ollie masters
@olliemastersbskys.bsky.social
I’m starting to think I might have left it too late to be a child genius…
Writer. Repped by Jago Irwin at Independent Talent.
Writer. Repped by Jago Irwin at Independent Talent.
Reposted by ollie masters
if someone is saying "i hope that x happens" don't reply with "well actually as always only bad things will happen" because it suggests you've forgotten what the word "hope" means
February 19, 2026 at 3:42 PM
if someone is saying "i hope that x happens" don't reply with "well actually as always only bad things will happen" because it suggests you've forgotten what the word "hope" means
Reposted by ollie masters
"There seem to be only two ways that intractable, generational conflicts such as this can end: when the extremists decide that they want it to; or when they are crushed so comprehensively that they cease to be a factor."
On the similarity of two photos that's been haunting me for a very long time.
On the similarity of two photos that's been haunting me for a very long time.
A tale of two photographs
Something from the Middle East that’s long been haunting me. Also this week: Elledge’s patent Anglo-Saxon wrangler; and what’s the *shortest* river?
jonn.substack.com
February 19, 2026 at 1:55 PM
"There seem to be only two ways that intractable, generational conflicts such as this can end: when the extremists decide that they want it to; or when they are crushed so comprehensively that they cease to be a factor."
On the similarity of two photos that's been haunting me for a very long time.
On the similarity of two photos that's been haunting me for a very long time.
Reposted by ollie masters
UK: Prince Andrew arrested.
South Korea: Former President Yoon sentenced for life.
Brazil: Former President Bolsonaro serving a 27-year sentence.
USA: President Trump demands $10 billion payout from taxpayers.
South Korea: Former President Yoon sentenced for life.
Brazil: Former President Bolsonaro serving a 27-year sentence.
USA: President Trump demands $10 billion payout from taxpayers.
February 19, 2026 at 1:08 PM
UK: Prince Andrew arrested.
South Korea: Former President Yoon sentenced for life.
Brazil: Former President Bolsonaro serving a 27-year sentence.
USA: President Trump demands $10 billion payout from taxpayers.
South Korea: Former President Yoon sentenced for life.
Brazil: Former President Bolsonaro serving a 27-year sentence.
USA: President Trump demands $10 billion payout from taxpayers.
I mean, she’s not wrong, but still. Harsh
February 19, 2026 at 11:52 AM
I mean, she’s not wrong, but still. Harsh
Starting to regret teaching my daughter to write
February 19, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Starting to regret teaching my daughter to write
Reposted by ollie masters
I’ll never understand the people who believe there’s no way to ban AI once it exists. Do they think nothing else have ever been banned or that those laws were created on a purely theoretical level that just happened to pay off
"But the technology would be out there!" Well in this scenario of systemic mass unemployment of the most politically engaged segment of society will make a bipartisan majority to regulate away the cause of that unemployment pretty easy to find.
February 19, 2026 at 10:37 AM
I’ll never understand the people who believe there’s no way to ban AI once it exists. Do they think nothing else have ever been banned or that those laws were created on a purely theoretical level that just happened to pay off
Reposted by ollie masters
To build on Stephen/Nute's points here: We literally saw multiple revolutions driven by young people across the world last year, in part driven by youth unemployment and huge disparity in wealth!
We have a *load* of examples of the outcomes of mass unemployment + connected people + clear target!
We have a *load* of examples of the outcomes of mass unemployment + connected people + clear target!
If structural unemployment hit even twice as many people as deindustrialisation in the 1980s did, my concern would not be 'will people pay for my words' it would be 'will the political upheaval this causes end really, really badly for me personally?'
February 19, 2026 at 10:32 AM
To build on Stephen/Nute's points here: We literally saw multiple revolutions driven by young people across the world last year, in part driven by youth unemployment and huge disparity in wealth!
We have a *load* of examples of the outcomes of mass unemployment + connected people + clear target!
We have a *load* of examples of the outcomes of mass unemployment + connected people + clear target!
Reposted by ollie masters
Skipping a full process on a contentious candidate, I see. Keor Starmer really is determined to just keep doing that until it works, isn't he?
NEW: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Dame Antonia Romeo as the first female Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service, it is understood.
February 19, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Skipping a full process on a contentious candidate, I see. Keor Starmer really is determined to just keep doing that until it works, isn't he?
Reposted by ollie masters
ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN ARRESTED
February 19, 2026 at 10:01 AM
ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN ARRESTED
Reposted by ollie masters
I do love that the trend in the UK, specifically, is young men rapidly swung left from 2010 onwards, it’s just that young women swung left even more rapidly
I've lost count of the number of times I've had to pull out this chart from the FT.
It's not really true to say young men are moving right in the developed world overall, let along within the UK.
Just like the mythical Reform surge with teenagers, it's a meme that just will not die.
It's not really true to say young men are moving right in the developed world overall, let along within the UK.
Just like the mythical Reform surge with teenagers, it's a meme that just will not die.
February 19, 2026 at 9:03 AM
I do love that the trend in the UK, specifically, is young men rapidly swung left from 2010 onwards, it’s just that young women swung left even more rapidly
Reposted by ollie masters
Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.
February 19, 2026 at 8:26 AM
Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.
Reposted by ollie masters
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
I’m constantly astounded at the sheer level of artistic production coming out of Iceland. Novels, movies, music. Amazing.
February 18, 2026 at 2:23 PM
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
This whole thing is insane
I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website*
I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took 20 minutes
I found a way to make AI tell you lies – and I'm not the only one.
www.bbc.com
February 18, 2026 at 8:30 PM
This whole thing is insane
Reposted by ollie masters
I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website*
I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took 20 minutes
I found a way to make AI tell you lies – and I'm not the only one.
www.bbc.com
February 18, 2026 at 4:37 PM
I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website*
I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
Reposted by ollie masters
I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
February 18, 2026 at 4:37 PM
I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion
People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it
Reposted by ollie masters
Watching Death of Stalin again and "Quorate? The room is only 75 percent conscious" is one of my favourite lines from anything
February 18, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Watching Death of Stalin again and "Quorate? The room is only 75 percent conscious" is one of my favourite lines from anything
Reposted by ollie masters
Basically the entire core of Microsoft pitch on AI is that it's the safe, responsible one that corporates and governments can use. So this is very much not what they needed to happen.
Microsoft said the bug meant that its Copilot AI chatbot was reading and summarizing paying customers' confidential emails, bypassing data protection policies.
Microsoft says Office bug exposed customers' confidential emails to Copilot AI | TechCrunch
Microsoft said the bug meant that its Copilot AI chatbot was reading and summarizing paying customers' confidential emails, bypassing data protection policies.
techcrunch.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Basically the entire core of Microsoft pitch on AI is that it's the safe, responsible one that corporates and governments can use. So this is very much not what they needed to happen.
Reposted by ollie masters
The brutal hunt for low-paid work: ‘It’s like The Hunger Games – but for a job folding clothes’
The brutal hunt for low-paid work: ‘It’s like The Hunger Games – but for a job folding clothes’
It used to be fairly easy to get work that paid at or around the minimum wage. But with a shrinking number of positions come ever more hoops to jump through, from personality tests, to trial shifts, to towers constructed of marshmallows
www.theguardian.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:07 PM
The brutal hunt for low-paid work: ‘It’s like The Hunger Games – but for a job folding clothes’
Reposted by ollie masters
Henry Shelford, chief executive of charity ADHD UK: it is "hateful and cruel how badly the overall NHS treats people with ADHD”.
ADHD patients stripped of NHS prescriptions under crackdown
GP practices are increasingly withdrawing from shared-care agreements with patients diagnosed by private clinics
giftarticle.ft.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:25 AM
Henry Shelford, chief executive of charity ADHD UK: it is "hateful and cruel how badly the overall NHS treats people with ADHD”.
Reposted by ollie masters
Excerpt from Alan Rickman’s diaries.
Here he’s recovering after an operation to remove his prostate.
Here he’s recovering after an operation to remove his prostate.
February 18, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Excerpt from Alan Rickman’s diaries.
Here he’s recovering after an operation to remove his prostate.
Here he’s recovering after an operation to remove his prostate.
Reposted by ollie masters
![SCENE: A PASSPORT CONTROL GATE, IN THE SKY, ON A CLOUD. THE PASSPORT CONTROL GATE HAS ‘CORPOREAL REALM’ WRITTEN ON IT.
PASSPORT CONTROL OFFICIAL: Passport please, sir.
OFFICIAL [LOOKING AT PASSPORT]: Ah - the famous Dr Jenner!
EDWARD JENNER, A FLOATING GHOST IN EDWARDIAN GARB: Indeed, haha
OFFICIAL: And what's the purpose of your visit to the corporeal realm, Dr Jenner?
EDWARD JENNER: Haunting.
OFFICIAL: Oh lovely. Anyone nice?
EDWARD JENNER: Just a little tour of some anti-vaxxers.
OFFICIAL: Wonderful. I hear Andrew Wakefield’s bedroom is just •perfect• at this time of year.
EDWARD JENNER: It is! I spent last summer standing by his bed, calling him a c--.
OFFICIAL: Lucky yooou…
OFFICIAL [LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS]: Oh... oh dear...
EDWARD JENNER: Is everything OK?
OFFICIAL: I’m afraid your card says you haven’t had the required stupidity vaccination for your trip.
EDWARD JENNER: Oh dear!
OFFICIAL: It’s fine - we can do it here…
Just read this anti-vax tweet by Jim Carrey
EDWARD JENNER [reading a smartphone]: Egads!
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreibelysv45nptkn3fzrjup3xl5tx5pcmnzvmcbpim72tul5dvyf2w4@jpeg)
Reposted by ollie masters
Lost my phone in London, with four credit cards and £150 cash in the case. Returned to me within 21 minutes. This hellhole of a city eh.
February 18, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Lost my phone in London, with four credit cards and £150 cash in the case. Returned to me within 21 minutes. This hellhole of a city eh.