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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt
@ellispratt.bsky.social
360 followers 390 following 1.1K posts
By day: Director at Cherryleaf. Technical writing services and training courses. Policy and procedures writing too. By night: Flashdance. See my Techcomm starter pack.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · Oct 18
This is a photograph of Fairyland. It was an Edwardian amusement arcade in Tottenham Court Road, run by my great grandfather. Mechanical games, penny slots, fortune teller Madame Pauline ...(1)
Picture from circa 1905. An old sepia-toned photograph of a storefront labeled 'FAIRYLAND' in bold letters. The shopfront has intricate ironwork details, with two men standing on ladders on either side of the sign, seemingly working on or posing near it. Another man stands below the sign, near the entrance. The building has two large upper windows, with signs in them advertising 'London's Premier' and 'Revolver Gunshooting.' The storefront appears to be from the early 20th century, with visible wear on the photo, adding to its vintage appearance.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 6h
"My tastes are very singular. You wouldn't understand"
a woman is walking down a street carrying a purse .
ALT: a woman is walking down a street carrying a purse .
media.tenor.com
ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 11h
Derek's AMSR: Ascot, Moccasins, Sweater, Raincoat
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Reposted by Ellis Pratt
emollick.bsky.social
Ethan Mollick @emollick.bsky.social · 14h
Every few months on BlueSky there is a hot story of how AI is going to go away soon: model collapse, walls to AI development, legal issues, now financial bubbles.

But even if there was a bubble that popped, AI would not go away: 10% of humans use it weekly, increasing use cases in companies, etc.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 1d
101 - Rowland "Boon" Gould
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 1d
101 is I think a former member of Level 42
Reposted by Ellis Pratt
dayglo-owl.bsky.social
Gordon Cole's hearing aid @dayglo-owl.bsky.social · Nov 25
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five to speak to customer services,
Six to return to the main menu,
Seven to hear those options again
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 1d
192
Reposted by Ellis Pratt
bleary.off-the-records.com
bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 2d
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing? 2? Questions I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up. Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?
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Reposted by Ellis Pratt
cherryleaf.bsky.social
Cherryleaf Ltd @cherryleaf.bsky.social · 2d
This episode explores common time sinks in technical writing and practical solutions to streamline documentation workflows, with a focus on automation and AI tools.
www.podbean.com/media/share/...
162. Time sinks in technical writing
This episode explores common time sinks in technical writing and practical solutions to streamline documentation workflows, with a focus on automation and AI tools. Key topics covered Common time sink...
www.podbean.com
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 2d
UK polys were always seen as second class institutions. I think the bigger issue is with apprenticeships and the trades. Many tradies will be retiring soon. We need to improve the number and status of plumbers, sparks etc
ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 2d
I ended up on the Wikipedia page for École polytechnique en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89c.... France has the idea of the grande école. École polytechnique students must work for the government or military after graduating, and end up in elite positions.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 2d
You could make the case the change happened with the Wilson government in the 1960s and the growth of polytechnics. Even so the first polys began in the 1800s, and Homerton focused on teaching from the 1850s onwards.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 2d
Surely degrees in law, medicine, finance, business studies, computer studies, and civil engineering have always had a heavy focus on the jobs market.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 2d
The "Policy and Procedures Enablement Tool" is a specialised web app we've designed to help teams systematically assess, prioritise, and improve their internal policy & procedures documents. We can provide this free of charge to any clients using our policy & procedures writing or training services
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Reposted by Ellis Pratt
jelmore.crystalwind.org
Jay Elmore @jelmore.crystalwind.org · 3d
Deploying direct to production
impavid.us
🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 5d
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
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Reposted by Ellis Pratt
theletterf.bsky.social
Fabrizio Ferri-Benedetti @theletterf.bsky.social · 3d
I've published my experimental Vale MCP Server on GitHub (link in the comments). It's free for you to use, fork, or experiment with. I've tested it with Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and GitHub Copilot in VS Code.

github.com/theletterf/v...
GitHub - theletterf/vale-mcp-server: MCP server for the Vale linter
MCP server for the Vale linter. Contribute to theletterf/vale-mcp-server development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
I've just been told they were a costume designer, doing it as a sideline, rather than a dressmaker
ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
Oh dear the postcard got crumpled. We were in the museum and given you're a fan, it seemed the obvious thing to do. Glad you like them.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
Don't know, and I don't know if people can get Dubai nationality either. But you're right that statelessness could be a consequence.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
Someone I know got some work trousers made for them by a dressmaker who worked in the film and TV industry. The dressmaker created a pattern, so further pairs were cheaper.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
As a side note, I think it was in Working for Ford by Huw Benyon that sociologists in the 1960s heard from some shop floor workers that they were going to leave and get a new job. The sociologists returned five years later and the same workers were saying the same thing.
ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
I also get fed up with people announcing on LinkedIn they're moving, especially as they seem to post that every other month.
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
You could shorten the time before their right to vote in UK elections expired. Again consequences for people who retired to Spain, France etc
ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
If they did, because the UK recognises dual citizenship, they'd still have UK citizenship. If the UK stopped dual citizenship that would have an impact on Northern Ireland, Indian/EU people and second generation people
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ellispratt.bsky.social
Ellis Pratt @ellispratt.bsky.social · 4d
Taking someone's citizenship from them doesn't have a good history, nor stopping people from leaving their country
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