Not saying it’s cold up here on the Downs today, but…

‘orses.

I don’t get the phrase “search it up”. It seems more clumsy than “search for it”, yet it seems to have become the default for younger generations.

Elizabeth Spiers, Eating The Chess Pieces:

"As a middle-aged adult of sound mind with, incidentally, a degree in public policy studies and political science, I completely understand the impulse to look at what’s happening and find some rational explanation for it that does not involve Donald Trump with a colon full of chess pieces." https://www.elizabethspiers.com/eating-the-chess-pieces/?ref=adders-blog

I wonder if many people are confusing the idea of “artificial intelligence” with “artificial consciousness”.

Cory Doctorow:

"AI is the asbestos we’re shoveling into the walls of our high-tech society" https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/06/1000x-liability/

Roll up, roll up.

It’s time for my annual round-up of the top 10 most read posts on One Man & His Blog.

(Not first day back at work procrastination, no, not at all. 😇) https://onemanandhisblog.com/2026/01/the-top-10-posts-on-om-hb-in-2025/?utm_source=fediverse&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=second-share

I appear to have deeply confused Amazon’s algorithm. This is not going to encourage me to spend…

Possibly the best pub meal I’ve ever had. Kudos to the team at the Rose & Crown, Shilton. https://www.roseandcrownshilton.com/

Sunset on Shoreham Beach

I have questions.

Chilly Christmas beach walk.

The advent candles in church this morning.

My late parents’ angel, keeping watch over another family Christmas.

Merry Christmas, to all who celebrate it.

Just discovered that I’m in the marketing video for our department.

www.youtube.com/watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPS2gTi9iG0

Being a bit counter-cultural this Christmas… https://www.ontheshoreline.com/being-a-bit-countercultural-this-christmas/

Sent to Whamhalla by my eldest, who played Last Christmas in the car this morning.

#whamageddon

Hurrah. The latest issue of Standart (an indie coffee magazine) has arrived, ready for cosy Christmas reading. https://standartmag.com/

Interesting bridge graffiti

Haven’t done one of these photos in ages. It’s easy to grow blasé about the beauty of where we live.

Schmoozing surrounded by some quite dramatic art.

On the U-Bahn.

Possibly the most disastrous thing about the rise of AI is the way it’s leading tech companies to abandon their net zero goals. Google appears to be the latest.

AI ain’t going to do us much good if our planet is no longer habitable for humans. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2025/09/04/investigations/google-net-zero-sustainability

There are times when reality feels perturbingly like an architect’s CGI composite.

Mike Masnick on who goes MAGA:

"It is also, to an immense extent, the disease of a generation—the generation that grew up online, that learned to mistake engagement for truth, that confused being heard with being right. This is as true of suburban millennials as it is of rural boomers. It is the disease of the algorithmically poisoned."

The same could be said to be true of rise of Reform in the UK. https://www.techdirt.com/2025/07/08/who-goes-maga/