Reposted by Kevin Painting
I’ve been quieter than usual this week due to a weird mix of work commitments and falling asleep on the sofa at every opportunity.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
2025: The Year We Got Used To It
A final long read for 2025, charting how we got used to cruelty, incompetence and farce - and how 2026 will need us all to be much noisier.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
December 30, 2025 at 12:06 PM
I’ve been quieter than usual this week due to a weird mix of work commitments and falling asleep on the sofa at every opportunity.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
In my defence, I may have overcorrected by writing the mother of all year-end posts.
This is fair warning, it is long - but, then again, so was 2025.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
My new favourite video of all time.
December 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
My new favourite video of all time.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
A summary of my back-and-forth with Mark Cuban on AI and art, which unfortunately did not end with him wiring me one million dollars.
December 28, 2025 at 12:19 AM
A summary of my back-and-forth with Mark Cuban on AI and art, which unfortunately did not end with him wiring me one million dollars.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
My wife reading a joke from a cracker: why do they call it the Dark Ages?
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
December 27, 2025 at 9:33 AM
My wife reading a joke from a cracker: why do they call it the Dark Ages?
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
Me: they don’t
Her: because there were lots of knights.
Everyone: hahaha
Me: ok let me stop you there. Number one…
Reposted by Kevin Painting
This is a stunning film.
Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovat are Denis Quilley and Sheila Hancock – look out for wine expert Oz Clarke and Michael Staniforth (Timothy Claypole from Rentaghost) in supporting roles.
Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovat are Denis Quilley and Sheila Hancock – look out for wine expert Oz Clarke and Michael Staniforth (Timothy Claypole from Rentaghost) in supporting roles.
Sweeney Todd: Scenes from the Making of a Musical
Here's a holiday treat: a South Bank Show documentary from 1980 that follows Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince as they rehearse the first West...
liberalengland.blogspot.com
December 27, 2025 at 11:17 AM
This is a stunning film.
Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovat are Denis Quilley and Sheila Hancock – look out for wine expert Oz Clarke and Michael Staniforth (Timothy Claypole from Rentaghost) in supporting roles.
Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovat are Denis Quilley and Sheila Hancock – look out for wine expert Oz Clarke and Michael Staniforth (Timothy Claypole from Rentaghost) in supporting roles.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Military history is more important than social history, art history, or anything else because it's FOR BOYS and I'm 12.
December 24, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Military history is more important than social history, art history, or anything else because it's FOR BOYS and I'm 12.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Reposted by Kevin Painting
This is a good message and it was no doubt emotionally satisfying to post it - but seriously, the European Commission and other EU institutions need to get off X.
December 23, 2025 at 7:42 AM
This is a good message and it was no doubt emotionally satisfying to post it - but seriously, the European Commission and other EU institutions need to get off X.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Reposted by Kevin Painting
December 22, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Fraudsters use AI to fake artwork authenticity and ownership ft.trib.al/17zlI0g
Fraudsters use AI to fake artwork authenticity and ownership
Chatbots forge convincing sales invoices and other documents, say industry figures
ft.trib.al
December 21, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Fraudsters use AI to fake artwork authenticity and ownership ft.trib.al/17zlI0g
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Writing is thinking - a short but memorable thread.
I've spent all day struggling to write a single page of a popular science article. I bang away at a word processor; give up; start diagramming on paper. Take some notes; draft a few sentences in pen; return to the computer...and very slowly I figure out what I was trying to say in the first place.
December 17, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Writing is thinking - a short but memorable thread.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
The Muppet Show: Rowlf - Beethoven's "Pathétique" (Reprise)
YouTube video by dorcm1973
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 5:55 PM
This is excellent bru-zane.com/classical-ra...
December 16, 2025 at 1:51 PM
This is excellent bru-zane.com/classical-ra...
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Happy birthday to Jane Austen, and to this very on-brand Economist chart
www.economist.com/christmas-sp...
www.economist.com/christmas-sp...
December 14, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Happy birthday to Jane Austen, and to this very on-brand Economist chart
www.economist.com/christmas-sp...
www.economist.com/christmas-sp...
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Reposted by Kevin Painting
A fitting Word of the Year from Merriam-Webster, which reflects one of 2025's main sources of concern: the proliferation of AI and our way of consuming low quality digital content.
Merriam-Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year is 'slop'
A fitting Word of the Year from Merriam-Webster, which reflects one of 2025's main sources of concern: the proliferation of AI and our way of consuming low quality digital content.
l.euronews.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:42 AM
A fitting Word of the Year from Merriam-Webster, which reflects one of 2025's main sources of concern: the proliferation of AI and our way of consuming low quality digital content.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Well, this is everything. 150-yr-old national educational body, founded by deep-historical civic institutions, flogged off to… some random Greeks… who are now butchering it…
December 14, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Well, this is everything. 150-yr-old national educational body, founded by deep-historical civic institutions, flogged off to… some random Greeks… who are now butchering it…
Reposted by Kevin Painting
IP addresses? Family number telephones? DNA?
December 12, 2025 at 1:48 AM
IP addresses? Family number telephones? DNA?
Reposted by Kevin Painting
A brief history of the AI hype:
Credit: SandSerif by cartoonist, graphic designer, and illustrator, Sandy C.
Credit: SandSerif by cartoonist, graphic designer, and illustrator, Sandy C.
December 17, 2024 at 8:51 PM
A brief history of the AI hype:
Credit: SandSerif by cartoonist, graphic designer, and illustrator, Sandy C.
Credit: SandSerif by cartoonist, graphic designer, and illustrator, Sandy C.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
This is why hating and mocking AI relentlessly and publicly is vital work.
McDonald's has taken down a Christmas ad made with AI following online backlash
The company said the moment served as "an important learning" as it explored "the effective use of AI"
The company said the moment served as "an important learning" as it explored "the effective use of AI"
McDonald's pulls AI-generated Christmas advert following backlash
McDonald's said the moment served as "an important learning" as it explored "the effective use of AI".
www.bbc.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:45 PM
This is why hating and mocking AI relentlessly and publicly is vital work.
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Home Office Ministers state publicly, on the record, that they are deliberately making life worse for older people and people with disabilities who depend on care services, but it's worth it because it reduces net migration.
December 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Home Office Ministers state publicly, on the record, that they are deliberately making life worse for older people and people with disabilities who depend on care services, but it's worth it because it reduces net migration.
Revised Definitions of the Verb "To Google" www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/rev...
Revised Definitions of the Verb “To Google”
1. To look something up quickly and then spend twenty minutes fact-checking the AI summary, only to find out that it was absolutely wrong.
2. To se...
www.mcsweeneys.net
December 9, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Revised Definitions of the Verb "To Google" www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/rev...
Reposted by Kevin Painting
this is GREAT. Such a smart way to wrangle data into something really useful
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it
I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:03 AM
this is GREAT. Such a smart way to wrangle data into something really useful
Reposted by Kevin Painting
Springer Nature retracting papers based on bonkers dataset
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e... Good. #autism
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e... Good. #autism
Springer Nature retracts, removes nearly 40 publications
The dataset contains images of children’s faces downloaded from websites about autism, which sparked concerns at Springer Nature about consent and reliability.
www.thetransmitter.org
December 8, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Springer Nature retracting papers based on bonkers dataset
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e... Good. #autism
www.thetransmitter.org/retraction/e... Good. #autism