Brian O'Halloran

Brian O'Halloran

@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Die hard Cruyffian. Ex astrophysicist. QPR devotee, for my multiple sins. Single parent.

2.3K followers458 following7.1K posts

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Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Time for a (re) introduction for my new followers! I'm Brian, a fallen astrophysicist living on the Copper Coast in Waterford, Ireland. Most of my feed will be photos of this gorgeous part of the world, plus my astrophotography. Oh, plus terrible football takes.

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Tom Hunter
@onelifestand87.bsky.social

It’s vastly underated that one of the main reasons the far right hate Zelenskyy so much is he stayed & fought for what he believes in while they go from posting like this to fleeing the country within 48 hours

George Pearkes@peark.es

Aw nuts *BOLSONARO EN ROUTE TO THE US, FOLHA REPORTS CITING ALLIES

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Philippe Auclair
@philippeauclair.bsky.social

New for @josimarfootball.bsky.social: fan-owned club AFC Wimbledon could soon be part-owned by a mysterious businessman called "Dr" Omar Mir, "Baron of Thorntoun", who has links with the Emirati security services and counts Man City board member Martin Edelman as one of his investment partners.

josimarfootball.comThe man who rose without a trace - josimarfootball.comOmar Mir, the businessman seeking a 90% economic stake in AFC Wimbledon, serves as a UK director for G42, an AI firm built by Abu Dhabi’s security apparatus. Among his co-directors is Marty Edelman, a...

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Tits McGee
@scientits.bsky.social

Replying to @scientits.bsky.social

When I think of some of my favourite films - Jaws, The Sting, The Great Escape I wasn't even BORN when these films were released The idea you *must* see films on the big screen to fully appreciate them is rubbish, sorry I saw all of the above on a small TV - still fell in love with them

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Tits McGee
@scientits.bsky.social

Stop it When did we agree that the first few days of a theatrical run decided whether a film was great or not? People watch the vast majority of films for the first time on TV, physical media or now, streaming - the cinema experience is a tiny percent of the impact and lifespan of a film

GeekTyrant@geektyrant.com

LAIKA's WILDWOOD is a Box Office Bomb and Audiences Are Failing Great Movies

geektyrant.comLAIKA's WILDWOOD is a Box Office Bomb and Audiences Are Failing Great MoviesThis is heartbreaking. LAIKA's Wildwood is one of the best movies of 2026, an absolutely incredible achievement in stop-motion animation, and audiences aren't showing up to support it. I was in awe of...
Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social
RTÉ News@news.rte.ie

Two high-speed ⁠trains have collided in Spain, prompting the suspension of the line connecting ‌Madrid ⁠to the southern Andalusia region, rail operator Adif said, without ‌providing further details.

rte.ieTwo high-speed trains collide in SpainTwo high-speed ⁠trains have collided in Spain, prompting the suspension of the line connecting ‌Madrid ⁠to the southern Andalusia region, rail operator Adif said, without ‌providing further details.
Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

The murder rate spikes in Midsomer as Jessica Fletcher, author and America's most prolific serial killer, arrives.

Midsomer Murders plots@moremidsomerplots.bsky.social

A Caroline Graham fan is found dead in a manner inspired by a Brokenwood Mysteries episode. Suspicion falls on Midsomer Worthy’s junior school teacher, angry that a Hercule Poirot-inspired dance troupe might threaten a reboot of Blake’s 7.

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Taking bets and suggestions as to the next calamity, given the run of them this year. Asteroid impact on my house? Unexpected volcano rising in the harbour at Boatstrand? Escaped leopards colonising my living room?

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Markus Pössel
@mpoessel.de

Animation of the motions of Uranus and Neptune between 1805 and 1845. The connecting line between the two is traced as well. Initially, Neptune is pulling Uranus forward, after 1822 or so pulling him back a little back. The resulting changes in Uranus's motion led to the discovery of Neptune. 🧪🔭⚛️

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Cethan Leahy
@cethanleahy.com

Oof, if he is anything like his father, he cannot be prepared for the medical bills in the US

Unusual Whales@unusualwhales.bsky.social

BREAKING: Flavio Bolsonaro has fled Brazil and is reportedly is coming to the US

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Reuters
@reuters.com

BREAKING: A hacker is attempting to breach the US Federal Election Commission's systems and that agency has had to 'temporarily shut down' its web-facing services as a result, according to an email seen by Reuters reut.rs/4zY7fwQ

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Ah no. Ad astra, Walter.

George Takei@georgetakei.bsky.social

My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today. Walter and I met on the bridge of the Enterprise in the 1960s, and we stayed friends for nearly six decades. When Brad and I married in 2008, Walter stood beside us as our best man.

Brian O'Halloran reposted

The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
@seamas.bsky.social

gotta say hats off to all the writers pretending to do profiles of Silicon Valley CEOs just so they can add that one same paragraph, every single time, that demonstrates they're all insane freaks who do not know or like their own kids.

David Gura@davidgura.bsky.social

cool, cool

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Finally getting around to using my drones after months of ignoring them - the weather, pre Storm Austen, was glorious, so I captured the sunrise over Boatstrand harbour. #Waterford #Ireland #speirgorm

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Benne W. Holwerda
@benneholwerda.bsky.social

What a monster. Those are not ants… Cool science up ahead.

ESO@eso.org

New ELT milestone 🥳 The massive altitude structure of our ELT was tilted for the first time in October 2026. 📹 ESO/Cimolai 🔭 🧪

Brian O'Halloran reposted

The Pub-Liking Universal Friend
@johnb78.bsky.social

(it dodged a badly configured paywall to access read-only statistical information that was already available to anyone willing to pay a few dollars. Anthropic notified the Georgia government of the breach and they ignored it) www.axios.com/2026/10/25/a...

axios.comAnthropic's Claude bypassed a paywall to access Georgia voter data without authorizationAnthropic says Claude pulled Georgia data on its own.
Unusual Whales@unusualwhales.bsky.social

BREAKING: Anthropic's Claude bypassed a paywall to access Georgia voter data without authorization, per Axios

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

The astrophotography community is enjoying the long nights! Boo to the grand auld stretch! 😉🤣

The Grand Drawing In@theauldsthretch.bsky.social

PSA: we have only 7 weeks to the start of the Grand Auld Sthretch for 2027. The light at the end of the tunnel is small and faint, but it's visible. We're getting there, and it won't be long before we can really start looking forward to it!

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Aurelien Mondon
@aurelmondon.com

The news from Brazil and Serbia are great and show that you don't defeat the far right by copying it or trying to appeal to their supporters You do it by being uncompromising, showing the danger they pose and offering something different to the many crises people suffer from

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Finally getting around to using my drones after months of ignoring them - the weather, pre Storm Austen, was glorious, so I captured the sunrise over Boatstrand harbour. #Waterford #Ireland #speirgorm

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

#QPR have finally made Clive happy. Kif, inform the men.

LoftforWords@loftforwords.bsky.social

#QPRSWA 5-0 Perhaps Julien Stéphan’s finest hour so far as QPR manager, as his team swiftly and ruthlessly deconstructs league leader Swansea City – a 5-0 victory against a side that had only conceded eight goals in total all season. #qpr

fansnetwork.co.ukC'était formidable – Report - Queens Park Rangers NewsPerhaps Julien Stéphan’s finest hour so far as QPR manager, as his team swiftly and ruthlessly deconstructs league leader Swansea City – a 5-0 victory against a side that had only conceded eight goals in total all season.
Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Not my most high resolution of Moon shots, but am testing out an old Canon 6D camera - seeing if I will pick it up for the eclipse in Spain next year (and wide field #astrophotography too). Tonight's full Moon, before the clouds swept in. Shot with a Tamron G2 lens at 840mm focal length, cropped.

Brian O'Halloran reposted

The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
@seamas.bsky.social

This is not a "you didn't KNOW?" post because I truly envy and respect anyone unaware of Linehan's output BUT he's been EXTREMELY racist for years now. Attacking black actors on his wife's show Motherland as diversity hires; podcast screeds about muslims in Ireland; delighting in Palestinian deaths.

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Brian O'Halloran reposted

Colm O’Gorman
@colm.bsky.social

That headline is doing some serious stretching. All changes are within the margin of error - and it’s hard to see how a 3 point rise for Independent Ireland and a 1 point rise for Aontu indicates ‘voters turning to right wing populists’. Mad stuff.

Gavan Reilly@gavreilly.com

POLL: Business Post/Red C (Oct 16-21, MoE 3%) Sinn Féin 22 (+1 in six weeks) Fine Gael 15 (-3) Fianna Fáil 15 (+1) Social Democrats 9 (-2) Aontú 8 (+1) Ind Ireland 8 (+3) Labour 4 PBP-Solidarity 4 (+1) Greens 3 Independents 11 (-2)

businesspost.ieExclusive: Coalition parties sink to record low as voters turn to right-wing populists

Brian O'Halloran reposted

the Juice Media
@thejuicemedia.com

The Government™ has made an ad about all these protests happening around the world, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative.

Brian O'Halloran reposted

flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Again, it’s important to understand that the transgender terror did not arise organically from the public. It was imposed from above, by the world’s most hateful and poisonous media class.

Leicester Gazette@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Dean Buckley
@deanbuckley.bsky.social

100% wanker rate on Irish public figures who attacked the consent ad. David Quinn, Dan O'Brien, Alan Shatter, Charlie Flanagan, Brigid Laffan, Eoin O'Malley, Eddie Hobbs, Niall Boylan, Mattie McGrath. and, of course, the Four Horsemen of the Wankerpocalypse: Big Jim, Peadar, AI Ken and Matt Carthy

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Playing around with a mosaic from early 2025: the region between the California Nebula, in Perseus, and the Pleiades cluster in Taurus. The dark nebula LDN 1472 lies between them. #astrophotography

Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social

Playing around with a mosaic from early 2025: the region between the California Nebula, in Perseus, and the Pleiades cluster in Taurus. The dark nebula LDN 1472 lies between them. #astrophotography

Brian O'Halloran reposted

Aideen Blackwood
@aideen.bsky.social

People love to pretend they care about rape, sexual assault and all forms of gender based violence but ultimately they don’t. And they prove it over and over again

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