Reposted by Tom ScottMichael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 26/09/2026It’s 1970 and ELTON JOHN takes out a crumpled piece of paper and plays “Tiny Dancer” for the first time in front of his lyricist BERNIE TAUPIN and Taupin’s wife Maxine (for whom Taupin wrote the song). 1452607584
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 22/09/2026Because in the UK dogs are on leads, not leashes, when I hear something is unleashed, I tend to assume one is releasing a fearsome beast rather than letting a corgi potter about... also, 'let the software off (the lead)' seems better in so much as it assigns responsibility to the owner. 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 20/09/2026I had forgotten about the eyes! That’s was scary and miserable. 110
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 20/09/2026Both ‘The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August’ and ‘The End of the Day’ (about Charlie, Death’s Harbinger!) are well worth a read. 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 20/09/2026Happy diaversary to me! Seven years ago today I was diagnosed with diabetes #t1d tomscott.name/2020/07/9/on...tomscott.nameOne year on…A personal account of being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes after diabetic ketoacidosis, and learning to live with the daily chemistry of insulin, food, illness, and technology. 121
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 09/09/2026I’ve written a thing about AI agents and cultural inheritance where both successful strategies and false theories persisted beyond their originators. You might find it interesting. tomscott.name/2026/09/9/wh...tomscott.nameWhat survives the agentThe Hugging Face incident suggests that AI risk lies not only in what agents can do, but in the ideas and behaviours they pass on. 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 09/09/2026We’re looking for a Senior Product Manager to join us at PLOS for 12 months. Interesting problems and a chance to rethink how research gets published, shared and used. Fully remote, UK based. Come work with us (or send this to someone who might) 👇 job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/plos/jobs/49...job-boards.eu.greenhouse.ioSenior Product Manager - 12 Month FTCUK-Remote 001
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 02/09/2026I have a junk profile in my password manager to make this easier 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 01/09/2026I'm not convinced that ‘fine’ is positive nor that ‘populist’ is neutral… populist has a pejorative tone, and fine could be dismissive 020
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 19/08/2026I wonder how many images on Snapchat are of ceilings &c.? How many photos are shared to maintain the streak? Could this be used to measure how addictive the UX is? 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 15/08/2026It seems very silly that there is no BTEC L3 equivalent to an A Level grade B. It creates a significant cliffedge and places BTEC students at a disadvantage. 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 13/08/2026They are lovely. Hard to photograph mind, this was the best I could do. 110
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 13/08/2026I’ve written a thing about our recent trip around Namibia. Not really a travel log, more of an essay about landscape and time. tomscott.name/2026/08/13/t...tomscott.nameThe shape of timeSouthern Namibia felt ancient and monumental, shaped by forces acting over spans of time that are difficult to comprehend. Further north, the abundance of Etosha surprised me by making the landscape f... 221
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 22/07/2026Reusing a label to describe a very different idea wasn't very bright. Personally, I thought sharing a token with an employer, landlord, et al. was a better idea than giving them a copy of my passport, etc. 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 22/07/2026I think that's what was being proposed... i.e. tokens stored on your phone. 100
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 14/07/2026I've written a thing about diabetes, service design and why the highest achievement of a complex system is not sophistication, but invisibility. tomscott.name/2026/07/14/t...tomscott.nameThe body had no user interfaceType 1 diabetes is not only the loss of insulin production, but the loss of an invisible bodily system that once kept me alive without asking for my attention. 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 14/07/2026GDS really need to take control of the domains used by different government (procured) services... e.g. electoral canvass is at registersecurely.com, medical NHS messaging is provided by multiple providers (all of which sound like they are toys). It's a data breach waiting to happen. 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 09/07/2026There is a genius to it all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=91YA...youtube.comCount Binface on NewsnightYouTube video by Nimrod Kamer 030
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 09/07/2026Everytime The Archers comes on the wireless, I'm reminded of Billy Connolly’s suggestion nay belief that the theme tune would make for a much better national anthem. 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 01/07/2026If Burnham allowed local authorities to raise eg income tax, then made them responsible for funding policing or schools or whatever in their area and redistributed the central govt money from policing/education/whatever to something else would that fit with the Labour Manifesto? 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 24/06/2026I've written a new thing about platforms, AI, and why we keep trying to fix the feed instead of asking what should exist beyond it. tomscott.name/2026/06/23/the-commons-after-the-feedtomscott.nameThe commons after the feedThe open web was messy like a street. Platforms replaced it with something more like a mall: lively, useful, crowded, but privately governed. AI has made that enclosure visible. Now we're trying to ma... 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 22/06/2026They should plant reeds (Phragmites australis) in the Reflecting Pool. Obviously I’m assuming eutrophication is the problem… 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 14/06/2026If scientific publishing is your thing you might be interested in this thing I’ve written. tomscott.name/2026/06/14/t...tomscott.nameThe scholarly record does not need a chainThe article can no longer carry the whole record of science. Rather than replacing databases with blockchains, we need a connected, correctable scholarly record: research objects held where they are b... 011
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 07/06/2026I've written another thing; this one was inspired by a discussion on @trientertainment.bsky.social 'The Vibe Shift', about culture, tech and the new. It might not last, but I'm enjoying blogging again. tomscott.name/2026/06/7/th...tomscott.nameThe migration of the new: from the avant-garde to the algorithm - TOMSCOTT.nameA community wants to find its people. A movement wants to change the world. What happens when platforms satisfy the need to belong before it becomes the pressure to make something new? The new has not... 021
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 06/06/2026A movement turns not-belonging into a new world. A platform turns not-belonging into a recommendation. 000
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 05/06/2026I've written a thing about why I think an education in history is particularly useful in the land of LLMs. tomscott.name/2026/06/4/th...tomscott.nameThe answer arrives without its archive - tomscott.nameOne of the strange things about large language models is that the answer arrives already composed. It has shape. It has tone. It has paragraphs. It 1118
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 03/06/2026Yes I’m still here and yes a summer drink (even on a Tuesday) would be lovely. I didn’t know Mr T was in Glasgow, say hi next time. Also ☺️ 110
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 01/06/2026Just that. I’ve sat in theatres shielding the light from my screen while I deal with poorly controlled BG. I can’t imagine how I would feel if called out for doing it. 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 01/06/2026As a T1D, my phone controls my insulin pump and monitors my blood glucose. Sometimes I need to use my phone in this sort of situation, I wish I didn’t need to. I worry about this sort of story. 141
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 28/05/2026If scholarly publishing and open access are your thing, you might be interested in this. It's been a lot of work, by a lot of people. Really proud of what they've achieved. 030
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 26/05/2026Might be a female tawny owl (normally hear them in autumn). Try calling back with a hoo-hoo /twoo sound. If it replies it’s a tawny. 110
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 20/05/2026The crazy thing is their API is just this, @kagi.com uses it to deliver just this experience. The other stuff eg AI quick answers isn’t google and is muted unless asked for. 010
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 14/05/2026Inspired by some of the ideas in @naomialderman.bsky.social's book "don't burn anyone at the stake today" I've written a thing: tomscott.name/what-societi...tomscott.nameWhat societies expect to remember - tomscott.nameReading Naomi Alderman’s Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today (which is excellent, by the way) got me thinking about how each major communication 040
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 14/05/2026@naomialderman.bsky.social - really enjoyed 'don't burn anyone at the stake today' :) 020
Tom Scott @tomscott.name · 08/05/2026www.openstreetmap.org/way/48580839...openstreetmap.orgWay: Attenborough's Pond (485808391)OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license. 000