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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 17h

I’d like to ask Omid how the comedy gig will stop journalists being abducted and beheaded. There’s a reason Steve Van Zandt wrote Sun City…

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/08/riyadh-comedy-festival-omid-djalili-saudi-arabia

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Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Bruce Sterling @bruces @bruces.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 1d

*Curing Alzheimer's in mice

*Skeptics will go, "heyn that's in mice," and rightly so, but curing it at all, that's a big deal

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-025-02426-1

Rapid amyloid-β clearance and cognitive recovery through multivalent modulation of blood–brain barrier transport - Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy

Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy - Rapid amyloid-β clearance and cognitive recovery through multivalent modulation of blood–brain barrier transport

www.nature.com

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 1d

More #ukpolitics
Speaking as a white bloke, if you show up somewhere and lament the lack of white faces in your field of view, rest assured that you have in fact been racist.

Robert Jenrick isn't playing with words. By word and deed, he's telling everyone exactly what he is.

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 2d

Hello... This is interesting. Esp the bit where the guy was jailed for wire fraud in the USA 8yrs ago in his early 20s.

Tax authorities examine finances of key Nigel Farage ally | Business | The Guardian […]

Original post on mstdn.social

mstdn.social

drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 2d

THAT'S NO MOON THAT'S A SP-

Wait. Hang on. Ok yes, yes aaah ok

Alright folks nothing to see here turns out it IS a moon. All good, we aren't about to be zapped by a technogical monstrosity.

The #harvestmoon rises out of the clouds in the skies above […]

[Original post on mstdn.social]

The Harvest Moon of Sept 5th rises out of a layer of cloud into the dusky skies above Oxfordshire in the UK.

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Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Vee @veroniqueb99.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 4d

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 4d

@mmasnick.bsky.social Discovering one. At a guess we are a 1000yrs away from being able to build one.

Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 5d

The politics of drawing a moral line: When we need to call out racism for what it is open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

The politics of drawing a moral line

The politics of drawing a moral line.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Ethan Siegel @startswithabang.bsky.social · 6d

What do distant observers see when they look at Earth?

If a distant observer takes a look back at Earth, what would they see?

They'd see a more primitive version of our planet, of course, and beyond a certain distance, no Earth at all.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #Earth

What do distant observers see when they look at Earth?

From here on Earth, looking farther away in space means looking farther back in time. So what are distant Earth-watchers seeing right now?

bigthink.com

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Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Terence Eden @edent.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 7d

Spending the afternoon at the #iet - delighted to see this!

Read more about her at https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/07/book-review-problems-have-no-sex-caroline-haslett-1949/

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 8d

Well. Aren't those 'comedians' doing a gig in Saudi Arabia a lovely bunch of people eh. Erudite. Thoughtful. Holding a mirror up to our souls via the medium of insightful humour. /s

drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 10d

#ukpolitics (alert I guess)

Supporting racist policies DOES make you a racist.

Speaking as a white bloke, we white folks really don't like to tell other white folks that they've gone and done a racist. This, sadly extends to triangulating politicians such as our Chancellor.

&, just to say it […]

Original post on mstdn.social

mstdn.social

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Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Antoinne Sterk @antoinnesterk.cyberplace.social.ap.brid.gy · 11d

Eemnesserweg

#silentsunday #gooi #photography

A silhouetted tree standing alone on the bank of a flooded bridle path. The light is coming from behind the tree, creating a dramatic, deep shadow effect. The reflection of the tree in the still water is nearly perfect, adding a strong sense of symmetry and depth.

The sky features a beautiful gradient of color, moving from deep blue/teal at the top to bright yellow and orange along the horizon, where the sun is setting. The light is soft and hazy, contributing to a mystical atmosphere.

In the foreground, the banks are covered in grass and low-lying vegetation. On the right side, there appears to be a patch of purple heather or similar flowering plants, which adds a subtle splash of color. In the distance, the landscape is shrouded in a light mist, with the tops of other trees poking through.

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Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 11d

'Rather than addressing the fundamental problems with existing verification systems, the Britcard threatens to digitise and amplify the very hostile environment policies that created these problems in the first place'

blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

The Britcard – progressive or concerning? | British Politics and Policy at LSE

The Government is considering Labour Together's proposal to introduce mandatory digital ID cards in an effort to tackle irregular migration. There are problems with that.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 13d

@rjblaskiewicz figures!

drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 13d

@rjblaskiewicz down a drummer eh... Spontaneous combustion? Or bizarre gardening accident?

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Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Dan Fixes Coin-Ops @ifixcoinops.retro.social.ap.brid.gy · Aug 6

Free software people I am begging you to stop naming your software

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 16d

@dangillmor went to article... saw the name Robbie Gibb. Yup. Impartiality is and has been a joke at the BBC for some time now.

Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

TomKrajci 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @krajcitom.universeodon.com.ap.brid.gy · 18d

It's a glorious Saturday night in the mountains of southern New Mexico.

The Milky Way stretches from horizon to horizon. Cygnus the swan is at the zenith. (North is left)

First photo is a circular fisheye. It's field of view is greater than 180 degrees […]

[Original post on universeodon.com]

All-sky view of the night sky on a moonless night. The Milky Way is a curdled, textured broad band running from left to right.

A slightly closer look at the Milky Way.

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 18d

@Edent Cost and the fact that it wasn't a bike or scooter, thus needing regulatory change for usage in many places. It was 5 grand? At launch I think. Bit like the Sinclair C5 - almost brilliant. I'm guessing VC money possibly not so interested in infrastructure like that back then?

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 21d

The #Apple #liquidglass camera app is SO terrible! Utter usability failure.

All that R&D on sensors & software & it's not practically useable to do anything other than point & click.

The user journeys are awful.

Cinematic mode - HDres 30fps cant be changed - just blocks the view

There's a […]

Original post on mstdn.social

mstdn.social

drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 22d

OMG!!! iOS26 is TERRIBLE!

I've had to change my background, and turn on a bunch of accesibility features - all cos I like dark mode.

Soent 5 mins making the TIME on the home/lock screen vaguely usable

And the pin lock is broken in dark mode - black numerals on a dark grey circular background […]

Original post on mstdn.social

mstdn.social

Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

Prof Heino Falcke @hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23d

You remember the iconic picture of a black hole from the @ehtelescope? Now there are three - a mini-movie so to speak. The structure of magnetic fields changes, the brightness wobbles, but the ring remains rock solid. That seals the case for it being a black […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]

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drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧 @drs1969.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 23d

It’s not a lawsuit.

It’s a threat and an attack on the systems that enable any sort of democracy to function, however imperfectly.

It’s also a test.

Reposted by drs1969 (David Smith) 🇬🇧

VelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪 @villavelius.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy · 24d

Were Saint George to come to England he would be refused. He was born in Turkey, his mother came from Palestine and his father was of Syrian origin. His flag has nevertheless been appropriated by the English hooligan fraternity.

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