robmcminn.uk - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Said some more stuff about AI, particularly that whole "hey we let it make up a bunch of fake books and then we published that list of fake books in the real world as part of a newspaper" thing. At the blog. Enjoy! Or don't! I'm not your boss.

submitted 3 hours ago • 4 comments

Just mistyped 'hopefully' as 'nopefully', and with all due respect, I think nopefully needs to be a word. "Thank you for your invitation, which I must nopefully decline."

submitted 7 hours ago • 3 comments

Wrestling, as ever, with Scrivener's Compile settings and the formatting of all the various bits and pieces. It's almost there, but never quite makes it all the way, so I end up spending hours making manual changes #zen

submitted 8 hours ago • 0 comments

What is this wet stuff that falls from the sky

submitted 9 hours ago • 0 comments

invents square spoon to eat yoghurt from square pot

submitted 9 hours ago • 0 comments

My all time favourite was, EXPERIENCE: I'm allergic to water

submitted 9 hours ago • 0 comments

Car wash, after much effort pre-removing bird shit. I tell you, if they'd built 60s schools out of bird shit instead of that aerated concrete stuff, they'd have had no problems

submitted 9 hours ago • 1 comment

Twix Xtra should be called That 70s Twix

submitted 13 hours ago • 0 comments

There are so many people who would love to have a paid writing job, and who would pour their hearts and souls into doing the best job possible. And yet this one guy, who had a paid writing job, just threw a prompt to ChatGTP. Will this do?

submitted 14 hours ago • 0 comments

I can't cope with this Code of Silence thing on ITV. Too tense

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Only 99 of your finest pennies 👇🏽

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Talking of AI generated slop churnalism, what is the point of an article like this? The teapots in question are, in order, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

How I’m rolling lately (and a couple of cycling gear reviews) For quite some time now, I’ve been trying to ride my bike in clothes that look as ordinary as possible. Think of me as a one-man campaign to encourage people to ride bikes in regular clothing. I spent years buying specialist clothing,…

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

What’s the stupidest way you’ve hurt yourself? Voted for Brexit. Not really. This is a joke. See also “Held a referendum on leaving the EU to satisfy people who will never be satisfied.” That wasn’t me, either. I did once pull a muscle crossing the road though

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Can confirm, Sainsbury’s own brand cream of tomato soup is easily a match for the market leader

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Went for a 45 minute spin on the bike. Still quite chill air for short sleeves, but I warmed up after 15 minutes or so. Flies have died down a bit, I think. For the next 3 days, I’ve got Anglia Water blocking most of the lanes 🤬

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

One of my all time favourite novels. If you have not read it, read it. It is close to perfect.

submitted 1 day ago • 13 comments

Just had to do some DIY 😩 We had a busted hinge on the back door. Of course, it was a non-standard size like EVERY OTHER FIXTURE AND FITTING IN THIS HOUSE 🙄 Had to gouge out a little extra room for a replacement to fit on the door 😓 Managed in the end, but there went my morning

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

Good morning! We have a special episode this week, in conversation with our Mam, Margaret Abbott, about growing up in the North East of England in the 60s and how the music revolution touched her life. We hope you enjoy. Back to usual eps next week! pod.link/1531129636/e...

submitted 2 days ago • 7 comments

George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle by Philip Norman – review Philip Norman has of course blotted his copybook on many occasions when it comes to Beatle lore. There was the original sin of Shout!, which valorised Lennon as “¾ of the group”, poured scorn on Macca and demoted George and Ringo to…

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Zak Starkey to front Match of the Day; Lineker is the Who’s new drummer. Both have Substitute experience

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Forgot to drink any water today

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

When I was in Middle School, Warren Tomlinson brought a shotgun into school to talk about clay pigeon shooting. Nobody batted and eyelid

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

It occurs to me that nobody has heard the first few words of a Seinfeld episode since it went to streaming. It’s a big mystery. What is he saying in those first moments?

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

World champion semicolon user here

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

I am delighted to announce that the poppies have established themselves at the front of the house in France. I’ve been trying for years to get poppies to spread in the garden, and failed every time

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Murderbot (Apple TV+) – review Now, I’m a big fan of the books, though they are expensive for what they offer, so I was looking forward to this new series on Apple TV+. It is billed as a Science Fiction Action Comedy. All the genres! But the show’s producers seem to have leaned heavily on comedy…

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

The Bertazzoni Thank you to reader Oliver, who prompted me for an update concerning my Bertazzoni range cooker in France. I have been neglecting this duty. Skippable backstory: When I last checked in, in January, we were waiting for the engineer to visit and hopefully repair the faulty thermostat,…

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

"When we played Shea Stadium Vox made us special 100 Watt amps…"

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

This is all very well, but have you read the Guardian's write-up of tinned sardines?

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Is that what pop music is now? All little bitty bits glued together until it's three minutes long? #outoftouch

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Something to celebrate at last

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Scenes from a pizza night, including my world famous™️ Upside-Down Margarita

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Quite a lot of grumbling about NIMBYism etc in the replies to this, but I think it’s pretty exclusionary that some London councils now fence off large areas of public parks for several of the best weeks of summer so that private companies can hold expensive ticketed events.

submitted 4 days ago • 77 comments

Family Britain 1951-57. Part Two: A Thicker Cut In the great wash of reading this vast book, I lost track of the reference in the title. A thicker cut of what? I can only assume that it's using sliced meat as a metaphor for the increase in standard of living in Britain following the end of…

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

If you’re waiting for this dry spell to break, worry not. We’re off to France next Friday. Expect rain

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Murderbot. Lukewarm reviews. Nevertheless, I am going in

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Pride comes before the fool Male pride is a strange and terrible thing. Back when I was an analogue cyclist, I resigned myself quite early on to the reality of the old man overtake. I've never had the bird-like physique of the best climbers, and I've hated riding my bike up hills since I was 14.…

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Nice ride. Still breezy. Went on the loop I rarely do because it involves riding through town and up our hill at the end, but it’s good to do occasionally, very beautiful

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Mike Campbell makes everything better

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments