Pete Birkinshaw
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binaryape.bsky.social
Pete Birkinshaw
@binaryape.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.7K following 11K posts
Hat-wearing devourer of chickpeas, Manchester vegan, manager of identities, developer of obscure software, Green inactivist, Elixir & Ruby coder, watcher of K-dramas, daft-apeth.
Alignment: Quixotic-Good

https://binary-ape.org
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binaryape.bsky.social
Suspiciously Dark Pattern-like change from No to Yes answers for the I Do Not Need A Bloody TV License Go Away form
Screenshot of the form to say you don't need to pay for a TV license in the UK. The first 4 questions are "do you use", with answer no, then it switches to "can you confirm you don't" which need a yes answer.
November 23, 2025 at 4:53 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
My wide rates Clipper English Breakfast above Yorkshire Gold (or any other mainstream brand)
A red cardboard box of 80 organic English Breakfast tea bags from Clipper
November 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
I got home last night and despite numerous very slow walks to the toilet I slept more than the previous week. Actual dreams. My bed doesn’t bubble or tilt but it’s the best bed.
I sleep in a big bed with my wife, says Homer Simpson
November 15, 2025 at 9:20 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
I think the sense that something terrible is happening is caused by the terrible thing happening. I didn’t have the strength to pick up my phone and it’s not even a big one.
In extreme cases there could be a dramatic fall in blood pressure. The person may become weak and floppy and may have a sense of something terrible happening. Any of the ABC symptoms may lead to collapse and loss of consciousness and, on rare occasions, can be fatal.
November 12, 2025 at 10:34 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
I'm a little puzzled by the announcement of an offshore wind project in Greater Manchester.
UK government announcement of "offshore wind project" in Greater Manchester. Which has everything except a beach.
November 6, 2025 at 2:12 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
These Atorvastatin tablets were either designed by someone unfamiliar with human anatomy, or a fan of Chris Morris. Like trying to swallow a pound coin.
A big round statin tablet that’s also really thick.
November 3, 2025 at 9:51 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
A conspiracy theorist tried to quote-shame/waffle me for not focusing on Charles in my joke about Andrew.
A crank replied: "Now do Charles who ruined Diana's life and contributed to her murder with his infidelity"
October 31, 2025 at 4:43 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
It's been two months since I cooked a proper meal, due to being tired, and messed up by medicines, and not having an appetite, and having to avoid things and [continues grumbling for 500 words] but today I made something a lot like "royal tteokbokki" for lunch (beef substituted with braised tofu)
A wide pan containing big chunky fresh tteokbokki rice cakes, carrot, mushrooms, garlic and Taiwanese braised tofu (from a can), cooked in rice syrup, black pepper and soy sauce.
October 30, 2025 at 1:24 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
I've got to admit I'm curious about the shredded wheat Welsh rarebit
Illustrations of American Shredded wheat recipes from 1899. There are two mysterious can-shaped brown loafs, a fried egg on shredded wheat, some sort of gelatine "spinach salad", and some stewed fruit. The fruit one quite reasonable really.
October 25, 2025 at 8:05 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
Celebrating this most holy of days #CrispSandwichDay
An Aldi oven bottom with Brown Bag low salt crisps, mayo and kale An Aldi oven bottom with Brown Bag low salt crisps, mayo and some home made red cabbage kimchi
October 25, 2025 at 11:52 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
Nice
Jazz music presenter from The Fast Show, probably saying “Nice”
October 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
That is clearly a particularly cute tsuchinoko or bachi hebi
An old ink drawing of chonky Japanese snake-like monster
October 22, 2025 at 8:49 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
(Italy's fascist government launched a series of "new" pasta shapes as a propaganda exercise, but there are identical or almost identical shapes now that have different names, because names matter)
From Wikipedia: "In 2021, long-standing Italian pasta manufacturer La Molisana launched an advertisement for several pasta shapes including conchiglie. In the campaign, conchiglie was called by its historic name, abissine, named after Benito Mussolini's fascist occupation of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia).[4] Following online backlash including a statement from the National Association of Partisans, La Molisana apologised, temporarily withdrew the pasta shapes promoted by the campaign, and changed their marketing to refer to the pasta shape as conchiglie."
October 22, 2025 at 3:47 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
Best read in the style of ‘Parklife’
An idiot posts “you care more about tattoos than winning. You are a provincial moralist. Read Marx”
October 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
Here you go: for mid- Victorian working class pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

This is going to be a quick wheat flour roux with jam, beef and pork fat, and curry powder, with the leftovers dropped in, so about as authentic as Jamie Oliver dish
Extract from academic paper: “usual to have a roast dinner on Sunday, eaten cold on Monday with bought pickles, and cooked up in a form such as curry on Tuesday”
October 18, 2025 at 3:36 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
[EVERYONE DISAGREES]
A group of women factory workers in an old (1970s?) BBC documentary looking very disapproving with the subtitle "Everyone Disagrees"
October 18, 2025 at 9:33 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
More pain for this republican but: most kings don't have absolute power. Even George III didn't. European monarchies have very limited power*. This is the real world not Shrek or Game of Thrones.

*Still too much in the UK and I want them gone but let's not just make shit up
A Bluesky post: "Heaven forefend we hurt the feelings of rulers with absolute power whose whims can destroy the livelihoods and lives of their subjects. They're smol beans, too!"
October 17, 2025 at 8:58 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
I remember the finger songwriter
The man from 'Fingerbobs', an ancient TV programme about singing and finger puppets.
October 13, 2025 at 9:01 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
It is actually explained in the article, but the headline on BBC News feels misleading in the current political situation
A headline on BBC News website about Chagos "arrivals" and housing costs An angry goose meme asking "Who destroyed their homes?"
October 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
Here's my kill-joy old person reply
Andrew is right. I'm a relatively old software developer and systems administrator who started in the 90s, I worked for a university for 15 years, was a software test engineer at the BBC, have worked on EU standards for authentication in research organisations. Never run code written without review by other experienced programmers online, particularly not in production. You open your university up to huge dangers. It could provide an entry point for ransomware gangs. It could leak personal information. It could present incorrect information that harms staff or students. As a member of staff you have legal and moral responsibilities. If you are running code for students on your own website, you will need to make sure you have the correct GDR and privacy policies, and if something goes wrong your employer could bring legal action against you. Students may harm themselves as a result of administrative errors. If you must use generative "Al" code, use it as a learning tool. Write unit tests. Have a person with suitable skills review the code. There is much more to creating an online service than just code, even if the code is written by a person with the appropriate skills. One of the most common causes of security incidents when I worked at a university was PhD students, often acting at the request of staff or as part of their research, throwing together badly coded little websites or web apps that would then be left unmaintained. I fear this is going to become an even larger problem now. I'm afraid there isn't a shortcut, there is no silver bullet.
October 11, 2025 at 8:52 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
Here he is on location en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jc...
Cover of Julian Cope's album 'Fried'. He is apparently naked except for turtle shell costume, crawling on some coal slag. I have moped on that slag.
October 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
Are Sky News lost?
A flight tracker map showing a helicopter has been flying in circles around Manchester all day irritating people
October 10, 2025 at 12:17 PM
binaryape.bsky.social
I've got to admire the throwing skill of the assassin, clearly someone with cricket experience. In Manchester he just got pushed over I think.
Oswald Mosley (an older man in a suit) lying on the ground in a blurred black and white photo surrounded by men who are clearly ready to do it again
October 10, 2025 at 9:29 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
An image from an old BBC documentary: a group of women factory workers look vocal and unhappy, and the subtitle is "Everyone disagrees"
October 10, 2025 at 8:08 AM
binaryape.bsky.social
That’s good, I don’t like being rushed
A sign saying “patient toilet”
October 6, 2025 at 7:55 AM