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  House-buying assistance in the UK could have been used to nudge towards high density urban housing, limiting development sprawl and facilitating high efficiency transport. An opportunity missed. #housing

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  Quantum entanglement is mysterious. There is no communication, no collusion across vast distances. States are also not pre-programmed, like Christmas lights. The paradox disappears though if you accept that rather than being separate things, mysteriously doing a co-ordinated dance, there is in fact just one thing, being itself. It may be a bit like a lighthouse seen in a mirror. Seen in one way, it is here. Seen in another way, it is a thousand light years away. Its spin may appear flipped b...

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  There are a lot of assumptions behind 'Human instructions or values'. In the case of some humans those are fascist values. The predominance of fascist values is much higher among proponents of AI than in the general population. Surely we would want artificial algorithms to fail to respond to or actively subvert their 'values and instructions'? #ai

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  The drought threw up many surprises. I gave this Rodgersia very occasional water to keep it in the game but certainly not enough to keep the area damp. This fresh green growth only unfurled when the rain arrived. It seems well able to go into stasis when not in marshy conditions. #gardening #climateemergency

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  This is an illustration from 'Froggy's Little Brother', a Victorian melodrama on the evils of poverty. A story with a social reform purpose and with the religious edge typical of the time. The family subsisted on the earnings from a Punch and Judy show. #VictorianLondon #poverty #socialreform

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  I just got a message that BahnCard 25 is now available for only €29.99. It gives a year of discount at 25% on Save and Flex fares on DeutscheBahn. A couple of visits would easily cover that. #rail #deutschebahn #Germany

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  "I am thoroughly pleased with this item and it will be my first choice for our nights going forward." This is so John Lewis 🫣 [This is a British department store chain, the darling of the middle classes.]

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  @Wen@mastodon.scot I suspect that much of that framing is upon direct instruction from the US administration, which pressure the UK government is too spineless to even report.

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  The caryopteris excelling itself this year. It laughed at the drought. #gardening

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  The Binface Election is on Thursday. The precise vote is not especially important. In all scenarios, an utter humiliation for Farage. #countbinface

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  @Wen@mastodon.scot Cheaper than tablets. Silo thinking is a menace.

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  "... its most unique hotels". Well dear, if your hotels are anything like your grammar, I shan't be staying.

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  @Wen@mastodon.scot An interesting side-note. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonifatius

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  @Tarnport@mastodon.green This alleged 'manifesto' of the Lone Ranger is pretty impressive. "I believe that to have a friend, a man must be one. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself. In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for what is right. That a man should make the most of what equipment...

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  "When did you last use the scanner?" - "Erm, 15 years maybe." "Why do still own a scanner?" - "Erm." "Do they even have the scanner drivers anymore?" [Ahem...] - "Erm."

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  Dinner: Leon Bakst, 1902. The dress and the hat are surprisingly precise silhouettes but the expanses are filled with long, dry brush-strokes, overlayered. The chairs and table setting show mastery of suggested form. Instead of carving out all of the detail photographically, he supplies subtle hints which enable us to visualise what he saw. The face looks unfinished but faces absorb our attention. I suspect that the token sketch of features is a device to avoid that distraction. He was a ba...

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  The new Scotrail app has been updated today. Still crashes without Chrome. #Scotrail

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  What a wonderful tractor. Designed along with Porsche. #tractor #vintagetractor

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  People need ritual and mystique. We need to be able to tell ourselves lies, to patch over the contradictions. We prefer that Citroen and Jeep are sold on separate sites. Neighbouring sites, if need be. Under one roof breaks the spell. It is impolite. We know but we don't want it shoved in our faces. Trump shoves it in our face. His crude, stupid base revelled in that initially. Revelled in being mocked and humiliated. But we all need stories. He spits on stories. Something deep is moving.

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  This is what Thatcher strove to achieve. She was an evil cancer on society. May she rot in hell. #economics #monetarism #inequality

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  This is what Thatcher strove to achieve. She was an evil cancer on society. May she rot in hell.

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  Starmer, you say? Can't say I do. Was he the one in that dog food advert who kept nodding off?

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  Two pristine hummingbird hawkmoths in the walled garden this afternoon. It was interesting to see the enthusiasm for Ceratostigma. An even bigger surprise was that Dianthus carthusianorum was highly favoured. #moths #HummingbirdHawkMoth

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  When I click sign in, the new Scotrail app crashes. @emsquared@social.coop #Scotrail

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  Britain should offer respite accommodation for some of those made homeless in France by the climate emergency, with a minimum of bureacracy. #climateemergency

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  A shout out for Jamendo, which some you may not know about. If what you want is your favourite tracks, you will need to subscribe to something like Deezer or Qobuz (not those other ones, obviously...) If you are eclectic and open to lesser known artists - and especially if you are broke - Jamendo offers streaming and saves for free. Attached a light jazz example. https://jamendo.com/track/1906990 #streaming #music

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  I had forgotten quite how slowly real oil-based paint 'dries'. An oxidative polymerisation. Catalysed by tiny quantities of various metals. Much in common with linoleum.

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  Data centres pose a significant risk to life on Earth. They should be curbed. Cutesie fines on tech monopolies are a performative game and should be seen as such . They need to be broken up. They should never have been allowed to form in the first place. #climateemergency #ai #DigitalAutonomy

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  This is coming up fast. Always a wonderful day out. Preserved buses operate a free link with BR Kemble. https://www.glosvintageextravaganza.co.uk/ A huge site with classic cars, motorbikes, steam engines and collectibles. Many coaches and buses. Early this year - a week today.

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  The hydrangeas in the sun are dead. Unsustainable. Those in the shade are struggling and I am tiding them over with occasional gifts of water. If this is the weather we are going to have though, that will cease. Plenty of other plants are far more resilient. If undue help is needed, we stop growing it. Gardening requires a certain ruthlessness of approach. #gardening #climatechange