Tom Runnacles

@tomrunnacles.bsky.social

331 Followers 1367 Following

Software developer, philosopher, guitarist, whinger.

Laurel and Hardy move a piano.
"We see people who are wealthy attracting criminals," Bouvat-Merlin said. "We've seen a lot of robberies in San Francisco and other major U.S. cities, sometimes at gunpoint. I don't think the world is getting safer — there are probably more disparities between people at the top and bottom of the wealth spectrum. We see anxiety from prospective clients who are eager to get their homes secured."
The cover of Miles Davis’ Tutu.
Sources who attended a dinner afterwards told Byline Times that Thiel - who named his surveillance company after the 'palantír', the "seeing stones" of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings - believes that the epic's characters, Saruman and Sauron, the two dark lords who used the stones in their struggle to dominate Middle-earth, are "deeply misunderstood".
The 2024 presidential election was the second most expensive since at least 1998. In total, $5.5 billion dollars was spent on the race by presidential candidates, political parties and independent interest groups trying to influence federal elections, according to Open Secrets. Adjusted for inflation, that's $2.2 billion less than the 2020 race, the most expensive on record. When congressional races are factored in, the cost of 2024 campaigns jumps to $15.9 billion. In 2024, Democrats spent about $6.7 billion, Republicans spent about $7.6 billion, and third-party candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spent a little more than $500 million. Adjusted for inflation, that's more than 2.5 times as much as any third-party candidate since 2000, when third-party candidates spent nearly $197 million.
The other day I was alerted to a company document that should have been so fantastically dull it was read by almost no one. Alas, the corporate governance statement of a Canadian lithium explorer ahead of its Australian stock exchange debut was widely read last month, because one of its sentences said this: "You will change in share are all ejaculated out your helpful girlfriend issue she asked the councils responsible.
Jacob Rees-Mogg stands next to his nanny.
An image of the 80s glam rockers Tiger Tailz, who look like angry poodles.
The tiny Italian plane, the Stipa Caproni, which looks like a flying barrel.
A bunch of Daleks.
Owen Patterson, who accused badgers of ‘moving the goal posts’ when he was Environment Secretary.
This seems to be news to Truss. When pressed, Truss talks about Al's use in building networks, which she also hopes to facilitate in person at The Leconfield. Tchenguiz is such an enthusiast for ChatGPT that he says he will ask the large language model what he and Truss should do together. When the FT later tries this, it gives "light-hearted" suggestions ("a premium cheese marketplace" — in reference to Truss's infamous 2014 defence of British cheese). Asked whether they should found a membership organisation, the program says it is a good idea "if executed with discipline" and focused on business, not politics. The AI aspect will be "a modern differentiator" says the AI, then it asks if it should produce a pitch deck.
Peter Mannion during the ‘yes and ho’ session in The Thick of It, reacting to the suggestion ‘free tea bags’.
"There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" is a song by British singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, which was released as the lead single from her debut studio album Desperate Character. The song was written by MacColl and Philip Rambow, and produced by Barry Farmer. It reached No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the charts for nine weeks.(31 In the US, the song's British chip shop reference was changed to truck stop.
Exhibitions of design work would be set up for Prince Mohammed, who was a hands-on chair of Neom. "The underlying emotion that was felt in the room was fear, people would just mimic whatever he had to say," said the planner. "MBS would arrive with his entourage of about 40-50 people. And as he walks around, there's absolute silence." At one point he would say that he liked something and "he would turn to his entourage and they'd all go, love it'". Then he would see something he didn't like and his entourage would all shake their heads, tutting.
Finance chief Susan Li told analysts on Wednesday that Meta expects Reality Labs' revenue for the fourth quarter to come in below what the company reported for the same period last year. Li said this is in part because the company did not introduce a new VR headset in 2025.
Dr Kaplan Mulholland plans to relocate to Italy in spring 2026, attracted by its special flat-rate tax system that allows wealthy residents to pay a fixed €200,000 a year on foreign income.
The ‘Suits you’ guys from the 90s BBC comedy sketch program The Fast Show.
=== BIG WHITE FIZZ * 1 ounce Grand Marnier * 1 ounce gin * ½ ounce brandy * 1 ½ ounces cream * 1 teaspoon sugar * 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce * Dash MACARONA - Fill cocktail shaker with ice. - Add Grand Marnier, gin, and cream. - Shake. - Strain into a collins glass. - Fill with crushed martini glass. - Garnish with pepper jack cherry. (NOTE: do NOT make this cocktail) (Further NOTE: apparently MACARONA is a popular Egyptian pasta dish, which is an INTERESTING choice for a cocktail) The neural net apparent obsession with creme de cacao also seems to be alive and well. As is the inadvisable handling of glassware.
The final two paragraphs of the Guardian article, which read: The third-most-popular question employees asked was why the AI summaries were so bad. “The AI summaries of questions on Ask are terrible. Can we go back to answering the questions people actually asked?” it read.
“I don’t think we are ready for changing the principle of free at the point of use, certainly not immediately. If we are going to reform things like that, I think we need to have a serious cross-party, national conversation.”
Mark Rylance as Cleopatra in the Globe’s production of Anthony and Cleopatra in 1999.
Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter to Guesde and Paul Lafargue, both of whom already claimed to represent "Marxist" principles. Marx accused them of "revolutionary phrase-mongering".[2] This exchange is the source of Marx's remark, reported by Friedrich Engels: "ce qu'il y a de certain c'est que moi, je ne suis pas marxiste" ("what is certain is that [if they are Marxists], [then] I myself am not a Marxist").
A flunky played by Terry Gilliam bashes coconut shells together in ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.
Tweet by Andrew Neil with this text: “The French political establishment is congratulating itself that it’s stuffed Marine Le Pen’s National Rally yet again. But its troubles have only just begun. How Macron’s centrists can agree any sort of Coalition with the New Popular Front, in which Jean-Luc Mélenchon is the dominant voice, is one of the new mysteries of the universe. And let’s us not forget Jean-Luc is at least as eurosceptic as Marine Le Pen.”
Headline reads: Rishi Sunak takes family to Disneyland restaurant where meals can set you back £12,000
Right now, Trump is “the counter-elite”. The ruling class is “really throwing everything at him”, says Turchin, citing the plethora of lawsuits.
Diomedes really doesn’t like being hit by one of Paris’ arrows - Paris is a ‘sleazy flirt’ and ‘so cocky in [his] silly hairstyle’, amongst other insults.
The lyrics from the bridge section of James Brown’s ‘Sex Machine’.