Niall O'Sullivan
@rustyniall.bsky.social
(in no particular order…) poet, essayist, lecturer, gamer, dad
buttondown.com/niall
niall.garden
buttondown.com/niall
niall.garden
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Niall O'Sullivan
@rustyniall.bsky.social
· Jul 31
Hunt and Peck
A lyric essay about fingers, thumbs and pigeons
buttondown.com
I wrote a lyric-essay about fingers, thumbs and pigeons. buttondown.com/niall/archiv...
I was thinking of getting some new hardware next year and was thinking of a Framework laptop until I saw their inability to take back their promotion and support of a distro made by a racist. Now it looks like my Linux adventure will continue with a Steam Machine instead.
November 13, 2025 at 9:41 AM
I was thinking of getting some new hardware next year and was thinking of a Framework laptop until I saw their inability to take back their promotion and support of a distro made by a racist. Now it looks like my Linux adventure will continue with a Steam Machine instead.
So Trump is going to sue the BBC for editing a speech to make it look like he was encouraging the rioters that he later referred to as martyrs and pardoned?
November 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
So Trump is going to sue the BBC for editing a speech to make it look like he was encouraging the rioters that he later referred to as martyrs and pardoned?
There as a man singing and toasting to reggae blasting from a speaker outside Brixton station this evening. The only lyrics I made out as I passed by were:
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
November 7, 2025 at 1:25 PM
There as a man singing and toasting to reggae blasting from a speaker outside Brixton station this evening. The only lyrics I made out as I passed by were:
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
There as a man singing and toasting to reggae blasting from a speaker outside Brixton station this evening. The only lyrics I made out as I passed by were:
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
November 6, 2025 at 8:36 PM
There as a man singing and toasting to reggae blasting from a speaker outside Brixton station this evening. The only lyrics I made out as I passed by were:
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
"Me lovin' in the mornin'...
me loving in the evenin'...
BLUDCLAAAT!!!"
It stayed in my head all the way home.
I have to remind myself that responding to a post from the Spectator on Bluesky is like responding to a turd someone posted through your letterbox in the middle of the night. They've already legged it.
November 5, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I have to remind myself that responding to a post from the Spectator on Bluesky is like responding to a turd someone posted through your letterbox in the middle of the night. They've already legged it.
Find someone who'll fight for you like the Oxbridge mafia at the broadsheets and BBC fight for someone that was accused of writing racist descriptions of schoolchildren.
[[notes - 2025]]
https://niall.garden/oxbridge_mafia
[[notes - 2025]]
https://niall.garden/oxbridge_mafia
November 4, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Find someone who'll fight for you like the Oxbridge mafia at the broadsheets and BBC fight for someone that was accused of writing racist descriptions of schoolchildren.
[[notes - 2025]]
https://niall.garden/oxbridge_mafia
[[notes - 2025]]
https://niall.garden/oxbridge_mafia
If my tinkering was successful, this post will appear on my digital garden (https://niall.garden) but also my Mastodon (https://sunny.garden/@rustyniall) and Bluesky (bsky.app/profile/rustyniall.bsky.social), meaning that I am a very clever boy (they probably won't https://niall.garden/a_little_test
November 4, 2025 at 4:44 PM
If my tinkering was successful, this post will appear on my digital garden (https://niall.garden) but also my Mastodon (https://sunny.garden/@rustyniall) and Bluesky (bsky.app/profile/rustyniall.bsky.social), meaning that I am a very clever boy (they probably won't https://niall.garden/a_little_test
Sometimes I think "Am I really qualified to write about this, have I done enough research?"Later, I read 800 inane, witless and uninformed words from a columnist in a national newspaper and realise that I'm fretting about the integrity of something that's going to be read by about 50 people.
November 3, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Sometimes I think "Am I really qualified to write about this, have I done enough research?"Later, I read 800 inane, witless and uninformed words from a columnist in a national newspaper and realise that I'm fretting about the integrity of something that's going to be read by about 50 people.
Every now and again I get recommended a video on YouTube, watch it for about a minute and slowly come to suspect that it's 100% AI generated, the script, the voice, the music, the visuals. Then I click on the channel page and it becomes obvious by merit of how many videos they're able to churn out.
October 31, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Every now and again I get recommended a video on YouTube, watch it for about a minute and slowly come to suspect that it's 100% AI generated, the script, the voice, the music, the visuals. Then I click on the channel page and it becomes obvious by merit of how many videos they're able to churn out.
Just had my first experience of someone else's phone call on the Victoria line. Didn't realise what I had until it was gone.
October 30, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Just had my first experience of someone else's phone call on the Victoria line. Didn't realise what I had until it was gone.
Last night I got a bit ditsy using terminal commands. After finding nothing on forums, I just posted my error logs on Chat-GPT and two minutes later everything was sorted. This saved me a good few hours. But those were hours where I would have learned stuff. I fixed the issue but learned nothing.
October 28, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Last night I got a bit ditsy using terminal commands. After finding nothing on forums, I just posted my error logs on Chat-GPT and two minutes later everything was sorted. This saved me a good few hours. But those were hours where I would have learned stuff. I fixed the issue but learned nothing.
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
This is the only way anyone has ever gotten good.
October 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
This is the only way anyone has ever gotten good.
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
If you are thinking of gifts for Xmas this year, my book about tabletop games, The Game Changers (UK, other territories) / Across the Board (US, Canada), is out in paperback, audiobook & ebook. I think it is good for anyone who loves boardgames old or new, or who likes stuff on culture & history.
October 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
If you are thinking of gifts for Xmas this year, my book about tabletop games, The Game Changers (UK, other territories) / Across the Board (US, Canada), is out in paperback, audiobook & ebook. I think it is good for anyone who loves boardgames old or new, or who likes stuff on culture & history.
Overheard at the supermarket "It feels later than normal, I got up too early" And it's the first time I thought about people not knowing that the clocks have gone back because they didn't have to set the time themselves.
October 26, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Overheard at the supermarket "It feels later than normal, I got up too early" And it's the first time I thought about people not knowing that the clocks have gone back because they didn't have to set the time themselves.
I just said “thank you” out loud to one of the campus photocopiers.
October 23, 2025 at 7:33 AM
I just said “thank you” out loud to one of the campus photocopiers.
"He'll have to endure the rest of his life bereft of his state roles and recognitions and will have to make do with his wealth and stately home" isn't just a shit take, it's also a signifier of how obsequious the press is towards the royals and the institution of monarchy.
October 18, 2025 at 8:21 PM
"He'll have to endure the rest of his life bereft of his state roles and recognitions and will have to make do with his wealth and stately home" isn't just a shit take, it's also a signifier of how obsequious the press is towards the royals and the institution of monarchy.
My current annoying habit is giggling to myself while saying " toblerone" in the style of WB Yeats exclaiming "Inisfree".
October 15, 2025 at 8:07 AM
My current annoying habit is giggling to myself while saying " toblerone" in the style of WB Yeats exclaiming "Inisfree".
Just waiting for the red arrows. Any moment now...
October 10, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Just waiting for the red arrows. Any moment now...
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Geoff Hattersley’s Collected Poems brings together over three decades of work, mapping a singular voice grounded in working-class experience, dark wit, and sharply observed detail.
October 8, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Geoff Hattersley’s Collected Poems brings together over three decades of work, mapping a singular voice grounded in working-class experience, dark wit, and sharply observed detail.
I'm sure all the bad Tron: Ares reviews are a massive shock for anybody that doesn't see "starring Jared Leto" as a three-word review within itself.
October 7, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I'm sure all the bad Tron: Ares reviews are a massive shock for anybody that doesn't see "starring Jared Leto" as a three-word review within itself.
Zelda Williams - "You're not making art, you're making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings..."
That final image at the end of the quote is repulsively brilliant too.
That final image at the end of the quote is repulsively brilliant too.
October 7, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Zelda Williams - "You're not making art, you're making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings..."
That final image at the end of the quote is repulsively brilliant too.
That final image at the end of the quote is repulsively brilliant too.
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
The Waltham Forest Poetry Competition, judged by the fabulous Lorraine Mariner, invites you to send poems on the theme of WEATHER/WHETHER. Over £1,000 in prizes. Entry fee for adults is from £3, FREE for young poets under the age of 18. Closing date is MONDAY 20 OCTOBER.
www.bit.ly/wfpoetrycomp
www.bit.ly/wfpoetrycomp
October 5, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The Waltham Forest Poetry Competition, judged by the fabulous Lorraine Mariner, invites you to send poems on the theme of WEATHER/WHETHER. Over £1,000 in prizes. Entry fee for adults is from £3, FREE for young poets under the age of 18. Closing date is MONDAY 20 OCTOBER.
www.bit.ly/wfpoetrycomp
www.bit.ly/wfpoetrycomp
Spoke to my students about my own AI detection abilities yesterday and unironically referred to myself as the Clankerfinder General.
October 3, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Spoke to my students about my own AI detection abilities yesterday and unironically referred to myself as the Clankerfinder General.
Reposted by Niall O'Sullivan
Big tech CEOs have spent more than a decade puffing their chests and saying that they are more like heads of state running global companies with bigger revenues than many countries
… but now they’re all folding to actual government pressure faster than any tinpot dictator has ever folded
… but now they’re all folding to actual government pressure faster than any tinpot dictator has ever folded
October 3, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Big tech CEOs have spent more than a decade puffing their chests and saying that they are more like heads of state running global companies with bigger revenues than many countries
… but now they’re all folding to actual government pressure faster than any tinpot dictator has ever folded
… but now they’re all folding to actual government pressure faster than any tinpot dictator has ever folded