Steve Parks
@steveparks.me
Geeking out about writing, entrepreneurship, journalism, food, tech — or ideally a combination.
European, living/writing in France & running a business in UK.
https://www.steveparks.me
European, living/writing in France & running a business in UK.
https://www.steveparks.me
Pinned
Steve Parks
@steveparks.me
· May 7
I'm working on a Digital Detox.
It's a process of reviewing online services I use to prune out those with bad business practices, or who fund/support fascism and hate.
In this thread I'll collate my blog posts in which I document my findings.
Hopefully it can be useful to you too.
#DigitalDetox
It's a process of reviewing online services I use to prune out those with bad business practices, or who fund/support fascism and hate.
In this thread I'll collate my blog posts in which I document my findings.
Hopefully it can be useful to you too.
#DigitalDetox
I hope everyone at the OBR today remembers that f-ups are almost never one person's fault. They may want to blame the content person who set up the page, or the developer, or the head of digital, etc.
It's almost always a collision of minor mistakes that add up when there is no system to catch any.
It's almost always a collision of minor mistakes that add up when there is no system to catch any.
November 26, 2025 at 12:51 PM
I hope everyone at the OBR today remembers that f-ups are almost never one person's fault. They may want to blame the content person who set up the page, or the developer, or the head of digital, etc.
It's almost always a collision of minor mistakes that add up when there is no system to catch any.
It's almost always a collision of minor mistakes that add up when there is no system to catch any.
Has everyone hung their tax stocking by the fireplace?
Santa Chancellor is coming, and only leaves taxes for citizens whose country has been very very naughty for years on end. So the UK should get a bumper delivery!
Santa Chancellor is coming, and only leaves taxes for citizens whose country has been very very naughty for years on end. So the UK should get a bumper delivery!
November 26, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Has everyone hung their tax stocking by the fireplace?
Santa Chancellor is coming, and only leaves taxes for citizens whose country has been very very naughty for years on end. So the UK should get a bumper delivery!
Santa Chancellor is coming, and only leaves taxes for citizens whose country has been very very naughty for years on end. So the UK should get a bumper delivery!
👏👏👏
A small but significant step: Dutch national broadcaster NOS is leaving X.
“The volume of hateful comments and disinformation on X is enormous and flows freely. This also applies under our own posts, meaning we unintentionally contribute to their spread”
over.nos.nl/nieuws/nos-p...
“The volume of hateful comments and disinformation on X is enormous and flows freely. This also applies under our own posts, meaning we unintentionally contribute to their spread”
over.nos.nl/nieuws/nos-p...
NOS plaatst vanaf vandaag geen nieuwsberichten meer op X - Over NOS
De NOS en Nieuwsuur (NOS/NTR) zijn gestopt met posten op X. Het platform past niet meer bij onze visie op...
over.nos.nl
November 26, 2025 at 7:49 AM
👏👏👏
Reposted by Steve Parks
😬😱
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
😬😱
Stand by because, at this company, when one of them is toppled they tend to take all the others down too
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Stand by because, at this company, when one of them is toppled they tend to take all the others down too
Reposted by Steve Parks
every time someone goes on the Beeb, no matter what topic they’re there to talk about, they should add, ‘oh, and Donald Trump is the most openly corrupt president in American history’
November 25, 2025 at 11:26 AM
every time someone goes on the Beeb, no matter what topic they’re there to talk about, they should add, ‘oh, and Donald Trump is the most openly corrupt president in American history’
Proud to be European 👏
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Proud to be European 👏
Brexit has been hugely successful.
(When measured against its originators intended purpose, which was to break one of Russia's key opponents and distract some others)
(When measured against its originators intended purpose, which was to break one of Russia's key opponents and distract some others)
The UK is losing up to £250m a day in lost tax revenue due to the economic impact of Brexit, House of Commons Library analysis for the Lib Dems suggests.
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Brexit has been hugely successful.
(When measured against its originators intended purpose, which was to break one of Russia's key opponents and distract some others)
(When measured against its originators intended purpose, which was to break one of Russia's key opponents and distract some others)
Oh BBC.
We love you, but stop punching yourself in the face like this.
Really, if Nigel Farage gave this lecture describing Obama as openly corrupt you wouldn’t have blinked, laughing it off.
What makes you panic is proximity to uncomfortable truth.
We love you, but stop punching yourself in the face like this.
Really, if Nigel Farage gave this lecture describing Obama as openly corrupt you wouldn’t have blinked, laughing it off.
What makes you panic is proximity to uncomfortable truth.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Oh BBC.
We love you, but stop punching yourself in the face like this.
Really, if Nigel Farage gave this lecture describing Obama as openly corrupt you wouldn’t have blinked, laughing it off.
What makes you panic is proximity to uncomfortable truth.
We love you, but stop punching yourself in the face like this.
Really, if Nigel Farage gave this lecture describing Obama as openly corrupt you wouldn’t have blinked, laughing it off.
What makes you panic is proximity to uncomfortable truth.
Wouldn’t be the first time New York fashionistas looked for a gay baa
November 24, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Wouldn’t be the first time New York fashionistas looked for a gay baa
Reposted by Steve Parks
Remember the Steele dossier stated Putin had kompromat on Trump and was leveraging it?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
November 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Remember the Steele dossier stated Putin had kompromat on Trump and was leveraging it?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
😬
My thoughts are with Chris Mason's professional credibility at this difficult time
My thoughts are with Chris Mason's professional credibility at this difficult time
Robbie Gibb describes the BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason as the "unsung hero of covering politics" and "absolutely first rate"
November 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
😬
My thoughts are with Chris Mason's professional credibility at this difficult time
My thoughts are with Chris Mason's professional credibility at this difficult time
Just started watching this series. Excellent so far.
Will look forward to reading this piece when I finish
Will look forward to reading this piece when I finish
And another! Stories and interviews with the team behind one of the BBC's greatest ever TV dramas – "a revenge thriller, a mystical nuclear-and-environmental-apocalypse fable, a clear-eyed political document of the mid-1980s, a ghost story" – by me for @thequietus.com thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
Why Edge Of Darkness makes so much sense in 2025 | The Quietus
Judge Rogers speaks to several key members of the team who made the ecologically-minded thriller for the BBC
thequietus.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Just started watching this series. Excellent so far.
Will look forward to reading this piece when I finish
Will look forward to reading this piece when I finish
Well I guess that’s all settled then
November 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Well I guess that’s all settled then
Are there any good Black Friday deals going on Reform MPs?
Asking for Russian friends.
Asking for Russian friends.
November 24, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Are there any good Black Friday deals going on Reform MPs?
Asking for Russian friends.
Asking for Russian friends.
Remember the Steele dossier stated Putin had kompromat on Trump and was leveraging it?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
November 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Remember the Steele dossier stated Putin had kompromat on Trump and was leveraging it?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
People imagined video cameras in Moscow hotel walls filming golden showers.
But what if Russian intelligence had simply been hoovering up all of Epstein’s poorly-secured data and comms for years?
Reposted by Steve Parks
As someone who worked in tech through the dotcom crash, I've been thinking a bit about how public-service orgs were great incubators of digital talent in the early 2000s. Fanciful as it seems, the BBC and C4 were basically hotbeds of talent development and risk taking.
November 24, 2025 at 2:53 PM
As someone who worked in tech through the dotcom crash, I've been thinking a bit about how public-service orgs were great incubators of digital talent in the early 2000s. Fanciful as it seems, the BBC and C4 were basically hotbeds of talent development and risk taking.
Reposted by Steve Parks
This feels like one of those stories you're going to look at a year from now and say to yourself, "Why didn't I move more of my portfolio into cash?" **
** (This post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or any other advice.)
🎁
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
** (This post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or any other advice.)
🎁
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
AI Meets Aggressive Accounting at Meta’s Gigantic New Data Center
Favorable treatment off the balance sheet hinges on some convenient assumptions.
www.wsj.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:01 PM
This feels like one of those stories you're going to look at a year from now and say to yourself, "Why didn't I move more of my portfolio into cash?" **
** (This post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or any other advice.)
🎁
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
** (This post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or any other advice.)
🎁
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
Love that they still dress up in camouflage.
I feel that to serve its purpose of blending in to background, though, the print should be changed from being leafy/natural to being a scattering of McDonald’s packaging, pizza boxes, and marvel comics.
I feel that to serve its purpose of blending in to background, though, the print should be changed from being leafy/natural to being a scattering of McDonald’s packaging, pizza boxes, and marvel comics.
Eyes in the sky: gamers called up as army bets on march of the drones
A military exercise on Salisbury Plain has seen unmanned aerial vehicles on the imaginary battlefield for the first time
✍️ Rachel Sylvester
https://bit.ly/48wO56b
A military exercise on Salisbury Plain has seen unmanned aerial vehicles on the imaginary battlefield for the first time
✍️ Rachel Sylvester
https://bit.ly/48wO56b
Eyes in the sky: gamers called up as army bets on march of the drones | The Observer
national
bit.ly
November 24, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Love that they still dress up in camouflage.
I feel that to serve its purpose of blending in to background, though, the print should be changed from being leafy/natural to being a scattering of McDonald’s packaging, pizza boxes, and marvel comics.
I feel that to serve its purpose of blending in to background, though, the print should be changed from being leafy/natural to being a scattering of McDonald’s packaging, pizza boxes, and marvel comics.
Hello BlueSky science types.
Is there a good credible resource to share with people who still hold the 1970s view on it being “good for children to catch chicken pox”?
Eg explaining it doesn’t “make immune system stronger”, has lifelong effects, shingles, contribution to dementia, etc?
Is there a good credible resource to share with people who still hold the 1970s view on it being “good for children to catch chicken pox”?
Eg explaining it doesn’t “make immune system stronger”, has lifelong effects, shingles, contribution to dementia, etc?
November 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Hello BlueSky science types.
Is there a good credible resource to share with people who still hold the 1970s view on it being “good for children to catch chicken pox”?
Eg explaining it doesn’t “make immune system stronger”, has lifelong effects, shingles, contribution to dementia, etc?
Is there a good credible resource to share with people who still hold the 1970s view on it being “good for children to catch chicken pox”?
Eg explaining it doesn’t “make immune system stronger”, has lifelong effects, shingles, contribution to dementia, etc?
12 years ago I vowed never to fly Ryanair again. I’ve stuck to that.
They have a performative cruelty, akin to far right extremists like Trump and Farage - but directed at their customers.
They want to be seen as aggressive and nasty. They get a kick out of it.
Don’t use Ryanair.
They have a performative cruelty, akin to far right extremists like Trump and Farage - but directed at their customers.
They want to be seen as aggressive and nasty. They get a kick out of it.
Don’t use Ryanair.
Ryanair expects me to take the financial hit for helping others
As a doctor I stepped in to tend to an elderly passenger … but it won’t waive £100 transfer fee to rebook
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 AM
12 years ago I vowed never to fly Ryanair again. I’ve stuck to that.
They have a performative cruelty, akin to far right extremists like Trump and Farage - but directed at their customers.
They want to be seen as aggressive and nasty. They get a kick out of it.
Don’t use Ryanair.
They have a performative cruelty, akin to far right extremists like Trump and Farage - but directed at their customers.
They want to be seen as aggressive and nasty. They get a kick out of it.
Don’t use Ryanair.
Reposted by Steve Parks
OK, folklore and mythology people, I’m looking for Merlin analogues/equivalents in European history, any suggestions?
November 24, 2025 at 8:37 AM
OK, folklore and mythology people, I’m looking for Merlin analogues/equivalents in European history, any suggestions?
Reposted by Steve Parks
Spot on analysis by Martin Wolf in @financialtimes.com on what is wrong with British economy and how successive governments have made it worse. Brexit disaster, failed regional policies, now attacks on universities. And inevitably, Farage features prominently, not in a good way
November 24, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Spot on analysis by Martin Wolf in @financialtimes.com on what is wrong with British economy and how successive governments have made it worse. Brexit disaster, failed regional policies, now attacks on universities. And inevitably, Farage features prominently, not in a good way