Ben Taylor
@vox-dei.bsky.social
Sci-fi, gaming, coding, some science (particularly marine/climate and remote sensing). Also random things that my cats or kids have done or grumping about politics, probably.
Reposted by Ben Taylor
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
November 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
Riiiight. So OpenAI's argument as to why it's not liable for its AI telling people to commit suicide is that its ToS tells people not to discuss suicide with its AI.
So if ChatGPT offers to write your kids' suicide notes for them and offers a detailed how-to, that's their fault. Good to know.
So if ChatGPT offers to write your kids' suicide notes for them and offers a detailed how-to, that's their fault. Good to know.
OpenAI denies liability in teen suicide lawsuit, cites ‘misuse’ of ChatGPT
OpenAI denies liability in teen suicide lawsuit, cites ‘misuse’ of ChatGPT
The case is ongoing.
buff.ly
November 27, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Riiiight. So OpenAI's argument as to why it's not liable for its AI telling people to commit suicide is that its ToS tells people not to discuss suicide with its AI.
So if ChatGPT offers to write your kids' suicide notes for them and offers a detailed how-to, that's their fault. Good to know.
So if ChatGPT offers to write your kids' suicide notes for them and offers a detailed how-to, that's their fault. Good to know.
Reposted by Ben Taylor
I've seen remarkable things in my years of chasing, but this scene from my first year remains a favorite. Here, the flanking line of a supercell is painted by the setting Sun, while the very clouds you're looking at cast shadows for miles (seen as anticrepuscular rays near the horizon). #photography
November 25, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I've seen remarkable things in my years of chasing, but this scene from my first year remains a favorite. Here, the flanking line of a supercell is painted by the setting Sun, while the very clouds you're looking at cast shadows for miles (seen as anticrepuscular rays near the horizon). #photography
WTAF? This is insane. I don't expect to be hauled before the beak, but if I am I expect to be judged by more than a lone judge in a bad mood.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
MoJ considering ‘extreme’ proposal to scrap jury trials for all but the most serious cases
The radical plan from David Lammy has been criticised by senior lawyers, who say it could ‘destroy justice as we know it’
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:27 PM
WTAF? This is insane. I don't expect to be hauled before the beak, but if I am I expect to be judged by more than a lone judge in a bad mood.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
I haven't been blocked by many people, but I have by some (mostly for being unkind to St. Jeremy Corbyn). It is amusing to find that at least one of them is apparently irritating enough to trigger this kind of thing.😆
(With apologies to @peark.es for stealing his post to make a point)
(With apologies to @peark.es for stealing his post to make a point)
November 25, 2025 at 12:11 PM
I haven't been blocked by many people, but I have by some (mostly for being unkind to St. Jeremy Corbyn). It is amusing to find that at least one of them is apparently irritating enough to trigger this kind of thing.😆
(With apologies to @peark.es for stealing his post to make a point)
(With apologies to @peark.es for stealing his post to make a point)
Reposted by Ben Taylor
On this day in 1120, the White Ship sank en route from Barfleur to Southampton. William Ætheling, King Henry I’s only legitimate son and heir to the throne, drowned whilst trying to save his half-sister, Matilda of Perche, who also perished.
1/4
1/4
November 25, 2025 at 9:10 AM
On this day in 1120, the White Ship sank en route from Barfleur to Southampton. William Ætheling, King Henry I’s only legitimate son and heir to the throne, drowned whilst trying to save his half-sister, Matilda of Perche, who also perished.
1/4
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For shame #BBC. You utter cowards. If you will not speak truth to power even of another country, what Earthly use are you?
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 11:10 AM
For shame #BBC. You utter cowards. If you will not speak truth to power even of another country, what Earthly use are you?
Um... that's... true. I hadn't even noticed that was a thing you didn't really have to do any more. Comes under the heading of problems you don't realise are better than the alternative. 😟
November 24, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Um... that's... true. I hadn't even noticed that was a thing you didn't really have to do any more. Comes under the heading of problems you don't realise are better than the alternative. 😟
Reposted by Ben Taylor
A lovely and unexpected start to the week. I left for my walk in the rain, stormy clouds above, but ever hopeful it would improve. The sun did just manage to break through for just a few moments. Glastonbury Tor this morning, about half an hour after sunrise.
November 24, 2025 at 9:09 AM
A lovely and unexpected start to the week. I left for my walk in the rain, stormy clouds above, but ever hopeful it would improve. The sun did just manage to break through for just a few moments. Glastonbury Tor this morning, about half an hour after sunrise.
Reposted by Ben Taylor
TIL we can use the waste brine from desalination plants to generate electricity, offsetting some of the power used by the plant www.earth.com/news/japan-a... 🧪
Asia's first 'osmotic power plant' generates electricity using only water, 24 hours a day
Japan launches Asia's first and only osmotic power plant, which generates energy 24 hours a day using salt water.
www.earth.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:16 PM
TIL we can use the waste brine from desalination plants to generate electricity, offsetting some of the power used by the plant www.earth.com/news/japan-a... 🧪
I had vaguely heard that Roblox had problems but was assuming the systems they had actually... um... worked. Seems not. My son doesn't use it much any more but I think not much might become not at all.
Oh, God, this is one of those "where do I even start" things, because Roblox is, like, *fractally* fucked. They are terrible at content moderation. A lot of the games are rated incorrectly, so kids can encounter graphic content (sex or violence) out of nowhere --
November 23, 2025 at 10:38 AM
I had vaguely heard that Roblox had problems but was assuming the systems they had actually... um... worked. Seems not. My son doesn't use it much any more but I think not much might become not at all.
This is a photo and a half.
Angel Rising. Photograph taken this morning at sunrise in Glastonbury.
November 21, 2025 at 9:01 AM
This is a photo and a half.
Or to put it another way, if you want good public services everyone has to pay more tax (and if you want less tax the state has to do fewer things).
Britain’s tax system combines the worst of the US and Scandinavia - on.ft.com/48dStpr via @financialtimes.com
Britain’s tax system combines the worst of the US and Scandinavia - on.ft.com/48dStpr via @financialtimes.com
Britain’s tax system combines the worst of the US and Scandinavia
The UK’s experiment in eating the rich while shrinking the state has left everyone worse off
on.ft.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Or to put it another way, if you want good public services everyone has to pay more tax (and if you want less tax the state has to do fewer things).
Britain’s tax system combines the worst of the US and Scandinavia - on.ft.com/48dStpr via @financialtimes.com
Britain’s tax system combines the worst of the US and Scandinavia - on.ft.com/48dStpr via @financialtimes.com
Reposted by Ben Taylor
I have zero tolerance for the “well, I guess we have no choice with immigrants but to deport them or lock them up if the paperwork goes wrong”
November 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I have zero tolerance for the “well, I guess we have no choice with immigrants but to deport them or lock them up if the paperwork goes wrong”
This is the best nickname ever. 😂
People in the intelligence community call Witkoff Dim Philby - both for his level of intelligence and because he’s working for the Russians.
November 19, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This is the best nickname ever. 😂
Reposted by Ben Taylor
New investigation: how Sky Bet relocated to Malta to avoid £55m of tax/year This kind of tax planning is often reported as "clever, but perfectly proper, and there's no suggestion that any laws were broken".
But here it looks improper. Laws may have been broken.
🧵
But here it looks improper. Laws may have been broken.
🧵
November 19, 2025 at 9:19 AM
New investigation: how Sky Bet relocated to Malta to avoid £55m of tax/year This kind of tax planning is often reported as "clever, but perfectly proper, and there's no suggestion that any laws were broken".
But here it looks improper. Laws may have been broken.
🧵
But here it looks improper. Laws may have been broken.
🧵
Reposted by Ben Taylor
A #Skydiver Appears to Fall from the #Sun in a Stunning Image
#photography #Icarus Credit: Andrew McCarthy
Link for more: www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/11/andr...
#photography #Icarus Credit: Andrew McCarthy
Link for more: www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/11/andr...
November 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
A #Skydiver Appears to Fall from the #Sun in a Stunning Image
#photography #Icarus Credit: Andrew McCarthy
Link for more: www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/11/andr...
#photography #Icarus Credit: Andrew McCarthy
Link for more: www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/11/andr...
A herd of dog-rabbit hybrid horrors is for life, not just for Christmas.
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
November 18, 2025 at 4:20 PM
A herd of dog-rabbit hybrid horrors is for life, not just for Christmas.
I would not have thought this was a real photo if presented without comment.
A simple scene from a remote black sand beach in Iceland.
November 16, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I would not have thought this was a real photo if presented without comment.
Illegal migration is *not* tearing the UK apart. I'll lay ten to one that a majority of the people complaining from Ruralshire have never knowingly seen an illegal migrant.
What is tearing the UK apart is politicians and the media going on about migration. Just stop!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
What is tearing the UK apart is politicians and the media going on about migration. Just stop!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Illegal migration tearing UK apart, Mahmood says
The home secretary is set to announce major policy reforms, including a 20-year wait before people granted asylum can apply to settle permanently.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Illegal migration is *not* tearing the UK apart. I'll lay ten to one that a majority of the people complaining from Ruralshire have never knowingly seen an illegal migrant.
What is tearing the UK apart is politicians and the media going on about migration. Just stop!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
What is tearing the UK apart is politicians and the media going on about migration. Just stop!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Ben Taylor
I was tagged and asked to take a look at this claim - cos, well just look at it!🙄
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
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Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
November 16, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I was tagged and asked to take a look at this claim - cos, well just look at it!🙄
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
Reposted by Ben Taylor
How messed-up is the current UK income tax system? How much worse could it get? And how much more will you pay?
Other tax calculators tell you the tax you pay. Ours also shows the *marginal* rate - how much you'll pay on the next £. For everyone.
taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/11/12/t...
Other tax calculators tell you the tax you pay. Ours also shows the *marginal* rate - how much you'll pay on the next £. For everyone.
taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/11/12/t...
November 16, 2025 at 10:32 AM
How messed-up is the current UK income tax system? How much worse could it get? And how much more will you pay?
Other tax calculators tell you the tax you pay. Ours also shows the *marginal* rate - how much you'll pay on the next £. For everyone.
taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/11/12/t...
Other tax calculators tell you the tax you pay. Ours also shows the *marginal* rate - how much you'll pay on the next £. For everyone.
taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/11/12/t...
About as welcome as Syphilis, I'd imagine. Incredibly embarrassing to have to share being English with these morons.
Just some British patriots in Benidorm, taking over a street in Spain to shout in their own language about unwanted foreigners. It’s a blessing that they are too thick to understand irony.
November 15, 2025 at 6:20 PM
About as welcome as Syphilis, I'd imagine. Incredibly embarrassing to have to share being English with these morons.
Lights on the floor: Not just for teasing cats.
November 14, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Lights on the floor: Not just for teasing cats.
Reposted by Ben Taylor
What is particularly striking is that this includes supervision of MSc, PhDs, co-authorship (in the sciences! Where you can have tons of authors) and would be 5-years retroactive. Who would still be eligible?
I've been on the road so I'm behind the times—but if you wanted to destroy US science, I can think of no more expedient action.
Blatant unconstitutionality aside, fuck this backwards forwards and sideways.
www.science.org/content/article/u-s-congress-considers-sweeping-ban-chinese-collaborations
Blatant unconstitutionality aside, fuck this backwards forwards and sideways.
www.science.org/content/article/u-s-congress-considers-sweeping-ban-chinese-collaborations
November 14, 2025 at 7:48 AM
What is particularly striking is that this includes supervision of MSc, PhDs, co-authorship (in the sciences! Where you can have tons of authors) and would be 5-years retroactive. Who would still be eligible?