Tom

Tom

@tomrees.eurosky.social

Blogging the slow rehabilitation of the abandoned allotment we just took on. Also, random likes and rebleets of politics, science, climate, computing, and history. Trying to be pleasant.

909 followers1K following3.5K posts

Tom reposted

Guy Shrubsole
@guyshrubsole.bsky.social

Could centuries of secrecy about who owns our land soon end? A new government consultation proposes revealing who owns up to 95% of England and Wales. To stop this being blocked by big landowners, I need your help to send in supportive evidence. Here’s how: whoownsengland.org/2026/10/27/c...

whoownsengland.orgCenturies of secrecy about who owns our land could soon end – but only if you can helpToday is a big day for ending centuries of secrecy about who owns our land. The Government has launched a consultation proposing bold measures to open up the Land Registry, the official body that r…
Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

When I planted french beans, I made the A frame rows far apart because the bed was wide. On a whim I sowed carrot seeds down the middle. Now look what I pulled up! They're small but tasty, with a bonus of beautiful carrot tops for pesto. #allotment

Tom reposted

P(aul) Frazee
@pfrazee.com

Wrote a blogpost about AI and atproto. Just a normal blogpost. Normal kind. (I actually did write the text of it.)

Tom reposted

Compass
@compassoffice.bsky.social

Britain is facing a crisis of trust and power. That's why today we're launching Better! - an alliance to remove the grip on power, wealth and information by the few - and return it to the many - for a better future for all. 🧵1/4

Tom reposted

Stop Funding Hate
@stopfundinghate.bsky.social

GB News have now run up losses of more than £141m, according to their annual accounts published this week. The channel relentlessly spreads hate and misinformation – and hate and misinformation should never be profitable. #stopfundinghate

Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

Cambridge Analytica, funded by dark money, is the company that brought us the poisonous brexit ads and targeting - consequence free in the UK.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix.bsky.social

Most state attorneys general released Meta from Cambridge Analytica-related claims as part of the child safety settlement. New Mexico wasn't part of that deal, and a jury there just found 26 of 29 past claims about Cambridge Analytica, hate speech and misinformation willfully deceptive.

techpolicy.pressEight Years On, Cambridge Analytica Scandal Catches Up With Meta in Santa FeA jury found that Meta—then Facebook—misled the public in statements about Cambridge Analytica and its policies on hate speech, violence and misinformation.

Tom reposted

Science Magazine
@science.org

A new Science study shows that bumble bees can position a ball underneath a fake “flower” to reach a reward, suggesting they can exhibit spontaneous problem-solving and challenging the notion that such advanced cognitive abilities are exclusive to large-brained vertebrates. https://scim.ag/4vs08dC

Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

Pretty impressed with the mustard seed cover crop. Sprouted and growing fast after just 1 week. Also put some field beans in there but they're yet to show. #allotment

Tom reposted

Jack Wallington
@jackwallington.com

Let's bring more land into community / charity ownership! Donate to help buy this and you will be matched with a bonus donation

Gregory Norminton@gregorynorminton.bsky.social

Donations to buy the Rothbury Estate for the nation via the Wildlife Trust are currently being match funded. So hurry over now, bung them a few bob, and see your donation doubled.

wildlifetrusts.orgRothbury Estate Match Appeal August 2026 | The Wildlife TrustsThe Rothbury Estate is more than a beautiful place. It's 3,800 hectares of rivers, woodlands, grasslands, peatlands and open moorland, where wildlife still has the chance to thrive at a scale rarely s...
Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

What a load of fonts

Elle Cordova@ellecordova.bsky.social

I am the very model of a modern day typographer A font take on the tune “Modern Major General” by Gilbert & Sullivan #typography #fonts #graphicdesign

Tom reposted

Sam Freedman
@samfr.bsky.social

New PISA data out England is now top ten in all three areas (reading, maths, science) and the second highest performing country outside of east Asia (after Estonia). This is a huge public policy success.

Tom reposted

HOPE not hate
@hopenothate.org.uk

This morning at 7:30am, a group of men dressed in black and their faces covered, gathered in Dover. The men, members of the anti-migrant vigilante group Patriot Platform, proceeded to block the port of Dover and several roads nearby. Our briefing: hopenothate.org.uk/2026/09/05/p...

hopenothate.org.ukPatriot Platform’s masked members march on Dover – HOPE not hateAt approximately 7:30 this morning, hundreds of black-clad members of Patriot Platform, a far-right vigilante unit, blockaded roads in Dover. They marched north east off...

Tom reposted

Nicholas Whithorn
@nickwhithorn.bsky.social

If you've perused Italian media over the last few weeks you'll have seen two names recurring frequently in the headlines: Sigfrido Ranucci and Walter Lavitola. These two very different personalities are at the centre of an intricate news story that seems crazy even by Italian standards [Thread] >> 1

Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

A previous tenant (or perhaps the council) put in a corrugated iron fence, backfilled with rubble and glass. It's collapsed and spilled into my allotment. I did manage to get one sheet out with a lot of effort. The others I'm hoping to just bury.

Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

Don't bring rubble onto an allotment! (Looking at you, Golden Larch Fencing of Southampton! I can the metal to my pile of scrap - this is just from this year's excavations

Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

@jonathanfreedland.bsky.social ends with a call to governments to end vendor lock in. It's not going to happen. One of the reasons everyone should move to ATProto services like Bluesky and ActivityPub services like Feddit

Jonathan Freedland@jonathanfreedland.bsky.social

On Meta, why $18bn is petty cash and what has to come next. Latest column www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.comAn $18bn settlement – and Zuckerberg barely blinked. The tech titans must be stripped of their power, and soon | Jonathan FreedlandThose who said Meta harms children struck a blow, but the ability of big tech to gouge profits and cause harm is barely diminished. That’s the battle to come, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedlan...
Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

@Freedlandjonathanfreedland.bsky.social ends with a plea to governments to prevent vendor lock-in. It's not going to happen. Everyone should switch to ATProto services like Bluesky. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.comAn $18bn settlement – and Zuckerberg barely blinked. The tech titans must be stripped of their power, and soon | Jonathan FreedlandThose who said Meta harms children struck a blow, but the ability of big tech to gouge profits and cause harm is barely diminished. That’s the battle to come, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedlan...
Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

Incredible 6th century mosaics in Ravenna. Astonishing that they are still here, undamaged after all this time. A small glimpse of what Rome and Byzantium must have been back in the day.

Tom reposted

British Science Association
@britsciassoc.bsky.social

There's less than a month to go until the British Science Festival with @unisouthampton.bsky.social in Southampton! #BSF26 Turns out it clashes with London Fashion Week. We're not sure whether they have any science, but we DO have a catwalk on our programme... www.visitbritain.com/en/things-to...

visitbritain.comEvents and things to do in Britain in SeptemberAutumn is here, but Britain’s festival season is still in full bloom.
Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

www.theguardian.com/money/2026/a...

theguardian.comThe weekend is 100 years old – but have ‘skiveday Fridays’ and hybrid working ruined it for everyone?In 1926, Henry Ford gave his employees both Saturdays and Sundays off – and the two-day chunk of time to party, pray or simply do nothing was born. Now it’s changed beyond recognition
It's The Weekend 😌@craigweekend.bsky.social

Ladies and gentlemen... the weekend. (also: you are important and are not alone 🧡)

Tom reposted

Flashes App 🌩️
@flashes.blue

I know this is asking a lot but if you have an account in the godforsaken place that they call LinkedIn we'd be super stoked if you could give our new site there a follow. We need to build up a presence across the incumbent networks to draw in more people. Thank you so much!!!

linkedin.comFlashes | LinkedInFlashes | 29 followers on LinkedIn. The Instagram for the Open Social Web. Loved by 100k+ users. Featured by Apple, The Verge & Forbes. | Flashes is the visual social app for the open social web. ...

Tom reposted

John Burn-Murdoch
@jburnmurdoch.ft.com

New from me: Until recently, the gap between comfortably-off and just-getting-started could plausibly be crossed in a decade or two of hard work. Growth in asset prices means that’s no longer true: even a lifetime of striving doesn’t offer a realistic prospect of feeling you’ve “made it”.

Tom reposted

Stop Funding Hate
@stopfundinghate.bsky.social

Did you know that charities working to challenge racism, support refugees & promote human rights increasingly face large-scale online abuse & threats? What this report - quite strikingly - omits to mention is that such abuse often follows hostile UK media attacks /1 news.sky.com/story/staff-...

news.sky.comStaff at 'thousands of charities' threatened and intimidated for 'doing their jobs'The Charity Commission surveyed nearly 3,000 charity trustees, and over a quarter said they had been affected by a "challenging social environment"
Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social

This is actually a beautiful experience. Avoid if you don't like AI, but if your curious about either AI or poetry, you should try.

Ethan Mollick@emollick.bsky.social

This is lovely. I had a fun conversation about vastness with a virtual William Sieghart which led to a beautiful reading of Keat's Endymion, and one about landscapes of memory and led to a reading of Hopkin's Windhover. We need more beautiful, humane demonstrations of AI. odepoetry.ai

odepoetry.aiOdeAn app to lift your mood through the power of poetry.