Mark Annand
@markannand.bsky.social
Born at 313ppm. If it's nearby, enjoy www.twotunnels.org.uk.
"Ghostbusters" 'cos, that clarinet on the sidewalk.
Profile photo credit @confluentious
"Ghostbusters" 'cos, that clarinet on the sidewalk.
Profile photo credit @confluentious
Reposted by Mark Annand
DTEK (Ukrainian energy company) showed what thermal power plants looked like in peacetime and how they look during the full-scale invasion.
The company noted that russian forces have attacked thermal power plants 220 times since the start of the war.
The company noted that russian forces have attacked thermal power plants 220 times since the start of the war.
February 8, 2026 at 8:55 PM
DTEK (Ukrainian energy company) showed what thermal power plants looked like in peacetime and how they look during the full-scale invasion.
The company noted that russian forces have attacked thermal power plants 220 times since the start of the war.
The company noted that russian forces have attacked thermal power plants 220 times since the start of the war.
Reposted by Mark Annand
Rackwick, Hoy, Orkney.
My photo 2009.
My photo 2009.
February 8, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Rackwick, Hoy, Orkney.
My photo 2009.
My photo 2009.
Reposted by Mark Annand
In honor of the Super Bowl, here’s a 2,000-year-old Roman glass bowl recently discovered in the Netherlands.
You can’t see it as well in the image below as in other photos, but, in the right light, this super bowl glows with a stunning cobalt blue radiance.
You can’t see it as well in the image below as in other photos, but, in the right light, this super bowl glows with a stunning cobalt blue radiance.
2,000-Year-Old Roman Bowl Discovered Intact in the Netherlands
Unearthed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, the blue glass artifact was in pristine condition
www.smithsonianmag.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:38 PM
In honor of the Super Bowl, here’s a 2,000-year-old Roman glass bowl recently discovered in the Netherlands.
You can’t see it as well in the image below as in other photos, but, in the right light, this super bowl glows with a stunning cobalt blue radiance.
You can’t see it as well in the image below as in other photos, but, in the right light, this super bowl glows with a stunning cobalt blue radiance.
Reposted by Mark Annand
Boring opinion: if people know the name of the Downing Street Chief of Staff, the CoS is not doing a good job.
February 8, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Boring opinion: if people know the name of the Downing Street Chief of Staff, the CoS is not doing a good job.
Reposted by Mark Annand
So this is not a sponsored post or nothing, but if you are ever in the north east region of Poland, do get a detour from the express way and pop in to see it. It's one of the best museums I've been recently. And entry is just over 9 euro. Well worth the money!
The town is nice too. :-)
The town is nice too. :-)
February 8, 2026 at 2:23 PM
So this is not a sponsored post or nothing, but if you are ever in the north east region of Poland, do get a detour from the express way and pop in to see it. It's one of the best museums I've been recently. And entry is just over 9 euro. Well worth the money!
The town is nice too. :-)
The town is nice too. :-)
Reposted by Mark Annand
This galaxy is VERY tiny—much much smaller than our own Milky Way—& incredibly distant. But we can see it AND distinguish its shape!
How?
The light we see from it is from SO LONG AGO that the Universe was MUCH smaller at the time: we see it as it was when it was close enough to us to look big!! 🤯
How?
The light we see from it is from SO LONG AGO that the Universe was MUCH smaller at the time: we see it as it was when it was close enough to us to look big!! 🤯
This is what the most distant confirmed galaxy looks like. The light we're receiving was emitted when the Universe was ~15x smaller in linear size than today, and right now it's ~30 billion light-years away from us. The light was emitted when the Universe was <300 million years old. Pretty amazing!
News from the edge of the visible universe:
JWST has confirmed this galaxy, MoM-z14, as the most distant one yet studied. We're seeing it as it was 13.5 billion years ago, 98% of the way back to the beginning of time.
(MoM stands for "miracle or mirage.") 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
JWST has confirmed this galaxy, MoM-z14, as the most distant one yet studied. We're seeing it as it was 13.5 billion years ago, 98% of the way back to the beginning of time.
(MoM stands for "miracle or mirage.") 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
February 7, 2026 at 2:28 AM
This galaxy is VERY tiny—much much smaller than our own Milky Way—& incredibly distant. But we can see it AND distinguish its shape!
How?
The light we see from it is from SO LONG AGO that the Universe was MUCH smaller at the time: we see it as it was when it was close enough to us to look big!! 🤯
How?
The light we see from it is from SO LONG AGO that the Universe was MUCH smaller at the time: we see it as it was when it was close enough to us to look big!! 🤯
Reposted by Mark Annand
Very grateful to @andrewmale.bsky.social for highlighting some of the early 30-line television content featured in 'Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain', and so pleased at the interest (and even sales!) this is stirring up.
It is also, utterly delightful. Exhibit A, this detail about an early “themed” TV broadcast in 1931. The Televisor, by the way, was an early TV receiver which showed images in portrait format. I’m imagining early TV as a century-old version of TikTok.
![Mrs Rhoda Flanders introduced various breeds of dogs. Spring 1931 also saw what
appears to have been the first half-hour broadcast with a common theme across three items. Mr ]. W. Bassett-Lowke, head of a firm of professional model-makers, lectured on naval history and was seen on a Televisor in his company's home town of Northampton. He was followed by character baritone Lionel Morgan performing songs of the sea, and the transmission was rounded out by a Baird staff member demonstrating seaman's knots.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pzrrpdporfdlinmlcqstyqpb/bafkreiat2jidg2aosxredylshtvwsjyxjonny7irorzgm2emxv6sm7q6da@jpeg)
February 8, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Very grateful to @andrewmale.bsky.social for highlighting some of the early 30-line television content featured in 'Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain', and so pleased at the interest (and even sales!) this is stirring up.
Reposted by Mark Annand
I am reading this book now and it's terrific. Wyver's enthusiasm for his subject is ridiculously infectious.
A month on from publication my book 'Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain' remains available from publishers Bloomsbury with discounts on the hardback, paperback and e-book versions.
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/magic-ray...
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/magic-ray...
Magic Rays of Light
On the evening of 26 January 1926, inventor John Logie Baird held a public demonstration in his workspace on London's Frith Street of a 'seeing by wireless' app…
www.bloomsbury.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:40 PM
I am reading this book now and it's terrific. Wyver's enthusiasm for his subject is ridiculously infectious.
Reposted by Mark Annand
Near Lichfield with the very latest satellite. Two HS2 routes, one parallel to Wood End Lane destined to join network at Handsacre (and congest it further) and the fresh brown rectangle pointing north, likely a reproachful redundant stub until Manchester is authorised
February 8, 2026 at 7:14 AM
Near Lichfield with the very latest satellite. Two HS2 routes, one parallel to Wood End Lane destined to join network at Handsacre (and congest it further) and the fresh brown rectangle pointing north, likely a reproachful redundant stub until Manchester is authorised
Reposted by Mark Annand
This is the man whose company Peter Mandelson's lobbying firm represents.
Keir Starmer visited its HQ last year, at the request of Mandelson, shortly before it was handed a £240m Government contract
Keir Starmer visited its HQ last year, at the request of Mandelson, shortly before it was handed a £240m Government contract
Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist and apocalypse are linked to the ‘end of modernity’ currently happening—and cites Greta Thunberg as a driving example
fortune.com/2026/02/04/p...
*Not satire.
fortune.com/2026/02/04/p...
*Not satire.
Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist and apocalypse are linked to the ‘end of modernity’ currently happening—and cites Greta Thunberg as a driving example | Fortune
The Gen Z Swedish climate activist is a legionnaire of the Antichrist, Thiel claims, a “Luddite” who wants to halt technological progress in its tracks.
fortune.com
February 8, 2026 at 8:41 AM
This is the man whose company Peter Mandelson's lobbying firm represents.
Keir Starmer visited its HQ last year, at the request of Mandelson, shortly before it was handed a £240m Government contract
Keir Starmer visited its HQ last year, at the request of Mandelson, shortly before it was handed a £240m Government contract
Reposted by Mark Annand
Openreach turns up the heat to force laggards off legacy copper lines
Openreach turns up the heat to force laggards off legacy copper lines
Half a million businesses face successive price hikes ahead of PTSN shutdown
Openreach is warning British businesses that the old phone network shuts down in less than a year - with half a million commercial lines still unmigrated.…
dlvr.it
February 7, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Openreach turns up the heat to force laggards off legacy copper lines
Reposted by Mark Annand
I also struggle with how quickly the story moves from the appalling revelations to political discussions over whether addressing this properly might affect the personal position of the PM that brings politics - which should be important - into even worse disrepute.
February 7, 2026 at 9:39 AM
I also struggle with how quickly the story moves from the appalling revelations to political discussions over whether addressing this properly might affect the personal position of the PM that brings politics - which should be important - into even worse disrepute.
Reposted by Mark Annand
The depressing and obnoxious reality here is that many powerful and well-connected rich men see half of the population as meat rather than as people.That will not change in a hurry because the culture, the wealth and the connections persist
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club
Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 8:31 AM
The depressing and obnoxious reality here is that many powerful and well-connected rich men see half of the population as meat rather than as people.That will not change in a hurry because the culture, the wealth and the connections persist
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Mark Annand
Needless to say I gave a short intro to #atproto (I think this is a first in the EU parliament!) and highlighted the advantages to build on top of an existing social graph.,
February 6, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Needless to say I gave a short intro to #atproto (I think this is a first in the EU parliament!) and highlighted the advantages to build on top of an existing social graph.,
Reposted by Mark Annand
February 6, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Mark Annand
During WWII BBC radio didn't broadcast weather forecasts. They returned on VE Day 1945 with Stuart Hibberd reading the first bulletin at the end of the midnight news and welcoming the return of "a long lost friend-the large depression". #VEDay80
May 8, 2025 at 5:03 PM
During WWII BBC radio didn't broadcast weather forecasts. They returned on VE Day 1945 with Stuart Hibberd reading the first bulletin at the end of the midnight news and welcoming the return of "a long lost friend-the large depression". #VEDay80
Reposted by Mark Annand
Clear-cut evidence that Charlie Brown will grow up to be a copy editor. Poor guy.
February 6, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Clear-cut evidence that Charlie Brown will grow up to be a copy editor. Poor guy.
A good afternoon to everyone except the ambulance driver who hit the siren while right alongside me. Why those things have a sharp start is beyond me.
February 6, 2026 at 4:50 PM
A good afternoon to everyone except the ambulance driver who hit the siren while right alongside me. Why those things have a sharp start is beyond me.
Reposted by Mark Annand
Feel like I'm going mad.
February 6, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Feel like I'm going mad.
Reposted by Mark Annand
A plea to my fellow professionals in the media. Please put Trump’s racism on the top of your news agendas? Where is it? The leader of the “free world” is using his racism to make all of our lives worse instead of better. A racist is a threat to us all. Whatever else he is doing, holds no worth.
February 6, 2026 at 1:14 PM
A plea to my fellow professionals in the media. Please put Trump’s racism on the top of your news agendas? Where is it? The leader of the “free world” is using his racism to make all of our lives worse instead of better. A racist is a threat to us all. Whatever else he is doing, holds no worth.
Reposted by Mark Annand
I think ideally you'd want to keep local services off the fast lines and for trains from the Ivanhoe line to carry on to Syston etc. as once planned.
February 6, 2026 at 12:37 PM
I think ideally you'd want to keep local services off the fast lines and for trains from the Ivanhoe line to carry on to Syston etc. as once planned.
Reposted by Mark Annand
September 19, 1936. The Star of Shetland sailing ship having just passed under the yet to be completed Golden Gate Bridge. A truly iconic shot.
February 6, 2026 at 5:59 AM
September 19, 1936. The Star of Shetland sailing ship having just passed under the yet to be completed Golden Gate Bridge. A truly iconic shot.
Reposted by Mark Annand
📷 Time for a Friday rummage through the C20 Archive...
Take a trip back to 1984 and join us for a coffee at the GLC Thames Barrier Buffet!
Designed by Rendel, Palmer & Tritton (1974-84), it is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world, protecting 1.4 million people from tidal surges.
Take a trip back to 1984 and join us for a coffee at the GLC Thames Barrier Buffet!
Designed by Rendel, Palmer & Tritton (1974-84), it is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world, protecting 1.4 million people from tidal surges.
February 6, 2026 at 10:50 AM
📷 Time for a Friday rummage through the C20 Archive...
Take a trip back to 1984 and join us for a coffee at the GLC Thames Barrier Buffet!
Designed by Rendel, Palmer & Tritton (1974-84), it is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world, protecting 1.4 million people from tidal surges.
Take a trip back to 1984 and join us for a coffee at the GLC Thames Barrier Buffet!
Designed by Rendel, Palmer & Tritton (1974-84), it is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world, protecting 1.4 million people from tidal surges.
Reposted by Mark Annand
This wasn't me, but I'll just note that Wikipedia has this statement about Labour Together on Jon Cruddas' wiki entry that has no disputes:
![Labour Together and opposition to Jeremy Corbyn [edit ]
Jon Cruddas was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015.[33] He
subsequently appealed to Labour voters opposed to Corbyn to consider the Conservatives as an "alternative workers' party" and in
October 2015 launched the Labour Together group,[34][35] which went on to conduct a black propaganda campaign against Corbyn's
leadership of the party.[36] Together with Maurice Glasman, Cruddas persuaded Trevor Chinn and Martin Taylor to provide the initial
£75,000 of funding for Labour Together before 2017.[37] In the 2016 Labour leadership election, he supported Owen Smith in the
failed attempt to replace Corbyn.[38]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:opdidxd3aomvmua7xnd6obfe/bafkreih3izjtjjjxx6w7pqpwg2yd62euuoqozdkisymwplsxisybpkturu@jpeg)
February 6, 2026 at 10:55 AM
This wasn't me, but I'll just note that Wikipedia has this statement about Labour Together on Jon Cruddas' wiki entry that has no disputes:
Reposted by Mark Annand
Too many articles about why Europe needs protecting, too many leaders seeking marginal gains in delivery in place of real vision.
I snapped and wrote something quickly about why we need instead the politics of optimism, adaptation, and creativity. www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe...
I snapped and wrote something quickly about why we need instead the politics of optimism, adaptation, and creativity. www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe...
European politics needs the dreamers of dreams
One story from two angles. From China the visionary, the man wanting to build a big company and after several false starts doing so in bringing low-cost electric vehicles to the world.
www.linkedin.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:37 AM
Too many articles about why Europe needs protecting, too many leaders seeking marginal gains in delivery in place of real vision.
I snapped and wrote something quickly about why we need instead the politics of optimism, adaptation, and creativity. www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe...
I snapped and wrote something quickly about why we need instead the politics of optimism, adaptation, and creativity. www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe...