Don Thompson
@guardeddon.bsky.social
Long career in telecoms, aerospace & IT. Adept at troubleshooting & problem resolution.
Fascinated by the milieu. Pic: JFK 22L over the captain's shoulder
Fascinated by the milieu. Pic: JFK 22L over the captain's shoulder
Reposted by Don Thompson
Some people* would like to see the government build a new fast express line between Leeds and Manchester. I'd like to see the chad councils of Manchester, Oldham, Kirklees and Leeds build a 40 mile light rail route between those cities extracting 90% of the land value uplift along the way.
* I also
* I also
November 24, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Some people* would like to see the government build a new fast express line between Leeds and Manchester. I'd like to see the chad councils of Manchester, Oldham, Kirklees and Leeds build a 40 mile light rail route between those cities extracting 90% of the land value uplift along the way.
* I also
* I also
Reposted by Don Thompson
No immigrant has ever sacked me, or cut my wages, or offshored my job, or closed my hospital, or stopped my mum's disability benefits, or crashed the economy.
Those things were all done by white English men who went to Oxford and wore a nice suit.
Those things were all done by white English men who went to Oxford and wore a nice suit.
September 22, 2025 at 2:33 PM
No immigrant has ever sacked me, or cut my wages, or offshored my job, or closed my hospital, or stopped my mum's disability benefits, or crashed the economy.
Those things were all done by white English men who went to Oxford and wore a nice suit.
Those things were all done by white English men who went to Oxford and wore a nice suit.
Reposted by Don Thompson
Seeing how they are calling for crimes against humanity, maybe it’s time to proscribe Farage and the Reform Party
September 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Seeing how they are calling for crimes against humanity, maybe it’s time to proscribe Farage and the Reform Party
Reposted by Don Thompson
Let the record show that the first thing the new "Department of War" did was threaten to invade an American city.
September 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Let the record show that the first thing the new "Department of War" did was threaten to invade an American city.
So… he’s worried the space 👽s will mail-in their votes?
trump just said part of the reason he's moving the space force HQ from colorado to alabama because colorado allows mail-in voting.
September 2, 2025 at 8:20 PM
So… he’s worried the space 👽s will mail-in their votes?
BBC iPlayer, ‘The long-lost film featuring Billy Connolly’s 1975 Ireland tour’
Lost?
Together with a couple of friends, we’d blagged press preview tckts around this film’s release screened at the Avenue Cinema, Belfast.
Now, to find the lost Avenue Cinema.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Lost?
Together with a couple of friends, we’d blagged press preview tckts around this film’s release screened at the Avenue Cinema, Belfast.
Now, to find the lost Avenue Cinema.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet
The long-lost film featuring Billy Connolly’s 1975 Ireland tour captures ‘The Big Yin’ on and off stage, providing a captivating record of the comedy legend on the cusp of international stardom.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 30, 2025 at 8:41 AM
BBC iPlayer, ‘The long-lost film featuring Billy Connolly’s 1975 Ireland tour’
Lost?
Together with a couple of friends, we’d blagged press preview tckts around this film’s release screened at the Avenue Cinema, Belfast.
Now, to find the lost Avenue Cinema.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Lost?
Together with a couple of friends, we’d blagged press preview tckts around this film’s release screened at the Avenue Cinema, Belfast.
Now, to find the lost Avenue Cinema.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
I have an Echo, an early model: it’s used as a ‘radio’ & an ‘egg timer’. It’s woefully bad at more complex commands, such as “rewind to the start of the programme” or “play episode 2”.
An iPhone & Bluetooth speaker are much more convenient.
An iPhone & Bluetooth speaker are much more convenient.
Amazon is shutting down the option not to send Echo voice recordings to the cloud
Amazon is shutting down its option to process commands locally
It’s all about the cloud
buff.ly
March 15, 2025 at 8:46 AM
I have an Echo, an early model: it’s used as a ‘radio’ & an ‘egg timer’. It’s woefully bad at more complex commands, such as “rewind to the start of the programme” or “play episode 2”.
An iPhone & Bluetooth speaker are much more convenient.
An iPhone & Bluetooth speaker are much more convenient.
Reposted by Don Thompson
Many people - some of them on this website - have bemoaned how expensive an FT subscription is, ignoring the fact you can simply buy the finest Weekend paper for £5 a week.
HOWEVER we have listened! And FT Edit - an app which costs £5 A MONTH with 8 new reads a day - will include Jay's reviews!
HOWEVER we have listened! And FT Edit - an app which costs £5 A MONTH with 8 new reads a day - will include Jay's reviews!
As it says you can carry on reading my restaurant reviews for £4.99 a month courtesy of FT edit: 8 of the FT’s best pieces, 6 days a week. And on Saturdays my review will always be one of them. Get more info here tinyurl.com/kp26jjuz or just register here tinyurl.com/5xyprswt
March 9, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Many people - some of them on this website - have bemoaned how expensive an FT subscription is, ignoring the fact you can simply buy the finest Weekend paper for £5 a week.
HOWEVER we have listened! And FT Edit - an app which costs £5 A MONTH with 8 new reads a day - will include Jay's reviews!
HOWEVER we have listened! And FT Edit - an app which costs £5 A MONTH with 8 new reads a day - will include Jay's reviews!
Reposted by Don Thompson
I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F.
18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.
We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org
18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.
We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org
We're not done yet | 18F
18f.org
March 1, 2025 at 10:38 PM
I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F.
18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.
We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org
18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.
We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org
Reposted by Don Thompson
Reposted by Don Thompson
A thread fact checking Trump's claims about Ukraine, which appears to have come directly from the Putin propaganda agency.
1/8
1/8
February 19, 2025 at 10:34 PM
A thread fact checking Trump's claims about Ukraine, which appears to have come directly from the Putin propaganda agency.
1/8
1/8
Reposted by Don Thompson
It was an honor to sign the guest book in the home of Anne Frank.
I was here as a younger man and thought about her life as a dark chapter of history.
Today, I can’t help but think of her story as one of caution. Our world is fragile, and it’s incumbent on us not to break it.
I was here as a younger man and thought about her life as a dark chapter of history.
Today, I can’t help but think of her story as one of caution. Our world is fragile, and it’s incumbent on us not to break it.
February 20, 2025 at 12:36 AM
It was an honor to sign the guest book in the home of Anne Frank.
I was here as a younger man and thought about her life as a dark chapter of history.
Today, I can’t help but think of her story as one of caution. Our world is fragile, and it’s incumbent on us not to break it.
I was here as a younger man and thought about her life as a dark chapter of history.
Today, I can’t help but think of her story as one of caution. Our world is fragile, and it’s incumbent on us not to break it.
Reposted by Don Thompson
Correct. He’s not capable of playing multidimensional chess. Or chess. Or checkers. Or tic-tac-toe. As one of his aides put it during Shit Show I, “he’s just eating the pieces” on the board.
Nothing he does is strategic. He’s purely guided by narcissistic, sociopathic impulses at all times.
Nothing he does is strategic. He’s purely guided by narcissistic, sociopathic impulses at all times.
Bingo. I keep telling people I know that there’s no grand plan here, or to anything he does. He’s not playing 4D chess. He’s a fascistic sociopath that seeks adoration and applause for everything he does, and he wants to be the focus of EVERYTHING.
It’s that simple, folks, don’t overthink it.
It’s that simple, folks, don’t overthink it.
February 20, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Correct. He’s not capable of playing multidimensional chess. Or chess. Or checkers. Or tic-tac-toe. As one of his aides put it during Shit Show I, “he’s just eating the pieces” on the board.
Nothing he does is strategic. He’s purely guided by narcissistic, sociopathic impulses at all times.
Nothing he does is strategic. He’s purely guided by narcissistic, sociopathic impulses at all times.
Breaking news, Washington DC: new resident of large white dwelling found suffering from brain spurs.
February 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Breaking news, Washington DC: new resident of large white dwelling found suffering from brain spurs.
I haven’t heard much news today, but has Ukraine given the United States authority to negotiate on its behalf?
February 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I haven’t heard much news today, but has Ukraine given the United States authority to negotiate on its behalf?
Sowdy Arabya, who dat?
February 18, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Sowdy Arabya, who dat?
Reposted by Don Thompson
Barely posting on twitter anymore. But still have 10 times more followers there than here. So if you were following me there, but not here, please do…
Unsure how long I will still have my account there
Unsure how long I will still have my account there
February 10, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Barely posting on twitter anymore. But still have 10 times more followers there than here. So if you were following me there, but not here, please do…
Unsure how long I will still have my account there
Unsure how long I will still have my account there
Reposted by Don Thompson
This is pretty infuriating. Just about everything Musk says here is nonsensical fantasy or garbage, but it's just laid out as if these are the insights of a genius. And this just keeps happening again and again and again.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Elon Musk put a chip in this paralysed man’s brain. Now he can move things with his mind. Should we be amazed - or terrified?
An accident left Noland Arbaugh paralysed, but Musk’s Neuralink brain implant allows him to control computers with his thoughts. Is it a life-changing innovation that could help millions – or the star...
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This is pretty infuriating. Just about everything Musk says here is nonsensical fantasy or garbage, but it's just laid out as if these are the insights of a genius. And this just keeps happening again and again and again.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Don Thompson
Journalism is collapsing in the middle of the information war iandunt.substack.com/p/journalism...
February 7, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Journalism is collapsing in the middle of the information war iandunt.substack.com/p/journalism...
Reposted by Don Thompson
I really would like to live in a world in which people faced consequences for their shitty actions, rather than being perpetually rewarded for them.
February 2, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I really would like to live in a world in which people faced consequences for their shitty actions, rather than being perpetually rewarded for them.
February 2, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Don Thompson
A gay guy, a Black man, and a woman walk into a flight deck— that’s not the beginning of a joke, but just a regular day at work! There was so much DEI on this plane that we could hardly get in the air. Luckily my limp wrists were able to wrestle the heavy jet back to the ground 💅🏼
February 2, 2025 at 1:19 AM
A gay guy, a Black man, and a woman walk into a flight deck— that’s not the beginning of a joke, but just a regular day at work! There was so much DEI on this plane that we could hardly get in the air. Luckily my limp wrists were able to wrestle the heavy jet back to the ground 💅🏼
Reposted by Don Thompson
Reposted by Don Thompson
"If you get tired
Learn to rest
Not to quit"
Credit Banksy
Fox Friday
Learn to rest
Not to quit"
Credit Banksy
Fox Friday
January 31, 2025 at 5:25 PM
"If you get tired
Learn to rest
Not to quit"
Credit Banksy
Fox Friday
Learn to rest
Not to quit"
Credit Banksy
Fox Friday