Nat Torkington
@gnat.bsky.social
Beloved banjo player of the people. Co-owner and CTO of an apparel ERP company. In former lives: open source, Perl, O'Reilly Media, new technology. Bereavement is sadder and weirder than you can imagine.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
this is how every outlet should refer to X
January 6, 2026 at 5:11 PM
this is how every outlet should refer to X
You might have heard that Microsoft renamed Office to Copilot 365. It's not as bad as you think, but only because Microsoft are so shit at naming things that "Office" doesn't mean what you thought it meant.
www.howtogeek.com/no-microsoft...
But it's ok, the "Office" name lives on in another fuckup.
www.howtogeek.com/no-microsoft...
But it's ok, the "Office" name lives on in another fuckup.
I also enjoy that they renamed Remote Desktop to Windows App and the Windows App is available in the App Store for Mac where the tab title becomes "Windows App App - App Store"
apps.apple.com/us/app/windo...
apps.apple.com/us/app/windo...
Windows App App - App Store
Download Windows App by Microsoft Corporation on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more games like Windows App.
apps.apple.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:19 AM
You might have heard that Microsoft renamed Office to Copilot 365. It's not as bad as you think, but only because Microsoft are so shit at naming things that "Office" doesn't mean what you thought it meant.
www.howtogeek.com/no-microsoft...
But it's ok, the "Office" name lives on in another fuckup.
www.howtogeek.com/no-microsoft...
But it's ok, the "Office" name lives on in another fuckup.
I'm working on Steve Yegge's Gas Town.
"Ironic - the sling itself hit the bug we're reporting. Convoy created though."
Can't win for all the winning going on.
"Ironic - the sling itself hit the bug we're reporting. Convoy created though."
Can't win for all the winning going on.
January 6, 2026 at 9:51 AM
I'm working on Steve Yegge's Gas Town.
"Ironic - the sling itself hit the bug we're reporting. Convoy created though."
Can't win for all the winning going on.
"Ironic - the sling itself hit the bug we're reporting. Convoy created though."
Can't win for all the winning going on.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
lot of things i could say here but mostly i guess i would like to implore everyone to find a personality other than "least favorite roommate during a house meeting in portland, oregon"
January 6, 2026 at 6:45 AM
lot of things i could say here but mostly i guess i would like to implore everyone to find a personality other than "least favorite roommate during a house meeting in portland, oregon"
Reposted by Nat Torkington
There’s a reason you usually see 4’33 done with a piano. It doesn’t work on guitar. After 10 seconds the performer would start trying to check that their strings are still in tune before moving on to absentmindedly playing Wonderwall.
January 4, 2026 at 10:45 AM
There’s a reason you usually see 4’33 done with a piano. It doesn’t work on guitar. After 10 seconds the performer would start trying to check that their strings are still in tune before moving on to absentmindedly playing Wonderwall.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
Sorry, guys, you got the wrong Pendragon.
You want that Uther Pendragon.
You want that Uther Pendragon.
January 4, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Sorry, guys, you got the wrong Pendragon.
You want that Uther Pendragon.
You want that Uther Pendragon.
archive.is/2026.01.04-1... Influencers taking the “alien of exceptional ability” immigration visas? Good lord.
January 5, 2026 at 2:29 PM
archive.is/2026.01.04-1... Influencers taking the “alien of exceptional ability” immigration visas? Good lord.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
We need to establish an acceptable proper timeline for the late 20th/early 21st C.
* 'Last year' = 2023-2025
* 'A couple of years ago' = after Lockdown
* 'A few years ago' = between 2004 and Lockdown
* 'About ten years ago' = 1994-2014
* 'Last year' = 2023-2025
* 'A couple of years ago' = after Lockdown
* 'A few years ago' = between 2004 and Lockdown
* 'About ten years ago' = 1994-2014
doing a quick lit review and wrote something along the lines of "this was published in 1994 so it is over 20 years old now" and then realised my maths error and did the oblig. crumble into dust.
January 5, 2026 at 2:11 PM
We need to establish an acceptable proper timeline for the late 20th/early 21st C.
* 'Last year' = 2023-2025
* 'A couple of years ago' = after Lockdown
* 'A few years ago' = between 2004 and Lockdown
* 'About ten years ago' = 1994-2014
* 'Last year' = 2023-2025
* 'A couple of years ago' = after Lockdown
* 'A few years ago' = between 2004 and Lockdown
* 'About ten years ago' = 1994-2014
I'm enjoying rereading this: www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/tong/fl... An absolutely fascinating after-dinner talk by a physicist, talking about the weird world of high-viscosity/small-body life. e.g., If a man were to swim in an environment like his sperm, he'd move a meter a week.
www.damtp.cam.ac.uk
January 2, 2026 at 7:30 AM
I'm enjoying rereading this: www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/tong/fl... An absolutely fascinating after-dinner talk by a physicist, talking about the weird world of high-viscosity/small-body life. e.g., If a man were to swim in an environment like his sperm, he'd move a meter a week.
Exquisitely thoughtful essay about China and Silicon Valley. danwang.co/2025-letter/ I particularly liked "Chinese and Americans are the most alike people in the world. They both are driven by a yearning for the future. They feel the draw of better times ahead." Lots to ponder in the essay.
2025 letter | Dan Wang
Corgis, compute, Cold War; Ecclesiastes; ties; Stendhal; humor; Pascal's Wager; deep infrastructure; Germanic obedience; Texas State Fair
danwang.co
January 2, 2026 at 7:15 AM
Exquisitely thoughtful essay about China and Silicon Valley. danwang.co/2025-letter/ I particularly liked "Chinese and Americans are the most alike people in the world. They both are driven by a yearning for the future. They feel the draw of better times ahead." Lots to ponder in the essay.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
I regret to inform you that more than half the entries in this feature on 'the best old music we discovered this year' are from the 2000s.
The best old music we discovered this year
Strange folk, lost pop, disco oddities and, um, Dido – here are the forgotten tracks that became this year’s most replayed revelations
www.theguardian.com
December 25, 2025 at 4:11 PM
I regret to inform you that more than half the entries in this feature on 'the best old music we discovered this year' are from the 2000s.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
you: in her house, not even stirring
me: one of the four assholes coming in the rear in a standard two-by-two cover formation
we are not the same etc etc
me: one of the four assholes coming in the rear in a standard two-by-two cover formation
we are not the same etc etc
December 25, 2025 at 6:34 AM
you: in her house, not even stirring
me: one of the four assholes coming in the rear in a standard two-by-two cover formation
we are not the same etc etc
me: one of the four assholes coming in the rear in a standard two-by-two cover formation
we are not the same etc etc
Reposted by Nat Torkington
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
Reposted by Nat Torkington
you: *moaning and writhing in pain*
me: [a musician] *quietly trying to find the harmony*
me: [a musician] *quietly trying to find the harmony*
December 24, 2025 at 5:33 AM
you: *moaning and writhing in pain*
me: [a musician] *quietly trying to find the harmony*
me: [a musician] *quietly trying to find the harmony*
Reposted by Nat Torkington
Not now, haunted Victorian shoes
Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach
Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach
More than 400 leather hobnailed boots, thought to date back to the 19th Century, have been found.
www.bbc.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Not now, haunted Victorian shoes
Reposted by Nat Torkington
Btw this is one of the biggest reasons why it’s not as easy as people think to start up independent newsrooms or just be an indie journalist on substack. If you are actually holding powerful and rich people to account, you WILL need legal representation. Not a matter of whether but when
I say that as someone who has started newsrooms from scratch sometimes with two people - if you’re doing your job correctly you will need a lawyer because the first thing rich people do when you write something they don’t like is threaten you legally. It’s cheap for them and expensive for you
December 23, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Btw this is one of the biggest reasons why it’s not as easy as people think to start up independent newsrooms or just be an indie journalist on substack. If you are actually holding powerful and rich people to account, you WILL need legal representation. Not a matter of whether but when
"And do not put your dick it. It's fucked enough already."
One of our favourite Avasarala lines.
Truly an evergreen exhortation.
One of our favourite Avasarala lines.
Truly an evergreen exhortation.
December 21, 2025 at 8:37 AM
"And do not put your dick it. It's fucked enough already."
One of our favourite Avasarala lines.
Truly an evergreen exhortation.
One of our favourite Avasarala lines.
Truly an evergreen exhortation.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
occurs to me that we might be getting the "there's a problem of lonely males with no friends or romantic partners" and "there's a lucrative industry of toxic male influencers who tell young men to act like assholes" causation arrow backwards
December 17, 2025 at 11:53 PM
occurs to me that we might be getting the "there's a problem of lonely males with no friends or romantic partners" and "there's a lucrative industry of toxic male influencers who tell young men to act like assholes" causation arrow backwards
Fucking drongo. A drongo whose lawsuit against a decent social media researching academic and against Television New Zealand is being funded by the Canadian billionaire who purchased the NZ Herald and a bunch of other media outlets.
December 16, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Fucking drongo. A drongo whose lawsuit against a decent social media researching academic and against Television New Zealand is being funded by the Canadian billionaire who purchased the NZ Herald and a bunch of other media outlets.
Did you catch www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKfM... when we released it?
I had run out of contacts so you get to see me in my dorky white glasses. I look like an unemployed aging storyboarder for toilet paper commercials, unsure if he'll ever work again.
My Deering Julia Belle banjo looks great tho!
I had run out of contacts so you get to see me in my dorky white glasses. I look like an unemployed aging storyboarder for toilet paper commercials, unsure if he'll ever work again.
My Deering Julia Belle banjo looks great tho!
You, Me, Everybody - The Rest of Us - [Official Music Video]
YouTube video by You, Me, Everybody Band
www.youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Did you catch www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKfM... when we released it?
I had run out of contacts so you get to see me in my dorky white glasses. I look like an unemployed aging storyboarder for toilet paper commercials, unsure if he'll ever work again.
My Deering Julia Belle banjo looks great tho!
I had run out of contacts so you get to see me in my dorky white glasses. I look like an unemployed aging storyboarder for toilet paper commercials, unsure if he'll ever work again.
My Deering Julia Belle banjo looks great tho!
Reminder: my band has a new thing for your eyes and ears.
In it you will see me in a wheelchair.
Stunning commentary on healthcare waitlists? Or bellend with a banjo? YOU DECIDE!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT9B...
In it you will see me in a wheelchair.
Stunning commentary on healthcare waitlists? Or bellend with a banjo? YOU DECIDE!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT9B...
You, Me, Everybody - Busy Without Me - [Official Music Video]
YouTube video by You, Me, Everybody Band
www.youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Reminder: my band has a new thing for your eyes and ears.
In it you will see me in a wheelchair.
Stunning commentary on healthcare waitlists? Or bellend with a banjo? YOU DECIDE!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT9B...
In it you will see me in a wheelchair.
Stunning commentary on healthcare waitlists? Or bellend with a banjo? YOU DECIDE!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT9B...
Reposted by Nat Torkington
In case you have never seen this.
December 13, 2025 at 10:38 PM
In case you have never seen this.
Reposted by Nat Torkington
Michael C. Rockefeller got shipwrecked in 1963, washed up on an island, and was promptly eaten by cannibals.
December 13, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Michael C. Rockefeller got shipwrecked in 1963, washed up on an island, and was promptly eaten by cannibals.
First time I hit the Claude limits. Can't tell if this means I'm bad at what I'm doing or good ...
December 13, 2025 at 9:17 AM
First time I hit the Claude limits. Can't tell if this means I'm bad at what I'm doing or good ...