Ian Betteridge
@ianbetteridge.com
He of the eponymous law. FRSA. Good at writing and sums. Degrowther, and not a fan of capitalism. Your pal. The Eye of Sauron, but for headlines. Made by socialism and immigration, which seems to annoy people. Come for the headlines, stay for the Gramsci.
Pinned
Ian Betteridge
@ianbetteridge.com
· Dec 15
People have a right to speak. They don’t have a right for anyone else to have to listen. That’s why block lists etc exist. I don’t give people the benefit of assuming good faith in the same way I wouldn’t if someone followed me down the street demanding I debate them. I’d call the cops, to be honest
Pinning this one to my profile for the hard for reading.
Ten Blue Links – "Platforms, promises and bad habits" edition: https://www.ianbetteridge.com/ten-blue-links-platforms-promises-and-bad-habits-edition/
January 10, 2026 at 11:22 AM
Ten Blue Links – "Platforms, promises and bad habits" edition: https://www.ianbetteridge.com/ten-blue-links-platforms-promises-and-bad-habits-edition/
Now this is how you exit a "smart" tech business. Bose is open-sourcing the API for SmartTouch speakers, moving as much functionality as possible to an app, and extending support.
www.theverge.com/news/858501/...
www.theverge.com/news/858501/...
Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of bricking them
Bose speakers un-bricked
www.theverge.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Now this is how you exit a "smart" tech business. Bose is open-sourcing the API for SmartTouch speakers, moving as much functionality as possible to an app, and extending support.
www.theverge.com/news/858501/...
www.theverge.com/news/858501/...
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Because a lot of them are X blue checks. You know, the guys who can pay to play. And pay for access to the the CSAM images.
January 9, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Because a lot of them are X blue checks. You know, the guys who can pay to play. And pay for access to the the CSAM images.
And if it were a small developer, they would. But $$$ > actual values.
Apple should take it out of the App Store.
January 9, 2026 at 11:54 AM
And if it were a small developer, they would. But $$$ > actual values.
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
I was first unsettled, then increasingly furious at the New York Times' coverage of the death of Lia Smith. Here's a thread sharing some trily despicable choices made by @julietmacur.bsky.social in writing about this young woman's suicide.
The New York Times described a harrassment campaign that helped drive a young trans woman to suicide as "online criticisms."
Today on Assigned, @evanurquhart.bsky.social responds with contained fury to New York Times piece on the suicide of Lia Smith.
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
Today on Assigned, @evanurquhart.bsky.social responds with contained fury to New York Times piece on the suicide of Lia Smith.
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
NYT Chronicles a Death Their Moral Panic Caused — Assigned
The New York Times published a story covering the death of trans athlete, Lia Smith, but takes no responsibility for the ways their coverage of trans issues has fed the moral panic that caused it.
www.assignedmedia.org
January 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
I was first unsettled, then increasingly furious at the New York Times' coverage of the death of Lia Smith. Here's a thread sharing some trily despicable choices made by @julietmacur.bsky.social in writing about this young woman's suicide.
For just a few dollars a month you too can put any woman or child into a bikini.
ladies, it's ok because only paying subscribers can make/distribute deepfake porn of you and your children now www.ft.com/content/c24d...
Elon Musk’s xAI restricts Grok after outcry over sexualised images
Start-up limits use of image generation system to paid users following spread of deepfakes and child sex abuse material
www.ft.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:47 AM
For just a few dollars a month you too can put any woman or child into a bikini.
They can join the billionaires in the trash.
"what are we going to do with 20,000 ICE agents if we abolish ice" well to start with I think we should all literally spit on them in public for the rest of their lives
January 8, 2026 at 8:45 PM
They can join the billionaires in the trash.
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Is Britain actually a sovereign country?
January 8, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Is Britain actually a sovereign country?
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Just found out my wife might be losing her job, so I'm desperately searching for work. Contract, full-time, freelance, whatever. Press, PR, consulting, anything. I have 16 years of editorial experience and have been writing about games for 13. Reviews, news, previews, guides, etc. RTs appreciated.
January 8, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Just found out my wife might be losing her job, so I'm desperately searching for work. Contract, full-time, freelance, whatever. Press, PR, consulting, anything. I have 16 years of editorial experience and have been writing about games for 13. Reviews, news, previews, guides, etc. RTs appreciated.
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Grok has put a bikini on one of the dead victims of the recent Swiss fire !
It's probably the most appalling thing I've seen... 🤬
It's probably the most appalling thing I've seen... 🤬
January 7, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Grok has put a bikini on one of the dead victims of the recent Swiss fire !
It's probably the most appalling thing I've seen... 🤬
It's probably the most appalling thing I've seen... 🤬
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Tory party’s long journey away from science, reason, responsibility, common sense and truth is complete
Kemi Badenoch vows to repeal Climate Change Act
Tory leader says she would replace it with ‘cheap energy’ strategy, ending decades-long consensus on climate
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Tory party’s long journey away from science, reason, responsibility, common sense and truth is complete
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
*There are people who imagine that the Grateful Dead hippie John Perry Barlow was some starry-eyed Internet utopian, but I actually knew that guy
*Read that, and then look out the window right now. Touch the Trumpian grass
*Read that, and then look out the window right now. Touch the Trumpian grass
January 8, 2026 at 8:08 AM
*There are people who imagine that the Grateful Dead hippie John Perry Barlow was some starry-eyed Internet utopian, but I actually knew that guy
*Read that, and then look out the window right now. Touch the Trumpian grass
*Read that, and then look out the window right now. Touch the Trumpian grass
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
The death of a legal observer in Minnesota by ICE is a warning to the UK in so many ways. We’re tying ourselves to a violent, corrupt, racist nation which does not care about its citizens. Reform believes in its model, Labour is appeasing it. It is the public who will suffer.
January 8, 2026 at 7:50 AM
The death of a legal observer in Minnesota by ICE is a warning to the UK in so many ways. We’re tying ourselves to a violent, corrupt, racist nation which does not care about its citizens. Reform believes in its model, Labour is appeasing it. It is the public who will suffer.
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
The US government is now freely killing people at sea, in other lands, and on its own streets.
It is difficult to see what more is needed for Congress and the Supreme Court to exercise their constitutional duty to check and balance what is now a rogue state abroad and a gangster state at home.
It is difficult to see what more is needed for Congress and the Supreme Court to exercise their constitutional duty to check and balance what is now a rogue state abroad and a gangster state at home.
January 7, 2026 at 9:39 PM
The US government is now freely killing people at sea, in other lands, and on its own streets.
It is difficult to see what more is needed for Congress and the Supreme Court to exercise their constitutional duty to check and balance what is now a rogue state abroad and a gangster state at home.
It is difficult to see what more is needed for Congress and the Supreme Court to exercise their constitutional duty to check and balance what is now a rogue state abroad and a gangster state at home.
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
I'm in this BBC Radio series about the idea of Progress, talking about technology, AI, and everything going up and to the right. You can listen on BBC Sounds if you're in the UK, or are handy with a VPN: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
www.bbc.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 AM
I'm in this BBC Radio series about the idea of Progress, talking about technology, AI, and everything going up and to the right. You can listen on BBC Sounds if you're in the UK, or are handy with a VPN: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Today my pastor of several years was detained by ICE at the lawful demonstration where ICE officers murdered Renee Good.
Three times they taunted and asked him if he's afraid yet. They let him go because he's white, saying, "Well you're white and it wouldn't be any fun."
This is his story:
Three times they taunted and asked him if he's afraid yet. They let him go because he's white, saying, "Well you're white and it wouldn't be any fun."
This is his story:
January 8, 2026 at 5:47 AM
Today my pastor of several years was detained by ICE at the lawful demonstration where ICE officers murdered Renee Good.
Three times they taunted and asked him if he's afraid yet. They let him go because he's white, saying, "Well you're white and it wouldn't be any fun."
This is his story:
Three times they taunted and asked him if he's afraid yet. They let him go because he's white, saying, "Well you're white and it wouldn't be any fun."
This is his story:
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
“The day is coming soon where good men are going to have to do bad things to very bad people…”
January 8, 2026 at 6:19 AM
“The day is coming soon where good men are going to have to do bad things to very bad people…”
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
I don't care if she didn't follow directions; I don't care if she was disrespectful; I don't care if she was noncompliant; I don't care if she spit in his face, called him ugly, and smacked his mom - "immediate execution by the state" was not warranted; jfc, this isn't complicated.
losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people
really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?
really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?
January 7, 2026 at 7:09 PM
I don't care if she didn't follow directions; I don't care if she was disrespectful; I don't care if she was noncompliant; I don't care if she spit in his face, called him ugly, and smacked his mom - "immediate execution by the state" was not warranted; jfc, this isn't complicated.
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
the guardian must be so proud of itself.
UK LGBTQ+ charities are in ‘hostile environment’ amid falling donations, experts warn
UK LGBTQ+ charities are in ‘hostile environment’ amid falling donations, experts warn
Stonewall’s corporate funding halves against backdrop of US attacks on DEI and freezing of aid for LGBTQ+ causes
LGBTQ+ charities in the UK are operating in a newly “hostile environment”, experts have warned, as the ripple effect of Donald Trump’s attacks on equalities programmes sharpens financial pressures.
The concerns come as yearly accounts submitted by Stonewall, the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ charity, revealed corporate donations had more than halved in the last financial year, falling from £348,636 in 2024 to £143,149 in 2025. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 5:34 PM
the guardian must be so proud of itself.
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Absolutely horrific details about an ICE shooting in Minneapolis.
A witness says a woman was trying to drive away from an ICE operation and the ICE agent "reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times."
Bovino was there.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
A witness says a woman was trying to drive away from an ICE operation and the ICE agent "reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times."
Bovino was there.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
January 7, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Absolutely horrific details about an ICE shooting in Minneapolis.
A witness says a woman was trying to drive away from an ICE operation and the ICE agent "reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times."
Bovino was there.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
A witness says a woman was trying to drive away from an ICE operation and the ICE agent "reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times."
Bovino was there.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
Someone who claims to have witnessed the incident says
- car was blocking ice
- they told them to move
- "something happened'
- ICE shot into the car as it was driving away
- passenger got out of the car covered away and said friend was dead
There is video and I have seen it
- car was blocking ice
- they told them to move
- "something happened'
- ICE shot into the car as it was driving away
- passenger got out of the car covered away and said friend was dead
There is video and I have seen it
January 7, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Someone who claims to have witnessed the incident says
- car was blocking ice
- they told them to move
- "something happened'
- ICE shot into the car as it was driving away
- passenger got out of the car covered away and said friend was dead
There is video and I have seen it
- car was blocking ice
- they told them to move
- "something happened'
- ICE shot into the car as it was driving away
- passenger got out of the car covered away and said friend was dead
There is video and I have seen it
Reposted by Ian Betteridge
How does Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang feel about California’s proposed billionaire tax?
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes I guess they would like to apply, so be it. I’m perfectly fine with it.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes I guess they would like to apply, so be it. I’m perfectly fine with it.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Nvidia CEO Says He’s ‘Perfectly Fine’ With Billionaires Tax
Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, the world’s ninth-richest person and head of the most valuable company, said he isn’t concerned about a billionaires tax under consideration in his h...
www.bloomberg.com
January 7, 2026 at 5:15 AM
How does Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang feel about California’s proposed billionaire tax?
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes I guess they would like to apply, so be it. I’m perfectly fine with it.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes I guess they would like to apply, so be it. I’m perfectly fine with it.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...