Stuart Hedges
@stuarthedges.bsky.social
Serial adopter of retired greyhounds. Retrofitted a 1970s ex-council house with solar/batteries/heat pump/EV. Keen home cook.
Pinned
I've been meaning to do a thread about our eco-home retrofit, as it all happened before I started on Bluesky. Here goes!
Our house is a 1970s-built ex-council house, mid-terrace, timber frame. All very standard and ordinary.
Our house is a 1970s-built ex-council house, mid-terrace, timber frame. All very standard and ordinary.
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
Every word of this.
Policies that will cost consumers more, suffocate nascent industries, leave us dependent on gas for longer, and jeopardise green transition are really not great overall.....
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Policies that will cost consumers more, suffocate nascent industries, leave us dependent on gas for longer, and jeopardise green transition are really not great overall.....
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Scrapping green subsidies is short-termist sabotage – and as usual the consumer will pay | Camilla Born
Weaning ourselves off gas is the only way to reduce energy bills long term. Cutting support for this is exactly the ‘sticking-plaster politics’ Labour promised to end, says CEO of Electrify Britain Ca...
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Every word of this.
Policies that will cost consumers more, suffocate nascent industries, leave us dependent on gas for longer, and jeopardise green transition are really not great overall.....
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Policies that will cost consumers more, suffocate nascent industries, leave us dependent on gas for longer, and jeopardise green transition are really not great overall.....
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Always worth listening to Rahaeli on this stuff.
FWIW I think it's pretty obvious the post was a joke but it's not a joke I'd have made either on here or around a pub table with friends.
FWIW I think it's pretty obvious the post was a joke but it's not a joke I'd have made either on here or around a pub table with friends.
There is a very good reason why the thing I say most consistently about situations like this is "the violent rhetoric policy is my least favorite policy to write and enforce, and the policy that creates the most upheaval among the userbase when it is applied"!
"bluesky will suspend you for anything vaguely resembling a death threat" is maybe the single most consistent moderation policy they have I don't know why anyone is surprised by this one
yes, even if it's a reference to song lyrics
yes, even if it's a reference to song lyrics
November 13, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Always worth listening to Rahaeli on this stuff.
FWIW I think it's pretty obvious the post was a joke but it's not a joke I'd have made either on here or around a pub table with friends.
FWIW I think it's pretty obvious the post was a joke but it's not a joke I'd have made either on here or around a pub table with friends.
This is the core of it. Yes I am one of those middle class people, but it's also benefited my neighbours and all the people in that supply chain. Several of the installers were very young, this better not take their careers away.
Very easy for Treasury to characterise heat pump grants as being kickbacks for middle class families, but they are primarily a mechanism for catalysing a market that will then benefit everyone. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: Supporters say grants largely going to middle-class households, but experts warn move will slow transition from gas boilers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:46 PM
This is the core of it. Yes I am one of those middle class people, but it's also benefited my neighbours and all the people in that supply chain. Several of the installers were very young, this better not take their careers away.
This is as stupid as the Tories kneecapping solar. That subsidy is needed while we build the industry, we're not there yet but this will lead to job losses - even if you don't care about decarbonising home heat.
Sincerely hope this doesn't happen.
Sincerely hope this doesn't happen.
This will kill the heat pump market.
And that means cuts in investment in the whole system: tech, skills, supply chain, business investment.
And the subsidy is not a *benefit*, it's designed to equalise the choice between gas and electric.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
And that means cuts in investment in the whole system: tech, skills, supply chain, business investment.
And the subsidy is not a *benefit*, it's designed to equalise the choice between gas and electric.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: chancellor plans to fund energy efficiency levies via warm homes plan as part of drive to lower energy bills
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:51 PM
This is as stupid as the Tories kneecapping solar. That subsidy is needed while we build the industry, we're not there yet but this will lead to job losses - even if you don't care about decarbonising home heat.
Sincerely hope this doesn't happen.
Sincerely hope this doesn't happen.
They've got Rock Star Ate My Hamster on here!!
We have launched a new Play Online Centre.
Not just the Dizzy games, but a lot of the classic Codemasters games to play online too.
🥚 thecodemastersarchive.co.uk/playonline/
Not just the Dizzy games, but a lot of the classic Codemasters games to play online too.
🥚 thecodemastersarchive.co.uk/playonline/
November 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
They've got Rock Star Ate My Hamster on here!!
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
It's International Women in Science Day ♀️, and I want to talk briefly about Rosalind Franklin.
A conventional choice for unconventional reasons: Dr. Franklin was one of the FIRST STRUCTURAL VIROLOGISTS. Let's talk about her work outside of the Crick & Watson debacle.
A conventional choice for unconventional reasons: Dr. Franklin was one of the FIRST STRUCTURAL VIROLOGISTS. Let's talk about her work outside of the Crick & Watson debacle.
February 11, 2024 at 2:31 PM
It's International Women in Science Day ♀️, and I want to talk briefly about Rosalind Franklin.
A conventional choice for unconventional reasons: Dr. Franklin was one of the FIRST STRUCTURAL VIROLOGISTS. Let's talk about her work outside of the Crick & Watson debacle.
A conventional choice for unconventional reasons: Dr. Franklin was one of the FIRST STRUCTURAL VIROLOGISTS. Let's talk about her work outside of the Crick & Watson debacle.
I also came home from seeing Bugonia, talked about it to my wife at some length then said "no it's definitely not for you."
For the record I loved it, but not for everyone.
youtu.be/q_OBGb3XxJo?...
For the record I loved it, but not for everyone.
youtu.be/q_OBGb3XxJo?...
Mark Kermode reviews Bugonia
YouTube video by Kermode and Mayo's Take
youtu.be
November 7, 2025 at 10:49 PM
I also came home from seeing Bugonia, talked about it to my wife at some length then said "no it's definitely not for you."
For the record I loved it, but not for everyone.
youtu.be/q_OBGb3XxJo?...
For the record I loved it, but not for everyone.
youtu.be/q_OBGb3XxJo?...
I love an overcoat but it's just never cold enough to need one any more. Mine - 1980s British Rail uniform - didn't even come out of the wardrobe last year. I miss it.
Fall is here and many of you may be shopping for an overcoat.
Let me show what you can get as you move up the price ladder. 🧵
Let me show what you can get as you move up the price ladder. 🧵
Here are four overcoats.
— Which do you think is the most expensive?
— Which do you think is the least expensive?
— Which do you think provides the best value?
Answer below. Tomorrow, I will show what you get as you climb up the price ladder for overcoats.
— Which do you think is the most expensive?
— Which do you think is the least expensive?
— Which do you think provides the best value?
Answer below. Tomorrow, I will show what you get as you climb up the price ladder for overcoats.
November 7, 2025 at 9:14 PM
I love an overcoat but it's just never cold enough to need one any more. Mine - 1980s British Rail uniform - didn't even come out of the wardrobe last year. I miss it.
Well, after three years without them I am a speccy once again. Bit annoying but not the end of the world, it'll just be for driving and so on.
Still very glad indeed that I got LASEK but wish I'd done it a bit sooner, would have been nice to have a bit more time without glasses.
Still very glad indeed that I got LASEK but wish I'd done it a bit sooner, would have been nice to have a bit more time without glasses.
November 7, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Well, after three years without them I am a speccy once again. Bit annoying but not the end of the world, it'll just be for driving and so on.
Still very glad indeed that I got LASEK but wish I'd done it a bit sooner, would have been nice to have a bit more time without glasses.
Still very glad indeed that I got LASEK but wish I'd done it a bit sooner, would have been nice to have a bit more time without glasses.
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
Star Trek TNG, S5E19: Captain Picard yells at Wesley do to the right thing and Nick Lorcano* yells at Wesley to do the wrong thing, and Wes has to decide who he's more afraid of
*legally distinct from Tom Paris
8/10 cool story, shame none of this will ever come up again
*legally distinct from Tom Paris
8/10 cool story, shame none of this will ever come up again
November 7, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Star Trek TNG, S5E19: Captain Picard yells at Wesley do to the right thing and Nick Lorcano* yells at Wesley to do the wrong thing, and Wes has to decide who he's more afraid of
*legally distinct from Tom Paris
8/10 cool story, shame none of this will ever come up again
*legally distinct from Tom Paris
8/10 cool story, shame none of this will ever come up again
This B5 rewatch takes on new resonance all the time. Seeing B5 security taken over by Night Watch while stories about ICE are coming out of the USA... This was an allegory in the 90s, it looks like an awful warning today.
New episode!
The Nightwatch take over #Babylon5, Zack's loyalties are tested, and Londo & Vir receive a surprise revelation.
@bazgreenland.bsky.social & @lukewinch.bsky.social are joined by Rahl Giver to discuss Point of No Return!
@filmstoriespodnet.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/3jYY...
The Nightwatch take over #Babylon5, Zack's loyalties are tested, and Londo & Vir receive a surprise revelation.
@bazgreenland.bsky.social & @lukewinch.bsky.social are joined by Rahl Giver to discuss Point of No Return!
@filmstoriespodnet.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/3jYY...
November 6, 2025 at 10:51 PM
This B5 rewatch takes on new resonance all the time. Seeing B5 security taken over by Night Watch while stories about ICE are coming out of the USA... This was an allegory in the 90s, it looks like an awful warning today.
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
The data continues piling up from non-sophisticated anecdotes, to sophisticated anecdotes (this one), right up to fleet telematics data that the battery management systems in EVs have solved battery degradation (at least to a level that keeps the vehicle on the road)...
6/7 Then I found a certificate in the emails. Battery is at 97% state of health at around 100.000km. (which is very good)
November 6, 2025 at 11:00 AM
The data continues piling up from non-sophisticated anecdotes, to sophisticated anecdotes (this one), right up to fleet telematics data that the battery management systems in EVs have solved battery degradation (at least to a level that keeps the vehicle on the road)...
This is a place that's very important to me, and a vital part of Hastings seafront. I really hope it can be saved.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Hastings church added to Historic England's at risk register
Historic England says the church, which dates back to the 1820s, is in need of repairs.
search.app
November 6, 2025 at 8:02 PM
This is a place that's very important to me, and a vital part of Hastings seafront. I really hope it can be saved.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
This has been doing the rounds for a day or so now and I don't think it's a thing?
That "rude" setting was always there, I've just checked my moderation settings and they're exactly how I left them. I don't think Bluesky is changing our settings behind our backs.
That "rude" setting was always there, I've just checked my moderation settings and they're exactly how I left them. I don't think Bluesky is changing our settings behind our backs.
If you aren't seeing skeets from some of your fave people, they might have been labeled "Rude" by bsky mods. Idk what they are thinking, I don't need a mommy to tell me who to be buddies with. Anyway, go into Settings > moderation > bluesky moderation (advanced) and turn Rude off.
November 6, 2025 at 7:46 PM
This has been doing the rounds for a day or so now and I don't think it's a thing?
That "rude" setting was always there, I've just checked my moderation settings and they're exactly how I left them. I don't think Bluesky is changing our settings behind our backs.
That "rude" setting was always there, I've just checked my moderation settings and they're exactly how I left them. I don't think Bluesky is changing our settings behind our backs.
Just back from seeing Bugonia, which I enjoyed much more than Peter Bradshaw did. I thought it said a lot about conspiracy theories and how sad, angry people (ok, men) can be drawn into them.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...
Bugonia review – Emma Stone might be an alien in Yorgos Lanthimos’s macabre conspiracy theory comedy
Jesse Plemons delivers an efficient punch as the fanatical Teddy who abducts Stone’s dead-eyed corporate ice queen in Lanthimos’s Korean remake
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Just back from seeing Bugonia, which I enjoyed much more than Peter Bradshaw did. I thought it said a lot about conspiracy theories and how sad, angry people (ok, men) can be drawn into them.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
The UK press has seemingly panicked about solar panel fires over the last few days
How concerned do we need to be? The numbers suggest... not very 🧵
How concerned do we need to be? The numbers suggest... not very 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The UK press has seemingly panicked about solar panel fires over the last few days
How concerned do we need to be? The numbers suggest... not very 🧵
How concerned do we need to be? The numbers suggest... not very 🧵
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
There should be a Bake Off contestant that doesn't have any friends. No family to show up at the end, no anecdotes about their grandad's old leather suitcase or whatever. A contestant with a dark and tragic past who never smiles and swigs brown liquor as they bake
November 4, 2025 at 9:09 PM
There should be a Bake Off contestant that doesn't have any friends. No family to show up at the end, no anecdotes about their grandad's old leather suitcase or whatever. A contestant with a dark and tragic past who never smiles and swigs brown liquor as they bake
Horrifying and somehow unsurprising.
One of those calls you don’t forget in a hurry…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Kz...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Kz...
LBC caller describes her husband’s ‘grin’ after train stabbing
YouTube video by LBC
www.youtube.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Horrifying and somehow unsurprising.
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
"You may be wondering why I 'ave zis ridiculous get up on. It is because I 'ave just 'eard the Nazis are terrified of the smell of onions."
November 4, 2025 at 4:13 PM
"You may be wondering why I 'ave zis ridiculous get up on. It is because I 'ave just 'eard the Nazis are terrified of the smell of onions."
This is joyous.
[I have just discovered, courtesy of Wikipedia, that the actual Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies is in - Nouvion.]
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...
'Allo 'Allo's Fallen Madonna sells for £15,000 at auction
The
www.bbc.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 8:44 PM
This is joyous.
Reposted by Stuart Hedges
Save the Dolls; save the world.
November 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Save the Dolls; save the world.
Fireworks have started.
November 4, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Fireworks have started.
@scarredforlife.bsky.social I've been meaning to write in with my scar of seeing The Woman In Black at the Bromley Churchill when I was young enough to be one of the children who might die. Funny to hear Archie Maddocks felt exactly the same! I wonder if it was the same production even.
November 4, 2025 at 5:09 PM
@scarredforlife.bsky.social I've been meaning to write in with my scar of seeing The Woman In Black at the Bromley Churchill when I was young enough to be one of the children who might die. Funny to hear Archie Maddocks felt exactly the same! I wonder if it was the same production even.
This is excellent. I got 60% but honestly I was just guessing.
When I first became aware of how bad transphobia is at the moment I was struck by how much of it was warmed-over homophobic tropes from the 90s, it's horrifying but good to see I'm not the only one who noticed.
When I first became aware of how bad transphobia is at the moment I was struck by how much of it was warmed-over homophobic tropes from the 90s, it's horrifying but good to see I'm not the only one who noticed.
Well this is depressing and familiar >>
I scored 90% on Have I Got Phobia For You. Test yourself here www.higpfy.co.uk
I scored 90% on Have I Got Phobia For You. Test yourself here www.higpfy.co.uk
Have I Got Phobia For You
Bringing attention to the often harmful practices of our mainstream media. Thankfully the days of vile hostility against gay people are now more or less over, but, reading today’s newspapers, there’s ...
www.higpfy.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM
This is excellent. I got 60% but honestly I was just guessing.
When I first became aware of how bad transphobia is at the moment I was struck by how much of it was warmed-over homophobic tropes from the 90s, it's horrifying but good to see I'm not the only one who noticed.
When I first became aware of how bad transphobia is at the moment I was struck by how much of it was warmed-over homophobic tropes from the 90s, it's horrifying but good to see I'm not the only one who noticed.
I like this. I've often used "does this put people over money, or money over people?" as a test. I think that's roughly what George means.
Partly because so many formerly leftwing parties have turned to the right, there's a lot of confusion about what right and left mean in politics. I hope this helps:
The right defends economic power.
The left resists economic power.
The right defends economic power.
The left resists economic power.
November 3, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I like this. I've often used "does this put people over money, or money over people?" as a test. I think that's roughly what George means.