Ian Hopkinson
@ianhopkinson.bsky.social
Scientist. Pythonista. Terrible guitar player. ooo...looker extraordinaire. Mr @Happymouffetard. Senior Data Scientist. @libdems since 1988 [he/his] https://www.ianhopkinson.org.uk
Lily and Michelle, mother and daughter. Lily is floofy, Michelle is slinky and wakes us up at 4:00am most mornings #SundayPixBelovedCritters
November 30, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Lily and Michelle, mother and daughter. Lily is floofy, Michelle is slinky and wakes us up at 4:00am most mornings #SundayPixBelovedCritters
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Go early, go extreme tinsel. The Christmas tree is up, decorated by child. The Christmas tardigrade and disco sheep bring good cheer.
November 29, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Go early, go extreme tinsel. The Christmas tree is up, decorated by child. The Christmas tardigrade and disco sheep bring good cheer.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Guardian also reporting that asylum seekers are being “banned” from doing something they were being forced to do, it apparently being compulsory to help the Home Office blame refugees for its own errors
UK asylum seekers to be banned from taking taxis to medical appointments
Move, which is part of crackdown on costs, comes after it emerged Home Office spends £15.8m a year on service
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Guardian also reporting that asylum seekers are being “banned” from doing something they were being forced to do, it apparently being compulsory to help the Home Office blame refugees for its own errors
I didn't realise Primus wrote the South Park theme: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x7T...
South Park the 25th Anniversary Concert (Full Broadcast Version)
YouTube video by South Park Studios
www.youtube.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I didn't realise Primus wrote the South Park theme: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x7T...
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
If we're starting "what is a Christmas movie" discourse early this year, I will tap the sign
*It’s cold outside
*Friends gather for a meal together
*Everyone is thinking about a very special little baby
*An important visitor comes in through the ventilation system
Alien is a Christmas movie
*Friends gather for a meal together
*Everyone is thinking about a very special little baby
*An important visitor comes in through the ventilation system
Alien is a Christmas movie
November 29, 2025 at 2:57 PM
If we're starting "what is a Christmas movie" discourse early this year, I will tap the sign
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
My party trick is not showing up
November 28, 2025 at 5:13 PM
My party trick is not showing up
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
“I was just following otters.”
November 28, 2025 at 9:09 PM
“I was just following otters.”
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Is there any object that has changed less in the last 4000 years than a gaming die? There's an astonishingly human and above all social story around that profound survival.
This terracotta die comes from the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro, one of the first urban centres in human history 🎲⠀
⠀
Gaming with dice has been a popular pastime in India for millennia, with this object dating back to 2500–1900 BCE.
🎲 Terracotta Die, 2500–1900 BCE. 2 x 2 x 2 cm. EAMd.25
⠀
Gaming with dice has been a popular pastime in India for millennia, with this object dating back to 2500–1900 BCE.
🎲 Terracotta Die, 2500–1900 BCE. 2 x 2 x 2 cm. EAMd.25
November 27, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Is there any object that has changed less in the last 4000 years than a gaming die? There's an astonishingly human and above all social story around that profound survival.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Slightly odd to include the Justice Secretary rather than say the Agriculture Secretary. I wonder why?
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
November 26, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Slightly odd to include the Justice Secretary rather than say the Agriculture Secretary. I wonder why?
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
November 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Scrambled down this during a "make a route from an OS map", did some bog hopping earlier in the walk. Somewhere near High Sweden Bridge above Ambleside #SundayPixOffTheBeatenTrack
November 23, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Scrambled down this during a "make a route from an OS map", did some bog hopping earlier in the walk. Somewhere near High Sweden Bridge above Ambleside #SundayPixOffTheBeatenTrack
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Reskeeting with alt text
Yeah this has become the utter pain of what we once had. Used to be you'd run to Google for a trusted and quick search and now I try to avoid it when I can
Legit ruined their own product to the point of being unrecognizable
Yeah this has become the utter pain of what we once had. Used to be you'd run to Google for a trusted and quick search and now I try to avoid it when I can
Legit ruined their own product to the point of being unrecognizable
November 23, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Reskeeting with alt text
Yeah this has become the utter pain of what we once had. Used to be you'd run to Google for a trusted and quick search and now I try to avoid it when I can
Legit ruined their own product to the point of being unrecognizable
Yeah this has become the utter pain of what we once had. Used to be you'd run to Google for a trusted and quick search and now I try to avoid it when I can
Legit ruined their own product to the point of being unrecognizable
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
You might not think you needed to see Kate Bush dressed as a bat today, but you were wrong.
November 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
You might not think you needed to see Kate Bush dressed as a bat today, but you were wrong.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Elf-made shoes
‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’, 1965
Artist: Robert Lumley
‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’, 1965
Artist: Robert Lumley
November 22, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Elf-made shoes
‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’, 1965
Artist: Robert Lumley
‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’, 1965
Artist: Robert Lumley
Wasn't Farage repeating the same talking points as Nathan Gill? I imagine he did it for free though, he's very generous
November 21, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Wasn't Farage repeating the same talking points as Nathan Gill? I imagine he did it for free though, he's very generous
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
If you scroll on X, you are only being shown what Elon wants you to see. If you create content on X, no one will see it unless Elon wants them to.
November 21, 2025 at 1:23 AM
If you scroll on X, you are only being shown what Elon wants you to see. If you create content on X, no one will see it unless Elon wants them to.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
I haven’t seen this get covered in English yet so let me translate.
Grok is saying that the crematories at Auschwitz’s were conceived as disinfectant chambers, not mass execution and that the law has made it taboo to acknowledge that this is what they were
X is a Nazi site. Get off the Nazi site.
Grok is saying that the crematories at Auschwitz’s were conceived as disinfectant chambers, not mass execution and that the law has made it taboo to acknowledge that this is what they were
X is a Nazi site. Get off the Nazi site.
November 19, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I haven’t seen this get covered in English yet so let me translate.
Grok is saying that the crematories at Auschwitz’s were conceived as disinfectant chambers, not mass execution and that the law has made it taboo to acknowledge that this is what they were
X is a Nazi site. Get off the Nazi site.
Grok is saying that the crematories at Auschwitz’s were conceived as disinfectant chambers, not mass execution and that the law has made it taboo to acknowledge that this is what they were
X is a Nazi site. Get off the Nazi site.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Cyclist turns down trans exclusionary honour for woman cyclists (and you can feel the BBC’s teeth grinding about it).
"If they don't want to ride with all women, then it's not the kind of ride I want to be part of".
"If they don't want to ride with all women, then it's not the kind of ride I want to be part of".
Woman refuses Cycling UK award over trans women being left out
Claire Sharpe says she disagrees with Cycling UK only naming biological women in their top 100 list.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Cyclist turns down trans exclusionary honour for woman cyclists (and you can feel the BBC’s teeth grinding about it).
"If they don't want to ride with all women, then it's not the kind of ride I want to be part of".
"If they don't want to ride with all women, then it's not the kind of ride I want to be part of".
Book review: Kindred - Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes (@lemoustier.bsky.social) ianhopkinson.org.uk/2025/11/book... #prehistory #bookreview #Neanderthals
Book review: Kindred – Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes
This review is of Kindred – Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes, a book of everything we know about Neanderthals. The aim of the author is to be fully up to date and …
ianhopkinson.org.uk
November 19, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Book review: Kindred - Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes (@lemoustier.bsky.social) ianhopkinson.org.uk/2025/11/book... #prehistory #bookreview #Neanderthals
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
The Salvation Army are a hate group. Do not forget that this winter.
November 17, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The Salvation Army are a hate group. Do not forget that this winter.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
The origin of 'pedigree'. This type of C12 figure (not a family tree but a way of calculating relatedness – the titles of various relatives have not been put in the circles) looked like a crane's foot, thought medieval folk. So 'pied de grue' and hence 'pedigree'. Source in alt.
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 AM
The origin of 'pedigree'. This type of C12 figure (not a family tree but a way of calculating relatedness – the titles of various relatives have not been put in the circles) looked like a crane's foot, thought medieval folk. So 'pied de grue' and hence 'pedigree'. Source in alt.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
“They went for pensioners, they went for the disabled, and now they’re going for people fleeing war and conflict. I am furious — this government should hang their heads in shame.”
Zack Polanski on Labour’s new immigration reforms on Newsnight.
Zack Polanski on Labour’s new immigration reforms on Newsnight.
November 18, 2025 at 10:01 AM
“They went for pensioners, they went for the disabled, and now they’re going for people fleeing war and conflict. I am furious — this government should hang their heads in shame.”
Zack Polanski on Labour’s new immigration reforms on Newsnight.
Zack Polanski on Labour’s new immigration reforms on Newsnight.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
People arriving here by small boat are desperate, often traumatised. Latest figures are 68% of boat arrivals granted asylum (see link)
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
Confiscating jewellery from survivors of a war zone makes you look like a fucking Nazi. And the obscene thing is, that is the intention. It's there to look appropriately harsh. Indecent. Filthy. A moral stain. And no-one of good character would have ever proposed such a thing in the first place.
November 17, 2025 at 11:46 AM
People arriving here by small boat are desperate, often traumatised. Latest figures are 68% of boat arrivals granted asylum (see link)
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Indeed, and it’s not like this is the first example of performance art cruelty, is it. Let’s look up the Wiki page for Home Secretaries of the 2000s, for example. Does this tell us anything about this mode of politics?
November 17, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Indeed, and it’s not like this is the first example of performance art cruelty, is it. Let’s look up the Wiki page for Home Secretaries of the 2000s, for example. Does this tell us anything about this mode of politics?
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Shabana Mahmood on the BBC this morning talking about desperate people fleeing war and persecution as being given a "golden ticket" and "handouts" and saying she's got a "moral mission" to take them away from them
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...
Shabana Mahmood and the Politics of Extortion
Labour's strategy of telling its supporters to back Reform-style policies, or get a Reform Government, is the politics of the protection racket and it is not going to work
www.adambienkov.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Shabana Mahmood on the BBC this morning talking about desperate people fleeing war and persecution as being given a "golden ticket" and "handouts" and saying she's got a "moral mission" to take them away from them
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...