Simon
@simonxix.com
📚cultural & critical studies 📽️film critic 🐧open source developer 🐦birder 😐he/him
🔗 https://simonxix.com
🔗 https://simonxix.com
Reposted by Simon
Stoat (formerly Revolt) is an open source Discord-like app that can host communities or can be installed on one's own virtual private server. stoat.chat
February 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Stoat (formerly Revolt) is an open source Discord-like app that can host communities or can be installed on one's own virtual private server. stoat.chat
Reposted by Simon
U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.
February 9, 2026 at 4:07 PM
U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.
Reposted by Simon
I love living in non-independent Scotland, where a UK Labour spokesperson responds to a Scottish Labour leader's criticism with "nonsense. look at the great things we are doing in England"
February 9, 2026 at 3:10 PM
I love living in non-independent Scotland, where a UK Labour spokesperson responds to a Scottish Labour leader's criticism with "nonsense. look at the great things we are doing in England"
Stoat (formerly Revolt) is an open source Discord-like app that can host communities or can be installed on one's own virtual private server. stoat.chat
February 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Stoat (formerly Revolt) is an open source Discord-like app that can host communities or can be installed on one's own virtual private server. stoat.chat
Reposted by Simon
Starmer is only the most recent chapter in a very long story of how Westminster fails Scotland.
Obviously he should go. Obviously he will. But Scotland doesn't just need a new chapter in the same story.
Independence lets choose our own future.
Obviously he should go. Obviously he will. But Scotland doesn't just need a new chapter in the same story.
Independence lets choose our own future.
Westminster has failed Scotland.
A new Prime Minister won't change that. It's time for independence.
A new Prime Minister won't change that. It's time for independence.
February 9, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Starmer is only the most recent chapter in a very long story of how Westminster fails Scotland.
Obviously he should go. Obviously he will. But Scotland doesn't just need a new chapter in the same story.
Independence lets choose our own future.
Obviously he should go. Obviously he will. But Scotland doesn't just need a new chapter in the same story.
Independence lets choose our own future.
The Vue St Enoch strike is temporarily suspended until 17 February 2026 to test management's claim that the workers can achieve their aims through internal processes. We shall see. www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/co...
February 9, 2026 at 1:39 PM
The Vue St Enoch strike is temporarily suspended until 17 February 2026 to test management's claim that the workers can achieve their aims through internal processes. We shall see. www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/co...
Reposted by Simon
What's that you say, Anas? That you tweeted this last year in 2025 about your 'old friend' Peter Mandelson and now you think Starmer should resign but you should keep your job?
February 9, 2026 at 1:30 PM
What's that you say, Anas? That you tweeted this last year in 2025 about your 'old friend' Peter Mandelson and now you think Starmer should resign but you should keep your job?
Reposted by Simon
Reposted by Simon
We’ve been made aware of individuals receiving emails claiming to be from the OBC, requesting fees from authors. To be clear: OBC does not charge individuals, book clubs, or authors for meetings/events. We're a collective funding model that channels library support to OA publishers & infrastructure.
February 9, 2026 at 11:23 AM
We’ve been made aware of individuals receiving emails claiming to be from the OBC, requesting fees from authors. To be clear: OBC does not charge individuals, book clubs, or authors for meetings/events. We're a collective funding model that channels library support to OA publishers & infrastructure.
That Bluesky Map doesn't automatically rewrite http to https so I'm not sure how I could possibly trust the veracity of its cartography.
February 9, 2026 at 11:13 AM
That Bluesky Map doesn't automatically rewrite http to https so I'm not sure how I could possibly trust the veracity of its cartography.
Reposted by Simon
99% of modern security products are just some company going "would you like this app that gamifies paranoia" and you going "yeag" like just don't do it. just turn it off
why do you need to observe your house if you're not in it. you are giving yourself an opt-in mental illness. no one has to live like this
February 9, 2026 at 6:08 AM
99% of modern security products are just some company going "would you like this app that gamifies paranoia" and you going "yeag" like just don't do it. just turn it off
Reposted by Simon
why do you need to observe your house if you're not in it. you are giving yourself an opt-in mental illness. no one has to live like this
February 9, 2026 at 6:06 AM
why do you need to observe your house if you're not in it. you are giving yourself an opt-in mental illness. no one has to live like this
Reposted by Simon
Reposted by Simon
Solidarity with Edinburgh Napier folks this week ✊🏻
Strike week at Edinburgh Napier. Our first two of 10 days of strike action happen on Tuesday and Thursday. Fighting against management's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. Our university has no debt, we have reserves and have already lost too many staff.
February 9, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Solidarity with Edinburgh Napier folks this week ✊🏻
Reposted by Simon
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
February 8, 2026 at 10:23 PM
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
Reposted by Simon
Surely the drawbacks of the camera drones at the Winter Olympics – they're noisy and distracting to me as a viewer never mind the athletes – outweigh the benefits of the meagre and often poorly-framed footage that they occasionally get.
February 8, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Surely the drawbacks of the camera drones at the Winter Olympics – they're noisy and distracting to me as a viewer never mind the athletes – outweigh the benefits of the meagre and often poorly-framed footage that they occasionally get.
Reposted by Simon
Pretty much all "successful" gen-AI use is gaming an existing economony by hitting a scale and speed that exploits its margins, but no one is watching/reading/playing/enjoying this stuff. It's just elbowing others out the way to catch the trickle-down out of the tech machine
I don't really want to bother, but these numbers? this is just a war of attrition. Each book made $500 in the KU trenches. She expended zero effort writing them, and readers DIDN'T READ THEM.
February 8, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Pretty much all "successful" gen-AI use is gaming an existing economony by hitting a scale and speed that exploits its margins, but no one is watching/reading/playing/enjoying this stuff. It's just elbowing others out the way to catch the trickle-down out of the tech machine
Reposted by Simon
Oh she’s a scam artist, got it! Every single time you hear about a person offering coaching in one of these pieces they’re just a scammer and the media falls for it
February 8, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Oh she’s a scam artist, got it! Every single time you hear about a person offering coaching in one of these pieces they’re just a scammer and the media falls for it
Reposted by Simon
sorry hi yeah just one question about the starters
February 7, 2026 at 9:54 PM
sorry hi yeah just one question about the starters
Reposted by Simon
Someone just ran into the pub I was in and shouted "The war on the Soft Left is over!" and everyone started cheering and crying and making toasts to Ed Miliband and a state driven green energy transition. Never seen anything quite like it
February 8, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Someone just ran into the pub I was in and shouted "The war on the Soft Left is over!" and everyone started cheering and crying and making toasts to Ed Miliband and a state driven green energy transition. Never seen anything quite like it
Reposted by Simon
Anytime I see Jeff Bezos mentioned I remember the time he flew to space with William Shatner and when a very emotoinal Shatner was trying to describe the experience Bezos interrupted by spraying champagne like an idiot child
February 8, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Anytime I see Jeff Bezos mentioned I remember the time he flew to space with William Shatner and when a very emotoinal Shatner was trying to describe the experience Bezos interrupted by spraying champagne like an idiot child
Reposted by Simon
Right, but just to clarify, you did not appoint Peter Mandelson, because you were not Prime Minister.
NEW: PM’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney resigns
“After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government. The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.”
“After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government. The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself.”
February 8, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Right, but just to clarify, you did not appoint Peter Mandelson, because you were not Prime Minister.
Reposted by Simon
Absolutely tremendous work here, no notes.
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
February 7, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Absolutely tremendous work here, no notes.
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
Since some people are discussing MPs salaries, I'll repost my belief that they shouldn't be paid a penny. They should get room, board, and travel but shouldn't be allowed to own anything.
One of my more Plato-brained beliefs is that politicians in a democracy should be a priestly caste who abdicate their rights to earthly pleasures in exchange for the honour of representing their community. No family, no life outside representation, certainly no other jobs. Avatars for the people.
February 7, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Since some people are discussing MPs salaries, I'll repost my belief that they shouldn't be paid a penny. They should get room, board, and travel but shouldn't be allowed to own anything.