Brian Nisbet

Ok, wow, I've just got a comment on an LJ post from 2012 inviting me to join the LJ Revival community on LJ and to spread the word about social networks that are better than Facebook and I was not expecting that today! Don't worry, I will not be suddenly going back to LJ (a/c very dormant).

I guess I'll skip anything out of AEG.

Beyond the vapid take on technology's relevance to board games.

I'm really tired of these Moore's Law-inspired delusional takes that tech is exponentially improving in the face of applicability and practical constraints.

Everything is plateauing. 1/x

The next time you hear some politician blaming pearl mussels or the Habitats Directive for flooding disasters, might be a good time to point this out to to them.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone has ever seen Ciara and @gailsimone.bsky.social in the same room at the same time...

tech bros are on about the benefits of AI & how it’ll revolutionise research-so to check it out, I asked it a series of history questions to which I knew the answers? It was a complete mess - anyone using it for research - just don’t! It’s not going to put historians out of business anytime soon 😄 👏🏼

Fahrenheit is how Americans feel. To everyone else, it makes no sense.

🧵Spotted on Sunday Market Day in Aotearoa New Zealand:

An athletic woman (40s?) is walking with a teen (14?) towards the markets. With a cheerful smile at the blue sky overhead she says: "It's such a nice day, we shoulda gone bare feet!" (1)

It's also the same incoherent view of US cultural appeal that the KKK have clung to for 150 years. One which posits, to give just one example, that people love American music, just not the blues, jazz and hip-hop that have driven all genres of American music for a century.

Fancy French stuff was all the rage, like!

I'm an expert in drag performance.
If I was put in charge of a review of cancer treatment, would RTE describe me as "the expert who led the review into cancer treatment" or would that be an insane and misleading thing to write?

Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar

Roses are red,
Boobies are round

Yeah, they didn't get out of 2nd gear against Wales last week, and they seemed stuck there. Although Genge dropping the ball is a moment for the highlight reels.

And there are days when teams just stand up and fight. The Calcutta Cup match in Edinburgh is always exciting, and today was amazing. Alba Ábu! 31-20 #SCOvENG #M6N

The Scottish are playing with the kind of passion I wish the Irish were playing with. Fantastic first half in Edinburgh, here's hoping for more! #SCOvENG #M6N

Ok, that was a win, but fucking hell. So many awful performances and we're still in the same hole we were in last week. Great play by the Italians, on a different day they win that, possibly by a lot! 20-10 #IREvITA #M6N

I mean, it's still on a knife edge, but a lot better since Prendergast and Casey went off.

Well, I spoke too soon. Ye gods. #IREvITA #M6N

Ireland definitely starting better this week than they did last, albeit against *very* different opposition. More of this sort of thing, please! #IREvITA #M6N

@Glinner Subscribe Alan Dershowitz received the Samizdat Prize alongside me yesterday and he tried to distance himself from my views on stage! Like Ardal O'Hanlon, I asked him what he disagreed with and he spluttered and changed the subject. To be fair to him, I did get the impression he's being bamboozled by his son, who apparently doesn't even think women should have fair sports. Still, a giant of a man in many ways, just not this one.

When your name is all over the Epstein files, but you don’t want your reputation tarnished by being associated with Glinner

"Does the role really require a woman?"

"No?"

"Or youth?"

"Er... No?"

"Is being royal or nobility a must?"

The dragon hesitated. "It's traditional..."

"We can mention that it's a position traditionally filled by a princess," the HR consultant said, "but we do welcome all applicants."

"Okay."

Almost everyone "on the left" doesn't have a problem with machine learning, or technology, or progress. They do have problems with security, safety, mental health outcomes, plagiarism, labor distributions, and environmental & energy impact.

Industry regulation is not some unreasonable leftist ask.

I'm just going to say a thing.

What a person looks like is not reflective of their soul. Insulting the appearance of bad people who do bad things as an outcome or indication of their rotten hearts perpetuates the notion that conventional beauty = virtue, a myth that's led to untold human damage.

Ubisoft workers are on strike: 'We are treated like children' The strike comes after the publisher revealed plans to cut up to 200 jobs and ordered remote workers back into the office

Over 1,000 Ubisoft workers around the world have walked off the job.

In response to a return-to-office mandate, layoffs, and the cancellation of several games, workers launched a three-day strike.

The workers walked out in response to five French unions issuing the strike call.

TDs shouldn't be landlords and this shouldn't be an even remotely controversial thing to say.

So many simple solutions for the housing crisis that get shouted down as very controversial.

"People should be able to afford their rent"

"Lol check out this economically incoherent rube over here"

Ken: Hey, I'm Ken. Ian: And I'm Ian. We're both in receipt of the B.I.A. (Basic Income For the Arts)

Ken: Our last payment is in February 2026. The future of the scheme is uncertain, but we're here to talk about the past and what we've accomplished these past three years. Ian: Thanks to the B.I.A, I have expanded my skill set and learned 3D sculpting. I bought a 3D printer to make hand painted toys of my own designs.

Ian: I can afford to repair it and spent thousands in the local economy continuing to grow and create. Ken: As for me, I've been self-publishing small books for a while, but I now have the means to release larger books, which also gave me the confidence to run two different crowdfunding campaigns.

Ken: Without it, and after failing to return to animation, I was going to start a career in I.T. I was in a bad place with no hope for the future, but almost overnight, the B.I.A made my long struggling passion into a real livelihood. Nowadays, I can travel for events, sustain car expenses and socialise without managing my spending. In darker times, I was about to pay all the vet bills for my dying cat.

Hello! I've been one of the lucky few on the BIA these last few years, and in light of the uncertainty of its future and potential for public support, I decided to write out this comic with the help of BIA compatriot @ianfay.bsky.social to share our stories. 1/3

ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/run...

Absolutely. The renewal was the first step, hopefully more will come.

It's been interesting seeing a lot of people internationally going "this is amazing" (and it is rather good on many levels!) and a lot of Irish people asking why it isn't more money for more people, especially given the documented financial benefits.

It'd be grand, sure the shoe covers going on fire would just add to the drama!

I feel the logical conclusion of luging in the Olympics is deciding to do the course on one foot, merely wearing the slippy shoe cover things they use in curling.

Go forth and nominate!