Ken Appleby
@kenappleby.bsky.social
Science educated, generalist.
Software engineer. Ex Symbolics Inc. Harlequin Ltd. Emacs user.
Musician: applebystone.com
Producer: pindropevents.co.uk
Lapsed wild camper, hill climber.
Published sci-fi author.
Born 314 ppm CO2.
Software engineer. Ex Symbolics Inc. Harlequin Ltd. Emacs user.
Musician: applebystone.com
Producer: pindropevents.co.uk
Lapsed wild camper, hill climber.
Published sci-fi author.
Born 314 ppm CO2.
"Right Said Fred" Bernard Cribbins.
December 5, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"Right Said Fred" Bernard Cribbins.
So can I, sadly :-} The theme tune to the Billy Cotton Band Show. The Ying Tong Song. They haunt. My head is full of songs from the "Light Programme" (which you won't remember!) in the 60s, blasted out from the radio all weekend. I hated them then, but they have stuck, and now I like many of them!
December 5, 2025 at 5:26 PM
So can I, sadly :-} The theme tune to the Billy Cotton Band Show. The Ying Tong Song. They haunt. My head is full of songs from the "Light Programme" (which you won't remember!) in the 60s, blasted out from the radio all weekend. I hated them then, but they have stuck, and now I like many of them!
I see it's from 1974. So maybe because you learnt it when young, pre-adult?
December 5, 2025 at 5:07 PM
I see it's from 1974. So maybe because you learnt it when young, pre-adult?
It's a wonderful photograph, even after bsky processing. It's astonishing that you can see so many bright stars (or perhaps clusters) in the arms.
As a child I was transfixed by a big glossy photo of this galaxy in an astro book that my parents bought me.
As a child I was transfixed by a big glossy photo of this galaxy in an astro book that my parents bought me.
December 4, 2025 at 6:12 AM
It's a wonderful photograph, even after bsky processing. It's astonishing that you can see so many bright stars (or perhaps clusters) in the arms.
As a child I was transfixed by a big glossy photo of this galaxy in an astro book that my parents bought me.
As a child I was transfixed by a big glossy photo of this galaxy in an astro book that my parents bought me.
This recent post, I think, suggests the same idea, from a different direction: bsky.app/profile/news...
"... gravity may not be a fixed, universal force at all. It could emerge differently for different observers."
"... gravity may not be a fixed, universal force at all. It could emerge differently for different observers."
Two clashing ideas about disorder inside black holes now point to the same strange conclusions, and it could reshape the foundations of how we think about space and time
Black hole entropy hints at a surprising truth about our universe
Two clashing ideas about disorder inside black holes now point to the same strange conclusions, and it could reshape the foundations of how we think about space and time
www.newscientist.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:22 PM
This recent post, I think, suggests the same idea, from a different direction: bsky.app/profile/news...
"... gravity may not be a fixed, universal force at all. It could emerge differently for different observers."
"... gravity may not be a fixed, universal force at all. It could emerge differently for different observers."
That wouldn't be "The Orchard" making the claim would it?
December 1, 2025 at 1:43 PM
That wouldn't be "The Orchard" making the claim would it?
Fully with you on this.
But are the circumstances really all that rare? You must read a lot of science papers and articles after all! :-)
But are the circumstances really all that rare? You must read a lot of science papers and articles after all! :-)
December 1, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Fully with you on this.
But are the circumstances really all that rare? You must read a lot of science papers and articles after all! :-)
But are the circumstances really all that rare? You must read a lot of science papers and articles after all! :-)
Now I think of it, Eccles* said it first:
"Well, everybody's got to be somewhere."
This is not only the answer to the child's question "Why am i here?" it is also the key to understanding reality.
* or was it Bluebottle?
"Well, everybody's got to be somewhere."
This is not only the answer to the child's question "Why am i here?" it is also the key to understanding reality.
* or was it Bluebottle?
November 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Now I think of it, Eccles* said it first:
"Well, everybody's got to be somewhere."
This is not only the answer to the child's question "Why am i here?" it is also the key to understanding reality.
* or was it Bluebottle?
"Well, everybody's got to be somewhere."
This is not only the answer to the child's question "Why am i here?" it is also the key to understanding reality.
* or was it Bluebottle?
This reads quite tongue-in-cheek at first, but it ends up with a clear proposition:
"Perhaps views from somewhere are all that we can ever have"
which as I understand it is the point of Carlo Rovelli's Relational Quantum Mechanics.
"Perhaps views from somewhere are all that we can ever have"
which as I understand it is the point of Carlo Rovelli's Relational Quantum Mechanics.
November 29, 2025 at 12:19 PM
This reads quite tongue-in-cheek at first, but it ends up with a clear proposition:
"Perhaps views from somewhere are all that we can ever have"
which as I understand it is the point of Carlo Rovelli's Relational Quantum Mechanics.
"Perhaps views from somewhere are all that we can ever have"
which as I understand it is the point of Carlo Rovelli's Relational Quantum Mechanics.
+ exhaust system, catalytic converter
November 28, 2025 at 3:42 PM
+ exhaust system, catalytic converter
Pistons, valves, pumped cooling, fuel and lubrication systems, spark ignition, cam shafts, drive chains and belts, crankshafts, big ends, clutch, gearbox, universal joints, differential gears ...
compared to a couple of electric motors and a battery.
compared to a couple of electric motors and a battery.
November 28, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Pistons, valves, pumped cooling, fuel and lubrication systems, spark ignition, cam shafts, drive chains and belts, crankshafts, big ends, clutch, gearbox, universal joints, differential gears ...
compared to a couple of electric motors and a battery.
compared to a couple of electric motors and a battery.
Well, you could look a bit happier about it! :-)
November 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Well, you could look a bit happier about it! :-)
Oh for goodness' sake. This is fake. Are any you here sentient?
November 22, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Oh for goodness' sake. This is fake. Are any you here sentient?
Just write it, ignore the censor demons...
November 21, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Just write it, ignore the censor demons...
And those who really do understand "AI" know that the promoters of most of these policies are going to look very naive and incompetent when the "AI" bubble bursts.
November 21, 2025 at 10:16 PM
And those who really do understand "AI" know that the promoters of most of these policies are going to look very naive and incompetent when the "AI" bubble bursts.
The Beech is an easy target then.
November 14, 2025 at 9:52 PM
The Beech is an easy target then.
Sitka is even worse. At least Beech is "native" to the UK. Would allowing the Beech to grow not help to counter it?
November 14, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Sitka is even worse. At least Beech is "native" to the UK. Would allowing the Beech to grow not help to counter it?
Wouldn't Beech perhaps be your ally against Sitka?
November 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Wouldn't Beech perhaps be your ally against Sitka?
Are those other tree species getting the same treatment as the Beech?
November 14, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Are those other tree species getting the same treatment as the Beech?
I understand, but to me "rewilding" means leaving a place alone: no "management" by humans, apart perhaps from dealing with alien invasives like Rhododendron and Japanese Knotweed.
Having to manage a woodland in perpetuity doesn't feel like rewilding.
And won't beech bring its own biodiversity?
Having to manage a woodland in perpetuity doesn't feel like rewilding.
And won't beech bring its own biodiversity?
November 14, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I understand, but to me "rewilding" means leaving a place alone: no "management" by humans, apart perhaps from dealing with alien invasives like Rhododendron and Japanese Knotweed.
Having to manage a woodland in perpetuity doesn't feel like rewilding.
And won't beech bring its own biodiversity?
Having to manage a woodland in perpetuity doesn't feel like rewilding.
And won't beech bring its own biodiversity?
It does indeed feel wrong.
Please can you give an approximate date in the past to which you are attempting to restore ancient woodland? And if you can, how do you justify that date?
Please can you give an approximate date in the past to which you are attempting to restore ancient woodland? And if you can, how do you justify that date?
November 14, 2025 at 7:32 PM
It does indeed feel wrong.
Please can you give an approximate date in the past to which you are attempting to restore ancient woodland? And if you can, how do you justify that date?
Please can you give an approximate date in the past to which you are attempting to restore ancient woodland? And if you can, how do you justify that date?