Paul Witcombe

@Scobleizer 10 million is still a sizable account, and should produce or could produce a reasonable revenue return. Also of your message is important then if it reaches only 1 person it’s worth broadcasting it.

It is true. Back then Twitter overly pushed big accounts. Since taking over X has been playing up smaller accounts a lot more. I see it in the tech world which has very little to do with politics. Although a group did leave due to that.

@nikitabier @EFF The fact that Bluesky is first on their list says it all really. This feels a bit 2022.

Whoever is advising @EFF on social strategy should be fired. Their reach on their X account is 13.3x larger than on their Instagram account—and on 228x larger than their TikTok account. If they want their foundation to have an impact on the global conversation, the only place is on X.

@CoachDanGo Although the path to that expensive car may well involve being able to do 50+ push ups.

Being able to do 50+ push-ups in a row is a bigger status symbol than driving an expensive car.

@_The_Prophet__ And that also applies to the individual

⚡️The real answer is that Apophis is a reminder, not the reason. The reason is deeper. Earth is a single point of failure. One biosphere. One atmosphere. One crust. One chain of food, water, energy, data, and political order balanced on one vulnerable surface. That is insane for a species with this much intelligence and this much accumulated value. Apophis matters because it tears the illusion for a moment. People look up and remember the universe is not safe, history is not guaranteed, and civilization is not sitting inside some protected dome. It is sitting in open space under permanent threat from physics, biology, geology, and itself. So yes, becoming multiplanetary matters. Not because this one rock in 2029 is likely to end the game. Because any species that stays trapped on one world is eventually asking time to kill it. That is the real truth. But there is another layer. Most people use “multiplanetary” as a prestige slogan. The serious version starts lower. Planetary defense. Detection. Deflection. Interception. Redundant infrastructure. Hardening civilization against shocks. A species that cannot reliably protect one planet is not ready to romanticize ten. So the clean hierarchy is simple. First, stop being helpless on Earth. Then, stop being confined to Earth. Apophis is valuable because it humiliates the fantasy of permanence. It reminds humanity that all the culture war noise, all the bureaucracy, all the prestige games, all the status theater, sits under a sky that can erase a city with zero interest in anyone’s ideology. The deepest read is simple. Multiplanetary civilization is not a luxury project. It is the adulthood of the species. Until then, humanity remains a brilliant animal nesting on a single branch, pretending the tree cannot shake.

@CoachDanGo I think all the tech is useful for getting baseline data and checking in at set points on your fitness journey, but day to day it can become a distraction.

For the past 6 months I've gotten away from using an Apple watch, Oura, Whoop, and any other type of wearable. I've noticed no changes in my physical health but a positive change in my mental health as I've stopped using a piece of tech to tell me how I should feel.

For all you legends clocking up the miles this weekend 🙌

@travelingflying It now auto translates.

Luin että X kääntää nyt julkaisut muilla kielillä englanniksi. Onko tämä totta? Kerro näitkö tämän tilan englanniksi?

@ThatChristinaG Interlinked.

Since we're all in a Ryan Gosling sci-fi mood, I need more people to watch Blade Runner 2049. Completely underrated.

We wouldn’t be rushing into any war because we have very few military assets, we have almost zero missile defence. We’ve all been living in the belief that we are a major military power, due to legacy from the last century and bluster from politicians. We are not. Our energy situation isn’t much better.

@pippip343 By "we" do you mean enemies of the UK, or China because they are the people who benefit from his bad choices

We are lucky to have this man.

@London_W4 forestryengland.uk/knightwood-oak

A walk in the woods this morning and I’m near the Rufus Stone in the New Forest, where King William II was fatally wounded by an arrow whilst hunting here in 1100. I’ve seen several trees with names carved into them from an incredibly long time ago. Not 1100, but this one’s from 1860. Just think; since they stood here and carved that, they lived their lives then died. Their grandchildren will have lived and died. Their great grandchildren. Their great great grandchildren. All those people lived and loved and died since this name was carved into a tree I’m stood talking a photo of now on my iPhone.

@KathrynPorter26 @ret_ward I’m assuming that just 2% is actually a lot of jobs and revenue? I saw somewhere that the industry employs hundreds of thousands.

@ret_ward Why is that a problem. That's 2% we don't have to import. 2% that supports ongoing employment in the UK rather than overseas

Let’s be clear that Jackdaw and Rosebank would only make a very small difference to U.K. oil and gas production and no difference to international prices. At peak, Rosebank would produce the equivalent of less than 2% of current U.K. gas production.

This has been on my mind quite a lot this week with all the talk of the 90s. It got me to thinking that back before the internet, before social media, YouTube, everything, the only data we had to process was really what was right in front of us, in the same room, in the same space. Maybe we would watch some TV; maybe you would read a news newspaper but that would be it. Now I probably read or process more data in a morning than I probably did in a year back in the 90s and previous to that. I went to see a show called Prince by Candlelight, which was a celebration of his music which took place in a church. Again this got me to thinking about the value of group experience, of experiencing a live band and feeling the sound from the speakers. The more technology takes over parts of my life, more I have a feeling to disconnect from it all to get back to experiences in real life. And of course it's freeing up time and leaving me with energy to pursue these things.

Prince on the media:

I think I had mates back then, which sounds like a sad reflection on where I am now. I think maybe it's true for a lot of us that we had more real friendships and actually went out and did stuff without really worrying or feeling guilty. Just that sense of freedom and as you say, optimism.

Aside from basically all entertainment media, I miss the tremendous sense of progress and optimism, especially in the latter half of the decade. Technology was advancing so fast, people were genuinely excited about where it was all leading. Then we found out.

@Scobleizer An update to this would be that both @WisprFlow and @interaction seem to have seriously degraded this week and I'm wondering whether they've changed models because it's really noticeable. Using Wispr Flow this morning I've spent more time correcting text than I did dictating it.

I've tried most of them apart from monologue. Wispr Flow is the fastest; it's almost instant dictation. I would say that over the last week or so it does seem to be changing what I say more than it used to. Whole sentences completely changed. And it doesn't seem to be quite as accurate as it was initially but overall the speed makes this the winner for me currently. Although correcting mistakes is reducing speed when they occur.

I am using it and its competitors. All three are so freaking amazing. I don’t care which one sticks with you. All of them are better than Apple’s keyboard or transcription.

I'd be interested to see the figures for the rise in contractors that have gone over the VAT threshold without realizing it. For years they traded quite happily under the threshold but with all the different cost increases; all of a sudden they're going over the threshold. For many who don't do their books until the end of the year, there's a nasty shock of having to pay the VAT on every invoice issued since the point of exceeding the threshold, amounting to thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds. I also want to see politicians banned from wearing high-vis jackets and hard hats and appearing on building sites to sell their latest policy when they really just don't give a toss about any of us.

Sole traders. Micro businesses with one or two employees. Freelancers. Plumbers. Electricians. Hairdressers. Mechanics. Accountants. Gardeners. Whatever it is, whoever they are. These are the workers that keep the economy going. Not the big global corporates. Politicians, and those devising the rules, simply do not understand how these people live. Nobody ever even talks about the one or two people operations in Westminster. Saturday morning in the bureaucrat’s world? Friday working from home, so nice easy day to finish off the week. Laptop closed by 15.00. Phone off for the weekend, not a care in the world. Life is sweet. Holiday coming up, mortgage comfortable, pension growing nicely. The sole trader? Getting invoices and paperwork sorted at 6am before the children wake up. Chasing up late payments. Weighing up whether to do that last minute emergency call out, or spend time with the kids on a Saturday. Getting the diary sorted for next week. Phone goes and goes all weekend. It is never-ending. It does not stop. It’s two different worlds honestly. The issue is that the latter entirely funds the former, and the former is hellbent on making life as difficult as possible for productive Britain. I want to be really clear about what Restore Britain would do. Two things. Crush parasitic Britain. Unleash productive Britain. First. Scrap IR35. It has created years of confusion, fear and chaos for contractors and small operators. It has pushed countless self-employed people into pointless paperwork and rigid inflexibility. Doesn’t work. It’s a right pain in the arse for millions. Scrap it. Second, we will double the VAT threshold. The current threshold traps thousands of small businesses just as they begin to grow. Many deliberately stop expanding to avoid the enormous administrative burden of VAT and the brutal cost hikes which drive demand away. The evidence of is obvious. Thousands hover just below the threshold, refusing to grow, hire or pay more tax. It is ABSURD. Restore Britain would double the VAT threshold so small businesses can grow without being punished for success. This is absolutely necessary. An important one - we would dramatically simplify the tax system for sole traders and micro-businesses (and everyone else, but that's separate). Instead of forcing small operators through pages of complicated accounting rules designed for large corporations, we will introduce a far simplified tax regime for businesses below a certain size. Less paperwork, fewer forms, clearer rules. More money for them, less for the accountants and parasitic professional class. Sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it? Next. We will end the endless culture of inspections and bureaucratic interference from the bureaucrats. Too many small businesses now live in fear of accidental breaches - whether it’s health and safety nonsense, employment law complexity, ridiculous data laws or constantly changing compliance requirements. The stress is immense. If you are a sole trader or micro-business acting in good faith, the system should support you, not threaten you. Restore Britain will free them from endless regulatory suffocation. The mental health release on that is worth it alone. Means a lot to me, this one. Restore Britain will make it easier for tradespeople to hire apprentices. This is important. One of the biggest problems small businesses face is bringing in the next generation. The current system is too complicated, too expensive and too rigid for small firms. Restore Britain will introduce simple, flexible apprenticeship schemes designed specifically for small businesses and trades. Up next, we will simplify planning and licensing rules. For small builders, tradespeople and contractors - planning restrictions and local bureaucracy can delay work for months and add unnecessary costs. I detest planning departments more than I can describe in language appropriate for a Saturday morning. These jumped-up empire-building little runts running councils across Britain will have their power stripped away from them. We will let people do business, we will let business owners run their businesses without the sneering council worker’s constant box ticking. Not complicated. We will restore respect for the self-employed. Look at how they were treated during lockdown. Like dirt. Entirely abandoned whilst others were paid to do nothing. That must be addressed, and they must be compensated. The excluded must finally be recognised. That wrong must be rectified. Under a Restore Britain Government, their efforts will be appreciated, celebrated and most importantly? Rewarded. This is the key point. Let’s not pretend otherwise. The five golden rules of business. What’s in it for me? We will radically slash tax and raise thresholds. Tax on dividends would be hacked down so that success pays. More work, pays. Effort, pays. If the electrician does that last minute job on a Saturday, it will be worth their time. They will be rewarded, not HMRC. Restore Britain will slash the bureaucracy, simplify the rules, cut the taxes. We will give small businesses the freedom they need to thrive, to support their families and to succeed. Parasitic Britain will end. Sole traders and micro businesses finally have a political party that will fight for them. Restore Britain.

@BigBrotherWatch Apple is already rolling out os level age restrictions.

👏Resistance against digital ID for the internet is GROWING 371 privacy & security experts join a global call to stop governments from ID checks on all of us to use the internet. They've also warned against a VPN ban. A free internet is vital to democracy. Read⤵️ politico.eu/article/age-ch…

It's still quite difficult to distinguish between the text and the sea. For example, like with Greece. Also I think perhaps it's a bit confusing where the sea is a solid mass but land isn't (if you see what I mean). It feels the wrong way around but maybe that's just from what I'm used to.

@paulwitcombe @casusbellii Better?

The excess of informations makes theses tools actually painful to use Probably cool for the crypto bros tho

@rmcentush @casusbellii Just a bit, just so it’s quicker to recognise where assets are. Especially now we have multiple countries/bases involved.

@paulwitcombe @casusbellii should I increase contrast/brightness?