...
ergosphere.blog
The machines are fine. I'm worried about us.
On AI agents, grunt work, and the part of science that isn't replaceable.
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Joshua Keep @jekeep.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
I remember the many tech bros who told me this would go away as the tech got better. And called me an idiot for saying this is clearly just how the software operates on a fundamental level.
computerworld.com
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
🧵And we're off, ladies and gentlemen! It's "they're banning the word EASTER" week. Regular as clockwork... So here comes a history lesson and media lesson all rolled into one thread! PS, I can't believe there's no easter egg emoji? This was the best I could do - 🗿🥚 🤣 I digress! 1/19
Screenshot of a tweet:
Ben Graham 
@BenGrahamUK
X.com
Britain has been a Christian nation for over 1,400 years.
Through wars, plagues, and countless kings, Easter has always been celebrated.
Yet now, Cadbury won't even use the word
'Easter' on their eggs.
When did celebrating British traditions become controversial?

Above a photo of Easter EggsScreenshot of a tweet:
ClIr Jaymey Mclvor *
@McivorJaymey
x.com
Any chance I can get an Easter Egg please M&S?
Will they ever learn
It's like they do it on purpose to offend.
Easter is not National Chocolate Day.
Which extremists are you trying hard to not offend?
@marksandspencer @GBNEWS

Above images of Easter Eggs in M&S
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Terence Eden @edent.tel · 22/03/2026
I've decided to shut my business and do more volunteer / community work. If you know of an organisation which could use a board member with strong digital skills, extensive experience in open source and open standards, or cybersecurity please let me know.
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tyler @tylergaw.com · 20/03/2026
A few thoughts on the "old" Internet tylergaw.com/blog/the-old...
tylergaw.com
The Old Internet is Still Here
The “old” Internet isn’t gone, our expectations have changed.
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Robert Llewellyn @bobbyllew.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Just wrote about my books. Some of them are ready to go! llewellyn.substack.com/p/fulfilment...
llewellyn.substack.com
Fulfilment is Fulfilling
I'm finally starting to ship books
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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 17/03/2026
Had a great time at the CamCreatives Neville Brody talk this evening, hosted by @billt.bsky.social Lots of talk about design, the importance of young people creating things and breaking the rules, and how technology changes design (not always for the better). #design #cambridge #creativity
A lecture hall, two men speaking in front of an audience. On the wall is an album cover design, orange and faces with lines and dots, The Last Testament.  A man in front of an audience, above on the screen is bold black hand-drawn type with letters Q R S. The Q is a circle with a bold straight vertical line down the middle bottom. A man talking in front of an audience, above an image of a young Neville Brody hand cutting type on pieces of paper to create a layout. The text: romance is revolutionary.
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Alan Jagolinzer @jagolinzer.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Cambridge Disinformation Summit free webinar, this Thursday, 19 Mar 3:30 PM UK Interventions to Psychological Manipulation Featuring: Diane Benscoter, CEO of Antidote.ngo, former cult member & deprogrammer, and author. Register here: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
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