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Tom Ward

@tomafro.net
259 followers 732 following 344 posts

Full stack developer for Go Free Range, GDS, Basecamp and now Head of Engineering at Farillio. Based in Leyton, interested in everything. signal.me/#eu/VYEdXcif6akF_w3m3s8gN…

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Reposted by Tom Ward
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
One reason why I am a nut for devolution is this: central government ministers shouldn't spend their working hours thinking about the correct design of bus stops.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 23/09/2026
Very much looking forward to both this and The History of Concrete. Two great looking documentaries for this autumn.
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Emma Yeomans @yeomans.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Worrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 18/09/2026
At 19 I went inter-railing for a month, visiting cities between Budapest and Barcelona. No mobile phones, or internet cafés, I think I spoke to my parents twice? They didn't even know what country I was in most of the time. I'd love my own kids to be able to experience that independence.
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Reposted by Tom Ward
John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 18/09/2026
What on earth is happening?
  This had become the new normal. RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised, recognised for TV interviews he had done.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 14/09/2026
ALDI German Pilsner Beer crisps. Weirdly not as bad as I thought they’d be. Almost moreish.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 04/09/2026
The Baring. Still exists in some form or other (seems to change every few years), but BITD this was our perfect local. Great food, Matthew the chatty landlord, fun quiz (competing each week with a team from the Museum of London for first place). Only pub I've been to where everyone knew our names.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 30/07/2026
Great news. Let’s hope this breaks Infantino. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
bbc.co.uk
Fifa World Cup: Uefa to boycott tournament if Gianni Infantino's investment plans go through
Uefa will boycott Fifa's tournaments if investment proposals from world football's governing body president Gianni Infantino go through.
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Reposted by Tom Ward
Anil Dash @anildash.com · 27/07/2026
Just in case you still use any Basecamp products, DHH is crashing out about his AI product gently pointing out that it’s bad for him to have extermination fantasies about the Roma people.
DHH tweet saying “This is why we need competition and open weights in Al. Imagine a world where only Anthropic sat as the moral arbiter of acceptable speech. Fucking ridiculous. (Grok of course did it no problem, same too with Kimi K).” when presented with his blog post using a slur about the Roma people.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 22/07/2026
Annoying I can't take my myth obsessed 13-year-old to see The Odyssey. We could do with the 15A rating they have in Ireland.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 17/07/2026
Last ever primary school drop-off complete. Daughter joining my son in secondary school from September. A new era.
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maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I respect France's commitment to not working on a holiday.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 09/07/2026
Adieu Bonnie Tyler www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryjZ...
youtube.com
Si demain... (Turn Around) (Official Video)
YouTube video by bonnietylerVEVO
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Reposted by Tom Ward
Scam Ghouldin @gotitatguineys.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The best edit I’ve seen in weeks, you absolutely have to turn the sound on for this one.
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Matt Green @mattgreencomedy.com · 29/06/2026
Every time I read about US Supreme Court decisions they seem to be basically: Racism: 6-3 FOR Transphobia: 6-3 FOR Trump gets away with stuff: 6-3 FOR Corruption: 6-3 FOR Corporations get away with stuff: 6-3 FOR Literally destroying democracy: 5-4 AGAINST Nearly destroying democracy: 6-3 FOR
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No Score Draws ✍🏻⚽ @noscoredraws.com · 15/06/2026
Hope we're all a bit in love with this guy x
A series of bad drawings of extremely competent Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
X and Elon Musk has been a threat to public order for nearly two years. The government has taken no action.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 09/06/2026
Best referee in Africa falls victim to shameful racist vindictiveness.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 03/06/2026
Have the police even said this re: Southampton? It's Elon Musk, Rupert Lowe, Nigel Farage, etc. saying "The police were incompetent because they were afraid...". They're not covering for them, they want pressure on the police to be even more racist.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 03/06/2026
Events in Southampton would be terrifying enough, but made more so by being less than 50m from where I grew up. For 10 years I lived on Belmont Road where Henry Nowak was killed. Could see Portswood Police station from our back garden.
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Reposted by Tom Ward
John Hill @hbkjohnhill.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
“Streeting? Burnham? Who cares? Just get after Farage while he’s vulnerable” says STEWART LEE www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...
thenerve.news
Stewart Lee: Streeting? Burnham? Who cares? Just get after  Farage while he’s vulnerable
Labour has chosen the precise moment when the Reform leader is in trouble to … have a massive navel-gazing spat about leadership. Still, it’s not like the stakes are high or anything
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
I am so furious about the toilet BS, which creates a totally bizarre environment in which nosey people can stop anyone from having a wee. What sort of govt feels good about creating the means to stop people having a wee? We need more free public toilets, not ways to make it harder to go to the loo
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 19/05/2026
Just one indignity after another supporting Southampton. They better sack whoever is responsible for this shit. After the miserable season in the Premier League and poor start this year, even the fun of the last few months now taken from us. I'm absolutely fuming.
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Reposted by Tom Ward
Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
our greatest living commentator
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 08/05/2026
Thought they'd do well, but still surprised the Greens have taken control of Waltham Forest (including all three seats in my ward). The Labour council did a good job, but it's a thankless task, no money, no real power, and taking the blame for thousands of things out of your control.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 25/04/2026
AZAZ! Get in!
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 09/04/2026
What a view after a steep hike
Mount Fuji seen from the top of Mount Kintoki
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 29/03/2026
I’m on a (bullet) train!
The long “nose” of a Shinkansen train waiting at the platform.
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Reposted by Tom Ward
Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
[We see a close up of a young white male, tanned, white teeth, coiffed hair clearly an influencer on social media. It is an image such as you see when social media posts are shown on the news. In the corner of the screen is named a location: DUBAI. He is staring slightly off-camera for several silent panels of the comic strip. His eyes move slightly. He is having a thought.]

From off-screen a newsreader’s commentary comes:

NEWSREADER:

Extraordinary images here 

of an expat in Dubai 

[The influencer’s eybrows raise slightly]

…Having their first ever geopolitical thought.

[CUT TO a BBC news scene. The BBC newsreader CLIVE MYRIE is talking to an interviewee next to the screen showing the social media influencer’s face. The interviewee’s name is David Jones]. 

CLIVE MYRIE:

To explain the significance of this moment we’re joined by David Jones, our Expat Thoughts correspondent

DAVID JONES:

Clive, this is momentous

It was caught on film at the end of an Instagram post titled: ‘Dubai Is Brilliant’.

[Pointing at the screen, the influencer’s expression still the same]

You can clearly see in the eyebrows here, the dawning realisation that there *might* be something in the world beyond his dickhead self.

It marks a *huge* departure from all the Dubai Expat’s previous thoughts.

CLIVE MYRIE:

Which are…?

DAVID JONES:

You've Got To Get Yourself Out Here Mate, Everything Is So Clean, I Don't Have To Pay Taxes, 
I Am Incurious As To Why I Do Not Have To Pay Taxes, and Spa.

CLIVE MYRIE:

And might we see an expansion of these new Thoughts in coming days?

DAVID JONES:

I think we can expect to see:

“I Deserve To Be Airlifted By A Country I Pay No Tax To”

CLIVE MYRIE:

Mmm. 

[Ends]
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 27/02/2026
obviously today is a huge embarrassment for Matt Goodwin and for Reform, which is something that we absolutely ought to celebrate, but we must also remember it's a huge embarrassment for Morgan McSweeney and Maurice Glasman and all the Blue Labour weirdos, and that's important to celebrate too :)
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 27/02/2026
This "School Wars" bullshit has reached my son's school in Waltham Forest. I don't know who's behind it, but it's causing a huge amount of unnecessary worry for parents and students. Trying to stir up violence amongst schoolchildren is just sick.
bbc.co.uk
Parents alarmed after Northampton schools named in violent post
The poster has circulated on social media urging schoolchildren to take part in violence.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 19/02/2026
Someone I know did several months specialised work on the Windsor estate, and their main takeaway was that Prince Andrew was a massive prick.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 17/02/2026
Sound off, I thought this was a wheelie bin
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Reposted by Tom Ward
Tom Loosemore @tomski.com · 29/01/2026
I've written a piece for the @econ-observatory.bsky.social on the history of GDS. Notably, why you need change both top down and bottom up incentives if you're aiming to help a large, federated organisation adopt radical change.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 24/01/2026
What an absolutely vile human you’d have to be to make these fake race-baiting TikToks. That’s the world we’re living in I guess, where you can make serious money stirring up racial hatred. Great reporting from @londoncentric.media, glad to be a subscriber.
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Reposted by Tom Ward
Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 20/01/2026
It's so exhausting to to be constantly told by American leaders that the defining policy of the 80 odd years during which the US became the most wealthy and powerful country in the history of the world was a grossly unfair failure for them.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 20/01/2026
We did this journey last summer (though starting from Euston and staying a couple of nights in Aviemore en route). Gorgeous scenery north of Inverness, and unexpectedly the best on-train WiFi I've ever used.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 15/01/2026
Always find it staggering that Donald Trump is only three years younger than John Major, a Prime Minister who left office almost 30 years ago. None of our more recent Prime Ministers are older than this. I couldn't understand the "is Biden too old?" shit because they both seemed senile to me.
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 13/01/2026
I just don't understand why last week, when the porn all started appearing, they just said "we will stop posting on X until it prevents grok porn".
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 12/01/2026
Something for DHH to add to his London post. Maybe it was the “native Brits” doing all the murder? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
London’s murder rate drops to lowest in more than a decade
Sadiq Khan says ‘public health’ approach has made the capital one of the safest cities in the western world
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 12/01/2026
"Will no one rid me of this turbulent Fed Chair?"
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Reposted by Tom Ward
Rich Holman @richholman.com · 09/01/2026
Started off a list earlier this week & struggled to find all the MPs that have actually set up profiles on Bluesky rather than just be on X. So built a little utility via TheyWorkForYou and Bluesky APIs to see if I could make it more comprehensive, so far I think I've found about 353 mps.dowu.uk
mps.dowu.uk
UK MPs on Bluesky
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 30/12/2025
“City of Culture you’ll never sing that” - Bradford City fans at Leyton Orient earlier this month.
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Paul Haine @paulhaine.bsky.social · 22/04/2024
Watching THE GREEN KNIGHT again
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 24/12/2025
Once a year I eat a carrot in the same manner as a reindeer.
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life.
Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage.
I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys.
I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show,
A show that I named and helped develop over all those years.
Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry.
These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenterIn a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices.
Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'.
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I chose the latter.
It broke my heart.
I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make.
I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer.
I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence.
One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career.I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more.
I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost".
James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice.
Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences.
I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness.
Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire.
I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal.
I am so sorry to let you down.
I hope that you can understand my reasoning.
I have to accept that I am not what the current
BBC expects of their freelance presenters.Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not
"just a job"
I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world.
From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too.
The strawberry is dead.
Long live the strawberry. B
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 04/12/2025
“Either way, it was all murder”
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Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
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Tom Ward @tomafro.net · 09/11/2025
My son asking for a Funko Pop for his birthday is one of the only occasions I’ve flat out refused to get him something for reasons other than cost or age appropriateness. Can’t stand the things.
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