Stuart Brown
@zzztype.bsky.social
Publishing (mainly Arabic), politics (mainly socialist), jokes (mainly poor). A Brit transplanted to the Netherlands.
So a call for aid to any #Arabic #manuscript experts. I have a damaged word, which I think I know what it is, but will happily take advice! It’s the first word on the second line. We have الإرشاد لابن عقيل ؟؟؟؟ شرح الإرشاد للأنصاريّ. I *think* it’s المرجّع, which would certainly make sense . . .
September 3, 2025 at 10:49 AM
So a call for aid to any #Arabic #manuscript experts. I have a damaged word, which I think I know what it is, but will happily take advice! It’s the first word on the second line. We have الإرشاد لابن عقيل ؟؟؟؟ شرح الإرشاد للأنصاريّ. I *think* it’s المرجّع, which would certainly make sense . . .
A friend gave me an old book of Islamic bookbindings which he’d somehow managed to locate for my birthday. Now in pride of place in the maktab.
July 29, 2025 at 6:05 AM
A friend gave me an old book of Islamic bookbindings which he’d somehow managed to locate for my birthday. Now in pride of place in the maktab.
Important lesson learnt at the rather excellent Cotswolds Beer Festival yesterday: should you be somewhat on the short side anyway, with legs that at best can be described as “wretched little stumps”, then do NOT stand in the middle of the shot if your friend is taking a pic with a wide angle lens.
July 20, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Important lesson learnt at the rather excellent Cotswolds Beer Festival yesterday: should you be somewhat on the short side anyway, with legs that at best can be described as “wretched little stumps”, then do NOT stand in the middle of the shot if your friend is taking a pic with a wide angle lens.
Having made a note to do my bit to make Bluesky less perennially serious, no jokes as such, but here’s a few snaps of some DNA celebrating its fiftieth in Singapore and Malaysia.
July 10, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Having made a note to do my bit to make Bluesky less perennially serious, no jokes as such, but here’s a few snaps of some DNA celebrating its fiftieth in Singapore and Malaysia.
These are good points. And though I check BlueSky often, I don’t post much, and definitely because I feel the weight of The Seriousness on me. I hereby commit to posting more bad jokes that get well-nigh zero interaction, like I used to on Twitter.
We have read enough bad columns about what's wrong with Bluesky that @nitishpahwa.com decided to write about what's *actually* wrong with Bluesky and how it could be fixed. Hint: More people posting about things that are not that serious slate.com/technology/2...
This Platform Was Supposed to Replace Twitter. It’s Not Going So Well.
The platform has more users than ever. So why does it feel so empty?
slate.com
June 13, 2025 at 5:27 AM
These are good points. And though I check BlueSky often, I don’t post much, and definitely because I feel the weight of The Seriousness on me. I hereby commit to posting more bad jokes that get well-nigh zero interaction, like I used to on Twitter.
Random drop into my feed. Doubtless Bluesky knows I have a broad liking for talented peeps sharing their stuff, and a penchant for the darkly supernatural/folkloric. But I like to think it gave me this for the pun, which is absolutely A++, no notes.
If you like my werewolf art don’t forget to lycan subscribe!
Happy werewolf Wednesday!
Art done in 2020
Happy werewolf Wednesday!
Art done in 2020
May 22, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Random drop into my feed. Doubtless Bluesky knows I have a broad liking for talented peeps sharing their stuff, and a penchant for the darkly supernatural/folkloric. But I like to think it gave me this for the pun, which is absolutely A++, no notes.
Somewhere in that book it says “Ait illi Iesus si vis perfectus esse vade vende quae habes et da pauperibus.”
May 8, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Somewhere in that book it says “Ait illi Iesus si vis perfectus esse vade vende quae habes et da pauperibus.”
I mean, the September massacres were pretty horrific, but it’s a bit late to be coming down hard on the sans-culottes now …
Ringleaders of attacks on French jails will be punished, Macron says
Ringleaders of attacks on French jails will be punished, Macron says
Wave of assaults ‘declaration of war’ by drug gangs after crackdown on bosses operating from jail, French media say
Emmanuel Macron has warned that those behind a wave of apparently coordinated attacks on French prisons and staff will be “found, tried and punished”.
The president’s comments came after at least a dozen assaults on French jails in the past three days. In one attack, gunmen using automatic weapons fired at the entrance to Toulon prison in the south of France. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
April 17, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I mean, the September massacres were pretty horrific, but it’s a bit late to be coming down hard on the sans-culottes now …
Oh man, Black Shuck terrified me as a kid. I mean, I was actually scared of all dogs. But when I read about Black Shuck in some 1970s-style “scare kids good a proper” books I well nigh shat my spine out of my arse. It stayed worth a loooong time.
The myth & mystery of the terror hound - Black Shuck - from @celinawords.bsky.social
Now making an appearance on Royal Mail stamps.
Now making an appearance on Royal Mail stamps.
Black Shuck: the hound of myth and mystery
The Black Shuck myth was born in England in 1127 in Peterborough. More recently the beast was seen in Bungay in 1577.
eastangliabylines.co.uk
March 28, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Oh man, Black Shuck terrified me as a kid. I mean, I was actually scared of all dogs. But when I read about Black Shuck in some 1970s-style “scare kids good a proper” books I well nigh shat my spine out of my arse. It stayed worth a loooong time.
Slightly dotty elderly gent outside the café I’m working in l, telling a rambling story about a lost red rucksack in English. His syntax is excellent, but every lexical word that has a Dutch cognate he pronounces as pure Dutch: “the rood rugzak”. (Note not “rode,” so he’s not parsing it as Dutch.)
March 19, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Slightly dotty elderly gent outside the café I’m working in l, telling a rambling story about a lost red rucksack in English. His syntax is excellent, but every lexical word that has a Dutch cognate he pronounces as pure Dutch: “the rood rugzak”. (Note not “rode,” so he’s not parsing it as Dutch.)
So here’s an interesting and weird ChatGPT artefact. I switched half way through a response from the keyboard to the voice recognition (cos I’m lazy) and it correctly understood me, but … translated it into Welsh?
February 18, 2025 at 7:05 AM
So here’s an interesting and weird ChatGPT artefact. I switched half way through a response from the keyboard to the voice recognition (cos I’m lazy) and it correctly understood me, but … translated it into Welsh?
Reposted by Stuart Brown
Wow. it must feel terrible when someone takes something you made and uses it without permission or payment
OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor
https://www.ft.com/content/a0dfedd1-5255-4fa9-8ccc-1fe01de87ea6
https://www.ft.com/content/a0dfedd1-5255-4fa9-8ccc-1fe01de87ea6
OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor
White House AI tsar David Sacks raises possibility of alleged intellectual property theft
www.ft.com
January 29, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Wow. it must feel terrible when someone takes something you made and uses it without permission or payment