Martin Smith

Martin Smith

@transmithim.bsky.social

The opposite of whatever a bon vivant is. First person in Britain to eat a Toblerone. Officially the third best Visionaries fan. Probably joking but who knows. https://linktr.ee/TransmitHim

232 followers127 following2.5K posts

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

I’m not saying I expect much internal logic and consistency from silver age Aquaman stories, but him being able to telepathically command seagulls cos they’ve got “sea” in the name is bullshit of the highest order.

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Slightly humbling reminder for me this morning that it's hard to judge the size of things through photos online. I bought this Optimus Primal keyring/pvc thinking it was quite beefy, 10cm maybe 15cm tall. Erm, nope, 5cm. Still, very nice.

Martin Smith reposted

Possum A-ko
@kaiserbeamz.bsky.social

R.I.P. to Eric Bauza Out of all the actors who voiced the rabbit, you were the one who came the closest to Mel's original voice. You should've been around for 40 more years to voice him.

Martin Smith reposted

James Ball
@jamesrball.com

This is great, because most parents think of their children as callous dullards who hate animals, so it's really picked out the traits that makes her daughter unique, here.

David Gura@davidgura.bsky.social

cool, cool

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Man, CotA has absolutely ruined turn 1 with that new hospitality suite on the corner. Transformed from driving up the steep start/finish straight seemingly up into the sky into driving towards what looks like a shitty multi-storey car park. The fact it needs a cable car to the paddock is funny tho.

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Catching up with SNL s52. I’d say it’s baffling that they kept Jane Wickline, but I guess nepotism outweighs the complete lack of charisma or talent. Pleased they kept all the other featured players from last season, who are all good to great. I was worried they’d be unceremoniously ditched.

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Relatedly, the BBC’s published response to blanking out that Protect The Dolls shirt on Strictly was that they routinely blank out any t-shirt bearing a slogan or message, which is blatant horseshit.

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. * * *

Martin Smith reposted

Tom Usher
@tomusher.bsky.social

You have to laugh at the sheer insanity of Turning Point UK being found to be organising literal contract killings and paid agitation at protests up and down the country and it barely even raises a flicker across the press. If that isn't 'terrorism' on some level I don't really know what is

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Surprisingly disappointing Blokees Defender wave 9. Optimal Optimus and Overlord are great picks. Never been a fan of TM2 Megs really. So sick of the 13 Primes. Vehicle mode Armada Prime before any other Armada figs (like robot mode Armada Prime!) is odd. The rest repaints and even reissues.

Martin Smith reposted

Rachel Pope
@prehistorian.bsky.social

This won’t be reported widely, but Jason Arday has been cleared of plagiarism for a second time. Still nobody has been held accountable for this man’s death.

UCU Edinburgh@ucuedinburgh.bsky.social

A reminder: Jason Arday was innocent. "A fresh investigation by scientific publisher Taylor & Francis has concluded without substantiating plagiarism allegations against Jason Arday, the former Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge."

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

You can tell Sharon’s given up on #CelebrityTraitors and all the paranoia about her having “changed” is weird. But the way she had a strop in that task was pretty sad. Repeatedly asked for her opinion but too set on being a sulky victim to actually say anything. Banishment would be a mercy now.

Martin Smith reposted

videah θΔ
@videah.net

Ofcom published a report today that pretty much declares the Online Safety Act a complete failure

Martin Smith reposted

Micah
@rincewind.run

literally this comic except he apparently lives in Czechia instead of Nebraska

Charlie Warzel@cwarzel.bsky.social

70 percent of the internet was vulnerable yesterday to very bad security flaws inside a coding language. Turns out, *one volunteer* is mostly responsible for maintaining that code & helping push updates. Yesterday Ondřej Surý saved the internet. So I called him up www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

theatlantic.comThe Man Who Saved the Internet YesterdayOndřej Surý was a relatively anonymous volunteer working on PHP security. Then the internet exploded.
Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Ruin a song by adding “in my pants” to the title. You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire In My Pants.

This post is unavailable.
Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

There’s always been a weird element of holier-than-thou shitbaggery to Sloss. One of his old routines essentially had a blind item accusing a female comedian who trades on being a mum of being a heroin* addict, which was… shitty. *iirc

Nashies! YouTube Cooking Show 😺@nashiez.bsky.social

Daniel Sloss who skyrocketed to fame on a bit talking about defending women, turns out to be a POS. Big shocker. www.thenational.scot/news/2665903...

thenational.scotDaniel Sloss issues statement addressing Vittorio Angleone 'rape' jokeSCOTTISH comedian Daniel Sloss has issued an apology after failing to call out fellow comedian Vittorio Angelone, who has been criticised for making a rape "joke"
Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Tomorrow’s episode of Impossible will be its seventh broadcast, which is faintly ridiculous. Damning indictment of BBC cuts (before even the current ones), raises the question of why they’ve stopped producing new ones if they can bear so many repeats and…

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Makes it clear that BBC 2 doesn’t have enough new content to fill its schedule. They should bring CBBC out of its ghetto and simulcast in the afternoons.

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Strange, isn’t it, that a Prime Minister we were reminded so often was a lawyer broke the law twice in sacking high-ranking civil servants, causing two six figure pay-outs.

This post is unavailable.

Martin Smith reposted

KetAnthropic JoshAI
@ketanjoshi.co

The first genuinely honest ad for generative AI I've ever seen, from Microsoft / CoPilot A mediocre white guy sees his non-white colleague getting praised for good work, he asks AI to *literally copy it*, and then he gets all the praise instead: www.ispot.tv/ad/SoDi/micr...

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Looking into water companies for A Thing and I'm sorry, no legitimate business has a corporate structure this complicated. This the kind of "shell company" structure that gets blithely mentioned about organised crime in an episode of Law & Order.

Martin Smith reposted

Brian Phillips
@brianphillips.lol

In the bedrock of my soul I know he started out thinking the press pool was a literal pool and has been seething with disappointment since he discovered the mistake

The New York Times@nytimes.com

President Trump has pushed to move briefings out of the White House press room. Aides say he wants an indoor swimming pool instead. nyti.ms/4eoW3AV

Martin Smith reposted

Jason Karsh
@jkarsh.bsky.social

What’s extremely important to remember in this is that for a fascist/authoritarian regime to take hold, it requires the population turning on itself. The government does not have the numbers to do it on its own, it needs people willing to sell each other out and others living in constant fear.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "People will make millions of dollars by turning others in"

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

There’s still a couple of big analogue Sky dishes around my village and I actually dig that.

Anon Opin@anonopin.bsky.social

It should be law that satellite dishes are removed from buildings once they're no longer in use. There's no reason for redundant bits of hardware to be left cluttering up the sides and roofs of buildings indefinitely.

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Hopefully, when the BBC wins this, they get enough money out of it make up the shortfall in the license fee for several years. Maybe $10billion?

Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social

Trump is the one who filed this lawsuit. Now he refuses to participate in discovery while his sons and daughter duck discovery subpoenas.

Martin Smith
@transmithim.bsky.social

Great news everyone, posting to the EU just got more complicated and expensive! (Before anyone says it, this is not a Brexit thing, this is an EU protectionist thing).

Martin Smith reposted

Ste Jormur
@stejormur.bsky.social

Imagine buying so much Amol Rajan merch that paying £299 a year for a 30% discount makes financial sense

Daniel McElroy@danielmcelroy0.bsky.social

Amol Rajan’s membership tiers…that is scandalous.

Martin Smith reposted

Indivisible ❌👑
@indivisible.org

No corporation is gonna silence our message! ❌👑 Keep helping us amplify #NoKings today so we can drive HISTORIC early vote turnout, and overcome Trump’s election sabotage.