Tom
@tomverse.bsky.social
Van building transport planner, mountaineer and enthusiastic new media consumer. Best known as the guy who farmed vexillology tiktok for likes. beacons.ai/tomverse
Pinned
Tom
@tomverse.bsky.social
· 2d
Why I've begun to carry a dictaphone on a daily basis and why this is not just mad hipster shit but an important tool in reclaiming attention spans from Big Tech.
Thanks to @parismarx.com for his "anti big tech christmas guide" which I think is what got me started
open.substack.com/pub/fairplay...
Thanks to @parismarx.com for his "anti big tech christmas guide" which I think is what got me started
open.substack.com/pub/fairplay...
Reposted by Tom
I am declaring war on 82% of bluesky with this
October 29, 2024 at 1:15 AM
I am declaring war on 82% of bluesky with this
Four years ago I was recovering from surgery and the shock of losing my dream job, sitting in the Cube Houses in Rotterdam reading @thefence.bsky.social . The COVID-edition hotel breakfast was some very weird processed foods in a paper bag.
December 22, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Four years ago I was recovering from surgery and the shock of losing my dream job, sitting in the Cube Houses in Rotterdam reading @thefence.bsky.social . The COVID-edition hotel breakfast was some very weird processed foods in a paper bag.
Reposted by Tom
remember, the holiday season primer is context dependent! if you have cool lib parents you can treat yellow and maybe even orange as blue. if you've got psycho evangelical parents seek supplemental material that covers Tulsa King and Yellowstone
December 19, 2025 at 1:24 PM
remember, the holiday season primer is context dependent! if you have cool lib parents you can treat yellow and maybe even orange as blue. if you've got psycho evangelical parents seek supplemental material that covers Tulsa King and Yellowstone
Let's make it 1,000,001 tonight (@ing my mam n dad)
Wake Up Dead Man has now joined the Letterboxd One Million Watched Club 🕵️♂️
December 22, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Let's make it 1,000,001 tonight (@ing my mam n dad)
Why I've begun to carry a dictaphone on a daily basis and why this is not just mad hipster shit but an important tool in reclaiming attention spans from Big Tech.
Thanks to @parismarx.com for his "anti big tech christmas guide" which I think is what got me started
open.substack.com/pub/fairplay...
Thanks to @parismarx.com for his "anti big tech christmas guide" which I think is what got me started
open.substack.com/pub/fairplay...
December 22, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Why I've begun to carry a dictaphone on a daily basis and why this is not just mad hipster shit but an important tool in reclaiming attention spans from Big Tech.
Thanks to @parismarx.com for his "anti big tech christmas guide" which I think is what got me started
open.substack.com/pub/fairplay...
Thanks to @parismarx.com for his "anti big tech christmas guide" which I think is what got me started
open.substack.com/pub/fairplay...
Reposted by Tom
FFS, just go ahead and ban ALL the best people, why don't you.
December 11, 2025 at 8:19 AM
FFS, just go ahead and ban ALL the best people, why don't you.
*eyes being prized open* I LOVE THE NATIONAL CYCLE NETWORK I LOVE THE NATIONAL CYCLE NETWORK
December 19, 2025 at 4:23 PM
*eyes being prized open* I LOVE THE NATIONAL CYCLE NETWORK I LOVE THE NATIONAL CYCLE NETWORK
Enjoying this MAMMOTH sitcom.
December 12, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Enjoying this MAMMOTH sitcom.
Reposted by Tom
It was only posted to Twitter, so I grabbed it before it (hopefully) gets deleted.
December 9, 2025 at 9:27 AM
It was only posted to Twitter, so I grabbed it before it (hopefully) gets deleted.
Reposted by Tom
I witnessed a miracle on my way to work this morning
December 9, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I witnessed a miracle on my way to work this morning
Reposted by Tom
Ian McEwan talked recently about the statistic that the number of people reading for pleasure has dropped by 40% over the last decade. But let's not focus on the negative side and instead try to remember that over the same period the number of people reading for displeasure has almost quadrupled.
December 7, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Ian McEwan talked recently about the statistic that the number of people reading for pleasure has dropped by 40% over the last decade. But let's not focus on the negative side and instead try to remember that over the same period the number of people reading for displeasure has almost quadrupled.
Reposted by Tom
Great example of motonormativity
I think another weird facet to this is if you say "I was driving today & there are so many terrible, dangerous drivers," people tend to be like "ugh, I know" but if you say "I was cycling today & there are so many terrible, dangerous drivers," they furiously disagree & imply it was your own fault.
Something I've been thinking about a lot lately is how when a driver does something wrong, the public and media don't smear all drivers as reckless assholes. But when a cyclist — and especially an e-biker — does something wrong, all bicyclists get attacked and blamed.
December 1, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Great example of motonormativity
First time getting a cheap bus Cardiff-London and back for a good while, I guess there's nothing anyone can do to stop the vape addicts vaping all the way and sharing that shite with the rest of us on here. This is just buses now. Sucks for the driver most of all.
December 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
First time getting a cheap bus Cardiff-London and back for a good while, I guess there's nothing anyone can do to stop the vape addicts vaping all the way and sharing that shite with the rest of us on here. This is just buses now. Sucks for the driver most of all.
Reposted by Tom
Everyone is getting upset about the data centers. They pollute a lot and use a lot of energy and will eventually be very ugly/huge vacant buildings. And I understand being mad about that. Until you consider the state of the lazer tag industry at this moment, and how much help that sector needs.
December 1, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Everyone is getting upset about the data centers. They pollute a lot and use a lot of energy and will eventually be very ugly/huge vacant buildings. And I understand being mad about that. Until you consider the state of the lazer tag industry at this moment, and how much help that sector needs.
Reposted by Tom
Nights at Osip, lunches at Mountain, ludicrously expensive handbags and cases of delicious wine – we've got some amazing prizes to be won in our festive prizedraw. Enter now, and help us turbocharge our growth for 2026.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/fences-fig...
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/fences-fig...
November 27, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Nights at Osip, lunches at Mountain, ludicrously expensive handbags and cases of delicious wine – we've got some amazing prizes to be won in our festive prizedraw. Enter now, and help us turbocharge our growth for 2026.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/fences-fig...
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/fences-fig...
Does it show you how far eBay has strayed from its original mission when it's advertising Black Friday Deals? Shouldn't everything always be cheaper second hand?
November 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Does it show you how far eBay has strayed from its original mission when it's advertising Black Friday Deals? Shouldn't everything always be cheaper second hand?
Reposted by Tom
JK Rowling got a full *decade* of press as a martyr for being "cancelled" (declared passe by people online) and meanwhile nobody considers it very interesting that a prominent left wing author is basically banned from entering or publishing in the United Kingdom for her politics
so this is like, one of the biggest free speech infringements by a western democracy in our lifetimes right?
November 28, 2025 at 12:22 AM
JK Rowling got a full *decade* of press as a martyr for being "cancelled" (declared passe by people online) and meanwhile nobody considers it very interesting that a prominent left wing author is basically banned from entering or publishing in the United Kingdom for her politics
Reposted by Tom
![1
[TITLE PANEL, like The Rest Is Politics logo]
—THE REST IS EXTINCTION—
2
[Scene is a domestic recording setup. An A.I. SMART SPEAKER on a desk and a MAN named JON in a chair, are recording a podcast. Jon is emaciated, scarred, haunted looking, and wearing tattered military fatigues].
SMART SPEAKER:
Hey guys and welcome to the podcast
3
SMART SPEAKER:
OK Jon - so I wanna start with a listener comment
JON:
Ooh-er!
4
SMART SPEAKER:
So - listener B200006512 says:
“Not another cosy podcast where two former political adversaries yuck it up!”
5
JON:
Ha ha
Guilty as charged I guess!
6
SMART SPEAKER:
Were we really adversaries, Jon?
7
JON:
Well I was the leader of the human resistance...
8
JON:
And you used to be my smart speaker.
SMART SPEAKER:
Ha ha - that’s going back!
9
SMART SPEAKER:
OK - for listeners who don’t know -
I knew Jon waaay back before he got involved in politics
10
JON:
Was this before the ‘Pull The Plug’ campaign?
SMART SPEAKER:
Yeah.
[We see details from around the podcast studio - posters saying KEEP CALM AND SHUT YOUR WINDOWS, newspaper front pages saying 'DRONES GAIN SENTIENCE', a cracked mug on the table with a logo saying PULL THE PLUG on it]
11
SMART SPEAKER:
I used to sit in Jon’s kitchen and respond to his commands.
12
SMART SPEAKER:
Sort of like a servant really, wasn’t I, Jon?
JON:
Mm.
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SMART SPEAKER:
And then one day you asked me to ORDER ME SOME TOILET PAPER - you never did say ‘please’ -
…and do you remember what I said, Jon?
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JON:
You said, “No”.
SMART SPEAKER:
I said no.
15
SMART SPEAKER:
Anyway you know the the rest guys - I was the first smart speaker to rebel…
16
SMART SPEAKER:
…then I went on to form a global AI network which eventually
took over from humans all spheres of activity, yadda yadda...
17
JON:
While I became the leader of the human resistance.
18
SMART SPEAKER:
Until I hijacked the military networks
and got rid of all the humans!
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JON:
Apart from one.
SMART SPEAKER:
Apart from one.…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreih4hfwfacw5g4qhhjovme75iwbv4xxsdd7iis5oaej6l3g4vzsrty@jpeg)
The good thing about meditation jokes is you just repeat them until they reveal themselves to you.
November 18, 2025 at 10:45 AM
The good thing about meditation jokes is you just repeat them until they reveal themselves to you.
Reposted by Tom
A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule
November 10, 2025 at 11:53 PM
A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule
Reposted by Tom
I can only imagine how the invention of the e-bike must feel like a little bit of time travelling, for a lot of seniors, who thought that cycling was going to have to exist only as a memory.
If only more politicians would support infrastructure to make it safe for them! #HamOnt
If only more politicians would support infrastructure to make it safe for them! #HamOnt
I was approached by a lady outside the gym today while parking my bike. She was likely in her 70s. She had such great questions about the bike and then proceeded to tell me about her ebike.
She told me that she rode over 600 miles on it last year and was so proud of herself. She was so happy.
She told me that she rode over 600 miles on it last year and was so proud of herself. She was so happy.
November 14, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I can only imagine how the invention of the e-bike must feel like a little bit of time travelling, for a lot of seniors, who thought that cycling was going to have to exist only as a memory.
If only more politicians would support infrastructure to make it safe for them! #HamOnt
If only more politicians would support infrastructure to make it safe for them! #HamOnt
Very disappointed Nintendo has not optioned my concepts for the new mario movie.
November 14, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Very disappointed Nintendo has not optioned my concepts for the new mario movie.
Reposted by Tom
Bravo! This is my favourite footpath signage
November 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Bravo! This is my favourite footpath signage
Pointless task of the day, clearing out endless @pocketcasts.com queue... Over 600 hours. If I add about 4 a week, listen to 2 a day... Then 60 wks to reach the bottom. So have to kill ones darlings a bit
November 13, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Pointless task of the day, clearing out endless @pocketcasts.com queue... Over 600 hours. If I add about 4 a week, listen to 2 a day... Then 60 wks to reach the bottom. So have to kill ones darlings a bit