Tim Hardy
@timbobaggins.bsky.social
Perpetually exhausted, dad, husband, tech. Doesn't write as much as he should. (he/him)
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Elon Musk downgrades empty Mars Colony pledge to empty Lunar Colony pledge
Elon Musk downgrades empty Mars Colony pledge to empty Lunar Colony pledge
BROWNSVILLE, TX - Tech visionary Elon Musk astounded observers when he set aside more than a decade of unfulfilled vows to colonize the Red Planet in favour of the seemingly more modest goal of failin...
www.thebeaverton.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Elon Musk downgrades empty Mars Colony pledge to empty Lunar Colony pledge
Reposted by Tim Hardy
If you'd like to read "Phantom View," it's up for free right here: reactormag.com/phantom-view...
February 1, 2026 at 7:04 PM
If you'd like to read "Phantom View," it's up for free right here: reactormag.com/phantom-view...
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Fun fact: Bovril was created by a British company, at the request of the French Emperor Napoleon III, during the Franco-Prussian war.
It was known as "Fluid Beef" and was for distribution to French troops.
Unsurprisingly, they rebranded it pretty fast.
It was known as "Fluid Beef" and was for distribution to French troops.
Unsurprisingly, they rebranded it pretty fast.
World War One advert for Bovril, in which a patriotic cow offers to be boiled down and sent down to France.
The beef-extract was consistently marketed as a drink for soldiers. Members of the public were encouraged to send Bovril to the front line to support the forces.
The beef-extract was consistently marketed as a drink for soldiers. Members of the public were encouraged to send Bovril to the front line to support the forces.
February 4, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Fun fact: Bovril was created by a British company, at the request of the French Emperor Napoleon III, during the Franco-Prussian war.
It was known as "Fluid Beef" and was for distribution to French troops.
Unsurprisingly, they rebranded it pretty fast.
It was known as "Fluid Beef" and was for distribution to French troops.
Unsurprisingly, they rebranded it pretty fast.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Objectively funny.
February 13, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Objectively funny.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Congratulations to this lad for being the best skeleton at the Olympics.
February 13, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Congratulations to this lad for being the best skeleton at the Olympics.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Was not expecting this
Lu Ann Homza and collaborators have put out the Cambridge Companion to the Spanish Inquisition! emspanishhistorynotes.wordpress.com/2026/02/13/t...
The Cambridge Companion to the Spanish Inquisition, ed. Homza
The Cambridge Companion to the Spanish Inquisition, Lu Ann Homza, ed. (Cambridge, 2025). 1.Procedures and Goals 2. Inquisitorial Careers, Kimberly Lynn 3. Pursuing Life Stories: Inquisitors and Sus…
emspanishhistorynotes.wordpress.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Was not expecting this
Reposted by Tim Hardy
I think it is absolutely crucial to keep the chat going, share art, be silly, in a community. That used to be the charm of this twitter-like single stream format: chaotic dinner table conversations all at once making it impossible to "read the room" at all. Now the room has a strong vibe, though.
February 12, 2026 at 11:33 AM
I think it is absolutely crucial to keep the chat going, share art, be silly, in a community. That used to be the charm of this twitter-like single stream format: chaotic dinner table conversations all at once making it impossible to "read the room" at all. Now the room has a strong vibe, though.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Not now, eighteenth century cold virus!
World’s oldest cold virus found in 18th-century woman's lungs www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
World’s oldest cold virus found in 18th-century woman's lungs
Finding rhinoviruses, which cause the common cold, in preserved medical specimens and analysing their RNA genome could let us trace the evolution of human illness
www.newscientist.com
February 13, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Not now, eighteenth century cold virus!
Reposted by Tim Hardy
I used to be a secondary English teacher, and did my teacher training 'on the job' through the Graduate Teacher Programme, back in 2006-2007. I remember, when I first started in the classroom, setting some written homework for a class of Year 7 boys. 1/n
It cannot be overstated how much hobby gamers underestimate how unintuitive and difficult hobby games are to non-gamers.
This is perhaps even more true of professional game designers, publishers and reviewers/pundits, broadly speaking.
This is perhaps even more true of professional game designers, publishers and reviewers/pundits, broadly speaking.
February 13, 2026 at 6:21 PM
I used to be a secondary English teacher, and did my teacher training 'on the job' through the Graduate Teacher Programme, back in 2006-2007. I remember, when I first started in the classroom, setting some written homework for a class of Year 7 boys. 1/n
Reposted by Tim Hardy
my new album comes out soon and here’s the glorious art by @roberthack.bsky.social
February 12, 2026 at 9:12 PM
my new album comes out soon and here’s the glorious art by @roberthack.bsky.social
We got together three days after the second time my wife-to-be drunkenly sat on my lap and tried to kiss me, having already spent a couple of years becoming good friends. Then we picked up fish and chips and went to the pub.
This is an unapologetically sappy feel-good subject (at least, I guess, for people in a happy relationship”). So, to prepare for Valentine’s Day, what did you and your partner do for a first date?
My wife and I went to tea at Huntington Gardens and walked around.
My wife and I went to tea at Huntington Gardens and walked around.
On our first date, my spouse and I spent like an hour talking about footnotes.
February 13, 2026 at 6:01 PM
We got together three days after the second time my wife-to-be drunkenly sat on my lap and tried to kiss me, having already spent a couple of years becoming good friends. Then we picked up fish and chips and went to the pub.
The further inland you were the unluckier it was considered.
In ancient Greece, it was considered bad luck to be attacked by a shark on Friday the 13th
February 13, 2026 at 5:50 PM
The further inland you were the unluckier it was considered.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
In a stunning shift today, NATO stripped the US of all of its operational-level Joint Force Commands.
For the first time since NATO’s founding, all of these commands will be led by Europeans.
NATO no longer feels the United States can be trusted.
breakingdefense.com/2026/02/nato...
For the first time since NATO’s founding, all of these commands will be led by Europeans.
NATO no longer feels the United States can be trusted.
breakingdefense.com/2026/02/nato...
NATO shake-up sees US ousted from 2 warfighting-level commands - Breaking Defense
The US will hand over charge of Joint Force Command Norfolk to the United Kingdom and relinquish leadership of Joint Force Command Naples to Italy.
breakingdefense.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:19 AM
In a stunning shift today, NATO stripped the US of all of its operational-level Joint Force Commands.
For the first time since NATO’s founding, all of these commands will be led by Europeans.
NATO no longer feels the United States can be trusted.
breakingdefense.com/2026/02/nato...
For the first time since NATO’s founding, all of these commands will be led by Europeans.
NATO no longer feels the United States can be trusted.
breakingdefense.com/2026/02/nato...
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Can we be entirely certain that Paul Simon and Chevy Chase's larking about with percussion instruments and trumpets isn't in some sort of shared universe with the Camberwick Green Clown?
February 13, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Can we be entirely certain that Paul Simon and Chevy Chase's larking about with percussion instruments and trumpets isn't in some sort of shared universe with the Camberwick Green Clown?
Reposted by Tim Hardy
On Mondays, I volunteer at a primary school and recently read some stories written by Yr 6. So imaginative! My fave: A town sheriff kills some zombies, then goes to the library (of course!). The final line: He read a book in glory.
I wish you all fantastic weekends where you read a book in glory.
I wish you all fantastic weekends where you read a book in glory.
February 13, 2026 at 2:30 PM
On Mondays, I volunteer at a primary school and recently read some stories written by Yr 6. So imaginative! My fave: A town sheriff kills some zombies, then goes to the library (of course!). The final line: He read a book in glory.
I wish you all fantastic weekends where you read a book in glory.
I wish you all fantastic weekends where you read a book in glory.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
I'm pretty sure I know. They aren't. We're not going to really be able to make a lot of progress in dealing with the implications of this tech unless and until we get rid of all this "woo-woo" talk about LLMs. Anthropic pushing this line is PR, unserious.
February 13, 2026 at 2:15 PM
I'm pretty sure I know. They aren't. We're not going to really be able to make a lot of progress in dealing with the implications of this tech unless and until we get rid of all this "woo-woo" talk about LLMs. Anthropic pushing this line is PR, unserious.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
My nice neighbor grew a little tree, but my racist neighbor grew a bigotry
October 2, 2025 at 3:05 PM
My nice neighbor grew a little tree, but my racist neighbor grew a bigotry
Reposted by Tim Hardy
"Sure, ICE is bad, but we need to deport illegal immigrants"
No you don't.
If immigration enforcement leads to concentration camps and roving death squads, maybe it's time to just get rid of the concept of illegal immigration entirely. You've tried it, it's a bad idea in practice, so bin it.
No you don't.
If immigration enforcement leads to concentration camps and roving death squads, maybe it's time to just get rid of the concept of illegal immigration entirely. You've tried it, it's a bad idea in practice, so bin it.
February 6, 2026 at 12:10 PM
"Sure, ICE is bad, but we need to deport illegal immigrants"
No you don't.
If immigration enforcement leads to concentration camps and roving death squads, maybe it's time to just get rid of the concept of illegal immigration entirely. You've tried it, it's a bad idea in practice, so bin it.
No you don't.
If immigration enforcement leads to concentration camps and roving death squads, maybe it's time to just get rid of the concept of illegal immigration entirely. You've tried it, it's a bad idea in practice, so bin it.
This is fucking awful.
New School Guidance announces:
Full bathroom ban.
Full PE ban.
Full school trip accommodation ban.
Trans kids will not go to the bathroom, do PE or go on any school trips. 1/
Full bathroom ban.
Full PE ban.
Full school trip accommodation ban.
Trans kids will not go to the bathroom, do PE or go on any school trips. 1/
February 13, 2026 at 1:28 PM
This is fucking awful.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
In today's "things I covet" 👇
Metal and leather straight-back dresser trunk, c.1890. It converted from steamer trunk to dresser so the traveler was not required to unpack.
Metal and leather straight-back dresser trunk, c.1890. It converted from steamer trunk to dresser so the traveler was not required to unpack.
February 13, 2026 at 1:04 PM
In today's "things I covet" 👇
Metal and leather straight-back dresser trunk, c.1890. It converted from steamer trunk to dresser so the traveler was not required to unpack.
Metal and leather straight-back dresser trunk, c.1890. It converted from steamer trunk to dresser so the traveler was not required to unpack.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
"WE'VE ARRESTED TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE BY MISTAKE"
February 13, 2026 at 10:25 AM
"WE'VE ARRESTED TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE BY MISTAKE"
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Listened to a podcast interview about taskmaster - how they created it, how they make decisions etc - and it clarified for me that what I like about it are greg's arbitrary judgements.
February 13, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Listened to a podcast interview about taskmaster - how they created it, how they make decisions etc - and it clarified for me that what I like about it are greg's arbitrary judgements.
Reposted by Tim Hardy
This is genuinely insane, I clicked to see the years expecting the low part to be 70s or maybe 90s but its 2015!!!!! The entire anti trans panic is a decade old
a stat i always cite is the number of anti-trans articles in the press went from 60 in a year, to 7,500
February 12, 2026 at 8:43 PM
This is genuinely insane, I clicked to see the years expecting the low part to be 70s or maybe 90s but its 2015!!!!! The entire anti trans panic is a decade old
Reposted by Tim Hardy
People performatively mispronouncing Irish names is one of my pet paimhs
January 16, 2026 at 2:08 PM
People performatively mispronouncing Irish names is one of my pet paimhs
Reposted by Tim Hardy
Some of you might remember my silly theory about the universe of Pixar's Cars franchise: namely that humans *do* exist, and in fact are operating the titular vehicles throughout. The cars, however, are unaware of the existence of humans and think they're making decisions about where they drive.
Like, even the worst scammer on earth *doesn't get confused between himself and the person he is trying to scam*
An LLM does, because it literally does not know what people are.
An LLM does, because it literally does not know what people are.
February 12, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Some of you might remember my silly theory about the universe of Pixar's Cars franchise: namely that humans *do* exist, and in fact are operating the titular vehicles throughout. The cars, however, are unaware of the existence of humans and think they're making decisions about where they drive.