Neil Young
@elderpegasus.bsky.social
Games coder, input in particular. Have opinions on UX and hype bubbles. (Also politics, planes, parenting, accessibility, musical theatre from all aspects. Several of those overlap!)
With the appropriate suffixes, I would argue joules and watts are *absolutely fine* for all cases. Yeah, the power draw times hour thing with kWh is kinda cute, unless you're measuring power draw (and not trying to use rated power, which is something else entirely), that's not much use.
The amount of power used by most of this apart from proof of work is normally massively overstated, but I just read "watt hours per hour" and am sobbing. That's just watts. Public understanding of power and energy is *awful*.
(I get the logic of watt hours and kwhrs, but don't think they help)
(I get the logic of watt hours and kwhrs, but don't think they help)
I’d read that HD streaming is taking 10x the energy of AI, and cryptocurrency taking 2x AI. I’d love some serious journalism on this @willoremus.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:35 PM
With the appropriate suffixes, I would argue joules and watts are *absolutely fine* for all cases. Yeah, the power draw times hour thing with kWh is kinda cute, unless you're measuring power draw (and not trying to use rated power, which is something else entirely), that's not much use.
Reposted by Neil Young
Problem: you have two left wing parties in British politics.
Solution: start a new left wing party to unify the movement
Problem: you now have four left wing parties in British politics
Solution: start a new left wing party to unify the movement
Problem: you now have four left wing parties in British politics
November 29, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Problem: you have two left wing parties in British politics.
Solution: start a new left wing party to unify the movement
Problem: you now have four left wing parties in British politics
Solution: start a new left wing party to unify the movement
Problem: you now have four left wing parties in British politics
One could argue the pythons were too kind to the far left...
Glorious. 10/10. No notes.
Zarah Sultana boycotts first day of Your Party conference over 'witch hunt' expulsions
November 29, 2025 at 3:02 PM
One could argue the pythons were too kind to the far left...
The amount of power used by most of this apart from proof of work is normally massively overstated, but I just read "watt hours per hour" and am sobbing. That's just watts. Public understanding of power and energy is *awful*.
(I get the logic of watt hours and kwhrs, but don't think they help)
(I get the logic of watt hours and kwhrs, but don't think they help)
I’d read that HD streaming is taking 10x the energy of AI, and cryptocurrency taking 2x AI. I’d love some serious journalism on this @willoremus.com
Out of curiosity I decided to try and run the numbers on how much Netflix you can watch for the energy cost of a ChatGPT prompt
As far as I can tell it's between 5.1 and 10.2 seconds, depending on which end of the 2019 IEA Netflix energy usage […]
[Original post on fedi.simonwillison.net]
As far as I can tell it's between 5.1 and 10.2 seconds, depending on which end of the 2019 IEA Netflix energy usage […]
[Original post on fedi.simonwillison.net]
November 29, 2025 at 1:59 PM
The amount of power used by most of this apart from proof of work is normally massively overstated, but I just read "watt hours per hour" and am sobbing. That's just watts. Public understanding of power and energy is *awful*.
(I get the logic of watt hours and kwhrs, but don't think they help)
(I get the logic of watt hours and kwhrs, but don't think they help)
Unless you're studying it for maths/CS/ethics/sociology or whatever, LLMs/genAI probably should be just banned at unis. I don't even buy the "learn to use them" argument, as the argument that is even necessary is Questionable, and sometimes corporate shilling.
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 29, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Unless you're studying it for maths/CS/ethics/sociology or whatever, LLMs/genAI probably should be just banned at unis. I don't even buy the "learn to use them" argument, as the argument that is even necessary is Questionable, and sometimes corporate shilling.
Reposted by Neil Young
This is seriously worrying - do read the whole thread
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 29, 2025 at 10:23 AM
This is seriously worrying - do read the whole thread
Reeves has realised freezing the thresholds has Consequently, but is trying to kludge round them. She really is thick as mince.
BBC News - State pensioners with no other income will not have to pay tax
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - State pensioners with no other income will not have to pay tax
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
State pensioners with no other income will not have to pay tax
The chancellor says those who only receive the state pension won't have to pay income tax before 2030.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Reeves has realised freezing the thresholds has Consequently, but is trying to kludge round them. She really is thick as mince.
BBC News - State pensioners with no other income will not have to pay tax
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - State pensioners with no other income will not have to pay tax
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Neil Young
once more I am begging everyone to do policy based on evidence, not on vibes from the loudest-shouting pressure groups. What the NHS is leaning towards - targeted screening for those most at risk - is the right way to do this. Blanket screening with an unreliable test causes harm.
🔺UPDATED: Start prostate cancer testing regardless of advice, Wes Streeting told
Start prostate cancer testing regardless of advice, Wes Streeting told
Start prostate cancer testing regardless of advice, Wes Streeting told
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:30 PM
once more I am begging everyone to do policy based on evidence, not on vibes from the loudest-shouting pressure groups. What the NHS is leaning towards - targeted screening for those most at risk - is the right way to do this. Blanket screening with an unreliable test causes harm.
I'm not qualified to judge *how* we've ended up with such witless politics in the UK, but it's demonstrable that we have, and it's absolutely a bad thing.
Ideology matters a lot less when the holder of the ideology is actually thinking things through properly.
Ideology matters a lot less when the holder of the ideology is actually thinking things through properly.
We have got to make politics intellectual again. It is the only way that societies thrive is when politicians have the capability to actually think and reflect deeply:
![I confess that I always had difficulty with interpreting the Biblical precept to love our neighbours “as ourselves” until I read some of the words of C.S. Lewis. He pointed out that we don't exactly love ourselves when we fall below the standards and beliefs we have accepted. Indeed we might even hate ourselves for some unworthy deed.
None of this, of course, tells us exactly what kind of political and social institutions we should have. On this point, Christians will very often genuinely disagree, though it is a mark of Christian manners that they will do so with courtesy and mutual respect. [Applause] What is certain, however, is that any set of social and economic arrangements which is not founded on the acceptance of individual responsibility will do nothing but harm.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xbnsfdtxoothg654ujxe3p25/bafkreicrdgbtvm54qnmttwe6crhxwt4be5v3izjmqtnvlxmaljwg5wolai@jpeg)
November 28, 2025 at 12:17 PM
I'm not qualified to judge *how* we've ended up with such witless politics in the UK, but it's demonstrable that we have, and it's absolutely a bad thing.
Ideology matters a lot less when the holder of the ideology is actually thinking things through properly.
Ideology matters a lot less when the holder of the ideology is actually thinking things through properly.
Thread, with an inevitable sting in the tail for the government's latest idiocy.
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
November 27, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Thread, with an inevitable sting in the tail for the government's latest idiocy.
Reposted by Neil Young
I've just updated the available cats page, we have some REALLY special kitties in and some of them have been waiting ages. Their forever home might be on your timeline, please share? 🥰
Moggies looking for homes
After hearing 50,000 times that we should put the available cats on the website, we’ve made a page! Hooray! However, it is still just me doing most of the work in the shelter. So there’…
hollysmerrymoggies.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I've just updated the available cats page, we have some REALLY special kitties in and some of them have been waiting ages. Their forever home might be on your timeline, please share? 🥰
Reposted by Neil Young
Also Labour MPs know it’s not a vote winner, they just want to do it because they think it’s right. How’s that become such an alien concept in our politics?
November 27, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Also Labour MPs know it’s not a vote winner, they just want to do it because they think it’s right. How’s that become such an alien concept in our politics?
Is it Fatima?
OBR calls in cyber expert over botched release of Budget analysis
OBR calls in cyber expert over botched release of Budget analysis
Rachel Reeves's statement was thrown into chaos after journalists were able to access the document early.
www.bbc.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Is it Fatima?
The goalhanger title format has been tenuous for a while, but this feels like breaking point - it just doesn't work on any level?
I was expecting The Rest is Science to be bad because IMO the Goalhanger premise just doesn’t work for ‘science facts’ and ‘science’ isn’t a real subject; but holy crap what a festival of midwittery. (Of course it’ll do numbers.)
November 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
The goalhanger title format has been tenuous for a while, but this feels like breaking point - it just doesn't work on any level?
Reposted by Neil Young
![Comic. Panels up to the 10-year point are grayed out. New panels since the Ten Years comic, which chronicles the first ten years of PERSON 1's journey with cancer: (1) [two people in bed] PERSON 1 (woman): One more chapter? PERSON 2 (man): Don’t we both have to get up early? PERSON 1: Nnnnnggggh PERSON 2: Sure, good point. (2) [many people wearing masks, walking while looking at graphs on their phones] (3) [birds landing on people] PERSON 2 in beanie and scarf: Hah! They like *my* seeds best. PERSON 1 in scarf holding phone with a bird sitting on it: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one? (4) [two people rowing boats with tree landscape] (5) [Person 1 carries overflowing stack of things to Person 2 in bed] PERSON 1: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a– PERSON 2: It was just Appendicitis, I’m really– PERSON 1: *It is my turn to take care of you and I am going to do it right!* (6) [Two people in car] (7) [still in car) PERSON 1: Oh my god. PERSON 2: Oh my god. (8) [car driving] PERSON 1: Pull over! PERSON 2: I am! (9) [both people get out of car] (10) [Large colored panel of aurora borealis over water with both people looking on] (11) [Person 1 sits against tree while Person 2 lies on the ground] PERSON 1: Fifteen years. No sign of the cancer. (12) I *am* having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I’m losing my close-up vision. PERSON 2: Yeah. Me too. (13) PERSON 2: I think we’re getting old. (14) PERSON 1: I guess that’s okay. PERSON 2: It’s all I wanted.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreihwhjblp5lyiwp63ouar7ocfea7evmckytoeo7rkfuoo4gw5rnrra@jpeg)
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Neil Young
two thoughts on Farage's youthful bullying racism: first, yeah, I do absolutely believe the people speaking up about this now, because bullying stays with you. I still remember specific incidents of being bullied as a kid 50-odd years ago.
Danny Kruger says he feels sorry for Nigel Farage getting all this unfair criticism. That's his main thought on the matter.
November 26, 2025 at 3:21 PM
two thoughts on Farage's youthful bullying racism: first, yeah, I do absolutely believe the people speaking up about this now, because bullying stays with you. I still remember specific incidents of being bullied as a kid 50-odd years ago.
So it was just theatrics? Does Reeves think this is a bloody game?
Minor point. But this is the OBR saying that the briefing about income tax being dropped because of improved forecasts is bollocks.
November 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
So it was just theatrics? Does Reeves think this is a bloody game?
I hate literally everything about this.
Seriously, "Bobbi?"
Someone should be fired for wasting public money.
BBC News - Police trial use of AI chatbot to ease pressure on call handlers
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Seriously, "Bobbi?"
Someone should be fired for wasting public money.
BBC News - Police trial use of AI chatbot to ease pressure on call handlers
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Police trial use of AI chatbot to ease pressure on call handlers
TVP and the Hampshire and IOW Constabulary say they are the first forces to employ the technology.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
I hate literally everything about this.
Seriously, "Bobbi?"
Someone should be fired for wasting public money.
BBC News - Police trial use of AI chatbot to ease pressure on call handlers
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Seriously, "Bobbi?"
Someone should be fired for wasting public money.
BBC News - Police trial use of AI chatbot to ease pressure on call handlers
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Pretty clear between this and the attempted PIP cuts earlier in the year that the government is as ableist as it is racist.
If you are eligible for the mobility component of PIP and you want to spend *your own money on top of that* on having a nicer modified car, why shouldn't you? Should screen readers only work on Chromebooks?
November 26, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Pretty clear between this and the attempted PIP cuts earlier in the year that the government is as ableist as it is racist.
Reposted by Neil Young
If you are eligible for the mobility component of PIP and you want to spend *your own money on top of that* on having a nicer modified car, why shouldn't you? Should screen readers only work on Chromebooks?
November 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
If you are eligible for the mobility component of PIP and you want to spend *your own money on top of that* on having a nicer modified car, why shouldn't you? Should screen readers only work on Chromebooks?
The advantage of trailing quite how lame the budget was going to be is it lessens the impact. Imagine if this bargain budget buffer had dropped with expectations of competency.
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The advantage of trailing quite how lame the budget was going to be is it lessens the impact. Imagine if this bargain budget buffer had dropped with expectations of competency.
Office of Budget Irresponsibility, amiright?
November 26, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Office of Budget Irresponsibility, amiright?
Reposted by Neil Young
Having a great first day as the OBR's website manager. Got all of the content queued up as a scheduled post, ready for a big day, but all of the work is done now.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
November 26, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Having a great first day as the OBR's website manager. Got all of the content queued up as a scheduled post, ready for a big day, but all of the work is done now.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
Now before I put my feet up, time to take a big gulp of water and check the latest news.
Pardon my language, but FUCK OFF.
BBC News - Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases
Only cases of alleged murder, rape or manslaughter will be decided by a jury under new proposals to cut court backlogs.
www.bbc.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Pardon my language, but FUCK OFF.
BBC News - Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The sugar tax was always a dumb idea, so the government extending it is equally dumb.
Doing it during a cost of living crisis elevates it from dumb to outright cruel.
The idea with a "cost of living" is to *reduce* it, you stupid bastards.
Doing it during a cost of living crisis elevates it from dumb to outright cruel.
The idea with a "cost of living" is to *reduce* it, you stupid bastards.
November 25, 2025 at 3:35 PM
The sugar tax was always a dumb idea, so the government extending it is equally dumb.
Doing it during a cost of living crisis elevates it from dumb to outright cruel.
The idea with a "cost of living" is to *reduce* it, you stupid bastards.
Doing it during a cost of living crisis elevates it from dumb to outright cruel.
The idea with a "cost of living" is to *reduce* it, you stupid bastards.