Steve Brodie

Our Christmas countdown for nature lovers is back! 😍🎄

A little bit of wildlife magic every morning...

Who's ready to open door 1 with us?

#RSPBAdvent

So very sad to hear this. Mo was a legend and brought us a lot of smiles.

Dead fish found on River Thet where large stretch of white foam appeared Environment Agency says pollutant in Norfolk river is ‘an unknown substance’ and is investigating

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

It’s happened again! With rather mixed messaging from the relevant agencies. On the one hand it will ‘have little environmental impact…’ on the other that they will ‘wait… to assess the longer-term effects’.
#environment #norfolk #pollution

Google cuts funding to Full Fact... – Full Fact The company has been one of our biggest funders over the last three years, helping us build some of the best AI tools for fact checking in the world. But things have now changed abruptly.

This is troubling…

fullfact.org/technology/g...

Totalitarian drift doesn’t need jackboots, it just needs opacity.

#totalitariandrift #truthvfeed #algorithm

I also think it behoves fans to conduct the debate with respect. I still believe we are lucky to have good people running our club, even if they seem surprisingly ill attuned to the fans at times. #ncfc #otbc

Inside heated meeting as City fans voice displeasure over stadium shake-up Carrow Road played host to a heated meeting between disgruntled fans and club executives after stadium shake-up plans.

www.pinkun.com/sport/norwic...
@canaries.co.uk As someone who is directly affected by these plans, I’m grateful to those who articulated the emotion and hurt it has generated amongst fans at the meeting. 1/2 #canaries #ncfc #otbc

Move over, Alan Turing: meet the working-class hero of Bletchley Park you didn’t see in the movies The Oxbridge-educated boffin is feted as the codebreaking genius who helped Britain win the war. But should a little-known Post Office engineer named Tommy Flowers be seen as the real father of comput...

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Wonderful article about Tommy Flowers, Post Office engineer, and his crucial role in the history of computing.
#computing #historyofcomputing #bletchleypark

Madeline Horwath on St George returning to England – cartoon The St George’s flag is more popular than ever. It’s more complicated for England’s patron saint

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... 😂 #immigration #stoptheboats

@chrisgoreham.bsky.social I’ll admit to a raised eyebrow at the choice of Andy Marshall for the co commentary for the derby game 😄, but actually thought his analysis was very interesting and insightful.
I’d be glad to hear him another time.
#canaries #ncfc

YouTube video by ElvisCostelloVEVO Elvis Costello & The Attractions - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding

youtu.be/Ssd3U_zicAI?...
I’m not sure why this song keeps coming to mind at the moment!
#peaceloveandunderstanding

Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
I’m still hoping we might get our act together on children and animals before we worry about the LLMs.
Maybe by the time we’ve done that AI might be showing signs of sentience.
#AI #ethics #animalwelfare #childprotection #sentience

The Trump administration pushed out a university president – its latest bid to close the American mind | Robert Reich Demanding that the University of Virginia’s president resign is taken from the Viktor Orbán playbook of authoritarianism

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny.’ by @robertreich.substack.com.web.brid.gy could come from the pen of my fellow Thetfordian Thomas Paine.
#uspolitics #TomPaine #Thetford

If you're near the Norfolk coast this summer, come soak in one of the UK’s last end-of-pier theatres. It’s a tradition worth celebrating😉

Grateful to be part of a team that’s reimagining the tradition each year! Here's to a fantastic season ahead! #LiveTheatre #SoundDesign

Image: Will Jarvis

The escalating attacks on Wikipedia from Elon Musk and other powerful figures on the American right follow a familiar pattern. First come the claims of bias, supported by cherry-picked or misrepresented examples. Then the demands for “balance”, which in practice mean giving equal weight to fringe views or demonstrably false claims. When these demands are refused, the attacks shift to the platform's legitimacy itself: its funding, its governance, its leaders, and its very right to exist as an independent entity. We've seen this playbook deployed against traditional media, with Trump labeling unfavorable coverage “fake news” while promoting outlets that parrot his claims. We've seen it in academia, where “viewpoint diversity” is weaponized to demand equal time for climate change denial or historical revisionism. And we've seen it in social media, where Musk himself spent $44 billion to seize control of Twitter after claiming it was biased against conservative views.

Wikipedia’s resilience to these tactics makes it both a model and a target. The very features that Musk and others criticize — its decentralized editing model, rigorous sourcing requirements, and nonprofit status — are what have allowed it to remain one of the internet’s most trusted resources. But these same features make it an obstacle to those who seek to control the narrative. Wikipedia faces real challenges: its relatively small editing community and difficulties attracting new editors, threats from AI-generated content,m and regulatory proposals that could restrict its functioning or threaten members of its editing community. m. Among them: decaying sourcing, the introduction of poor quality LLM-generated content into articles, and the reduced visibility of Wikipedia as people use LLMs trained on the site instead of the site itself. But as other information sources fall to acquisition, intimidation, or other pressure, Wikipedia’s stubborn independence becomes more vital than ever. The attacks from Musk and his allies aren't just about an online encyclopedia — they're part of a broader assault on any information source that refuses to be controlled.

Attacks on Wikipedia from Musk and his allies aren't just about an online encyclopedia — they're part of a broader assault on any information source that refuses to be controlled.

‘I hate it’: Manchester commuters back ban out-loud music on public transport Lib Dem move to ban practice is broadly welcomed, though some feel the party should focus on more important things

‘I hate it’: Manchester commuters back ban out-loud music on public transport

Lib Dems back ban on playing music and videos on public transport in England Under the plan, those who flout the prohibition could face a maximum fine of £1,000

Lib Dems back ban on playing music and videos on public transport in England
@peterprinsleymp.bsky.social hope you’ll back this?

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Clangers wave to overhead camera

From one small blue planet to another, happy earth day!
#earthday

Tories and Reform use the steel crisis to knock clean energy. They’re wrong: it will secure all our futures| Ed Miliband The argument for a clean energy transition is not just one of climate breakdown but social justice and national security too, says Ed Miliband

Energy independence or leave ourselves vulnerable to global markets and global events like the invasion of Ukraine?
#energy #politicsuk

shorturl.at/qoxwD

Oliver Postgate with Major Clanger and the Soup Dragon

“There is nothing more important than the stories we tell our children.”
— Oliver Postgate

Tomorrow marks 100 years since the birth of Oliver—the quiet genius behind Bagpuss, The Clangers, Ivor the Engine, etc

#OliverPostgate #Bagpuss #TheClangers #IvorTheEngine #Smallfilms #BritishAnimation

At @stanstedairport.bsky.social.
Youngsters making videos for TikTok etc all around. I have the much sort after role of ‘grumpy old dude in background’.😁

So who is Kirsty Coventry, who now has global sport’s most powerful job? | Sean Ingle IOC’s first female president faces significant challenges including handling Donald Trump’s power and protecting women’s sports

So the head of the IOC is a minister in an administration with a rather questionable record for free and fair elections. I struggle to quibble with @nedboulting.bsky.social when he asserted a few years ago that ‘the Olympics is on its arse’.
#olympics #sport
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/m...

Bandcamp Friday is back for 2025. On March 7, we’ll once again waive our revenue share, ensuring more money goes directly to artists. Last year, fans spent $3.1 million in a single day—the biggest since 2022. Let’s keep that momentum going. Mark your calendars and get your wishlist ready.

#Norwich

Why is Spain’s economy booming? Thanks to migration – which proves xenophobia doesn’t pay | María Ramírez With Spanish GDP growth leading Europe last year, diversity is making us richer – not only financially but culturally, too, says journalist María Ramírez

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
An interesting perspective on the immigration and growth debate.
#economics #ukpolitics

YouTube video by dobrejchlap All I Want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit

Kudos to @chrisgoreham.bsky.social for referencing Half-man Half Biscuit in his commentary on Saturday. 😀
With the key intervention from the squirrel it had something for everyone; music, nature, and even some football! 😂
#ncfc

youtu.be/na12OyJEgJ8?...

I have any number of cardboard boxes which have long outlasted the appliances they once contained. That just seems wrong. 🤔
#environment

Blimey! Even my father who lived to 90 didn’t ever go there. His father did though.

History, memory, grief and belonging: my bittersweet Goodison farewell Evertonian Alexandra Topping – knowing that the famous old ground’s time was running out – made a final pilgrimage with her nine-year-old son

A lovely piece. Evocative and poignant for anyone who has had a club intertwined with their life and family.
I can scarcely imagine the emotion I would feel if @canaries.co.uk were to move. I wish @evertonfc.com, particularly the fans, well in their new home.
tinyurl.com/yfav86ct
#evertonfc #ncfc

Hurrah for the simple joy of #FoxOfTheDay

Be clear about what Trump and Musk’s aid axe will do: people will face terror and starve, many will die | Gordon Brown The decimation of USAid is already having a terrible effect in some of the poorest places on the planet. It damages America: it will harm us all, says Gordon Brown, the UN’s special envoy for global e...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This seems important perspective to me…