Ben Proctor
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benproctor.co.uk
Ben Proctor
@benproctor.co.uk
690 followers 1.1K following 390 posts
Some time folk singer. Ex Data Orchard CIC. Now freelance data consultant.

LibDem Herefordshire and Hereford City Councillor for College Ward (promoted by Sam Potts on behalf of the Liberal Democrats all at 54 St Owen St Hereford HR12PU)
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Ben Proctor
eff.org
With Rayhunter, we can find out how cell site simulators are being used, and protect ourselves and our communities from this form of surveillance. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular
Rayhunter is a new open source tool we’ve created that runs off an affordable mobile hotspot that we hope empowers everyone, regardless of technical skill, to help search out cell-site simulators
www.eff.org
December 28, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
juliacushion.bsky.social
If you know me you know I am a sunlight obsessive and @dracos.co.uk made my year this year by making this!!

dracos.co.uk/made/sunligh...
Sunlight optimism calculator - Matthew Somerville
dracos.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
rgsibg.bsky.social
MRes and PhD students researching topics related to rural geographies are invited to join the Rural Geography Research Group (RGRG) RGS-IBG for its first friendly mid-morning coffee meeting.

📅 22 January 2026
⏰ 10.00am

Register here 👉https://ow.ly/5jFu50XIqcv
Rural Geography Research Group morning coffee | Networking event
MRes or PhD students researching anything related to rural geographies are invited for a relaxed, friendly, early morning coffee meeting.
ow.ly
December 23, 2025 at 2:01 PM
benproctor.co.uk
Child poverty: how bad is it in the UK? theconversation.com/child-povert... <- tl,dr; bad
Child poverty: how bad is it in the UK?
Four and a half million children are growing up without basic necessities in the UK.
theconversation.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:47 AM
benproctor.co.uk
State of the Sector: Data Maturity 2025 – A global cross-sector comparison from my friends Data Orchard www.dataorchard.org.uk/resources/so... is a very interesting read
State of the Sector: Data Maturity 2025 – A global cross-sector comparison — Data Orchard
Our 2025 State of the Sector report draws on five years of global data about data maturity from Data Orchard’s Data Maturity Assessment tools to provide benchmarks for 2024–2025, exploring trends,…
www.dataorchard.org.uk
December 18, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
loreandordure.com
For your collective delectation this holiday season:
Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!)

loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...
Jingle Bells (Batman Smells): an incomplete festive folk-rhyme taxonomy
Gather round the fire, everyone, and let me tell you a story. It has everything you could want in a Christmas blockbuster: superheroes and villains, a car crash, children singing, a mystery to solv…
loreandordure.com
December 16, 2025 at 5:06 PM
benproctor.co.uk
How to use toner transfer to put graphics on basically anything www.peterzimon.com/blog/how-to-...
How to use toner transfer to put graphics on basically anything
Get text and smaller graphics on synthesizer enclosures
www.peterzimon.com
December 15, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
robinince.bsky.social
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
benproctor.co.uk
The final nonprofit data jobs newsletter of the year is out buttondown.com/likeaword/ar...
Nonprofit data jobs 2025-12-12
The final newsletter of 2025
buttondown.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
martinbarrow.bsky.social
A man who has looked after 100 young people says foster carers often "live in the shadows".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bristol foster carer’s new book tells story of 35-year career
John Stokes publishes a book about his life dedicated to fostering young people.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
benproctor.co.uk
“The production of accessible versions requires additional time”

The published paper is a nicely laid up PDF full of images.

But text in an HTML page will take too long to wait.

I’m aware this is a niche tweet even by my standards.
Please note that further accessible formats will be published in due course. We have published this paper ahead of all accessible versions to put detailed information about measures aimed at reducing child poverty in the public domain at the earliest opportunity, although the production of accessible versions requires additional time.
December 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
irishrainforest.bsky.social
If we want to know what rewilding success might look like in Ireland, we only need to look across the water to Scotland.
share.google/G3ADx45gtCvU...
Red squirrels expand across Highlands after 10-year reintroduction drive
Rewilding charity helps bolster Scottish stronghold of species that once came close to extinction in UK
share.google
December 5, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
copronetwales.bsky.social
We still have some spaces on our much talked about online course, Co-production and You! If you're looking for a course to enhance your co-production knowledge, that also supports you through reflecting on your co-production practice in your work - look no further. Find out more: buff.ly/0e4ylyI
December 4, 2025 at 11:45 AM
benproctor.co.uk
Nonprofit data jobs for the week ending 2025-12-01 (hastily updated from last Friday's date) is out. Featuring data roles in non profits (and a small number of public sector bodies) and some links I think you will like buttondown.com/likeaword/ar...
Nonprofit data jobs 2025-12-01
Featuring vacancies with Wikimedia Foundation, the NSPCC, The Wye and Usk Foundation, The UK Health Security Agency and many more
buttondown.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM
benproctor.co.uk
AI in Education - Workshop in a Box from Connected by Data
AI in Education - Workshop in a Box
To access a copy of the Workshop in a Box and an invite to live and recorded briefings on using it, please register here.
connectedbydata.org
November 28, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
libdems.org.uk
Join our winning team today!
Join us
Become a Liberal Democrat member today.
www.libdems.org.uk
November 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
dracos.co.uk
For Hansard debates on @theyworkforyou.com, we get source XML from @ukparliament.parliament.uk. This includes new data, plus recent corrections. Yesterday, it included XML for 2nd June 2010. What correction would be worth republishing a day from 15 years ago?

Correcting “Ian Drury” to “Ian Dury” :)
November 27, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
rutgerbregman.com
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
benproctor.co.uk
Nonprofit data jobs for the week ending 2025-11-21 is out buttondown.com/likeaword/ar...
Nonprofit data jobs 2025-11-21
Featuring vacancies with Centrepoint, Housing 21 and the Welsh Government
buttondown.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
jukes.ie
Well this is a *JOB*...for someone brave 😆

Director General for Digital, Data and Technology for the Office for National Statistics
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
Quick Check Needed
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk
November 20, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
justinhendrix.bsky.social
"When people rely on large language models to summarize information on a topic for them, they tend to develop shallower knowledge about it compared to learning through a standard Google search."
Learning with AI falls short compared to old-fashioned web search
Doing the mental work of connecting the dots across multiple web queries appears to help people understand the material better compared to an AI summary.
theconversation.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
theguardian.com
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent Students at the University of Staffordshire have said they feel “robbed of knowledge and enjoyment” after a course they hoped would launch their digital careers turned out to be taught in large part by AI. James and Owen were among 41 students who took a coding module at Staffordshire last year, hoping to change careers through a government-funded apprenticeship programme designed to help them become cybersecurity experts or software engineers. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
pixlz.com
Today is Carers Rights Day 2025. The theme is Know Your Rights, Use Your Rights. www.carersuk.org/news-and-cam... #carers #carersRightsDay
Carers Rights Day | Carers UK
www.carersuk.org
November 20, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by Ben Proctor
hetanshah.bsky.social
‘The half life of the teaspoons was 81 days.’
November 20, 2025 at 9:17 AM
benproctor.co.uk
theconversation.com/game-of-wool...
Game of Wool: Fair Isle knitting row reveals why culture and tradition matter
Ultimately, Game of Wool has cast a valuable spotlight on a heritage craft under threat despite its global profile.
theconversation.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:30 AM