Neil Young
@elderpegasus.bsky.social
Games coder, input in particular. Have opinions on UX and hype bubbles. (Also politics, planes, parenting, accessibility, musical theatre from all aspects. Several of those overlap!)
I could be wrong, but I think for most people the line is the difference between privilege and the connotations of "Nepo".
One wouldn't call Justin Fletcher a Nepo baby, but one might use the term for Buzz Fletcher?
One wouldn't call Justin Fletcher a Nepo baby, but one might use the term for Buzz Fletcher?
My bugbear is I think the nepo baby discourse drowns out the useful parallel one about class & money privilege. You can’t ever design out advantages for celebrities kids. We can help those from non gilded backgrounds in the arts though
December 11, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I could be wrong, but I think for most people the line is the difference between privilege and the connotations of "Nepo".
One wouldn't call Justin Fletcher a Nepo baby, but one might use the term for Buzz Fletcher?
One wouldn't call Justin Fletcher a Nepo baby, but one might use the term for Buzz Fletcher?
Let's start the morning by rubbernecking at morons.
BBC News - The Swiss city that lets you pay for most things with bitcoin
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - The Swiss city that lets you pay for most things with bitcoin
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Swiss city that lets you pay for most things with bitcoin
Shops, restaurants and even the local council in Lugano now accept the cryptocurrency.
www.bbc.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Let's start the morning by rubbernecking at morons.
BBC News - The Swiss city that lets you pay for most things with bitcoin
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - The Swiss city that lets you pay for most things with bitcoin
www.bbc.com/news/article...
No, it should be banned from schools.
Government backing AI in schools is just an excuse for underfunding.
BBC News - AI has entered the classroom - but is it the solution for overworked teachers?
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Government backing AI in schools is just an excuse for underfunding.
BBC News - AI has entered the classroom - but is it the solution for overworked teachers?
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Are remote teachers and AI deepfakes the answer to recruitment issues?
From deepfake teachers to remote maths lessons - how are schools using tech and AI in the classroom?
www.bbc.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:31 AM
No, it should be banned from schools.
Government backing AI in schools is just an excuse for underfunding.
BBC News - AI has entered the classroom - but is it the solution for overworked teachers?
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Government backing AI in schools is just an excuse for underfunding.
BBC News - AI has entered the classroom - but is it the solution for overworked teachers?
www.bbc.com/news/article...
It is absolutely not a piece that should need to be written, but apparently it does, so if anyone is in a position to commission said piece:
This shouldn’t need saying, or writing, but…if anyone wants to commission me on whether data centres in space are a good idea, and what the difficulties with building data centres in space are, you know where I am 👋
A meme has broken containment:
December 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM
It is absolutely not a piece that should need to be written, but apparently it does, so if anyone is in a position to commission said piece:
Windows update being over-engineered garbage again. Joy.
December 10, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Windows update being over-engineered garbage again. Joy.
Eh? The new app is already live (and is a bit of a mess, seems to have been kicked out the door unfinished)
Disappointing from the met office, they're a vital public service, they don't seem to be running their mobile app well at the mo.
Disappointing from the met office, they're a vital public service, they don't seem to be running their mobile app well at the mo.
We planned to launch our refreshed app today.
Due to Storm Bram and associated weather warnings, we’re postponing the launch, so you’re not impacted by us making a major change at this time.
Our priority is to ensure you get our weather info & warnings to help you stay safe.
Due to Storm Bram and associated weather warnings, we’re postponing the launch, so you’re not impacted by us making a major change at this time.
Our priority is to ensure you get our weather info & warnings to help you stay safe.
December 10, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Eh? The new app is already live (and is a bit of a mess, seems to have been kicked out the door unfinished)
Disappointing from the met office, they're a vital public service, they don't seem to be running their mobile app well at the mo.
Disappointing from the met office, they're a vital public service, they don't seem to be running their mobile app well at the mo.
Away club should forfeit the match, simple.
December 9, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Away club should forfeit the match, simple.
Given their comments on Ukraine, good!
BBC News - Ben & Jerry's brand could be destroyed, says co-founder
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Ben & Jerry's brand could be destroyed, says co-founder
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Ben & Jerry's brand could be destroyed under Magnum - co-founder
Ben Cohen was speaking about his concerns for the independence of Ben & Jerry's board.
www.bbc.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Given their comments on Ukraine, good!
BBC News - Ben & Jerry's brand could be destroyed, says co-founder
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Ben & Jerry's brand could be destroyed, says co-founder
www.bbc.com/news/article...
I know they aren't playing to a UK audience at all, but this just doesn't pass the sniff test for brits, as even ones who don't personally like London know that it's Fine. The worst you can say is it's a 'mare to drive in, but most people avoid doing so.
The view is weirdly pervasive too. I saw an interview with Bill Burr where he mentioned that he had played in "London, England" and commented on how dangerous it was (while trying to justify his decision to play in Saudi Arabia).
December 9, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I know they aren't playing to a UK audience at all, but this just doesn't pass the sniff test for brits, as even ones who don't personally like London know that it's Fine. The worst you can say is it's a 'mare to drive in, but most people avoid doing so.
This comes up in so many fields, but there is widespread issue that people seem to assume languages are cyphers of each other, when they almost never are. There is almost never a single "correct" translation of something.
I say this a lot but one of the criteria I use to distinguish who is an appropriate scholar for the show is “can they interact with primary sources in their original language”
Grumpy medievalist take, but I am gobsmacked by the cheerfulness with which some scholars working in later fields disclose not having the relevant languages for their research, and also having no plans to acquire them. There are many cases in which you've actually gotta read the Latin, babe!
December 9, 2025 at 12:35 PM
This comes up in so many fields, but there is widespread issue that people seem to assume languages are cyphers of each other, when they almost never are. There is almost never a single "correct" translation of something.
I don't know the system, so can't comment on if using ethernet over WiFi would actually help, but it doesn't matter: when your whole system is so inadequate that people go down that rabbit hole, that's the damn master alarm lighting up. You're in *real* trouble.
Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...
December 9, 2025 at 12:29 PM
I don't know the system, so can't comment on if using ethernet over WiFi would actually help, but it doesn't matter: when your whole system is so inadequate that people go down that rabbit hole, that's the damn master alarm lighting up. You're in *real* trouble.
I wish to report a betteridge violation.
(In fact, you probably should have bought one a month or two back)
BBC News - Bad H3N2 flu season: Should I buy a flu vaccine this year?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
(In fact, you probably should have bought one a month or two back)
BBC News - Bad H3N2 flu season: Should I buy a flu vaccine this year?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bad H3N2 flu season: Should I buy a flu vaccine this year?
Flu has come early and experts predict it could be a particularly nasty season, with a new strain circulating.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 9, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I wish to report a betteridge violation.
(In fact, you probably should have bought one a month or two back)
BBC News - Bad H3N2 flu season: Should I buy a flu vaccine this year?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
(In fact, you probably should have bought one a month or two back)
BBC News - Bad H3N2 flu season: Should I buy a flu vaccine this year?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The "would you be happy with your kids doing it" test is fundamental, but I (cynically) suspect it gets missed as politicians don't care that poor kids are worse off. The issue is it's not just fairness - its a key test if the policy will actually work!
Badenoch says the Conservatives would want fewer “low value degrees” and many more apprenticeships. As ever with such announcements I will perhaps take it more seriously when the kids of government ministers and MPs are routinely doing apprenticeships and not degrees.
December 9, 2025 at 10:54 AM
The "would you be happy with your kids doing it" test is fundamental, but I (cynically) suspect it gets missed as politicians don't care that poor kids are worse off. The issue is it's not just fairness - its a key test if the policy will actually work!
I mean, yes this this a horrifying scenario on several levels, but it absolutely would be "symptom not cause" for American media woes.
If Paramount succeeds in buying Warner Bros....then Netflix will end up buying Paramount-WB in 2035.
Paramount gatecrashes Warner Bros-Netflix deal with $108bn hostile bid
Jared Kushner and Middle East funds assist with all-cash offer
www.ft.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I mean, yes this this a horrifying scenario on several levels, but it absolutely would be "symptom not cause" for American media woes.
I'm thankfully (?) Not Important Enough to make anyone's discover feed, but it does seem a curse of bluesky as it leads to uninvested randoms making replies that are worse than unnecessary. Platform's need some sort of discovery mechanism; few do it well.
December 8, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I'm thankfully (?) Not Important Enough to make anyone's discover feed, but it does seem a curse of bluesky as it leads to uninvested randoms making replies that are worse than unnecessary. Platform's need some sort of discovery mechanism; few do it well.
School nursing teams: if you're going to leave flu vaccinations until pointlessly late in the year, don't moan at us for not consenting for the school vaccination when we had child vaccinated at GPs when she should have been, months ago. Idiots.
December 8, 2025 at 11:34 AM
School nursing teams: if you're going to leave flu vaccinations until pointlessly late in the year, don't moan at us for not consenting for the school vaccination when we had child vaccinated at GPs when she should have been, months ago. Idiots.
Not only is it a far better film than received wisdom suggests, but it also shows mild versions of issues that have wrecked some much more recent films, or required drastic course corrections. (Trank cut of fant4stic was possibly ST:TMP on steroids)
The Human Adventure is Just Beginning. Celebrating Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which premiered in theatres on Dec 7, 1979. The film had flaws, but was a major triumph, for Gene Roddenberry, for the production team, and most of all for the fans, whose determination & persistence made it possible.
December 7, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Not only is it a far better film than received wisdom suggests, but it also shows mild versions of issues that have wrecked some much more recent films, or required drastic course corrections. (Trank cut of fant4stic was possibly ST:TMP on steroids)
It's not dramatic that score were basically the same, Strictly, it's score inflation and the judges accidentally making themselves pointless.
December 7, 2025 at 7:49 PM
It's not dramatic that score were basically the same, Strictly, it's score inflation and the judges accidentally making themselves pointless.
Hmm.
Trailers for the new who spinoff aren't mentioning it's a who spinoff.
Not expecting a second series of this one...
Trailers for the new who spinoff aren't mentioning it's a who spinoff.
Not expecting a second series of this one...
December 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Hmm.
Trailers for the new who spinoff aren't mentioning it's a who spinoff.
Not expecting a second series of this one...
Trailers for the new who spinoff aren't mentioning it's a who spinoff.
Not expecting a second series of this one...
Not quite sure *why* we pay former PMs a salary, since the most useful is Brown and pretty sure he would be busy without state cash.
Also, I see we now have three former PMs who're, ahem, overly credulous about crypto...
Also, I see we now have three former PMs who're, ahem, overly credulous about crypto...
“The production values of the Liz Truss Show are non-existent. Everything about it screams “will this do?”, and even though the answer has surely come back as a “no”, they’ve uploaded it anyway.”
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-w...
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-w...
Why are we funding pathetic, vengeful Liz Truss to lie about Britain?
The failed PM gets £115,000 of taxpayer money per year to spread poison about the UK on her new online show
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 7, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Not quite sure *why* we pay former PMs a salary, since the most useful is Brown and pretty sure he would be busy without state cash.
Also, I see we now have three former PMs who're, ahem, overly credulous about crypto...
Also, I see we now have three former PMs who're, ahem, overly credulous about crypto...
It's infuriating how this isn't getting through to labour. They won't win by arguing with farage on immigration numbers, they'll win on people seeing a doctor when they need to, fixing potholes, and it not feeling like you need a loan for a tub of lurpak.
Thousands of words will be written and slide decks produced when essentially the message is "git gud".
But in practice, people understand how our terrible electoral system works and Labour's basic problem is 'the policy record is not something you get re-elected on', not 'how various voters facilitate that happening'.
December 7, 2025 at 6:02 PM
It's infuriating how this isn't getting through to labour. They won't win by arguing with farage on immigration numbers, they'll win on people seeing a doctor when they need to, fixing potholes, and it not feeling like you need a loan for a tub of lurpak.
One hopes utter nonsense like this from the government will stiffen the lords' resolve, not weaken it. Whether one agrees we to legalise assisted suicide or not, a rush job bill would be the absolute worst of all worlds.
NEW: In a joint letter, senior peers including 3 former cabinet secretaries and 3 former Lords speakers have warned peers not to use procedural manoeuvres to thwart the assisted dying bill.
With 1,100+ amendments tabled, they warn the reputation of Parliament is on the line.
With 1,100+ amendments tabled, they warn the reputation of Parliament is on the line.
December 7, 2025 at 11:07 AM
One hopes utter nonsense like this from the government will stiffen the lords' resolve, not weaken it. Whether one agrees we to legalise assisted suicide or not, a rush job bill would be the absolute worst of all worlds.
Wow, this Muppet hurts my maths brain, my coder brain, *and* my social ethics brain.
How the flip does someone like this get high in the civil service? He clearly shouldn't be trusted to run a bath.
How the flip does someone like this get high in the civil service? He clearly shouldn't be trusted to run a bath.
(the exchange which made me realise that it was not just an issue of resources and capacity, the British civil service really does have some serious problems of competence)
December 6, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Wow, this Muppet hurts my maths brain, my coder brain, *and* my social ethics brain.
How the flip does someone like this get high in the civil service? He clearly shouldn't be trusted to run a bath.
How the flip does someone like this get high in the civil service? He clearly shouldn't be trusted to run a bath.
Reposted by Neil Young
Taking this as a neutral statement of costs and benefits: the reason why only high earners are net contributors to the public purse is because Labour has rejected the opportunity to broaden the tax base in favour of endlessly trying to assemble a salami from slices of
December 6, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Taking this as a neutral statement of costs and benefits: the reason why only high earners are net contributors to the public purse is because Labour has rejected the opportunity to broaden the tax base in favour of endlessly trying to assemble a salami from slices of
Reposted by Neil Young
Amazing how terrible Google assistant is now. We used to use it quite a lot for shopping lists, basic queries and smart home controls but now none of it works. Just a complete destruction of a functional product, and for what?
December 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Amazing how terrible Google assistant is now. We used to use it quite a lot for shopping lists, basic queries and smart home controls but now none of it works. Just a complete destruction of a functional product, and for what?