Jay Spanton
@spanty.bsky.social
Researcher/ designer. Currently UKRI. Formerly National Archive, Land Registry, DEFRA, Met Office, GDS, cxpartners, eBay...
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Avoiding hard Income Tax decision maintains a fantasy economic solution plan space for Farage/Reform to exist in and exploit.
Tightening the political space is needed when authoritarian populists can just lie and fabricate.
Tightening the political space is needed when authoritarian populists can just lie and fabricate.
November 14, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Avoiding hard Income Tax decision maintains a fantasy economic solution plan space for Farage/Reform to exist in and exploit.
Tightening the political space is needed when authoritarian populists can just lie and fabricate.
Tightening the political space is needed when authoritarian populists can just lie and fabricate.
Reposted by Jay Spanton
As you might imagine, this is very good. It is also very funny.
NEW
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
By me. Enjoy.
emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...
The letter the BBC could send back to Trump
A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim
emptycity.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:09 PM
As you might imagine, this is very good. It is also very funny.
Reposted by Jay Spanton
There's an infinity of cruelty and racism on the right but they want to enclose off some parts as the 'wrong kind' of cruelty and racism
Anti-racism is of course welcome but the nonsensical phrase “woke right” is a very clear sign that a writer as lost it
"This week the woke right took to saying that people who are black aren't properly British" complains Danny Finkelstein.
No, Danny, Douglas Murray, who you patronised, promoted and admired, has been saying *exactly this* for over a decade.
archive.ph/2025.11.12-0...
No, Danny, Douglas Murray, who you patronised, promoted and admired, has been saying *exactly this* for over a decade.
archive.ph/2025.11.12-0...
November 12, 2025 at 9:15 AM
There's an infinity of cruelty and racism on the right but they want to enclose off some parts as the 'wrong kind' of cruelty and racism
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Make me DG you cowards!
Homes Under the Hammer replaced with The Hair Bear Bunch
Traitors with more bears
Basically it's the Bear Broadcasting Corporation
Homes Under the Hammer replaced with The Hair Bear Bunch
Traitors with more bears
Basically it's the Bear Broadcasting Corporation
November 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Make me DG you cowards!
Homes Under the Hammer replaced with The Hair Bear Bunch
Traitors with more bears
Basically it's the Bear Broadcasting Corporation
Homes Under the Hammer replaced with The Hair Bear Bunch
Traitors with more bears
Basically it's the Bear Broadcasting Corporation
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Someone just shared this with me: 1967, 3,000 publicans marching against introducing breath tests for drivers.
Barbara Castle MP got this introduced and speed limits and seatbelts as mInister for transport, and faced the standard opposition.
Barbara Castle MP got this introduced and speed limits and seatbelts as mInister for transport, and faced the standard opposition.
November 6, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Someone just shared this with me: 1967, 3,000 publicans marching against introducing breath tests for drivers.
Barbara Castle MP got this introduced and speed limits and seatbelts as mInister for transport, and faced the standard opposition.
Barbara Castle MP got this introduced and speed limits and seatbelts as mInister for transport, and faced the standard opposition.
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Today is amazing youtu.be/cmO6QkJhuu4?...
Darude - Sandstorm (Electric Toothbrush Cover)
YouTube video by Device Orchestra
youtu.be
October 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Today is amazing youtu.be/cmO6QkJhuu4?...
Reposted by Jay Spanton
HAHAHAHA, just pulling into Crewe and, amongst the many (very fresh looking) 125 locos just outside the station was one called MY LOVELY HORSE! Here is someone else on Reddit having the same experience but finding a photo
www.reddit.com/r/ireland/co...
www.reddit.com/r/ireland/co...
From the ireland community on Reddit: I think you would enjoy this
Explore this post and more from the ireland community
www.reddit.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:16 PM
HAHAHAHA, just pulling into Crewe and, amongst the many (very fresh looking) 125 locos just outside the station was one called MY LOVELY HORSE! Here is someone else on Reddit having the same experience but finding a photo
www.reddit.com/r/ireland/co...
www.reddit.com/r/ireland/co...
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Sadly there was no way to predict this.
New: The FBI is quietly urging ICE agents to properly ID themselves in the field.
In a bulletin to law enforcement last month, it warned of criminals posing as ICE to rob, rape, kidnap—a problem it says now demands national coordination to confront.
By me & @carolinehaskins.bsky.social:
In a bulletin to law enforcement last month, it warned of criminals posing as ICE to rob, rape, kidnap—a problem it says now demands national coordination to confront.
By me & @carolinehaskins.bsky.social:
FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves
In a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, the FBI said criminal impersonators are exploiting ICE’s image and urged nationwide coordination to distinguish real operations from fakes.
www.wired.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Sadly there was no way to predict this.
Reposted by Jay Spanton
A bit of a holiday rant...
We need to stop designing "target architectures." They're a fantasy. A waste of money.
An approach that forces decisions too early, kills speed, and guarantees you'll never fix legacy tech.
A utopian plan that's an anchor, not a map.
dafyddvaughan.uk/blog/2025/th...
We need to stop designing "target architectures." They're a fantasy. A waste of money.
An approach that forces decisions too early, kills speed, and guarantees you'll never fix legacy tech.
A utopian plan that's an anchor, not a map.
dafyddvaughan.uk/blog/2025/th...
The bridge to nowhere: Why your ‘Target Architecture' won’t ever deliver
Stop funding fictional target architecture blueprints and start funding empowered, long-lived teams. The traditional, rigid approach is too slow for the age of AI and will never solve your real-world ...
dafyddvaughan.uk
November 3, 2025 at 10:31 AM
A bit of a holiday rant...
We need to stop designing "target architectures." They're a fantasy. A waste of money.
An approach that forces decisions too early, kills speed, and guarantees you'll never fix legacy tech.
A utopian plan that's an anchor, not a map.
dafyddvaughan.uk/blog/2025/th...
We need to stop designing "target architectures." They're a fantasy. A waste of money.
An approach that forces decisions too early, kills speed, and guarantees you'll never fix legacy tech.
A utopian plan that's an anchor, not a map.
dafyddvaughan.uk/blog/2025/th...
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Reposted by Jay Spanton
The perils of data harvesting overreach by people who think they’re geniuses but lack ethics
UK woman who booked Oslo flight but did not fly loses child benefit ‘because she emigrated’
UK woman who booked Oslo flight but did not fly loses child benefit ‘because she emigrated’
Exclusive: HMRC told Lisa Morris-Almond there was no record of her return to UK, but she did not take the trip
A woman who booked a flight from London to Oslo but never checked in or travelled has had her child benefit stopped by the UK government. Tax authorities told her their records showed she had emigrated.
Lisa Morris-Almond is one of thousands of people who have had their child benefit frozen as part of a botched crackdown on benefit fraud. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:22 AM
The perils of data harvesting overreach by people who think they’re geniuses but lack ethics
Reposted by Jay Spanton
“AI agents won’t kill the web. But they will radically reshape it. And just like with retail, the winners will be the ones who make that second layer worth visiting.” Andy Budd
https://andybudd.com/archives/2025/07/will-ai-agents-kill-the-web-as-we-know-it
https://andybudd.com/archives/2025/07/will-ai-agents-kill-the-web-as-we-know-it
Will AI Agents Kill the Web as We Know It? | Andy Budd
The way we interact with the web today is surprisingly manual. Want to book a flight? You’ll probably head to a familiar airline’s website or open Google and type in your dates. If that site also offers hotel and car rental options, great—you might stay and book everything in one place. But more likely, you’re picky. So you go off searching for that perfect boutique hotel or the restaurant you’ve read about. Click by click, tab by tab, you stitch your trip together.
andybudd.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“AI agents won’t kill the web. But they will radically reshape it. And just like with retail, the winners will be the ones who make that second layer worth visiting.” Andy Budd
https://andybudd.com/archives/2025/07/will-ai-agents-kill-the-web-as-we-know-it
https://andybudd.com/archives/2025/07/will-ai-agents-kill-the-web-as-we-know-it
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Reposted by Jay Spanton
I have been traveling and today I present to you...the thing I saw in the Frankfurt airport.
Is it efficient? Undeniably. Does it probably work better than the normal way? Oh certainly. Produce less of a mess? Probably?
But the existence of Condiment Udders gives me a deep, aghast disquiet.
Is it efficient? Undeniably. Does it probably work better than the normal way? Oh certainly. Produce less of a mess? Probably?
But the existence of Condiment Udders gives me a deep, aghast disquiet.
October 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Maybe we should stop calling them “smart” beds.
Monday’s AWS outage caused bedroom chaos as owners of Eight Sleep’s $2,000+ Pod mattress covers found their smart beds had no offline mode and were stuck at high temperatures and odd positions in the night.
Monday’s AWS outage caused bedroom chaos as owners of Eight Sleep’s $2,000+ Pod mattress covers found their smart beds had no offline mode and were stuck at high temperatures and odd positions in the night.
AWS crash causes $2,000 Smart Beds to overheat and get stuck upright - Dexerto
The AWS outage caused chaos for owners of Eight Sleep’s Pod3 mattresses as they had no offline mode and were stuck at high temperatures.
www.dexerto.com
October 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Maybe we should stop calling them “smart” beds.
Monday’s AWS outage caused bedroom chaos as owners of Eight Sleep’s $2,000+ Pod mattress covers found their smart beds had no offline mode and were stuck at high temperatures and odd positions in the night.
Monday’s AWS outage caused bedroom chaos as owners of Eight Sleep’s $2,000+ Pod mattress covers found their smart beds had no offline mode and were stuck at high temperatures and odd positions in the night.
Reposted by Jay Spanton
“On any given week, the administrator of CMS could speak for a few minutes before a shirtless Russell Brand calls in from what appears to be a bathtub, or a former member of The Pussycat Dolls argues that the COVID-19 vaccine destroyed her ability to dance.”
www.notus.org/health-scien...
www.notus.org/health-scien...
'Fluoride Disconnects One from God': Inside the Weekly Call With RFK Jr.'s MAHA Hype Squad
A growing weekly call gives insight into RFK Jr.'s biggest allies, showcasing how a fringe movement now holds legitimate power.
www.notus.org
October 15, 2025 at 11:01 AM
“On any given week, the administrator of CMS could speak for a few minutes before a shirtless Russell Brand calls in from what appears to be a bathtub, or a former member of The Pussycat Dolls argues that the COVID-19 vaccine destroyed her ability to dance.”
www.notus.org/health-scien...
www.notus.org/health-scien...
Can you answer ?@ameliajs.bsky.social
October 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Can you answer ?@ameliajs.bsky.social
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Reposted by Jay Spanton
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
October 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
I would steal, at the very least, the wig off town sign
The 12 recommended locations for new towns are:
Pingu, Rutland
Milton Milton Keynes Keynes
Ben Folds Enfield
Spleen, Essex
South Leeds, Devon
North Leeds, Cornwall
East Leeds, Cumbria
West Leeds, Leeds
Wig Off, Wigan
Big Fish, Surrey
Little Fish, Sussex
Cardboard Box, Leighton Buzzard
Pingu, Rutland
Milton Milton Keynes Keynes
Ben Folds Enfield
Spleen, Essex
South Leeds, Devon
North Leeds, Cornwall
East Leeds, Cumbria
West Leeds, Leeds
Wig Off, Wigan
Big Fish, Surrey
Little Fish, Sussex
Cardboard Box, Leighton Buzzard
September 28, 2025 at 8:18 AM
I would steal, at the very least, the wig off town sign
Reposted by Jay Spanton
I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.
September 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.
Reposted by Jay Spanton
The fundamental problem is that the market for newspapers keeps shrinking so anglophone papers around the world are increasingly trying to be global papers, see the Grauniad’s baffling constant context switching.
This means that we get bombarded with US stories because they need the clicks.
This means that we get bombarded with US stories because they need the clicks.
September 12, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The fundamental problem is that the market for newspapers keeps shrinking so anglophone papers around the world are increasingly trying to be global papers, see the Grauniad’s baffling constant context switching.
This means that we get bombarded with US stories because they need the clicks.
This means that we get bombarded with US stories because they need the clicks.
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Ooh we've opened our call for small research grants. £10k for any humanities or social sciences research. Open to independent scholars. We use partial randomisation to allocate the funding: random allocation between all that meet the quality threshold
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/ba-l...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/ba-l...
British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants
The BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. These awards, up to £10,000 in value and tenable for up to 24 months, are provi...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
September 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Ooh we've opened our call for small research grants. £10k for any humanities or social sciences research. Open to independent scholars. We use partial randomisation to allocate the funding: random allocation between all that meet the quality threshold
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/ba-l...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/ba-l...
Reposted by Jay Spanton
D360,249 - issued in 1995 for a design for a "soundproof device for a person to scream into."
February 19, 2025 at 11:07 PM
D360,249 - issued in 1995 for a design for a "soundproof device for a person to scream into."
Reposted by Jay Spanton
Introducing SWR's new revenue protection officers for the Wessex route.
September 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Introducing SWR's new revenue protection officers for the Wessex route.