Barry Collins
LightNews LightNews
banner
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Barry Collins
@bazzacollins.bsky.social
450 followers 180 following 850 posts
Journalist, editor, little ray of sunshine for Forbes, PC Pro and others.
Posts Replies Media Videos
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Civ VII is actually shaping up quite nicely

www.forbes.com/sites/barryc...
Whisper It, But ‘Civilization VII’ Is Rapidly Improving
Civilization VII earned a mixed reaction from players at launch. But several big updates and new features have improved the game, and its player review scores.
www.forbes.com
December 13, 2025 at 2:50 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Writing Christmas cards, the annual benchmark of how badly my handwriting has deteriorated
December 11, 2025 at 9:19 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Pine for the days when medical reporting used to be done by expert journalists, then listen to the real experts.
chrischirp.bsky.social Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d
🧵 Is it a super flu year? Who knows, but I think the current reporting is stupid.

A pissed off thread using data.

Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
December 11, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Barry Collins
theonion.com
Rubio Orders State Department Braille Signage Switch To ‘Times New Roman’
Rubio Orders State Department Braille Signage Switch To ‘Times New Roman’
December 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
You can control Photoshop and other Adobe apps from within ChatGPT now. All they need now is a reason why...

www.forbes.com/sites/barryc...
You Can Photoshop With ChatGPT Now – But Why Bother?
A trio of Adobe apps, including Photoshop, can now be controlled directly from ChatGPT. But is there any point in using the AI assistant for photo or document editing?
www.forbes.com
December 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Barry Collins
ottoenglish.bsky.social
Nothing says "smash the political establishment" quite like begging the Prime Minister to put your mates in the unelected House of Lords.
In the summer I wrote to @Keir Starmer to ask that Reform have some representation in the House of Lords, He didn't give me the courtesy of a response, despite Reform winning the elections in May. This makes me more determined to smash the political establishment than ever
December 11, 2025 at 12:46 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Meanwhile, Vision Express has just sent me an email, telling me to expect to collect my new glasses on Christmas Day. Is there any company out there with functioning systems?
December 11, 2025 at 10:08 AM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Just received two copies of the same letter from Santander, as I often do, even though I've opted out of postal communication.

I'm sure they will soon write to me explaining why increased costs have forced them to put up their fees again.
December 11, 2025 at 10:03 AM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts are almost always good. This one from Air is great, not least because you very rarely hear them this stripped back:

youtu.be/jjuorGiEUS4?...
Air: Tiny Desk Concert
YouTube video by NPR Music
youtu.be
December 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
My favourite local haulage firm for very obvious reasons
December 9, 2025 at 1:32 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
The days of kids having unfettered access to social media might be coming to an end. My piece for Forbes:

www.forbes.com/sites/barryc...
Australia Bans Teens From Social Media – Will Other Countries Follow?
Under-16s in Australia will no longer be able to access X, TikTok and other social networks. Will other countries now seek to impose similar bans?
www.forbes.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:17 AM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
My phone just crashed mid-phone call. Say what you like about those 70s rotary dial phones, but they never did that.
December 8, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Barry Collins
paulduane.bsky.social
I was once in a small Soho members club where Richard Littlejohn brought his staff for their weekly drinks, he also forced them all to listen and laugh as he read his latest column to them in its entirety, one of the most humiliating spectacles I have ever witnessed
miles-online.co.uk 🎄Neil Miles (but festive)🎄 @miles-online.co.uk · 5d
Hello, I need the worst Christmas special you have. No that's too bad
Screengrab from a trail for Richard Littlejohn's Christmas Offensive (LWT 23/12/94). The opinionated arsehole is handing a whip to Cynthia Payne
December 8, 2025 at 1:21 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
You know they're up to no good when they start pulling stunts like this:

www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Brighton ban Guardian from stadium over reporting on Tony Bloom
Reporters and photographers have been banned by the Premier League club, as a Guardian spokesperson said the reporting was in the public interest
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:01 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Watch out for the new Netflix series: Donald Trump - Blessed Are The Peacemakers
December 8, 2025 at 7:09 AM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Very sad news about Martin Parr. One of the great British photographers.
December 7, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Barry Collins
snig.bsky.social
The exact people now saying "Nigel Farage was young and foolish at school" (to excuse his racism, bullying and harassment of fellow pupils at Dulwich College) are the same people who said "Shamima Begum was old enough to know what she was doing".
Crick (Michael, who wrote a biography on Nigel Farage) believes that there is a clear line to be drawn between Farage the sixth-former and Farage the politician. "So much of his character is the same as you can see at Dulwich," he says. "The boy who's desperate for attention, who loves debating, who loves division. The English nationalism, the interest - almost obsession - with immigration, the admiration for Enoch Powell, the free-market Thatcherism; all of that began at Dulwich." Much of the public has already made up its mind on Farage. In as much as this story cuts through to the wider elector-ate, some will think it deeply unfair to judge Farage on his adolescence; while others will see it as fair game and reflective of the man he later became. But there will be many who are still undecided on Farage and, for this last camp, his belligerent response to the allegations will be a test. He has the polling support. He has the Tory defections. He has the money now too. But does he have the ability to woo and keep voters who once found him unsavoury? Farage is unlikely to change tack now. "He's got to be true to him-self," says the senior Reform source. "There is precious little point in apologising to people like Ed Davey." Additional Reporting: Harry Yorke
December 7, 2025 at 12:05 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
This is the easiest problem in the world to solve. Just rate limit the driving instructors to, say, booking one test per day. How hard can it be?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Driving test touts offer instructors £250 monthly kickbacks
Touts use instructor login details to bulk-book tests and sell them at a huge mark-up, the BBC finds.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 6, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Barry Collins
helenkennedy.bsky.social
I miss cocaine.
ronfilipkowski.bsky.social Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 8d
The CEO of Palantir.
December 5, 2025 at 1:24 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
After 12 years of working from home, I now talk to myself so often I'm beginning to wonder if I'm mentally unstable...
December 5, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Barry Collins
patricksamphire.bsky.social
Immigration is down! Yay!

What's that? We don't have enough nurses and midwifes because everyone's racist now? Oh.
December 5, 2025 at 9:11 AM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Am sure The Daily Mail and Telegraph will be unleashing indignant fury about this. Any minute now.
December 4, 2025 at 1:39 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Can anyone recommend a decent AA battery recharger? The one I've got is dismal.
December 3, 2025 at 6:28 PM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Spare a thought for the IT teams, who've got a lot of work to do before the Baileys comes out...

www.techfinitive.com/the-it-manag...
The IT manager's Christmas checklist
As the world rushes into holiday season, we've put together a checklist of items that IT managers need to work through
www.techfinitive.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:08 AM
bazzacollins.bsky.social
Who's the duty editor on BBC News today? Jared Kushner? It's not "territorial concessions for Ukraine" that's the sticking point, it's an invader trying to lay claim to territory they've annexed illegally, FFS.
December 3, 2025 at 8:51 AM