Alex MacLaren
@alexmaclaren.bsky.social
Reading, cooking, counting my blessings. Resident of Folkestone, UK
Pinned
Alex MacLaren
@alexmaclaren.bsky.social
· Jan 24
Oxford English Dictionary
The OED is the definitive record of the English language, featuring 600,000 words, 3 million quotations, and over 1,000 years of English.
www.oed.com
If you care about the meaning of words, the Oxford English Dictionary offers free access to its online version via your local library, something that amazed me when I discovered it and has delighted and reassured me ever since. Libraries are the best. Go here: www.oed.com/information/...
Via @eliothiggins.bsky.social, excellent piece about Finland’s proactive response to the disinformation pollutants in modern digital media. it is also (almost incidentally) a damning indictment of UK education policy in my lifetime.
Finland has emerged as a global leader in countering “fake news”. Here's how they've done it
Teaching when to trust
As fake news accelerates, we need to teach our children how to think critically. Finnish schools are leading the charge
newhumanist.org.uk
December 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Via @eliothiggins.bsky.social, excellent piece about Finland’s proactive response to the disinformation pollutants in modern digital media. it is also (almost incidentally) a damning indictment of UK education policy in my lifetime.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
In the Finnish context, the sentiment is better described as strategic realism or preparedness. It isnt rooted in hostility or irrational fear, but a pragmatic / history-based awareness of our geographic reality.
December 7, 2025 at 2:58 PM
In the Finnish context, the sentiment is better described as strategic realism or preparedness. It isnt rooted in hostility or irrational fear, but a pragmatic / history-based awareness of our geographic reality.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
It’s the lack of imagination that grinds me down. The inability to see that people could change, or be more than they might at first seem, to understand potential, to look properly at all.
Not-rich people aren’t a burden for a country. They’re an opportunity, if you don’t just try and crush them.
Not-rich people aren’t a burden for a country. They’re an opportunity, if you don’t just try and crush them.
December 7, 2025 at 9:12 AM
It’s the lack of imagination that grinds me down. The inability to see that people could change, or be more than they might at first seem, to understand potential, to look properly at all.
Not-rich people aren’t a burden for a country. They’re an opportunity, if you don’t just try and crush them.
Not-rich people aren’t a burden for a country. They’re an opportunity, if you don’t just try and crush them.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
my great-grandparents arrived in the UK in the 1890s with nothing.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
December 7, 2025 at 8:59 AM
my great-grandparents arrived in the UK in the 1890s with nothing.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’
December 7, 2025 at 8:31 AM
My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’
The black hole of Putin’s Russia. These are the lives wrecked by his fanaticism and selfishness, pulled across the event horizon and lost forever.
#BBCNews - Kenyans fighting for Russia: Lured by lucrative job offers but sent to the front line
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#UkraineWar
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
#UkraineWar
Kenyans fighting for Russia: Lured by lucrative job offers but sent to the front line
Kenyan families whose sons have been duped into fighting for Russia demand they be brought home.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 7, 2025 at 8:53 AM
The black hole of Putin’s Russia. These are the lives wrecked by his fanaticism and selfishness, pulled across the event horizon and lost forever.
There once was a man from Devizes
Whose balls were of different sizes
One ball was small
Almost no ball at all
But the other was large, and won prizes
Whose balls were of different sizes
One ball was small
Almost no ball at all
But the other was large, and won prizes
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 6, 2025 at 9:05 PM
There once was a man from Devizes
Whose balls were of different sizes
One ball was small
Almost no ball at all
But the other was large, and won prizes
Whose balls were of different sizes
One ball was small
Almost no ball at all
But the other was large, and won prizes
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
The most obvious ones are: talks in lists of threes, “not this but that”. Also use of many very abstract words not concrete ones, little personal recollection (of ppl they know), little humour, very generic voice. sentences that mean less the more you think about them.
Can I ask how you figured this out. I recognise some of the signs.
December 6, 2025 at 12:48 PM
The most obvious ones are: talks in lists of threes, “not this but that”. Also use of many very abstract words not concrete ones, little personal recollection (of ppl they know), little humour, very generic voice. sentences that mean less the more you think about them.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
“Love rules the court, the camp, the grove
And men below and saints above
For love is Heaven and Heaven is love.”
And men below and saints above
For love is Heaven and Heaven is love.”
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 PM
“Love rules the court, the camp, the grove
And men below and saints above
For love is Heaven and Heaven is love.”
And men below and saints above
For love is Heaven and Heaven is love.”
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
‘The data shows that just one dose cuts the chances of measles by about 95%, and two doses do even better.’
Timely review of the data on measles vaccines from @ourworldindata.org
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
Timely review of the data on measles vaccines from @ourworldindata.org
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
How effective and safe are measles vaccines?
Data from large meta-analyses show that measles vaccination is highly effective and safe, giving a 95% reduction in the risk of measles.
ourworldindata.org
April 21, 2025 at 6:09 PM
‘The data shows that just one dose cuts the chances of measles by about 95%, and two doses do even better.’
Timely review of the data on measles vaccines from @ourworldindata.org
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
Timely review of the data on measles vaccines from @ourworldindata.org
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Banger.
who decided to call it Secret Santa when Nondisclosure Claus was right there
December 2, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Banger.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Haidt is "stunned" that ChatGPT asked how it would threaten youth reveals that its plan would be what Haidt has argued in his books. The secret plan!
There should be some way to rescind the doctorate of any commentator on digital media who interprets ChatGPT output like this. I am not joking.
There should be some way to rescind the doctorate of any commentator on digital media who interprets ChatGPT output like this. I am not joking.
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Haidt is "stunned" that ChatGPT asked how it would threaten youth reveals that its plan would be what Haidt has argued in his books. The secret plan!
There should be some way to rescind the doctorate of any commentator on digital media who interprets ChatGPT output like this. I am not joking.
There should be some way to rescind the doctorate of any commentator on digital media who interprets ChatGPT output like this. I am not joking.
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Just caught up with the excellent episode of BBC Radio4's Start the week, this one featuring @naomialderman.bsky.social on her new book 'Dont burn anyone at the stake today' & Cory Doctorow, on his 'Enshittification' - wonderfully hosted by @tds153.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Start the Week, Digital Futures and Information Crises
Cory Doctorow, Naomi Alderman and Oliver Moody with Tom Sutcliffe.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Just caught up with the excellent episode of BBC Radio4's Start the week, this one featuring @naomialderman.bsky.social on her new book 'Dont burn anyone at the stake today' & Cory Doctorow, on his 'Enshittification' - wonderfully hosted by @tds153.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
So much about this to love (an immediate follow for @bfletcherwatson.bsky.social whose web of references from diaries, witness statements, letters and magazine pieces is a delight) /1
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
November 30, 2025 at 6:35 PM
So much about this to love (an immediate follow for @bfletcherwatson.bsky.social whose web of references from diaries, witness statements, letters and magazine pieces is a delight) /1
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Jesus Christ, the "remastered" Beatles Anthology documentary they re-released is filled with AI slop. Look at John and Paul's faces, and the "T" on Beatles.
November 30, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Jesus Christ, the "remastered" Beatles Anthology documentary they re-released is filled with AI slop. Look at John and Paul's faces, and the "T" on Beatles.
Thank you Steve and Calum. This is so moving!
For St Andrew’s Day we present а long-distance musical collaboration. BBC Scotland Weather presenter Calum MacColl and I perform ‘A Red, Red Rose’ by Robert Burns. #StAndrewsDay
'A Red, Red Rose' - long-distance BBC collaboration
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
youtu.be
November 30, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Thank you Steve and Calum. This is so moving!
Amazing writer, but oddly it’s this personal story I think of today, from Tynan’s (*very* long!) New Yorker profile of Tom Stoppard, 1977. RIP
November 29, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Amazing writer, but oddly it’s this personal story I think of today, from Tynan’s (*very* long!) New Yorker profile of Tom Stoppard, 1977. RIP
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
yes, i can assure you this is fraudulent research
Although its very possible this is fraudulent research. Its very hard to tell these days.
Traumatizing AI models by talking about war or violence makes them more anxious | Live Science share.google/3bbGYPSHzQ1k...
Traumatizing AI models by talking about war or violence makes them more anxious | Live Science share.google/3bbGYPSHzQ1k...
Traumatizing AI models by talking about war or violence makes them more anxious
A recent study exposing AI models to carefully designed prompts around trauma revealed they can get anxious, potentially affecting the conversation and having negative impacts on people who use such m...
share.google
November 29, 2025 at 8:02 PM
yes, i can assure you this is fraudulent research
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
Does anyone want a survivorship bias shortbread
November 29, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Does anyone want a survivorship bias shortbread
I genuinely love bargains like this (St Pancras Mark and Sparks)
November 29, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I genuinely love bargains like this (St Pancras Mark and Sparks)
Reposted by Alex MacLaren
I do think this is what so many people get wrong about management.
You're not getting paid more because you are somehow nebulously better.
It is compensation for accepting responsibility.
Shit stops with you. Even when you know someone else did it. You manage that shit.
You're not getting paid more because you are somehow nebulously better.
It is compensation for accepting responsibility.
Shit stops with you. Even when you know someone else did it. You manage that shit.
November 29, 2025 at 1:29 AM
I do think this is what so many people get wrong about management.
You're not getting paid more because you are somehow nebulously better.
It is compensation for accepting responsibility.
Shit stops with you. Even when you know someone else did it. You manage that shit.
You're not getting paid more because you are somehow nebulously better.
It is compensation for accepting responsibility.
Shit stops with you. Even when you know someone else did it. You manage that shit.
Just want to acknowledge the challenge faced by civilised public people, consenting to endure an abusive political culture - one that some people are actively pushing towards polarisation, alienation and dehumanisation. /1
I know who Nus Ghani MP is - not because we always agree - but because she’s been serving her constituency (as well as lewks) since 2015.
Who the hell is Lucy White?!
Ah, a quick google search reveals her as a rentagob for GB ‘news.’
I know which one is qualified to chair the budget debate.
Who the hell is Lucy White?!
Ah, a quick google search reveals her as a rentagob for GB ‘news.’
I know which one is qualified to chair the budget debate.
November 26, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Just want to acknowledge the challenge faced by civilised public people, consenting to endure an abusive political culture - one that some people are actively pushing towards polarisation, alienation and dehumanisation. /1