Nick Fitzsimons
@nickfitz.bsky.social
Software developer based in Leicester, UK.
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who decided to call it Secret Santa when Nondisclosure Claus was right there
December 1, 2025 at 10:55 PM
who decided to call it Secret Santa when Nondisclosure Claus was right there
Reposted by Nick Fitzsimons
Anyway yeah sure OBR hit me up. For 20k i'll write you a twenty page report that really just says:
"the Head of Budget forecasting insisted he get CMS access to upload it but said no he didn't have time to do the training this is urgent"
But in big computer words journalists don't understand.
"the Head of Budget forecasting insisted he get CMS access to upload it but said no he didn't have time to do the training this is urgent"
But in big computer words journalists don't understand.
November 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Anyway yeah sure OBR hit me up. For 20k i'll write you a twenty page report that really just says:
"the Head of Budget forecasting insisted he get CMS access to upload it but said no he didn't have time to do the training this is urgent"
But in big computer words journalists don't understand.
"the Head of Budget forecasting insisted he get CMS access to upload it but said no he didn't have time to do the training this is urgent"
But in big computer words journalists don't understand.
Reposted by Nick Fitzsimons
As we head into the festive season, a little reminder to the meat eaters that pigs-in-blankets toad-in-the-hole is one of the most delicious food ever.
Here’s one I made last year
Here’s one I made last year
December 1, 2025 at 4:48 PM
As we head into the festive season, a little reminder to the meat eaters that pigs-in-blankets toad-in-the-hole is one of the most delicious food ever.
Here’s one I made last year
Here’s one I made last year
This might be OK if it meant getting in for a quid if you turned up five minutes before the curtain went up and there were seats unfilled. But somehow, I doubt that’s what they have in mind.
Dynamic pricing is one of the most exciting areas for future investment in theatre and will help "reach diverse audiences and reduce costs", new research from the National Theatre claims.
👉 www.thestage.co.uk/news/nat...
👉 www.thestage.co.uk/news/nat...
December 1, 2025 at 9:24 PM
This might be OK if it meant getting in for a quid if you turned up five minutes before the curtain went up and there were seats unfilled. But somehow, I doubt that’s what they have in mind.
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last week i remembered that macOS lets you set your own icons and that *I* have the power to delegitimize the professionalism of the software that runs on my machine, so here's a thread of the 16 new icons i've made so far
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
November 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
last week i remembered that macOS lets you set your own icons and that *I* have the power to delegitimize the professionalism of the software that runs on my machine, so here's a thread of the 16 new icons i've made so far
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
Reposted by Nick Fitzsimons
OK so it's dark and rainy and I feel like this story should be shared. The movie Grace Of My Heart is a sort of 'film á clef' loosely based on Carole King's life, interpolating a fictional romance with a character based on Brian Wilson. Musical director J Mascis said they HAD TO use a theremin...
Allison also told an absolutely fucking great Beach Boys anecdote (from Grace Of My Heart soundtrack recording sessions) which would on its own make this one of the great Q&As
December 1, 2025 at 5:33 PM
OK so it's dark and rainy and I feel like this story should be shared. The movie Grace Of My Heart is a sort of 'film á clef' loosely based on Carole King's life, interpolating a fictional romance with a character based on Brian Wilson. Musical director J Mascis said they HAD TO use a theremin...
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My phone generated a photo album called like "loving memories" with a photo of me and my partner at dinner as the cover, and when I opened it it was just various pizzas I've eaten over the last few years with sentimental music.
December 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
My phone generated a photo album called like "loving memories" with a photo of me and my partner at dinner as the cover, and when I opened it it was just various pizzas I've eaten over the last few years with sentimental music.
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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 1:38 PM
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.
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I love how Scott decided the Zimbabwe school kid UFO story was more plausible once he realized the school kids were white colonists
November 30, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I love how Scott decided the Zimbabwe school kid UFO story was more plausible once he realized the school kids were white colonists
Still April here, I thought 😕
December, then
I do not know where this year has gone, it was summer last time I looked
I do not know where this year has gone, it was summer last time I looked
December 1, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Still April here, I thought 😕
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people who would rather work four days for ten hours per day than five days for eight hours per day.
Listen:
You should be allowed to work four days for six hours per day.
And
Make the money that you make now
The “40 hours” is arbitrary.
Listen:
You should be allowed to work four days for six hours per day.
And
Make the money that you make now
The “40 hours” is arbitrary.
November 30, 2025 at 6:41 PM
people who would rather work four days for ten hours per day than five days for eight hours per day.
Listen:
You should be allowed to work four days for six hours per day.
And
Make the money that you make now
The “40 hours” is arbitrary.
Listen:
You should be allowed to work four days for six hours per day.
And
Make the money that you make now
The “40 hours” is arbitrary.
Reposted by Nick Fitzsimons
Will always remember that we had to cancel our “goal of the month” competition for August, because we had not scored a goal.
December 1, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Will always remember that we had to cancel our “goal of the month” competition for August, because we had not scored a goal.
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let’s all take a moment to appreciate blank VHS packaging design trends
September 3, 2025 at 3:12 PM
let’s all take a moment to appreciate blank VHS packaging design trends
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slowly coming to terms with the fact that Dumbarton is in Dunbartonshire, and that in all these years i have never noticed that the shire is spelt with an n
November 30, 2025 at 7:45 PM
slowly coming to terms with the fact that Dumbarton is in Dunbartonshire, and that in all these years i have never noticed that the shire is spelt with an n
The manual for my new washer-dryer suggests buttoning the duvet cover up before putting it in so everything else doesn’t end up trapped inside it, and it’s one of those useful little tips that has me wondering why on earth I never thought of doing that before.
November 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
The manual for my new washer-dryer suggests buttoning the duvet cover up before putting it in so everything else doesn’t end up trapped inside it, and it’s one of those useful little tips that has me wondering why on earth I never thought of doing that before.
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rich dudes got freakier after butlers fell out of fashion, like say what you will about having domestic servants but clearly it was some sort of moderating force on old rich dudes having a fancy man follow you around saying shit like "oh dear sir, that wouldn't be very becoming"
November 29, 2025 at 6:43 AM
rich dudes got freakier after butlers fell out of fashion, like say what you will about having domestic servants but clearly it was some sort of moderating force on old rich dudes having a fancy man follow you around saying shit like "oh dear sir, that wouldn't be very becoming"
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I'm too hungover for this
November 30, 2025 at 9:09 AM
I'm too hungover for this
“It’s better because it’s better.”
![HENRY: Shut up and listen. This thing here, which looks like a wooden club, is actually several pieces of particular wood cunningly put together in a certain way so that the whole thing is sprung, like a dance floor. It’s for hitting cricket balls with. If you get it right, the cricket ball will travel two hundred yards in four seconds, and all you’ve done is give it a knock like knocking the top off a bottle of stout, and it makes a noise like a trout taking a fly… (He clucks his tongue to make the noise.) What we’re trying to do is to write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might … travel … (He clucks his tongue again and picks up the script.) Now, what we’ve got here is a lump of wood of roughly the same shape trying to be a cricket bat, and if you hit a ball with it, the ball will travel about ten feet and you will drop the bat and dance about shouting ‘Ouch!’ with your hands stuck into your armpits. (Indicating the cricket bat.) This isn’t better because someone says it’s better, or because there’s a conspiracy by the MCC to keep cudgels out of Lords. It’s better because it’s better. You don’t believe me, so I suggest you go out to bat with this and see how you get on. [quoting from the play] ‘You’re a strange boy, Billy, how old are you?”Twenty, but I’ve lived more than you’ll ever live.’ Ooh, ouch! (He drops the script and hops about with his hands in his armpits, going ‘Ouch!’ ANNIE watches him expressionlessly until he desists.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tfusco6lurhflepbh3g7m7s5/bafkreihts3fxnflkahxc7f6q4gpmjmbfxxkoeerd7ksiqmqvgl2mvgerbe@jpeg)
November 30, 2025 at 11:41 AM
“It’s better because it’s better.”
They should also state that they will tear down the ballroom and any other shit he has built and restore everything to its previous condition, and that this work will be wholly funded by a levy on those who contributed, and on the personal wealth of Trump's family.
a few candidates have talked about this but any Dem planning to run in 2028 should make it explicit: the next DOJ will, in fact, go after you if you’re funding this awful ballroom, or any other pay to play deals you make with this administration
Dimon on why JPMorgan Chase is not funding WH Ballroom:
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
November 30, 2025 at 11:29 AM
They should also state that they will tear down the ballroom and any other shit he has built and restore everything to its previous condition, and that this work will be wholly funded by a levy on those who contributed, and on the personal wealth of Trump's family.
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Children’s books in particular should be weird and challenging and inappropriate. All the best ones are.
November 29, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Children’s books in particular should be weird and challenging and inappropriate. All the best ones are.
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The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Reposted by Nick Fitzsimons
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI
Anecdotally on twitter seeing a big shift the last few days from every AI slop account saying every other creative field is “over” and they’re in control now to now posting about how nobody likes them and it’s not fair and they’ll persevere and real artists respect and uplift eachother
November 30, 2025 at 12:27 AM
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI
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Headline: "AI can replace 11.7% of workforce"
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
MIT study finds AI can already replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce
Artificial intelligence can already replace 11.7% of the U.S. labor market, across finance, health care and professional services, according to MIT's study.
www.cnbc.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Headline: "AI can replace 11.7% of workforce"
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
Actual study: Anthropic paid MIT to use a "labor simulation tool" that said 11.7% of TASKS could be done by AI
Reposted by Nick Fitzsimons
Buckle up, we're going in
November 29, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Buckle up, we're going in