Nick Hall
@nickhall.bsky.social
I am not Mog. I am a historian of film, TV, media at Royal Holloway Uni of London, UK
Books: The Zoom (2018), Hands on Media History (2019). New stuff coming on indie TV production and (separately) TV transmitters.
http://tinyurl.com/nickhallrhul
Books: The Zoom (2018), Hands on Media History (2019). New stuff coming on indie TV production and (separately) TV transmitters.
http://tinyurl.com/nickhallrhul
Reposted by Nick Hall
*Fewer
Are these AI prompts damaging your thinking skills? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Experts warn AI is making your brain work less
Generative AI tools have become hugely popular but some experts worry about the effect they have on the brain.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 20, 2025 at 10:36 AM
*Fewer
Reposted by Nick Hall
I also want to say thank you to the person who introduced me to the French word 'beaucoup' this year. It means a lot.
December 19, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I also want to say thank you to the person who introduced me to the French word 'beaucoup' this year. It means a lot.
I would write a book in which another character, delighted by Diot Coke's bracingly unfamiliar approach to navigating the Middle Ages, describes her as "so Refreshinge"
Unsolicited writing advice, no. 1726:
Fiction hates coincidences. Just because it happens in real life doesn't mean it will work in fiction. In 1379, in Yorkshire, there was born a girl named Diot Coke. This, although actually true, still doesn't mean you can use her name in your historical novel.
Fiction hates coincidences. Just because it happens in real life doesn't mean it will work in fiction. In 1379, in Yorkshire, there was born a girl named Diot Coke. This, although actually true, still doesn't mean you can use her name in your historical novel.
December 19, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I would write a book in which another character, delighted by Diot Coke's bracingly unfamiliar approach to navigating the Middle Ages, describes her as "so Refreshinge"
Reposted by Nick Hall
Stay safe out there y'all
December 18, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Stay safe out there y'all
so "logging in" now involves:
- password
- biometric login on phone
- enter code into app
- biometric login on phone again
good to have those two extra steps
- password
- biometric login on phone
- enter code into app
- biometric login on phone again
good to have those two extra steps
December 12, 2025 at 11:32 AM
so "logging in" now involves:
- password
- biometric login on phone
- enter code into app
- biometric login on phone again
good to have those two extra steps
- password
- biometric login on phone
- enter code into app
- biometric login on phone again
good to have those two extra steps
Reposted by Nick Hall
Reposted by Nick Hall
Time again for my favorite christmas post ever, one that still makes me laugh every time i read it
December 23, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Time again for my favorite christmas post ever, one that still makes me laugh every time i read it
It's bigger than that, Chris, it's large. I mean, if you've got a history book at home, take it out, throw it in the bin, it's worthless. The history books, now, will have to be rewritten
December 6, 2025 at 6:18 PM
It's bigger than that, Chris, it's large. I mean, if you've got a history book at home, take it out, throw it in the bin, it's worthless. The history books, now, will have to be rewritten
beautiful description of a university "Centre for" though
I can’t believe the WWE Hall of Fame thing is real. This is like a @davecolon.bsky.social bit.
December 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM
beautiful description of a university "Centre for" though
this. is cinema.
HBOMax has started showing a 'remastered' 4K Mad Men and they’ve messed things up so during Roger’s oyster vomit scene you can now see the crew men with the vomit hose on the right
December 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
this. is cinema.
Reposted by Nick Hall
Tibetans: this is the mountain Chomolungma, Mother Goddess of the Earth
Imperial Britain: crikey that's a big one, let's name it after George Everest he's a top bloke
Imperial Britain: crikey that's a big one, let's name it after George Everest he's a top bloke
June 5, 2024 at 3:54 PM
Tibetans: this is the mountain Chomolungma, Mother Goddess of the Earth
Imperial Britain: crikey that's a big one, let's name it after George Everest he's a top bloke
Imperial Britain: crikey that's a big one, let's name it after George Everest he's a top bloke
Reposted by Nick Hall
Scam ads on Meta in UK likely worth more than all online news advertising. Meta probably made more than £600m from fraudulent UK advertising in 2024 pressgazette.co.uk/platforms/sc...
Scam ads on Meta in UK likely worth more than all online news advertising
Meta likely made more than £600m from fraudulent UK advertising in 2024.
pressgazette.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Scam ads on Meta in UK likely worth more than all online news advertising. Meta probably made more than £600m from fraudulent UK advertising in 2024 pressgazette.co.uk/platforms/sc...
our "we're not Enron" t-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by our shirt
it's happening dot gif
November 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
our "we're not Enron" t-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by our shirt
but why deep fry the turkey in the first place?
November 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
but why deep fry the turkey in the first place?
Mouse midwives!!!
"Mice seem to assist pregnant females when they get into difficulty giving birth, with experienced mothers being the most helpful. This is thought to be the first official sighting of such assistance in non-primates, and so expands our knowledge of caregiving behaviours across the animal kingdom."
Mouse 'midwives' help their pregnant companions give birth
Scientists have observed mice helping each other when they encounter difficulties during birth, prompting a rethink of caregiving among rodents and other animals
www.newscientist.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Mouse midwives!!!
Reposted by Nick Hall
why make the right decision once when you can make the wrong decision four or five times!
November 14, 2025 at 10:24 AM
why make the right decision once when you can make the wrong decision four or five times!
Reposted by Nick Hall
I’m sorry I just found out that in 1379, as in, 650 years ago, a baby girl was born in Yorkshire and named Diot Coke
history is a fucking joke lmao
history is a fucking joke lmao
November 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I’m sorry I just found out that in 1379, as in, 650 years ago, a baby girl was born in Yorkshire and named Diot Coke
history is a fucking joke lmao
history is a fucking joke lmao
Reposted by Nick Hall
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
how, on earth, does THIS cause the DG to resign
November 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM
how, on earth, does THIS cause the DG to resign
well I've seen K-Pop Demon Hunters now and given that it has been the talk of the playground and the topic of reenactments and singalongs I wasn't expecting there to be so much "cheerfully slicing people in half with agricultural implements"
apparently the children yearn for the ultraviolence
apparently the children yearn for the ultraviolence
November 9, 2025 at 6:01 PM
well I've seen K-Pop Demon Hunters now and given that it has been the talk of the playground and the topic of reenactments and singalongs I wasn't expecting there to be so much "cheerfully slicing people in half with agricultural implements"
apparently the children yearn for the ultraviolence
apparently the children yearn for the ultraviolence
So I watched House of Dynamite and I thought it was a fantastic pilot episode for the sort of big budget limited series that Netflix doesn't make so much any more
Imagining that series is really the only way I can get over the disappointment the actual film creates
Imagining that series is really the only way I can get over the disappointment the actual film creates
November 9, 2025 at 12:57 PM
So I watched House of Dynamite and I thought it was a fantastic pilot episode for the sort of big budget limited series that Netflix doesn't make so much any more
Imagining that series is really the only way I can get over the disappointment the actual film creates
Imagining that series is really the only way I can get over the disappointment the actual film creates
After reading this thread even the most committed hotel-shouting roundabout-flagger would conclude that there's room for Sheffield City Council to dial the Christmas stuff back a bit
It blows my mind that there are real people who see a post like this and actually believe the whole “Christmas is being cancelled by Muslims” BS 🙄
Let’s have a quick look at what’s happening to Sheffield so you can put your Express reading uncle’s mind at ease!😆
1/15
🧵
Let’s have a quick look at what’s happening to Sheffield so you can put your Express reading uncle’s mind at ease!😆
1/15
🧵
November 9, 2025 at 12:53 PM
After reading this thread even the most committed hotel-shouting roundabout-flagger would conclude that there's room for Sheffield City Council to dial the Christmas stuff back a bit
Reposted by Nick Hall
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.