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Tom Roberts

@tpgroberts.bsky.social

2.7K followers 1.2K following 11K posts

I'm no hero, that's understood. The only redemption I can offer girl, is beneath this dirty hood. He/Him https://www.instagram.com/tpgeats

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · Jun 23

Going to keep plugging this for now, but after years of just food posting into the ether I have made an Instagram of my food pictures as well as tips for recipes etc.

www.instagram.com/tpgeats

Some example photos here, but please follow if of interest:

Mezze of flatbreads, fattoush, hummus and adana kabab

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3h

I don't get it? If deserts aren't livable, then how am I to find my destiny amongst the Fremen?

Nute @nutedawn.bsky.social · 13h

Obviously this is a particular left-wing species of it, but I think this is a reflection of a very real Online trend found all over the political spectrum where people don't understand some aspect of the world and so assume their ignorance must reflect a conspiracy by The Powers That Be

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 4h

Years ago, I wrote a piece on free to play games timing ads for in game purchases for the moment that players were losing, and the exploitation inherent in that, and this morning I read about people sexting ChatGPT and am picturing a frustrated face of a free user who says "I'm close."

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 4h

Finally, a use for all my bitcoin

Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 11h

Since it's extremely difficult to make chat agents secure against prompt injection, this would also be a use case for cryptocurrency, to the extent that you really really **really** don't want this thing having your bank details

Mdh @mdh2.bsky.social · 13h

Imagine the incentive structure at play to get your hands on data that can tie users with their real names and payment details to typing in horny shit. that is going to get breached at some point and exploited either as a public leak or blackmail.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 4h

The market cap of Volkswagen Group, a company that makes a lot of cars that don't blow up, and sold about 5x the number of cars Tesla did last year, is £50bn.

Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 4h

Can Tesla stay a trillion dollar company on just two models? the always excellent June Yoon here www.ft.com/content/b3d1...

Can Tesla stay a trillion dollar company on just two models?

BYD is competing directly with Elon Musk’s carmaker in the midsize electric SUV market

www.ft.com

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 4h

Hoofing it into my productivity tool, like a tragicomic cyperpunk version of the film Secretary

The Verge @theverge.com · 17h

Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults

ChatGPT is about to get flirty.

buff.ly

Reposted by Tom Roberts

eli yudin @eliyudin.com · 6h

finally AI comes for my job, a guy who writes erotica containing heavy use of the phrase “as a result”

The Verge @theverge.com · 17h

Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults

ChatGPT is about to get flirty.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Tom Roberts

correcting typo and derailing riff @stefanheck.bsky.social · 7h

I would honestly rather read a handwritten note from my parents in which they say they regret ever adopting me

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 9h

Scoop: Olivia Nuzzi has written a book during her year in exile, in which she is set to in part address her relationship with RFK Jr. Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/olivia-nuz...

Have I Got Nuzzi For You

Olivia Nuzzi is set to address her relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a forthcoming book, galleys of which are circulating among a select group of readers, Status has learned.

www.status.news

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 4h

I don't know, have you ever played Skyrim?

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 17h

Fantastic but traumatising
bsky.app/profile/tpgr...

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 17d

Finished it the other night, crying softly on a plane next to a baffled American.

It is beautiful, and captivating, and this devastated me, immediately flashing back to watching my childhood end at 14 as we buried Dad and I hardened, a clear sense of duty warped into something more painful.

"The truth is that I've spent my life trying to protect you both, from the age of what, 12, 15, I was the one who had be the adult. Who was looking out for me?"

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent move, very clever, the old Cryer two-step

Janine Gibson @janinegibson.ft.com · 1d

See if you make an announcement such as “There is fixed, structural damage in the ticket hall at Mornington Crescent” I am going to spend the next 35 minutes trying to decode it

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Sure, but that doesn't really do a lot to move the dial today as it just exacerbates the regional inequalities

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

FWIW, I think the best answer is some sort of "National Care Service" that is paid for through general taxation to replace outsourcing it to councils, and use that as the basis for council duties being more directly tied to the notional taxes.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Yup, but at that point, is this really a local tax anymore?

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Or urban areas having more people to pool costs, higher property values, and less need due to a younger population?

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

So, even this is more about fairness in paying than what you actually get at the end?

Like, how do you deal with people in poorer areas being more likely to have complex needs and require long term support but also the area having a smaller tax base?

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

I do think the way council tax works is basically indefensible, but if you asked me to sketch out a replacement then I would simply flee instead.

Tomas Hirst @tomashirstecon.bsky.social · 1d

Ahhhh (endless screaming). Where do they think *council* tax revenues go? Seems like an argument for raising council tax in the south east so they can enjoy much better local public services www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Labour MPs call on Rachel Reeves to scrap council tax

Exclusive: 13 mainly northern MPs say a new system should better account for higher house prices in south-east

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Genuinely poetic?

A.V. Deggar @avdeggar.bsky.social · 2d

Btw to all those saying that Mary Elizabeth Truss doesn't feature on this timeline—here she is.

A vertical line there for such a short amount of time that marking it with a name would fuck up the rest of the graphic.

Mary Elizabeth Truss in the orange ovoid.

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Appreciating there are people far worse off, it does bemuse me that I've grown into a New Labour/Tory archetype: 30 something professional, higher rate income tax payer, home owner, at exactly the moment that neither major party seems that interested in me.

Dr Stylite @columnist.bsky.social · 1d

I wonder about those lanyard wielding so called managerial professional classes - when does a political party to decide to focus their efforts / policies on them?

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Oh, to be 11 minutes late!

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Brief exception between about 2020 and 2023 when I was having body image issues, but yes. Always big into tailoring and creative fabric choices.

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you, I think it's basically Tom Selleck, @showerabsolute.bsky.social and me

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

"The train is having to go slow because of poor condition on the line due to a lot of leaf fall last night" does all sound very Reggie Perrin.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

I had to read Atonement for A-Level English and despised it so much I literally refused and so only read the handful of pages that mentioned the vase, the subject of the essay, and Wikipedia'd the plot.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Post you from a different era:

Like fine wine, frankly

Me, aged 21, cream suit, blue shirt, blue tie, me at 30, cream jacket, dark trousers.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Would have assumed Asda would count against...