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Hugh Pumphrey

@hughpumphrey.bsky.social

2.7K followers 400 following 2.4K posts

Reader in Atmospheric Science, Sch. of GeoSciences, Uni. of Edinburgh. Works on https://mls.jpl.nasa.gov/ . Walking, singing, Linux, bellringing, astronomy, geology, geophysics and meteorology. Dislikes extreme right or leftwing politics and nationalism.

mls.jpl.nasa.gov

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Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 14h

Wins on "Fast as C". Might win on "scalable" depending on what you mean by scalable.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 14h

Putting in the science vote for Julia ( julialang.org , @julialang.org ) I suspect that in reality it wins on the first three points but falls flat on the fourth.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 2d

Unusually, my train this morning arrived at #Edinburgh Waverley's platforms 8/9. I was pleased to see that the sign on the door of the Plumber's shop (with its tiny letter B) was still there.

Arch in stone wall with painted wooden door. Letters fixed to the door spell "Plumbers Shop" in caps and small caps. The "B" in "plumbers" is tiny compared to the other letters.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 2d

If Fararse does get to take part I would like to think that, just before the political leaders go out of the FO building, Starmer and Ed Davey will twist one arm each behind his back, allowing Chazza to draw a Hitler moustache on Fararge's upper lip with a marker pen.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 2d

Reminds me that my father had 397 LG but it was an Austin 1100 that fell apart with rust.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 2d

Everyone who has listened to "Dead Ringers" and has ever said "I'm a low-key weirdo" in a Kemi Badenoch voice.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 3d

Welcome to #Edinburgh

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 6d

Also tagging @ashcasting.bsky.social as the contact on @bsky.app for BBC Points of View.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 6d

Very, very much this. ("there"=x.com, "here = @bsky.app )

Tagging @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social @bbcdomc.bsky.social @bbcdaniels.bsky.social @bbcstever.bsky.social @bbcrobc.bsky.social in the hope that the message gets passed on.

Another Cinna @anothercinna.bsky.social · 6d

I can't understand why BBC Radios 3 & 4 have a presence only there when their listeners are only here.

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Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 6d

Colour me entirely unsurprised.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

I'm sure there was some discussion about those accounts on here a few months back, they were considered to be AI bots, sometimes referred to as disagreebots. Given that you don't get paid for engagement here it was not clear what their aim was.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

There is a great deal in this thread which is informative if you are trying to understand what actually goes on in universities.

New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 7d

Not going to link to the Glasgow Uni story (CW: suicide), but (a) it is appalling, and (b) I fear that an awful lot of processes in many universities run right on the edge of disaster.

Nothing excuses the error or the failure to offer the student support, but...

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

How could we have forgotten?

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

Better answer: Farage turns out to be a Russian asset. Oh, wait . . . bsky.app/profile/secr...

The Secret Labuor MP🥀🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 @secret-labour-mp.bsky.social · 7d

Someone really, really ought to ask Nigel Farage how mugged off he feels about his mate Nathan Gill earning handsome bribe money for asking Russian propaganda questions; the same Russian propaganda questions he also asked for absolutely no financial gain whatsoever, out of the goodness of his heart.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

#Farageboats

(If it isn't, it ought to be.)

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Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

PSA: If you get Frank Haematuria, go get it checked. It could just be a dodgy blood vessel; could be bladder cancer --- very treatable if caught early. (I had some cancer removed; last six or seven annual checks have all been "nothing to see, come back in a year".)

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

Lordy. Which building are those guys in?

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

If there is enough blood to see, it is called "Frank Haematuria" which sounds to me like a bad Sinatra tribute act.

(But, yeah, when it happens "Aaa" is a normal sort of reaction.)

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Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

As an armchair @lfcr.bsky.social supporter I am supposed to hate the Sun above all other newspapers. But I think the Fail is actually more damaging: everyone knows that the Sun is trash, but the Fail maintains the pretence of having non-trash credentials.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 7d

I have not seen either series, but the split between non-Irish who like it and Irish who don't is reminiscent of the reaction to "King and Conqueror": some found it entertaining; anyone who has any knowledge of the Norman conquest was screaming in rage, e.g. www.marcmorris.org.uk/2025/08/king...

King and Conqueror: Not Even Wrong

I watched the first episode of King and Conqueror . It took all my reserves of staying power to make it to the end. I won’t comment on the...

www.marcmorris.org.uk

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 8d

Uhhhh, GO AUSTRIA, I guess.

I do hope that this works out for them.

nixCraft @cyberciti.biz · 8d

The Austrian military just ditched Microsoft Office. They’ve fully migrated 16,000 computers to the free and opensource LibreOffice suite. Proof that you don't always need the biggest brand name to get the job done. Tax payers money goes towards good causes instead of Microsoft vibe working AI

Austria's military switches from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice - The Document Foundation Blog

Like we’re seeing in Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark and many other government bodies and organisations, the Austrian military (Bundesheer) has migrated 16,000 PCs from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice. As...

blog.documentfoundation.org

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Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 8d

If we are supposed to do that with the Greens, we should do it in spades for "Reform UK" . If people looked at their rubbish councillors that keep resigning (and their rubbish MPs that hardly ever turn up) they might think again about voting Reform in a general election.

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Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 8d

I am not sure whether it is worrying or comforting to know that other universities have buildings that are curséd in this way.

(Edinburgh's JCMB is certainly curséd, partly because of the way it causes you to lose all sense of direction as you emerge from the stairwell.)

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Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 8d

That will be vitally important, but I would not consider it a small, easy win.

Hugh Pumphrey @hughpumphrey.bsky.social · 8d

It is all very well having that nonsense in your own notebook that you are tinkering with. But if you give someone else a notebook in that state, you deserve, uh, some horrid thing to happen to you.