Andy Mabbett
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pigsonthewing.org.uk
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing.org.uk
1.1K followers 1.6K following 2.7K posts
Man of many talents-some of them useful. Multiple monomaniac. Author, 'Pink Floyd: The Music & The Mystery'.

Also Wikipedia, Wikidata &c. OpenStreetMap. Birds. Birmingham. Open data. FoI. Art. Architecture. History. FRSA.

Everything is interesting.
Posts Replies Media Videos
pigsonthewing.org.uk
An excellent choice!

Congratulations to @merrileeiam.bsky.social and @archive.org
archive.org Internet Archive @archive.org · 15h
The #InternetArchive welcomes Merrilee Proffitt as director of Democracy’s Library, US! With decades in digital libraries & open knowledge, she’ll expand free access to government research & boost transparency, equity & engagement.

More ➡️ blog.archive.org/2025/11/18/m...

@merrileeiam.bsky.social
Photo of Merrilee Proffit
November 25, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
rutgerbregman.com
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
hackernewsbot.bsky.social
Unpowered SSDs slowly lose data | Discussion
The unpowered SSDs in your drawer are slowly losing your data
SSDs aren't ideal for long-term data storage
www.xda-developers.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:40 PM
pigsonthewing.org.uk
Who doesn't hang their Hanukkah stocking next to their Hanukkah tree?
janerosenzweig.bsky.social Jane Rosenzweig @janerosenzweig.bsky.social · 3d
Pretty amazing AI-generated item available on Amazon.
boy in front of a christmas tree holding a calendar that says "Hannukah Countdwand, 24 Days of Miracle 2025" and text that says "Hanukkah Countdown Calendar 2025"
November 24, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
pigsonthewing.org.uk
We all know many orgs prefer to push us to use synchronous (chatbot, phone) rather than asynchronous (email, text, SM messaging) contacts.

Why is that?

Asking while on hold for ten minutes and rising to ask a bank to send something by post that could have been requested in a 30-second email...
November 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
dorothyjberry.bsky.social
Are YOU the most depressing book plate ever? YES, You ARE!
Bookplate with a series of six images illustrating a stick figure from the purchase of their first book to their books being unceremoniously tossed after death. Text reads "EX LIBRIS KNUD SCHØNBERG"
July 25, 2025 at 6:04 PM
pigsonthewing.org.uk
We all know many orgs prefer to push us to use synchronous (chatbot, phone) rather than asynchronous (email, text, SM messaging) contacts.

Why is that?

Asking while on hold for ten minutes and rising to ask a bank to send something by post that could have been requested in a 30-second email...
November 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
wokestudies.bsky.social
"bishops of the Catholic Church made bonfires of the Maya and Aztec manuscripts, a terrible loss to history. Calendars on wood and painted paper books made of the leaves of the maguey all blazed together. May these bishops expiate their crimes in the purgatory of biblioclasts!"
-Athenaeum 2954, 1884
Plates 10 and 11 of the Dresden Maya Codex. Drawing by Lacambalam, 2001
November 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
ernie.tedium.co
If you have been sharing that Malwarebytes article on the Gmail thing, you should note the giant correction up top.

www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Update November 22. We’ve updated this article after realising we contributed to a perfect storm of misunderstanding around a recent change in the wording and placement of Gmail’s smart features. The settings themselves aren’t new, but the way Google recently rewrote and surfaced them led a lot of people (including us) to believe Gmail content might be used to train Google’s AI models, and that users were being opted in automatically. After taking a closer look at Google’s documentation and reviewing other reporting, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Gmail does scan email content to power its own “smart features,” such as spam filtering, categorisation, and writing suggestions. But this is part of how Gmail normally works and isn’t the same as training Google’s generative AI models. Google also maintains that these feature settings are opt-in rather than opt-out, although users’ experiences seem to vary depending on when and how the new wording appeared. It’s easy to see where the confusion came from. Google’s updated language around “smart features” is vague, and the term “smart” often implies AI—especially at a time when Gemini is being integrated into other parts of Google’s products. When the new wording started appearing for some users without much explanation, many assumed it signalled a broader shift. We’ve revised this article to reflect what we can confirm from Google’s documentation, as it’s always been our aim to give readers accurate, helpful guidance.
November 22, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
russincheshire.bsky.social
My review of my evenings entertainment, the Willy Russell musical Blood Brothers.

Wrapping £80 around a cat and setting fire to it would be a better use of your money, and result in better tunes.
November 22, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
martian-observer.art
So, I'm really kind of fucking annoyed and disappointed with Mozilla enabling AI in Firefox by default and not giving users a simple opt out switch.

I have disabled it in my firefox via 'about:config' , if you want to too, here's how to disable it completely or enable certain bits you find useful
How to Disable AI Features in Firefox Browser
Are you looking for clean user experience in your Firefox browser? Here's how you can disable AI features in Firefox for a simple, no-nonsense usage.
gadgetstouse.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:27 PM
pigsonthewing.org.uk
Stunning ten-minute video of an even more stunning subject.
November 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
oddthisday.bsky.social
It’s the seventh anniversary of the publication of ‘Everything is awesome: Don’t forget the Lego’ in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, which told how six “paediatric health-care professionals were recruited to swallow a Lego head” and measure how long it took to ~ahem~ pass through them
Diagram of Lego head from scientific paper. It is shown in grey, with coloured markings showing its dimensions in millimetres. The main part of the head is 10.11mm across and 9.74mm high
November 22, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
radonlinearchives.bsky.social
Hello BlueSky! Starting this account to showcase the ever growing list of radical online archives and collections. Nearly 1000 collections from the around the world are listed at the link below.

Please follow for updates and collection highlights!

hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...
radical online collections and archives
I am very interested in the growing amount of radical literature from around the world that is being scanned and digitised. As there are so many and from many different places, I thought it would b…
hatfulofhistory.com
October 12, 2025 at 7:02 AM
pigsonthewing.org.uk
Masterpieces indeed - so why don't the authors of this article name any of the artists?
November 22, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
tagishsimon.bsky.social
A simple little hack for laundering Ordnance Survey Grid References so as to get to locations on Google Maps, Bing Maps, OpenStreetMaps, and others which have no truck with OSGR, is to search in Geograph.org.uk and use its excellent mapping links page.
Geograph search interface, showing an OS Grid Ref search term, and the 'Enter a Grid Reference' radio button selected Mapping links dropdown on the initial Geograph search results page, with the option 'Geograph links page' selected Lower section of the Geograph mapping links page showing three columns of links for the OS Grid Reference location, to most all of the map products you could ever want; Google, Bing, OSM, Magic, NLS, Ordnance Survey, &c &c.
November 21, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
a11yawareness.bsky.social
You don't necessarily want to use the exact same alt text each time a specific image is used. Alt text must consider the context of the image and why it's being included on a site, post, article, etc. In other words, alt text depends on where you're including the image and why.
November 20, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
archive.org
Status update: fiber cut between data centers - trucks are rolling. Services are slow but functional, except for the Wayback Machine, which is still offline.
archive.org Internet Archive @archive.org · 5d
The Wayback Machine, openlibrary.org, and some other archive.org functions are offline because some network gear has failed.

We apologize and are working on it. More as it happens.
November 20, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
wikidatacommunity.bsky.social
The power of Wikidata is its community. Joining a WikiProject is the best way to find your corner of it. Connect, collaborate, and create with us. Find your people: www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikida...
#WikidataWikiProjects
#FindYourPeople
Description English: This is a graphic used on the 2024 WMDE Wikidata community survey banner
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 PM
pigsonthewing.org.uk
Grokipedia now says "The 2025 Dutch general election was a snap parliamentary election held on 29 October 2025..."

But with a hatnote saying the article was fact-checked on 27 October.

Still no article on UPS Airlines Flight 2976.
pigsonthewing.org.uk Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing.org.uk · 19d
Grokipedia still saying "The 2025 Dutch general election is a snap parliamentary election scheduled for 29 October 2025" and "The 2025 New York City mayoral election is scheduled for November 4, 2025".

Zohran Mamdani article has not been updated.

Has no article on UPS Airlines Flight 2976.
November 20, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
marshslibrary.bsky.social
Our collection of parrots, watercolour on velum, from Eleazar Albin's 'Natural History of Birds', mid 18th century
18th century watercolour of a parrot 18th century watercolour of two parrots 18th century watercolour of a cockatoo
November 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
joshtaylor.bsky.social
lol, PM&C released a low-res version of the king's flag but refused to release a high-res one under FOI. www.righttoknow.org.au/request/his_...
Document 4 is a high resolution copy of The King’s Flag for Australia. The Honours and Symbols Section of the Department is responsible for ensuring the use and reproduction of Royal Imagery and Symbols is only undertaken with express permission from the Royal Household. The release of the material would have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of the Department as it would undermine the integrity of Royal Imagery and Symbols, which are managed according to the requirements of the Royal Household. The King’s Flag for Australia is a Royal Symbol and is reserved for the exclusive use of His Majesty The King while he is visiting Australia. It is used to depict His Majesty’s presence in vehicles, boats or aircraft he travels in, and buildings or premises His Majesty visits or stays in, while in Australia. Disclosure is expected to increase the risk of the King’s Flag for Australia being misappropriated or misused. This is because publishing a higher resolution file would allow for uncontrolled and unrestricted reproduction of The King’s Flag for Australia, which could reasonably be expected to diminish the significance of the Flag as a mechanism to denote that The King’s presence whilst in Australia. This, in turn, has the potential to risk Australia’s relationship with The Sovereign and the Royal Household.
November 20, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
hetanshah.bsky.social
Something I mention in today’s piece is the wider pressure and undervaluing of libraries and archives. Even less well known than the issues facing the British Library are the worrying proposals for the BBC Written Archives Centre. More here observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Libraries and archives are the labs of humanities and social science scholars, and history is not possible without them. But increasingly they are not prioritised - for example the BBC Written Archives Centre, paid for by public money, is moving to restrict responding to researcher queries, making exploratory research extremely difficult.
November 18, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
karenattiah.bsky.social
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.

He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Andy Mabbett
samwhyte.bsky.social
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"

As opposed to doing what with their children??
November 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM