Ian Halliday
@ringbark.uk
I live in the United Kingdom, but have previously lived in Vanuatu 🇻🇺 and New Zealand 🇳🇿 as well as working in a variety of other countries. ✝️ Reader in the Church of England. Life member of the British Computer Society. Twefugee.
Pretty sure this old Tom Scott video isn't too far different from this idea.
youtu.be/ALy6e7GbDRQ?...
youtu.be/ALy6e7GbDRQ?...
1,204,986 Votes Decided: What Is The Best Thing?
YouTube video by Tom Scott
youtu.be
January 1, 2026 at 1:18 AM
Pretty sure this old Tom Scott video isn't too far different from this idea.
youtu.be/ALy6e7GbDRQ?...
youtu.be/ALy6e7GbDRQ?...
Well, they now have another chance! The BBC has lost rights to England in the Six Nations, but will be able to broadcast matches of the other home nations. So the re-balance will start, just not in the way the BBC was hoping.
December 31, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Well, they now have another chance! The BBC has lost rights to England in the Six Nations, but will be able to broadcast matches of the other home nations. So the re-balance will start, just not in the way the BBC was hoping.
And pints of champagne.
December 26, 2025 at 8:48 PM
And pints of champagne.
I'd expect better from you, Rob. Our PM is Keir Starmer, not any other spelling. Hope you having a very merry Christmas.
December 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I'd expect better from you, Rob. Our PM is Keir Starmer, not any other spelling. Hope you having a very merry Christmas.
I'm worried about the driver next to him, who is just the same.
December 22, 2025 at 4:18 PM
I'm worried about the driver next to him, who is just the same.
Everybody knows 9/11 was an inside job. (Genuinely said at an event where I was present. I stopped attending the group soon after, not because he said it but because nobody questioned it and lots nodded.)
December 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Everybody knows 9/11 was an inside job. (Genuinely said at an event where I was present. I stopped attending the group soon after, not because he said it but because nobody questioned it and lots nodded.)
Wordle 1,647 4/6
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I do the Wordle conscientiously every day.
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I do the Wordle conscientiously every day.
December 22, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Wordle 1,647 4/6
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I do the Wordle conscientiously every day.
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I do the Wordle conscientiously every day.
7/7 20 THE GOODIES Garden and Oddie are still alive, but Brooke-Taylor is deceased. So around half of the performers are still around after half a century. Merry Christmas, everybody!
December 21, 2025 at 1:38 PM
7/7 20 THE GOODIES Garden and Oddie are still alive, but Brooke-Taylor is deceased. So around half of the performers are still around after half a century. Merry Christmas, everybody!
6/7 17 10CC Band has fractured, but all four original members are still alive. 18 SAILOR Band defunct, but lead Kajanus is still alive, aged 79. 19 STEELEYE SPAN Only permanent member, Maddy Prior, is still alive, aged 78.
December 21, 2025 at 1:38 PM
6/7 17 10CC Band has fractured, but all four original members are still alive. 18 SAILOR Band defunct, but lead Kajanus is still alive, aged 79. 19 STEELEYE SPAN Only permanent member, Maddy Prior, is still alive, aged 78.
5/7 13 ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW still alive, aged 77. 14 JUDGE DREAD died 1978. 15 BAY CITY ROLLERS McKeown, Wood and A Longmuir deceased. Faulkner and D Longmuir still alive. 16 DAVID ESSEX still alive, aged 78.
December 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM
5/7 13 ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW still alive, aged 77. 14 JUDGE DREAD died 1978. 15 BAY CITY ROLLERS McKeown, Wood and A Longmuir deceased. Faulkner and D Longmuir still alive. 16 DAVID ESSEX still alive, aged 78.
4/7 8 THE STYLISTICS still performing. Their leads from 1975 are still alive. 9 DAVID BOWIE died 2016. 10 CHRIS HILL died 2025. 11 MUD Their lead, Les Gray, died in 2004 but the band is still performing. 12 THE DRIFTERS Still performing, still has unstable membership.
December 21, 2025 at 1:37 PM
4/7 8 THE STYLISTICS still performing. Their leads from 1975 are still alive. 9 DAVID BOWIE died 2016. 10 CHRIS HILL died 2025. 11 MUD Their lead, Les Gray, died in 2004 but the band is still performing. 12 THE DRIFTERS Still performing, still has unstable membership.
3/7 4 DANA still alive, aged 75. 5 CHUBBY CHECKER still alive, aged 84. 6 DEMIS ROUSSOS died in 2015. 7 HOT CHOCOLATE Their lead, Errol Brown, died in 2015. Other lead, Tony Wilson, is still alive.
December 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
3/7 4 DANA still alive, aged 75. 5 CHUBBY CHECKER still alive, aged 84. 6 DEMIS ROUSSOS died in 2015. 7 HOT CHOCOLATE Their lead, Errol Brown, died in 2015. Other lead, Tony Wilson, is still alive.
2/7 1 QUEEN Freddie Mercury died in 1991, but Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon are still alive. 2 GREG LAKE died 2016. 3 LAUREL & HARDY Already deceased when record charted. Chill Wills, who also featured on the record, died in 1978.
December 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
2/7 1 QUEEN Freddie Mercury died in 1991, but Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon are still alive. 2 GREG LAKE died 2016. 3 LAUREL & HARDY Already deceased when record charted. Chill Wills, who also featured on the record, died in 1978.
What are your top 3 feels like Christmas songs?
1. Christmas Dream - Perry Como
2. It's gonna ve a cold, cold Christmas - Dana
3. In dulci jubilo - Mike Oldfield
1. Christmas Dream - Perry Como
2. It's gonna ve a cold, cold Christmas - Dana
3. In dulci jubilo - Mike Oldfield
December 20, 2025 at 10:41 AM
What are your top 3 feels like Christmas songs?
1. Christmas Dream - Perry Como
2. It's gonna ve a cold, cold Christmas - Dana
3. In dulci jubilo - Mike Oldfield
1. Christmas Dream - Perry Como
2. It's gonna ve a cold, cold Christmas - Dana
3. In dulci jubilo - Mike Oldfield
Rob can't spell potatoes.
December 15, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Rob can't spell potatoes.
I remember there used to ve a company which sold "misfortune cookies", which are just what the OP is describing. There seems to be a novel called that too, but it's not what we're talking about here.
December 13, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I remember there used to ve a company which sold "misfortune cookies", which are just what the OP is describing. There seems to be a novel called that too, but it's not what we're talking about here.
Try "Two Year Old" by Admiral Bailey...
December 12, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Try "Two Year Old" by Admiral Bailey...
Came here to comment that if it's from 1728, it can't possibly be a holder for postage stamps, as the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamp, wasn't issued until 1840.
December 11, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Came here to comment that if it's from 1728, it can't possibly be a holder for postage stamps, as the Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamp, wasn't issued until 1840.
You will be visited by three spirits.
December 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM
You will be visited by three spirits.
I went to a public school which had an unashamedly right-wing bias. One of our class lost his mother and we were willing to help him, but he fell in with an NF crowd and started spouting fascist stuff. Even at our school, he was shunned for it, probably making the worst time in his life even worse.
December 10, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I went to a public school which had an unashamedly right-wing bias. One of our class lost his mother and we were willing to help him, but he fell in with an NF crowd and started spouting fascist stuff. Even at our school, he was shunned for it, probably making the worst time in his life even worse.
I always imagined what it would be like if the standard guide product were toothpaste rather than ice cream. Then everybody would be ranking about spearmint software, spearmint sex, spearmint systems...
December 8, 2025 at 11:58 PM
I always imagined what it would be like if the standard guide product were toothpaste rather than ice cream. Then everybody would be ranking about spearmint software, spearmint sex, spearmint systems...