Feisty Tiktaalik
@annerooney.bsky.social
Crawling from the swamp. Writer of books for people big and small. Some about dinos, evo, space and all that, some made-up shizz (aka fiction). Favourite dino: Kentrosaurus. Views mine, all mine
I pay £56 pcm for #Adobe Creative Cloud and ignore the AI crap they push. Price is rising to £66 pcm to have apps + AI crap. Or switch to a useless cut-down contract for £51 that excludes full PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat Pro. WTAF? Creatives want to create not churn out #AIslop
November 1, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Ooh, new books! The Essential Book of Consciousness, out in November. Look at the lovely foil! Hardback! And only £12.99. Book pricing is a mysterious art
October 23, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Ooh, new books! The Essential Book of Consciousness, out in November. Look at the lovely foil! Hardback! And only £12.99. Book pricing is a mysterious art
"Sometimes moving as fast as 125 miles per hour" - the UK has a v. poor network, yet we introduced the Intercity 125 trains at this speed 50 years ago. And we don't have all these deaths on train tracks in Europe. The US just doesn't know how to do trains www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
A ‘Death Train’ Is Haunting South Florida
The Brightline has been hailed as the future of high-speed rail in the United States, but it has one big, unignorable problem.
www.theatlantic.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:45 AM
"Sometimes moving as fast as 125 miles per hour" - the UK has a v. poor network, yet we introduced the Intercity 125 trains at this speed 50 years ago. And we don't have all these deaths on train tracks in Europe. The US just doesn't know how to do trains www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
#AIslop #clankershite Dimorphodon by AI: six limbs and bifurcated feet. *This* is what makes my job hard
September 29, 2025 at 10:47 AM
#AIslop #clankershite Dimorphodon by AI: six limbs and bifurcated feet. *This* is what makes my job hard
Reposted by Feisty Tiktaalik
"I will not give them what they want. I will not just leave. I’m going to make it as difficult as possible for these fuckheads.”
WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as DOGE tore through their offices.
WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as DOGE tore through their offices.
The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers
WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as the Department of Government Efficiency tore through their offices.
www.wired.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
"I will not give them what they want. I will not just leave. I’m going to make it as difficult as possible for these fuckheads.”
WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as DOGE tore through their offices.
WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as DOGE tore through their offices.
Reform was alive and well in 1711, apparently:
"[I] was just preparing to write a Letter of Advice to a Member of Parliament, for opening the Freedom of our Towns and Trades, for taking away all manner of Distinctions between the Natives and Foreigners...
"[I] was just preparing to write a Letter of Advice to a Member of Parliament, for opening the Freedom of our Towns and Trades, for taking away all manner of Distinctions between the Natives and Foreigners...
September 23, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Reform was alive and well in 1711, apparently:
"[I] was just preparing to write a Letter of Advice to a Member of Parliament, for opening the Freedom of our Towns and Trades, for taking away all manner of Distinctions between the Natives and Foreigners...
"[I] was just preparing to write a Letter of Advice to a Member of Parliament, for opening the Freedom of our Towns and Trades, for taking away all manner of Distinctions between the Natives and Foreigners...
Hey, @nhm.org, we had a spider on last year's membership card — why do we have a spider again? When will there be a plesiosaur 🧡 on the card?
September 19, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Hey, @nhm.org, we had a spider on last year's membership card — why do we have a spider again? When will there be a plesiosaur 🧡 on the card?
A #butterfly has come into my garden office. In summer, I put them outside. Might this one be here to hibernate? I will turn the heating on when the weather gets cold, though. Should I move the visitor to the shed or put it outside to find somewhere else?
September 18, 2025 at 1:52 PM
A #butterfly has come into my garden office. In summer, I put them outside. Might this one be here to hibernate? I will turn the heating on when the weather gets cold, though. Should I move the visitor to the shed or put it outside to find somewhere else?
New book! I had to wait a while for my copies as it ships from the US, but here it is
September 18, 2025 at 1:23 PM
New book! I had to wait a while for my copies as it ships from the US, but here it is
#paleo BlueSky can you help? I want a book with good, reliable illustrations of diff types of plesiosaurs. I see @tetzoo.bsky.social seems to have one on marine reptiles but is it out yet? @nhm.org site says Sept 25. Any other suggestions?
September 1, 2025 at 8:40 AM
#paleo BlueSky can you help? I want a book with good, reliable illustrations of diff types of plesiosaurs. I see @tetzoo.bsky.social seems to have one on marine reptiles but is it out yet? @nhm.org site says Sept 25. Any other suggestions?
If you enjoyed Freaky Friday, don't waste your money on seeing Freakier Friday. One of the worst films I've seen in a long time. The actors do well with terrible material — it's not their fault
August 21, 2025 at 5:41 PM
If you enjoyed Freaky Friday, don't waste your money on seeing Freakier Friday. One of the worst films I've seen in a long time. The actors do well with terrible material — it's not their fault
Absolutely brilliant post on ideas, tracking them, hoarding them and cooking them into something from the super-talented @mini3grey.bsky.social
picturebookden.blogspot.com/2025/03/wher...
picturebookden.blogspot.com/2025/03/wher...
Where do I Begin? A look at starting points for stories with Mini Grey
“Where do you get your ideas?” is a question you get asked a lot on school visits. I suspect AF Harrold has also often been asked this que...
picturebookden.blogspot.com
August 13, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Absolutely brilliant post on ideas, tracking them, hoarding them and cooking them into something from the super-talented @mini3grey.bsky.social
picturebookden.blogspot.com/2025/03/wher...
picturebookden.blogspot.com/2025/03/wher...
Well done, Adobe AI. 'Realistic' portrayal seems to show #spinosaurus wearing its sail like a skirt around its waist 😅
August 3, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Well done, Adobe AI. 'Realistic' portrayal seems to show #spinosaurus wearing its sail like a skirt around its waist 😅
Let me remind you again why generative AI is a pile of toxic crap
July 30, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Let me remind you again why generative AI is a pile of toxic crap
From Ovo, relating to payment for solar power I've fed back into the grid: "we’ll work out how much you’re owed. This normally takes about 8 weeks". How can it possibly take 8 weeks? Are they pretending it's worked out by actual people? Is there computer powered by potatoes, like a potato clock?
July 1, 2025 at 12:51 PM
From Ovo, relating to payment for solar power I've fed back into the grid: "we’ll work out how much you’re owed. This normally takes about 8 weeks". How can it possibly take 8 weeks? Are they pretending it's worked out by actual people? Is there computer powered by potatoes, like a potato clock?
New book! Actually it came out in Jan but sold out s I didn't get my copies until they reprinted it. #dinosaurs #dinos #kidslit
June 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
New book! Actually it came out in Jan but sold out s I didn't get my copies until they reprinted it. #dinosaurs #dinos #kidslit
NYT should know better. Of the Bezos wedding: 'Meanwhile, missiles and bombs have been falling just a few time zones away.' One time zone to Tel Aviv; Tehran is one of the oddities in a half-hour zone, so two zones but 1.5 hours from Venice
June 25, 2025 at 8:23 AM
NYT should know better. Of the Bezos wedding: 'Meanwhile, missiles and bombs have been falling just a few time zones away.' One time zone to Tel Aviv; Tehran is one of the oddities in a half-hour zone, so two zones but 1.5 hours from Venice
Yum - home grown kiwi, homegrown wild strawberries, Bulgarian yoghurt, honey, chia seeds
June 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Yum - home grown kiwi, homegrown wild strawberries, Bulgarian yoghurt, honey, chia seeds
Am I the only one concerned by how many Americans feel they are at risk of 'Marshall' [sic] law? What do they think it is? Now, if you're worried about 'martial' law being imposed, that's a very reasonable thing to worry about
June 16, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Am I the only one concerned by how many Americans feel they are at risk of 'Marshall' [sic] law? What do they think it is? Now, if you're worried about 'martial' law being imposed, that's a very reasonable thing to worry about
MB reads every day, as much of the time as she can. Now her teacher is saying unless she fills in a reading log showing three books she read every week, she has to do extra learning in break time. The work won't be reading. She is Yr6, post-SATs. They know she reads at well above her chronological
June 10, 2025 at 10:12 AM
MB reads every day, as much of the time as she can. Now her teacher is saying unless she fills in a reading log showing three books she read every week, she has to do extra learning in break time. The work won't be reading. She is Yr6, post-SATs. They know she reads at well above her chronological
So I have a book I should deliver today. I know the editor is way behind on the last one so I'm not bothered about delivering today. But instead of fixing it up, I'm reading The Atlantic and thinking about spending the afternoon drawing owls in Illustrator. WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN??
June 9, 2025 at 12:33 PM
So I have a book I should deliver today. I know the editor is way behind on the last one so I'm not bothered about delivering today. But instead of fixing it up, I'm reading The Atlantic and thinking about spending the afternoon drawing owls in Illustrator. WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN??
Evil bastard caterpillar. Is this rare or can I chuck it in the field to eat something else?
June 8, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Evil bastard caterpillar. Is this rare or can I chuck it in the field to eat something else?
Here is my wildflower-filled micro orchard, doing well. Lots of apricots on the tree in ghe foreground
June 8, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Here is my wildflower-filled micro orchard, doing well. Lots of apricots on the tree in ghe foreground
Bumble bees seem more intelligent than wasps. If a wasp gets caught behind the Venetian blind in my office, it stays there until it dies. A bumble bee flies out between the slats. Observed several times with multiple subjects
May 21, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Bumble bees seem more intelligent than wasps. If a wasp gets caught behind the Venetian blind in my office, it stays there until it dies. A bumble bee flies out between the slats. Observed several times with multiple subjects
This is my wildlife pond. It's about 90% newts in early summer
May 18, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This is my wildlife pond. It's about 90% newts in early summer