Andrew Mobbs
@mobbsy.uk
Me:
• Father
• Software architect
• Cambridgeshire for past few decades, originally Moray.
• Boring middle-aged man
Also @mobbsy@mas.to
• Father
• Software architect
• Cambridgeshire for past few decades, originally Moray.
• Boring middle-aged man
Also @mobbsy@mas.to
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
From an Economist leader in August 2000
November 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
From an Economist leader in August 2000
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
These Tureen tests are getting crazy
November 8, 2025 at 5:58 PM
These Tureen tests are getting crazy
Thought I'd let the kids experience a proper turnip lantern this Halloween. Possibly not the best carving ever...
October 31, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Thought I'd let the kids experience a proper turnip lantern this Halloween. Possibly not the best carving ever...
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
Must-read @ecfr.eu : Putin’s Valdai speech marks a shift. He brands Europe “enemy #1”, vows more military pressure, backs far-right parties & steps up info warfare — while praising Trump as a model.
Europe must reinforce defence and resilience !
ecfr.eu/article/enem...
Europe must reinforce defence and resilience !
ecfr.eu/article/enem...
Enemy number one: What Putin’s foreign policy speech says about Europe
At this year’s Valdai club, Vladimir Putin gave his most anti-EU speech yet, citing his determination to see new anti-establishment politicians to come to power and improve Europe’s relations with…
ecfr.eu
October 6, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Must-read @ecfr.eu : Putin’s Valdai speech marks a shift. He brands Europe “enemy #1”, vows more military pressure, backs far-right parties & steps up info warfare — while praising Trump as a model.
Europe must reinforce defence and resilience !
ecfr.eu/article/enem...
Europe must reinforce defence and resilience !
ecfr.eu/article/enem...
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n
British Politics' Midlife Crisis
Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters
benansell.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 6:40 AM
On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n
5yo has a toy digital camera. He's just declared that he's put it in "1980s mode".
He meant black and white, because that's old.
He meant black and white, because that's old.
September 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
5yo has a toy digital camera. He's just declared that he's put it in "1980s mode".
He meant black and white, because that's old.
He meant black and white, because that's old.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
Am I right in thinking that unless there are riots across the UK this weekend then various predictions will turn out to have been wrong?
August 29, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Am I right in thinking that unless there are riots across the UK this weekend then various predictions will turn out to have been wrong?
Mythic Beasts calculated the total water use for an email account as 145ml per account per year, giving an upper bound to "Delete old emails and pictures as data centres require vast amounts of water to cool their systems." advice.
Water companies leak 48.8 litres of water per person per day.
Water companies leak 48.8 litres of water per person per day.
August 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Mythic Beasts calculated the total water use for an email account as 145ml per account per year, giving an upper bound to "Delete old emails and pictures as data centres require vast amounts of water to cool their systems." advice.
Water companies leak 48.8 litres of water per person per day.
Water companies leak 48.8 litres of water per person per day.
So "number of 'b's in blueberry" is the new "'r's in strawberry"
I'm puzzled by this sort of response to new LLMs. Using a tool badly doesn't show it's a bad tool. You've just proved a hammer is a bad screwdriver. Congratulations you've beaten the techbros, award yourself 10 internet genius points.
I'm puzzled by this sort of response to new LLMs. Using a tool badly doesn't show it's a bad tool. You've just proved a hammer is a bad screwdriver. Congratulations you've beaten the techbros, award yourself 10 internet genius points.
August 8, 2025 at 9:31 AM
So "number of 'b's in blueberry" is the new "'r's in strawberry"
I'm puzzled by this sort of response to new LLMs. Using a tool badly doesn't show it's a bad tool. You've just proved a hammer is a bad screwdriver. Congratulations you've beaten the techbros, award yourself 10 internet genius points.
I'm puzzled by this sort of response to new LLMs. Using a tool badly doesn't show it's a bad tool. You've just proved a hammer is a bad screwdriver. Congratulations you've beaten the techbros, award yourself 10 internet genius points.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
Tom Lehrer - Wernher von Braun
YouTube video by The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel
m.youtube.com
July 27, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"London hotter than <typically hot holiday destination>" is a regular headline, but this time I'm on the other side of that.
It's a pleasant 26°C here in the Algarve.
It's a pleasant 26°C here in the Algarve.
July 11, 2025 at 3:13 PM
"London hotter than <typically hot holiday destination>" is a regular headline, but this time I'm on the other side of that.
It's a pleasant 26°C here in the Algarve.
It's a pleasant 26°C here in the Algarve.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
June 7, 2025 at 8:39 PM
The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
🧵 The UK's Strategic Defence Review has been published. I have written on the big picture (www.economist.com/britain/2025..., www.economist.com/europe/2025/..., www.aspistrategist.org.au/five-importa...). But some other observations from the document that stood out to me:
Britain’s ambitious plan to rearm looks underfunded
Many of the new capabilities will not show up for years
www.economist.com
June 5, 2025 at 11:28 AM
🧵 The UK's Strategic Defence Review has been published. I have written on the big picture (www.economist.com/britain/2025..., www.economist.com/europe/2025/..., www.aspistrategist.org.au/five-importa...). But some other observations from the document that stood out to me:
Expires 2038? They really should have moved on from using a 32 bit time_t for trade negotiations...
From @lisaocarroll.bsky.social on fish processing under the reset deal www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
May 19, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Expires 2038? They really should have moved on from using a 32 bit time_t for trade negotiations...
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
Starmer has taken the median voter position's on a set of issues - immigration, foreign aid, self-ID - for no electoral gains because the median voter is a valence voter: they vote on perceived ability to deliver (mostly economic) security, and that's something you can't triangulate yourself into.
May 13, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Starmer has taken the median voter position's on a set of issues - immigration, foreign aid, self-ID - for no electoral gains because the median voter is a valence voter: they vote on perceived ability to deliver (mostly economic) security, and that's something you can't triangulate yourself into.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
I needed this laugh.
March 26, 2025 at 12:42 PM
I needed this laugh.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
In 25 years of covering national security, I’ve never seen a story like this: Senior Trump officials discussed planning for the U.S. attack on Yemen in a Signal group--and inadvertently added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
www.theatlantic.com
March 24, 2025 at 4:11 PM
In 25 years of covering national security, I’ve never seen a story like this: Senior Trump officials discussed planning for the U.S. attack on Yemen in a Signal group--and inadvertently added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
He’s literally travelling by Papal Fiat.
Pope Francis arrives home to the Vatican after five-week hospital stay
The Pope appeared on a public balcony at Rome's Gemelli hospital to bless the crowd shortly before being discharged, in his first public outing in five weeks.
news.sky.com
March 23, 2025 at 9:28 PM
He’s literally travelling by Papal Fiat.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
For anyone who missed this very important news, Jennie the guide dog crossed the floor of the House of Commons yesterday to be stroked by Labour MPs
She was then summoned by the Lib Dem Chief Whip for a very stern word
She was then summoned by the Lib Dem Chief Whip for a very stern word
March 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
For anyone who missed this very important news, Jennie the guide dog crossed the floor of the House of Commons yesterday to be stroked by Labour MPs
She was then summoned by the Lib Dem Chief Whip for a very stern word
She was then summoned by the Lib Dem Chief Whip for a very stern word
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
New piece in foreign policy. The US's postwar role as guarantor of Europe’s security is over.
But Europe has an overlooked trump card: when it comes to manufacturing it blows the US out of the water, giving Europe the ability to rearm.
Thread on Monday.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/07/e...
But Europe has an overlooked trump card: when it comes to manufacturing it blows the US out of the water, giving Europe the ability to rearm.
Thread on Monday.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/07/e...
Heavy Industry Is Europe’s Trump Card
The continent has an upper hand in its looming security competition with the United States.
foreignpolicy.com
March 8, 2025 at 6:15 PM
New piece in foreign policy. The US's postwar role as guarantor of Europe’s security is over.
But Europe has an overlooked trump card: when it comes to manufacturing it blows the US out of the water, giving Europe the ability to rearm.
Thread on Monday.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/07/e...
But Europe has an overlooked trump card: when it comes to manufacturing it blows the US out of the water, giving Europe the ability to rearm.
Thread on Monday.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/07/e...
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
I’d like to think I’m the first person to get into a flame war with VPOTUS from the swimming pool of Woburn Center Parcs at half-term.
The VP is posting through it. (Good for @shashj.bsky.social for hitting a nerve.)
February 21, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I’d like to think I’m the first person to get into a flame war with VPOTUS from the swimming pool of Woburn Center Parcs at half-term.
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
I mean “fix the church roof, you should be a member of Parliament” is a better reasoning process than “be terminally online, you should run the Conservative Party.”
February 19, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I mean “fix the church roof, you should be a member of Parliament” is a better reasoning process than “be terminally online, you should run the Conservative Party.”
Reposted by Andrew Mobbs
February 11, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Two months is a long time in politics:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... vs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... vs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
February 13, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Two months is a long time in politics:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... vs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... vs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...