Neville Hobson
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nevillehobson.xyz
Neville Hobson
@nevillehobson.xyz
Communicator, blogger, podcaster | Social web: @[email protected] | Work: virtual, hybrid | Life: Somerset, UK | Connections: https://linktr.ee/nevillehobson
A post on LinkedIn about the em dash sparked an unexpectedly rich discussion about voice, identity and how AI shapes the way our writing is judged. Many defended their style; others now avoid the dash entirely. I’ve written a deeper reflection on what it reveals.

🔗 bit.ly/3XsenQV
The Em Dash, AI and the Search for Authentic Voice
What began with a post about the em dash became a conversation about much more – how we think about voice, authenticity and the human mind in an AI-shaped world. The comments revealed concerns about s...
www.nevillehobson.io
November 30, 2025 at 9:06 AM
If you drive a plug-in hybrid car (PHEV), it looks like you’ll have the worst deal under the new car tax plan. Clearly BEVs are the best choice, but if you can’t use a BEV, your best bet looks to be a self-charging hybrid (HEV) bit.ly/4rjhpEG
How will UK pay-per-mile tax impact EV owners
The UK budget included a pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles. But how will this work, and what are the potential costs involved?
bit.ly
November 29, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Terrific new resource from @ghost.org - a discovery engine! You'll find me listed there 🔎
Google search is broken.

Social algorithms suppress links.

Finding good independent writing online has never been harder.

We built something to fix that: 🌍

ghost.org/changelog/gh...
Explore the independent web
Driving growth for Ghost publishers with a new discovery engine
ghost.org
November 27, 2025 at 9:35 AM
The BBC looks increasingly adrift. After watching the Select Committee session, I’m not convinced Samir Shah can steady the ship. And it needs more than that. The BBC’s own report doesn’t inspire confidence. Is he the right leader for this moment?

🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC may not be in 'safe hands' under its chair, says committee head
The most senior MP on the culture select committee says Samir Shah's evidence to MPs was
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 11:49 AM
@anthropic.com reports on the first cyberattack run largely by an AI system. It’s a turning point – not just for security teams, but also for leaders and communicators thinking about risk, trust and readiness.

🔗 Here's my take: www.nevillehobson.io/the-day-cybe...

#cybersecurity #comms
The Day Cyberattacks Became Autonomous
The first cyberattack executed primarily by an autonomous AI isn’t hypothetical – it has already happened. Anthropic’s investigation shows how attackers manipulated Claude into running a full espionag...
www.nevillehobson.io
November 24, 2025 at 7:52 AM
"Concerns are growing among Republicans that if things continue this way, the party is on track for a drubbing in next year’s mid-terms. If that comes to pass and they lose the House, administration figures fear Trump will lose control of his presidency." Good read www.thetimes.com/us/american-...
Trump’s big problem is not Epstein — it’s the AI bubble
The American economy, and the president’s fortunes, are becoming reliant on one new technology. What happens when the artificial intelligence boom busts?
www.thetimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Concentrating politically right-wing mainstream print media in the UK under single ownership. Will Ofcom and the government approve it? www.bbc.co.uk/news/arti…
Daily Mail owner agrees to buy Daily Telegraph for £500m
The publisher of the Daily Mail says it is in talks to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph for £500m.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Ok, I succumbed to the Black Friday temptation - I bought a Kindle Colorsoft 2025 edition on a great Amazon offer, enhanced by trading in my current Kindle Paperwhite. I use my Kindle every day; now I’ll be able to find content in my library by looking at the book covers in colour!
November 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
“In reality, the FCC will likely come up empty. If the programme wasn’t broadcast in America, that’s fatal to Trump’s claim and to the FCC investigation.” There’s nothing else about the Panorama programme that’s not been disclosed, right? www.bbc.co.uk/news/arti…
US broadcast regulator writes to BBC over Panorama edit of Trump speech
The letter is reportedly also sent to the BBC's US partners, and seeks to find out if any US rules were broken.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
"If we handed in stuff that was AI-generated, we would be kicked out of the uni, but we’re being taught by an AI"
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Kudos to @cloudflare.social for the explanation and detailed information about the Internet outage on 18 November.
blog.cloudflare.com/18-november-...
Cloudflare outage on November 18, 2025
Cloudflare suffered a service outage on November 18, 2025. The outage was triggered by a bug in generation logic for a Bot Management feature file causing many Cloudflare services to be affected.
blog.cloudflare.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:36 AM
LinkedIn really is a place for great engagement when you share something there that captures imaginations. The blog post I wrote about em dashes and shared on LinkedIn has some terrific comments - and over 20,000 views. Wow! In just three days bit.ly/4o49Fn2
Em dashes and AI: a tiny update sparks a big debate | Neville Hobson posted on the topic | LinkedIn
A funny thing about AI writing: sometimes the smallest details make the most noise. OpenAI now says ChatGPT will stop using em dashes if you tell it not to. It's a tiny update that ends a surprisingly loud debate over a horizontal line. But the real story is how the em dash became a cultural “tell” of AI writing in the first place, and what that says about voice, trust and the rhythm of language in an AI-shaped world. I’ve written about it on my blog, including how AI picked up the em dash habit from us in the first place, and why this small fix says something bigger about how humans and machines learn from one another. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ei39YgnD Has a piece of punctuation ever caused this much drama in your corner of the Internet? #AI #Writing #ChatGPT | 23 comments on LinkedIn
bit.ly
November 20, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Vibe coding is turning software creation into a conversation. Anyone can now build tools by describing what they need – which is exciting, but also chaotic if we’re not ready for it. Communicators have a fundamental role to play here.

🔗 bit.ly/3XII684

#AI #FutureOfWork #VibeCoding
Why ‘Vibe Coding’ Matters More Than You Think
Vibe coding is changing how we create, shifting software from something we write to something we discuss. As AI becomes a collaborator, the real challenge is helping people use this new power responsi...
www.nevillehobson.io
November 20, 2025 at 8:11 AM
We’re just past mid-November. Christmas Day is still five weeks away. Yet all I hear on the radio is Christmas songs. Some neighbours have already put up their decorations. Supermarkets and department stores are full-on with Christmas. Let’s hear it again from Noddy:
November 19, 2025 at 8:16 AM
If you want to understand the open social web – Mastodon, Bluesky, and more – Ben Werdmuller's @werd.io article explains why it matters for the future of online communities. Decentralised, user‑owned, and growing.

🌍 werd.io/the-state-of...
The State of the Open Social Web
A comprehensive look at Mastodon, Bluesky, and the growing ecosystem of open, interoperable social networks.
werd.io
November 19, 2025 at 8:01 AM
It's definitely not Cloudflare's day...
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Cloudflare error trying to load ChatGPT. Could it be connected with the reported “massive Cloudflare outage”? www.itpro.com/infrastru…
November 18, 2025 at 1:24 PM
We’re intermingling two very different dramas: alternating between the first season of Poirot from 1989 on ITVX, and The Beast In Me that premiered on Netflix last week. Chalk and cheese but each excellent TV
November 17, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Neville Hobson
In FIR 489, @shelholtz.bsky.social and @nevillehobson.xyz dig into “idea inflation” – when leaders fire off AI-generated thought-leadership ideas and teams are left to clean up the mess. Plus: brand under comms, vibe coding, quantum, and more.

🎧💻 Listen or watch: bit.ly/43AUVoy

#FIRpodcast
November 17, 2025 at 9:37 AM
ChatGPT now promises to stop using em dashes when you ask it to, ending a surprisingly noisy debate over a tiny punctuation mark.

I’ve written about why the fuss happened, what it says about AI writing, and why our habits still shape the machines.

🔗 bit.ly/4r9c4Qs

#AI #Writing #ChatGPT
When AI Lets Go of the em dash
ChatGPT now promises to stop using em dashes when instructed, ending a surprisingly noisy debate over a tiny punctuation mark. But the real story is how AI picked up the em dash from us in the first p...
www.nevillehobson.io
November 17, 2025 at 8:21 AM
This is crazy. I have #Chrome running on #Windows11 with four tabs open on a handful of news and social websites - and Chrome is consuming just over 5 gigs of memory according to the Task Manager. Wtf?
November 16, 2025 at 8:39 AM
“Last week, an environmental disaster took place on Camber Sands beach, on what could turn out to be an unprecedented scale…” www.theguardian.com/environme…
‘We feel we’re fighting a losing battle’: the race to remove millions of plastic beads from Camber Sands
A huge cleanup effort has seen volunteers working to remove beads by hand and machine. They can only wait and see the extent of damage to wildlife and dune habitat
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:58 AM
🎄 Noddy says…
November 15, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Er… Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak?
youtu.be/_lwf_MA4M…
Kemi Badenoch reacts to reports of a budget U-turn by the Labour Party
youtu.be
November 14, 2025 at 8:09 PM