John Bull
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garius.bsky.social
John Bull
@garius.bsky.social
29K followers 1.1K following 24K posts
He/Him. Author. Historian (inc of obscure Military Holy Orders). Strategy streamer. Tech/Transport Strategist. Editor of @lonrec. Orient fan. Business/Writing: [email protected]. Agent: @pastpreservers.bsky.social
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garius.bsky.social
John Bull @garius.bsky.social · Mar 10
The latest in my history of home computers is live. Covers the era of Commodore, Atari and Jack Tramiel.

He was a brutal manager. But also an Auschwitz survivor, and that shaped him, and his legit drive to build a better world.

This warning from him hit home, right now.

every.to/the-crazy-on...
One day in 1982, Michael Tomczyk, who had led the project to develop the Commodore 64, found himself sitting in Jack Tramiel’s office. Tomcyzk had just returned from a trade show in Hanover, Germany. During the course of their conversation, Tomczyk mentioned how impressed he’d been with the Autobahn highway network on the way there. "I built that road," Tramiel told him matter-of-factly. “Jack went on to explain that during World War II as a teenager he had been selected to work on the road gangs,” Tomczyk remembered. “He said that it was one way to survive, because they had to feed the people that did that kind of hard labor, or they wouldn't work. ‘We built good roads,’ he said.” Tramiel had never hidden the horrors in his past. He was proud that he had helped build a better future through Commodore and Atari. However, the longer he lived, the more concerned he became that people would forget what that future had cost. And that which is forgotten can be repeated. "You know," Tramiel said once, "it's hard to believe it really happened. But it can happen again. In America. Americans like to make rules, and that scares me. If you have too many rules you get locked in a system. It's the system that says this one dies and that one doesn't, not the people. That's why I don't hate the German people. Individuals, yes. Rules, yes. But not all Germans.
garius.bsky.social
STREAM TIME!

Uma! Uma! Uma!

Join me as we chat history and train anime horse girls. You know. Totally normal things. twitch.tv/gariusthebrit #umamusume #gaming
game screenshot of horse girls racing
February 9, 2026 at 4:28 PM
garius.bsky.social
I have delayed my plans to set up a base on Mars within the next decade. Instead I will now be focusing my efforts on the moon.
February 9, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by John Bull
historytoday.com
Runes: A Concise History by Tom Birkett looks beyond the mythical baggage to find a writing system no less remarkable and mysterious.

✍️ Danny Bate reviews the recent #history book

www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
‘Runes’ by Tom Birkett review
www.historytoday.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:51 PM
garius.bsky.social
Today's background viewing.

"End of the Road" is just starting!
🔴 CLASSIC Thunderbirds 24/7 Livestream
YouTube video by ITV Retro
www.youtube.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by John Bull
lmbd1418.bsky.social
Interesting. I often wonder what impact this has on the output of women vs men in the military history world. I reckon it’s often easier for men to smash out a book a year or do youtube live streams 6-9pm (children bedtime, dinner time etc) for example.
February 9, 2026 at 10:35 AM
garius.bsky.social
Big fan of Crook's work. This is a great read. Really captures his writing style with Detectorists (which is magnificent) and beyond

“After The Office, I wanted to write something that wasn’t cruel humour, that didn’t have a cringe factor. And in doing so, I stumbled upon my genre – gentle comedy.”
‘Watching The Office recently, my heart just sank’ – Mackenzie Crook on comedy, cruelty and being TV royalty
After a very hard landing into fame in the 00s, he decided to take a softer approach – and hit on a winning formula for classic comedy. The star talks about his fantastical new show Small Prophets, hi...
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by John Bull
davidheniguk.bsky.social
Non-political read of the day - The Miracle of Castel di Sangro is the best book about football I've ever read, and it is now 30 years since the unlikely coming together of a small town club in the Italian second tier and an American journalist.

www.theguardian.com/football/202...
‘We lived a miraculous thing’: Castel di Sangro, 30 years on from their epic rise
The smalltown club’s Serie B adventure captivated football and inspired a famous book. That team’s spirit remains and is being passed to their successors
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by John Bull
superchartisland.com
By 1986 there wasn't much room for complex simulations at the top of the UK games chart. Then along came MicroProse, and a submarine combat game by a designer who Commodore User referred to as 'Sid Mayer'...

New post on Silent Service: www.superchartisland.com/silent-service
Silent Service – “Sonar reports distant explosions”
Back in the earlier days of the British microcomputer boom, when we were still figuring out what computer games could be, Psion’s Flight Simulation was a huge hit on the ZX81 and the ZX Spectrum. A…
www.superchartisland.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by John Bull
norfolkro.bsky.social
🏳️‍🌈 Gay Life during the Norwich Blitz by Piers Haslam. Join us for our next lunchtime talk marking LGBT+ history month, either in person or online.
📅 Wednesday 11 February 2026
⏲️ 13:00-14:00
🎫 Free, booking essential norfolkrecordofficeblog.org/events-novem...
#norwichintheblitz #lgbthistorymonth
February 9, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by John Bull
josephcox.bsky.social
404 Media just had an ad during the #SuperBowl! We Googled "smallest TV markets in the United States" and bought an ad for $2,550 that only ran in Ottumwa, Iowa, population 25,000. That still counts

www.404media.co/watch-404-me...
Watch 404 Media’s Super Bowl Ad
WE BOUGHT A SUPER BOWL AD.
www.404media.co
February 9, 2026 at 2:48 AM
Reposted by John Bull
lorene9.bsky.social
Please please watch tomorrow night on PBS. Most people have no idea what librarians are dealing with. Some heavy hitters in our field are in this movie. @librarianjones.com @sassylibrarian.bsky.social @becalzada.bsky.social
February 8, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Reposted by John Bull
lauriewinkless.bsky.social
I just need you to know that I am working with an amazing Māori illustrator on a nerdy project for a client, and I am ridiculously excited about it. I can't share it until it's all done in November but here is a tiny lil snippet.
An illustrated woman's hand surrounded by a ring of stars. Smoke is in the background. The colour palette is warm - burgundy, yellow and brown
February 9, 2026 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by John Bull
danielsholt.bsky.social
February 9, 2026 at 2:34 AM
garius.bsky.social
Worst series of Patriot offensives since 1776
February 9, 2026 at 3:25 AM
Reposted by John Bull
kissphoria.bsky.social
Amber Glenn, a queer Texan who started ice skating at the stonebriar mall in frisco at age 5, who plays magic the gathering, is an olympic gold medalist
February 8, 2026 at 10:45 PM
garius.bsky.social
Have the Patriots considered trying to protect their quarterback? Just throwing out some ideas.
February 9, 2026 at 3:02 AM
garius.bsky.social
You get a sack! And you get a sack! And you get a sack!
February 9, 2026 at 2:58 AM
Reposted by John Bull
kenwhite.bsky.social
Your Ring camera can scam passing dogs and compare them to databases of missing dogs and that’s heartwarming and there are absolutely no sinister implications that’s why the guy in the button-down and Dockers is soothing
February 9, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by John Bull
elienyc.bsky.social
Basically Ring advertised the technology Batman used to find the Joker that Lucius Fox refused to be a part of except for that one time.
February 9, 2026 at 2:40 AM
garius.bsky.social
But they'll only use it to find lost dogs super pinky swear!
adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 17h
So uh Ring just up and said they've got a huge centralized private surveillance network they can leverage all at once huh
February 9, 2026 at 2:39 AM
garius.bsky.social
Coverage was so shocked by back-to-back touchdowns it cut out.
February 9, 2026 at 2:37 AM
garius.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing how the Patriots punt their way out of this.
February 9, 2026 at 2:31 AM
garius.bsky.social
Punt! Punt! Punt!
February 9, 2026 at 2:22 AM
garius.bsky.social
Feel like Patriots are trying to play Madden on XBox after only using the PS5 version.
February 9, 2026 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by John Bull
intothejunction.bsky.social
Puerto Ricans dancing on electrical poles is about as big a political statement you could make at a Super Bowl halftime show. The only way that could have been more explicit is if Bad Bunny started tossing rolls of paper towels to the dancers
February 9, 2026 at 1:34 AM