Dave
@davemck.bsky.social
Glaswegian nerdy type, former rocket surgeon, now doing controls & model based design. Massive fan of MATLAB, Simulink & test driven development (TDD).
#MATLAB #Simulink #TDD
#MATLAB #Simulink #TDD
Pinned
Dave
@davemck.bsky.social
· Jun 23
For some reason, I bought a 3D printer a few weeks ago. Goodness knows I've not got the spare time for it, but it's been quite nice to muck about with.
I've slowly been printing some Warhammer like bits because one of the kids has some Warhammer friends, who really have Warhammer Dads.
I've slowly been printing some Warhammer like bits because one of the kids has some Warhammer friends, who really have Warhammer Dads.
Reposted by Dave
The Steam Awards 2025 is open for nominations! Now through December 1, make your voice heard and nominate your favorites from this year.
Finish your tasks and get your Steam Awards Nomination Committee Badge.
store.steampowered.com/steamawards/...
Finish your tasks and get your Steam Awards Nomination Committee Badge.
store.steampowered.com/steamawards/...
November 24, 2025 at 6:22 PM
The Steam Awards 2025 is open for nominations! Now through December 1, make your voice heard and nominate your favorites from this year.
Finish your tasks and get your Steam Awards Nomination Committee Badge.
store.steampowered.com/steamawards/...
Finish your tasks and get your Steam Awards Nomination Committee Badge.
store.steampowered.com/steamawards/...
Reposted by Dave
I'm giving a conference talk next week about the story behind our Bluesky account, which means I've spent much of the last week thinking about how to best articulate the advantages of sharing your hog on the Internet
bsky.app/profile/them...
bsky.app/profile/them...
more users are joining
and the hog grows longer
and the hog grows longer
November 24, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I'm giving a conference talk next week about the story behind our Bluesky account, which means I've spent much of the last week thinking about how to best articulate the advantages of sharing your hog on the Internet
bsky.app/profile/them...
bsky.app/profile/them...
Reposted by Dave
Found a really strange LLM bug! This is the latest OpenAI model:
November 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Found a really strange LLM bug! This is the latest OpenAI model:
Reposted by Dave
Six doesn’t even have an A in it
November 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Six doesn’t even have an A in it
Reposted by Dave
This morning we sent Calum to a primary school picket to see why English lessons are stoking community tension👇
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/dalmarnock-f...
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/dalmarnock-f...
School protests and anti-migrant paranoia in Dalmarnock
Plus, the well hidden beneath Glasgow Cathedral for centuries
www.glasgowbell.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM
This morning we sent Calum to a primary school picket to see why English lessons are stoking community tension👇
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/dalmarnock-f...
www.glasgowbell.co.uk/dalmarnock-f...
Reposted by Dave
Messages from school to my parents in the 90s: Fill in the slip at the bottom & bring in £2 for the trip to the zoo
Messages from school now: Your child's exam schedule is on Zoop, login via the LernPortal to access it, the results will be on HoneyTree, their homework is on Zappp & NumberHub
Messages from school now: Your child's exam schedule is on Zoop, login via the LernPortal to access it, the results will be on HoneyTree, their homework is on Zappp & NumberHub
November 24, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Messages from school to my parents in the 90s: Fill in the slip at the bottom & bring in £2 for the trip to the zoo
Messages from school now: Your child's exam schedule is on Zoop, login via the LernPortal to access it, the results will be on HoneyTree, their homework is on Zappp & NumberHub
Messages from school now: Your child's exam schedule is on Zoop, login via the LernPortal to access it, the results will be on HoneyTree, their homework is on Zappp & NumberHub
Reposted by Dave
![[Scene is JESUS sat behind a boss’s desk in his office on a cloud in HEAVEN]
1
JESUS [speaking into intercom]
Hi can you send in Saint Nicholas please
2
SANTA [entering in full Santa garb]:
Hi boss
JESUS:
Hi Nick
3
JESUS:
Listen - about this ‘my birthday’ thing...
SANTA:
Ohh not this again boss
4
JESUS:
Nick, it’s out of hand. *You’ve* got out of hand.
5
JESUS:
I mean when I hired you, you was all humble, hiding under windows, lobbing in dowries…
And now you’re like…
6
JESUS [gesturing disdainfully at Santa’s clothing]:
I mean - what’s this.
7
SANTA:
This is my get up! I’ve had this since the Coca Cola deal in the 30s
JESUS:
*That’s what I mean.*
8
JESUS:
You’ve just gone too -
SANTA:
Oh no, oh no -
9
SANTA:
Sorry boss but waaay back in the Reformation, right, Martin Luther said: “why don’t we have Jesus delivering the presents?”. And when he prayed to ask you, do you remember what you said? Eh?
10
SANTA:
You said: “I ain’t going back there”
11
SANTA:
If you wanna take over -
JESUS:
Oh yeah! Kids coming downstairs to find me resurrected in their living room going "I got you an Xbox"...
12
SANTA:
You’re just feeling threatened cos I’m doing a bloody good -
JESUS:
*WATCH IT NICK*.
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayhglimve4fbwilzyfjedpa56xwmjq4oriqqs62atkospprs6x5y@jpeg)
Reposted by Dave
And yet again, Jared Kushner is at the center of charting American foreign policy.
A man with no official position. A man in bed with any number of foreign regimes. A man whose only credentials are his relationship with his father-in-law.
www.wsj.com/world/trump-...
A man with no official position. A man in bed with any number of foreign regimes. A man whose only credentials are his relationship with his father-in-law.
www.wsj.com/world/trump-...
November 20, 2025 at 2:23 PM
And yet again, Jared Kushner is at the center of charting American foreign policy.
A man with no official position. A man in bed with any number of foreign regimes. A man whose only credentials are his relationship with his father-in-law.
www.wsj.com/world/trump-...
A man with no official position. A man in bed with any number of foreign regimes. A man whose only credentials are his relationship with his father-in-law.
www.wsj.com/world/trump-...
Reposted by Dave
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
Reposted by Dave
Two long-serving peers - Labour peer David Evans and former army chief Richard Dannatt - to be suspended from HoL after parliamentary watchdog ruled they broke lobbying rules -
@direthoughts.com
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
@direthoughts.com
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Two peers suspended from House of Lords for breaking lobbying rules
Lord Evans of Watford and Lord Dannatt were filmed breaking rules, in undercover footage recorded by Guardian
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Two long-serving peers - Labour peer David Evans and former army chief Richard Dannatt - to be suspended from HoL after parliamentary watchdog ruled they broke lobbying rules -
@direthoughts.com
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
@direthoughts.com
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Dave
Look at this rectangular dog
November 22, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Look at this rectangular dog
Reposted by Dave
The end of the international space station feels like a crime and a heartbreak at the same time
'...as [the ISS] nears the end of its life, the space race is changing again and likely with it the end of the internationalist space era'.
#ISS
#ISS
How Cold War foes became close colleagues — until toilets got in the way
It was November 20, 1998, and a rocket wasn't an unusual sight in this remote part of Kazakhstan. But today's cargo was a piece of history that would have seemed impossible just years before.
www.abc.net.au
November 23, 2025 at 11:53 PM
The end of the international space station feels like a crime and a heartbreak at the same time
Reposted by Dave
Planning to start your Christmas shopping this weekend?
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
Good Gifts 2025
Use your Secret Santa or present giving to support charities, museums and small businesses.
madlinblog.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Planning to start your Christmas shopping this weekend?
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
Reposted by Dave
This is partly right.
You *also* crucially need to plough enough money into the infra - tracks, bridges, signals - to make sure what runs on them can run reliably. And you can do that from taxation if you want to.
You *also* crucially need to plough enough money into the infra - tracks, bridges, signals - to make sure what runs on them can run reliably. And you can do that from taxation if you want to.
Essentially the best way to run a railway is for it to be owned by a development corporation, and then frankly whether that corporation is state owned or privately owned is sort of a much of a muchness:
The missing piece in Labour’s rail renationalisation scheme
Whether trains are public or private is not the deal-breaker for a well-functioning service — it is about a better delivery model
www.ft.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 AM
This is partly right.
You *also* crucially need to plough enough money into the infra - tracks, bridges, signals - to make sure what runs on them can run reliably. And you can do that from taxation if you want to.
You *also* crucially need to plough enough money into the infra - tracks, bridges, signals - to make sure what runs on them can run reliably. And you can do that from taxation if you want to.
Reposted by Dave
In lovely science news, it is now official: I am the inaugural Writer in Residence at the Royal Institution to mark 200 years of the Christmas Lectures: www.rigb.org/explore-scie...
Tracy King announced as Writer in Residence to the CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Critically acclaimed author appointed as Writer in Residence to the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution.
www.rigb.org
October 30, 2025 at 9:50 PM
In lovely science news, it is now official: I am the inaugural Writer in Residence at the Royal Institution to mark 200 years of the Christmas Lectures: www.rigb.org/explore-scie...
Reposted by Dave
This observation, and the discussion below it.
At one level I miss this: really sharp people picking over the politics of the day (some of those replying I know offline).
At another level: I can't bear it, as that whole Brexit process was such a pointless waste of time.
At one level I miss this: really sharp people picking over the politics of the day (some of those replying I know offline).
At another level: I can't bear it, as that whole Brexit process was such a pointless waste of time.
(Once again) this is a Brexit reflection. ‘Global’ Britain was meant to mitigate losses from Brexit and surpass EU membership. That ‘vision’ was based on trade deals and liberalised ‘fair’ immigration. The latter is now being dismantled and the former relies on no defunct liberal multilateralism.
Trade folk (including myself) are unconvinced there is much of a growth dividend for Rachel Reeves from agreements with India, EU, and US. Just as there's no evidence of positive impact from independent UK trade policy since 2021. www.politico.eu/article/rach...
November 24, 2025 at 10:46 AM
This observation, and the discussion below it.
At one level I miss this: really sharp people picking over the politics of the day (some of those replying I know offline).
At another level: I can't bear it, as that whole Brexit process was such a pointless waste of time.
At one level I miss this: really sharp people picking over the politics of the day (some of those replying I know offline).
At another level: I can't bear it, as that whole Brexit process was such a pointless waste of time.
Reposted by Dave
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.
It’s Russian.
It’s Russian.
November 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.
It’s Russian.
It’s Russian.
Reposted by Dave
This is a VERY long piece about solar geoengineering that starts, scientifically speaking, badly, but gets better, but still has a few issues.
The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming
A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat. The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
www.politico.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:35 PM
This is a VERY long piece about solar geoengineering that starts, scientifically speaking, badly, but gets better, but still has a few issues.
Reposted by Dave
There was actually a time quite recently when the Young People still used Tinder
(Published around the time of Dawn Chorus Day)
(Published around the time of Dawn Chorus Day)
![[Scene is a WOODLAND just before dawn. In a tree, a TEENAGE ROBIN with big headphones on is slouching on a branch, swiping on her phone. Her DAD ROBIN approaches her on the branch looking cheerful with her MUM ROBIN also in tow].
DAD ROBIN:
Wakey wakey darling, it's National Dawn Chorus Day!
TEENAGE ROBIN:
Ugh, Dad...
DAD ROBIN:
Come on, dear...
DAD ROBIN:
It's time for us all to shout into the darkness for sex!
TEENAGE ROBIN:
What
DAD ROBIN:
You're a big bird now.
Time to put down that blessed phone and find a mate...
TEENAGE ROBIN:
I am.
On Tinder.
[She swipes on her phone]
DAD ROBIN:
Oh for heaven's sake.
Your generation has no sense of tradition!
TEENAGE ROBIN:
Right... so you'd rather I found love by bellowing into the woods for a pre-dawn hookup with a total stranger?
DAD ROBIN:
It's natural!
TEENAGE ROBIN:
It's dogging.
DAD ROBIN:
Well that's how your Mum and I had you...
TEENAGE ROBIN:
OH MY GOD GROSS
MUM ROBIN [Singing sweetly into the air]:
Sex pleeease...
TEENAGE ROBIN:
Stop it Mum.
MUM ROBIN:
SEEEEEX PLEEEEAAAASE...
TEENAGE ROBIN:
MUUUM!
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreierbhobnorq5sxzbz3n5wpp2y3b4d6gpudj7qf6qycqqlvwja7eoi@jpeg)
November 23, 2025 at 11:18 PM
There was actually a time quite recently when the Young People still used Tinder
(Published around the time of Dawn Chorus Day)
(Published around the time of Dawn Chorus Day)
Reposted by Dave
I look forward to hiring a Chief AI Officer whose job will be to just tell anyone who suggests using AI for anything to shut the fuck up.
November 24, 2025 at 2:52 AM
I look forward to hiring a Chief AI Officer whose job will be to just tell anyone who suggests using AI for anything to shut the fuck up.
Reposted by Dave
GPT would have been such a great technology if LLMs were just used to augment search engines. Their natural language processing ability means they can find relevant content no matter how you phrase your query. No more keyword matching, just ask a question, or describe what you’re looking for. 1/2
November 24, 2025 at 8:25 AM
GPT would have been such a great technology if LLMs were just used to augment search engines. Their natural language processing ability means they can find relevant content no matter how you phrase your query. No more keyword matching, just ask a question, or describe what you’re looking for. 1/2
Reposted by Dave
Postbox bollards outside the Post Office. Absolutely delightful.
#WorldBollardAssociation 📮
#WorldBollardAssociation 📮
November 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Postbox bollards outside the Post Office. Absolutely delightful.
#WorldBollardAssociation 📮
#WorldBollardAssociation 📮
Reposted by Dave
Idk I actually found this very easy. I raised taxes on gambling and the wealthiest and then spent it on the poorest. I even reduced the basic rate of income tax. Baffling, I know.
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
November 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Idk I actually found this very easy. I raised taxes on gambling and the wealthiest and then spent it on the poorest. I even reduced the basic rate of income tax. Baffling, I know.
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
Reposted by Dave
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
Reposted by Dave
