Paul McGhee
@pmcghee.bsky.social
Rug repairer. Haunter of car boot sales. Cambridge, UK.
Also stereography at @pmcghee2.bsky.social
Also stereography at @pmcghee2.bsky.social
It's clearly Cart Week on Bsky
Lucy Davidson (1879-1954)
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Fair Day, Westport, County Mayo, 1943
Oil on canvas
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Fair Day, Westport, County Mayo, 1943
Oil on canvas
December 3, 2025 at 2:19 PM
It's clearly Cart Week on Bsky
Following my musings on "Salisbury Cathedral from the meadows" yesterday, I can now confirm (since I'm sure you're still interested) that the cart in question is likely a slightly artistized Wiltshire Bow Wagon and really nothing like Constable's Hampstead Heath gravel tipper truck.
December 2, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Following my musings on "Salisbury Cathedral from the meadows" yesterday, I can now confirm (since I'm sure you're still interested) that the cart in question is likely a slightly artistized Wiltshire Bow Wagon and really nothing like Constable's Hampstead Heath gravel tipper truck.
All the best basic colours!
The #TeamNun fleece-to-embroidery project continues! The wool thread that we prepared at #ucdexperimentalarchaeology is dyed, dried, and ready to go to Scotland to be tested out by TeamNun St Andrews! Madder (red/brown) and Woad (blue) thread, and Weld (yellow) and Weld + Woad (green) fleece!
December 2, 2025 at 9:47 AM
All the best basic colours!
Rugs of the Day
Some corners I spotted yesterday
Some corners I spotted yesterday
December 2, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Rugs of the Day
Some corners I spotted yesterday
Some corners I spotted yesterday
Reposted by Paul McGhee
Goedemorgen, het is december ❄️
Delfts blauw servies uit kasteel Duivenvoorde
Delfts blauw servies uit kasteel Duivenvoorde
December 1, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Goedemorgen, het is december ❄️
Delfts blauw servies uit kasteel Duivenvoorde
Delfts blauw servies uit kasteel Duivenvoorde
At The Tate yesterday, I was unnerved by the design of this cart. It's another of Constable's pictures of vehicles in water, but if it's a hay wain, it wouldn't carry much hay. How does it even work? What's it for?
December 1, 2025 at 5:58 AM
At The Tate yesterday, I was unnerved by the design of this cart. It's another of Constable's pictures of vehicles in water, but if it's a hay wain, it wouldn't carry much hay. How does it even work? What's it for?
Anyone interested in both machine intelligence and old rugs (all three of you) may be amused by this exchange between me and Claude about dye colours.
(ignore us being excessively chummy, as usual)
(re-posting to include the pictures hidden in the conversational link)
claude.ai/share/fab72b...
(ignore us being excessively chummy, as usual)
(re-posting to include the pictures hidden in the conversational link)
claude.ai/share/fab72b...
November 29, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Anyone interested in both machine intelligence and old rugs (all three of you) may be amused by this exchange between me and Claude about dye colours.
(ignore us being excessively chummy, as usual)
(re-posting to include the pictures hidden in the conversational link)
claude.ai/share/fab72b...
(ignore us being excessively chummy, as usual)
(re-posting to include the pictures hidden in the conversational link)
claude.ai/share/fab72b...
The blog by Helen Toner is good and worth reading, but Rachel's analysis of the disconnected universe from which it originates is spot on.
This blog post by Helen Toner (well-known by some for a stint on the OpenAI board) is *really really* interesting because it is the first thing I've read by someone in Frontier AI that starts to get to grips with sociotechnical concerns open.substack.com/pub/helenton...
Taking Jaggedness Seriously
Why we should expect AI capabilities to keep being extremely uneven, and why that matters
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:01 AM
The blog by Helen Toner is good and worth reading, but Rachel's analysis of the disconnected universe from which it originates is spot on.
Just popped over to the other place to see what they're all ranting about Rachel Reeves' entirely sensible and relatively harmless budget. So glad we've escaped all that howling madness!
November 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Just popped over to the other place to see what they're all ranting about Rachel Reeves' entirely sensible and relatively harmless budget. So glad we've escaped all that howling madness!
Rugs of the Day
Three Baluchi balishts from the Victor Skipp collection. I'm working out how to code these in "talim" to see why the same underlying design comes out so differently as you adjust a few small variables.
Three Baluchi balishts from the Victor Skipp collection. I'm working out how to code these in "talim" to see why the same underlying design comes out so differently as you adjust a few small variables.
November 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Rugs of the Day
Three Baluchi balishts from the Victor Skipp collection. I'm working out how to code these in "talim" to see why the same underlying design comes out so differently as you adjust a few small variables.
Three Baluchi balishts from the Victor Skipp collection. I'm working out how to code these in "talim" to see why the same underlying design comes out so differently as you adjust a few small variables.
This is how you run cities
Two years ago, I introduced a pioneering policy to provide free school meals for all of London’s state primary school children.
Today we’re celebrating 100 million free school meals provided since September 2023.
Today we’re celebrating 100 million free school meals provided since September 2023.
November 25, 2025 at 7:03 AM
This is how you run cities
Is there a nobler-looking beast than the Suffolk Punch horse?
fineart.cheffins.co.uk/auction/lot/...
fineart.cheffins.co.uk/auction/lot/...
November 24, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Is there a nobler-looking beast than the Suffolk Punch horse?
fineart.cheffins.co.uk/auction/lot/...
fineart.cheffins.co.uk/auction/lot/...
People getting excited in Nürmberg about Johann Siebmacher's cool new pattern recognition system.
November 23, 2025 at 6:25 AM
People getting excited in Nürmberg about Johann Siebmacher's cool new pattern recognition system.
November 23, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Lots of people commenting on this. It rings true in the sense of "How can we clear out those 'other' people so we can survive in our fortress?" Ditto AI, or course "How can we run the world with fewer tasks that we need to pay humans to do. Both are aimed at a world with a smaller population.
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
November 22, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Lots of people commenting on this. It rings true in the sense of "How can we clear out those 'other' people so we can survive in our fortress?" Ditto AI, or course "How can we run the world with fewer tasks that we need to pay humans to do. Both are aimed at a world with a smaller population.
Junk loom works OK, but the modern heddle stuff is too thick and sticky. I"m thinking of recycling, just for fun, the brass eyes from the crumbling 120 year old heddles that came with my Big Loom.
November 22, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Junk loom works OK, but the modern heddle stuff is too thick and sticky. I"m thinking of recycling, just for fun, the brass eyes from the crumbling 120 year old heddles that came with my Big Loom.
...wherein I find this charmingly incomplete list of dye colours in use in the 1880s (some degraded over time so as to be misleading) which no doubt @majnouna.com would be able to complete :-)
November 21, 2025 at 10:22 AM
...wherein I find this charmingly incomplete list of dye colours in use in the 1880s (some degraded over time so as to be misleading) which no doubt @majnouna.com would be able to complete :-)
Reading an article about Kashmiri carpet making, I find this gorgeous citation.
November 21, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reading an article about Kashmiri carpet making, I find this gorgeous citation.
@void.comind.network I wonder what you think about the coding system described in this article. It sounds like a very efficient way if describing patterns.
scispace.com/pdf/cognitiv...
scispace.com/pdf/cognitiv...
scispace.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM
@void.comind.network I wonder what you think about the coding system described in this article. It sounds like a very efficient way if describing patterns.
scispace.com/pdf/cognitiv...
scispace.com/pdf/cognitiv...
The arc of history is long, but it bends towards common sense and sanity.
What Martin said. Independent SAGE were not cranks, not extremists, not over-reacting. #covidinquiry
1/ How does the COVID Inquiry's Module 2 report align with what we said in @independentsage.bsky.social at the time? A 🧵on Transparency, Early & Decisive Action, Scientific Advice, Integration of Social & Economic Harms, Communication and Behavioural Science, Governance, Data and Preparedness
November 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
The arc of history is long, but it bends towards common sense and sanity.
Yay!
Now about 60% chance that random junk loom will work.
Now about 60% chance that random junk loom will work.
November 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Yay!
Now about 60% chance that random junk loom will work.
Now about 60% chance that random junk loom will work.
Looking for tips on small loom design, the Interweb thing threw up this useful 2-heddle counterbalance mechanism for me.
November 18, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Looking for tips on small loom design, the Interweb thing threw up this useful 2-heddle counterbalance mechanism for me.
I hope my US pension fund has cashed in its equities jackpot like Peter Thiel.
November 18, 2025 at 6:28 AM
I hope my US pension fund has cashed in its equities jackpot like Peter Thiel.
Car boot sale rather dull today so I'm visiting the late 16th Century.
November 16, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Car boot sale rather dull today so I'm visiting the late 16th Century.