Stephen JC
@sjcoltrane.bsky.social
I got a PhD and somehow I ended up live streaming Dark Souls. Living the dream in west London. He/him and Welsh.
(Profile pic is my black cat.)
(Profile pic is my black cat.)
Pinned
Stephen JC
@sjcoltrane.bsky.social
· Nov 1
This is exactly what I needed this morning. I was all set to tell my boys to get out of this country if they wanted any future.
Don't Panic: Britain is not broken. The UK can do better, but we shouldn't be too gloomy about things. If you look at the stats, there's a lot to be happy with (including how happy we are): adamcorlett.com/2025/11/30/d...
Don’t Panic: Britain is not broken – adamcorlett.com
adamcorlett.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:24 AM
This is exactly what I needed this morning. I was all set to tell my boys to get out of this country if they wanted any future.
I do actually miss the bells. But in those days we didn’t have videogames and smoothies. We were happy all day with just a stick and a piece of tissue paper. Simpler times.
This poem is dedicated to anyone making a start on their advent calendar today.
December 1, 2025 at 8:08 AM
I do actually miss the bells. But in those days we didn’t have videogames and smoothies. We were happy all day with just a stick and a piece of tissue paper. Simpler times.
Anyway the 18yo’s party went off without much incident last night. Only one pool of vomit, turned the music off when agreed and no breakages. Impressive.
Sadly he’s spending his birthday working on his UCAS application and school coursework. But his choice.
Sadly he’s spending his birthday working on his UCAS application and school coursework. But his choice.
November 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Anyway the 18yo’s party went off without much incident last night. Only one pool of vomit, turned the music off when agreed and no breakages. Impressive.
Sadly he’s spending his birthday working on his UCAS application and school coursework. But his choice.
Sadly he’s spending his birthday working on his UCAS application and school coursework. But his choice.
I might be breaking ranks on this one. My youngest has turned 18. He and his older brother have tracking turned on. We don’t check it constantly, it’s just there for “is he on his way back?” or “did he make it to X safely/on time?” I don’t think it infantilises them. It’s just a quick tickbox.
People are very hard on young people on here, lack of critical thinking, lack of responsibility etc, and then you see something like this and it all makes a different kind of sense.
November 30, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I might be breaking ranks on this one. My youngest has turned 18. He and his older brother have tracking turned on. We don’t check it constantly, it’s just there for “is he on his way back?” or “did he make it to X safely/on time?” I don’t think it infantilises them. It’s just a quick tickbox.
Reading this, I realised I have never owned my own car. My 21yo son has his own car, I have never had one of my own.
To be fair though, I didn’t pass my test until I was 36 and my epilepsy has put me at the mercy of the DVLA quite a lot.
To be fair though, I didn’t pass my test until I was 36 and my epilepsy has put me at the mercy of the DVLA quite a lot.
Introduce yourself with 5 cars you've owned
*cracks knuckles*
Renault 4
Austin Allegro Equipe
Fiat Strada
Nissan Micra
Mini Cooper Estate
Currently: Škoda Scala, the first time I’ve bought new.
*cracks knuckles*
Renault 4
Austin Allegro Equipe
Fiat Strada
Nissan Micra
Mini Cooper Estate
Currently: Škoda Scala, the first time I’ve bought new.
Mine’s quite boring 😞
Introduce yourself with 5 cars you've owned
Vauxhall Chevette
Ford Orion
Ford Mondeo
Renault Scenic (mk1, mk2 and mk3)
Kia Niro EV
Introduce yourself with 5 cars you've owned
Vauxhall Chevette
Ford Orion
Ford Mondeo
Renault Scenic (mk1, mk2 and mk3)
Kia Niro EV
November 29, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Reading this, I realised I have never owned my own car. My 21yo son has his own car, I have never had one of my own.
To be fair though, I didn’t pass my test until I was 36 and my epilepsy has put me at the mercy of the DVLA quite a lot.
To be fair though, I didn’t pass my test until I was 36 and my epilepsy has put me at the mercy of the DVLA quite a lot.
I was just thinking. Funny word, ‘scrotum’.
Anyway, never mind that for now.
Anyway, never mind that for now.
November 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
I was just thinking. Funny word, ‘scrotum’.
Anyway, never mind that for now.
Anyway, never mind that for now.
I can’t comment on this place, not having been, but the list seems pretty hard on Surbiton. Nothing wrong with Surbiton.
A national newspaper named a Welsh location among the UK’s most boring towns
Welsh location named in a list of the UK's most boring towns
A national newspaper named a Welsh location among the UK’s most boring towns. The Telegraph published a list of seven ‘unsung wonders’ for being boring, on the grounds that ‘mass tourism is built arou...
nation.cymru
November 27, 2025 at 9:51 AM
I can’t comment on this place, not having been, but the list seems pretty hard on Surbiton. Nothing wrong with Surbiton.
“The interest rate on your savings is changing.”
Why don’t you say it’s going down? It’s always going down.
Why don’t you say it’s going down? It’s always going down.
November 27, 2025 at 9:04 AM
“The interest rate on your savings is changing.”
Why don’t you say it’s going down? It’s always going down.
Why don’t you say it’s going down? It’s always going down.
I asked my 21yo what it was (I’d heard of 6-7, but not the gesture) and did the little hand movement Starmer was doing.
You have never seen a look of such contempt.
You have never seen a look of such contempt.
If you want some good news this morning, I showed my three boys the PM doing the six/seven thing and now they have all stopped doing it.
November 27, 2025 at 8:33 AM
I asked my 21yo what it was (I’d heard of 6-7, but not the gesture) and did the little hand movement Starmer was doing.
You have never seen a look of such contempt.
You have never seen a look of such contempt.
One feels they might have had this ready to go for some time.
[Alt text: “How will mansion tax work? Here’s how to devalue your home to avoid it”]
[Alt text: “How will mansion tax work? Here’s how to devalue your home to avoid it”]
November 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
One feels they might have had this ready to go for some time.
[Alt text: “How will mansion tax work? Here’s how to devalue your home to avoid it”]
[Alt text: “How will mansion tax work? Here’s how to devalue your home to avoid it”]
Reposted by Stephen JC
I am just so unfathomably angry at the conditions trans people in the UK have to live in. A man screaming in a teenage trans girl's face about how she's a pedophile, sissy porn addict, etc, is cleared of wrongdoing. The BBC coins the incoherent term "teenage trans woman" to deny her vulnerability.
November 25, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I am just so unfathomably angry at the conditions trans people in the UK have to live in. A man screaming in a teenage trans girl's face about how she's a pedophile, sissy porn addict, etc, is cleared of wrongdoing. The BBC coins the incoherent term "teenage trans woman" to deny her vulnerability.
I see a lot of “oh noes, Reform are going to win!” (especially on Reddit) just because they’re on 25%.
The Greens have tripled their support but no one seems to think Zack Polanski is poised to become PM.
Prepare for the worst, yes, but why not also hope for the best?
The Greens have tripled their support but no one seems to think Zack Polanski is poised to become PM.
Prepare for the worst, yes, but why not also hope for the best?
Looking at polling averages, Reform has dipped a little recently but it's largely because of Labour 24 voters who had been saying "don't know" now saying Green.
As DKs they were excluded but as Greens they are not, so Reform drop even though they have the same number of people supporting them.
As DKs they were excluded but as Greens they are not, so Reform drop even though they have the same number of people supporting them.
November 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
I see a lot of “oh noes, Reform are going to win!” (especially on Reddit) just because they’re on 25%.
The Greens have tripled their support but no one seems to think Zack Polanski is poised to become PM.
Prepare for the worst, yes, but why not also hope for the best?
The Greens have tripled their support but no one seems to think Zack Polanski is poised to become PM.
Prepare for the worst, yes, but why not also hope for the best?
Reposted by Stephen JC
Looking at polling averages, Reform has dipped a little recently but it's largely because of Labour 24 voters who had been saying "don't know" now saying Green.
As DKs they were excluded but as Greens they are not, so Reform drop even though they have the same number of people supporting them.
As DKs they were excluded but as Greens they are not, so Reform drop even though they have the same number of people supporting them.
November 25, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Looking at polling averages, Reform has dipped a little recently but it's largely because of Labour 24 voters who had been saying "don't know" now saying Green.
As DKs they were excluded but as Greens they are not, so Reform drop even though they have the same number of people supporting them.
As DKs they were excluded but as Greens they are not, so Reform drop even though they have the same number of people supporting them.
I see the IHT woman slipped in the inevitable “worked hard all my life” line.
November 24, 2025 at 10:31 AM
I see the IHT woman slipped in the inevitable “worked hard all my life” line.
I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you, Charlie Brown.
I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her, Charlie Brown.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance, Charlie Brown, in this life or the next.
November 24, 2025 at 10:29 AM
I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you, Charlie Brown.
Reposted by Stephen JC
I wish more reporting on this made the point that novelists won't be displaced by LLMs suddenly producing literature instead of story mulch, but because decision makers focused only on the bottom line, who don't understand what makes a good book, will be persuaded story mulch has got 'good enough'.
New research by @mctd.bsky.social shows the impact of generative AI on authors in the UK. They found over a third of novelists report their income has already been negatively impacted by AI and 85% expect their future income will be negatively impacted.
www.mctd.ac.uk/impact-of-ge...
www.mctd.ac.uk/impact-of-ge...
Impact of Generative AI on the Novel
A report examining how literary creatives being affected by GenAI and what measures they want see implemented by the government to protect the UK’s literary scene.
www.mctd.ac.uk
November 20, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I wish more reporting on this made the point that novelists won't be displaced by LLMs suddenly producing literature instead of story mulch, but because decision makers focused only on the bottom line, who don't understand what makes a good book, will be persuaded story mulch has got 'good enough'.
These spam accounts pretending to be Gaza residents might be a little more convincing if they didn’t have the word ‘crypto’ in their handle.
November 24, 2025 at 8:33 AM
These spam accounts pretending to be Gaza residents might be a little more convincing if they didn’t have the word ‘crypto’ in their handle.
I dreamed I was (somehow) an MP and I was sitting in the Commons chamber next to Carla Denyer. She was quite stressed because someone was very ill and she was expecting a phone call. It seems that phones were allowed in the chamber (I presume they’re not IRL).
November 23, 2025 at 12:52 PM
I dreamed I was (somehow) an MP and I was sitting in the Commons chamber next to Carla Denyer. She was quite stressed because someone was very ill and she was expecting a phone call. It seems that phones were allowed in the chamber (I presume they’re not IRL).
Reposted by Stephen JC
www.theguardian.com/technology/2... this is a really insightful article - AI slop is a result of the poor working conditions of the raters as well as being a consequence of the innate characteristics of LLMs
Meet the AI workers who tell their friends and family to stay away from AI
When the people making AI seem trustworthy are the ones who trust it the least, it shows that incentives for speed are overtaking safety, experts say
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:58 AM
www.theguardian.com/technology/2... this is a really insightful article - AI slop is a result of the poor working conditions of the raters as well as being a consequence of the innate characteristics of LLMs
Me as your Bluesky therapist.
November 22, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Me as your Bluesky therapist.
My God, The Naked Week is astonishingly unfunny.
November 22, 2025 at 12:50 PM
My God, The Naked Week is astonishingly unfunny.
Trying to convert some of my old DV tapes of the kids into MP4.
Good news: ancient DV camera will play back the tapes.
Bad news: can’t connect DV camera to PC.
Worse news: one of the tapes is now stuck in the camera.
Good news: ancient DV camera will play back the tapes.
Bad news: can’t connect DV camera to PC.
Worse news: one of the tapes is now stuck in the camera.
November 22, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Trying to convert some of my old DV tapes of the kids into MP4.
Good news: ancient DV camera will play back the tapes.
Bad news: can’t connect DV camera to PC.
Worse news: one of the tapes is now stuck in the camera.
Good news: ancient DV camera will play back the tapes.
Bad news: can’t connect DV camera to PC.
Worse news: one of the tapes is now stuck in the camera.
I see I’ve woken up to find England have returned to form. Thank goodness, I was worried I was going to have to take an interest, thereby messing up my sleep patterns.
November 22, 2025 at 9:23 AM
I see I’ve woken up to find England have returned to form. Thank goodness, I was worried I was going to have to take an interest, thereby messing up my sleep patterns.
Unfollowed The Poke. I’m not paying to be allowed to reject cookies. Rather like NewsThump, etc, most of the interesting/amusing stuff is in the title anyway.
November 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Unfollowed The Poke. I’m not paying to be allowed to reject cookies. Rather like NewsThump, etc, most of the interesting/amusing stuff is in the title anyway.
Having an interesting discussion with my politically-engaged 21yo son. “Would you vote Tory to keep Reform out?”
November 21, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Having an interesting discussion with my politically-engaged 21yo son. “Would you vote Tory to keep Reform out?”