Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
mastodon
4.5.7
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially #LandReform. Clinically insane. he/him.
Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us.
Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text.
Pronouns: any/don't care
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Joined October 29, 2022
Home Page:
Real World:
Standingstone, Auchencairn, DG7 1RF, Scotland
GitHub:
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
1d ago
Guess who's behind the sudden rush of age verification legislation?
In the US, #Meta is spending $26.3 Million to hire at least 86 Lobbyists from 40 lobbying firms, and lobbying in at least 45 states. It is confirmed that Meta wrote the Louisiana age verification bill.
In the EU, Meta is spending ten million euros annually on lobbying, retaining 18 lobbying firms.
Age verification isn't about protecting children; it's about attacking privacy.
https://tboteproject.com/
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Mar 05, 2026
Is it just me, or do others find it odd to hear journalists say that the UK 'must' take action to protect 'ex-pats' who have chosen to evade their fair share of taxation by moving to the Gulf?
I think an appropriate response would be to say to them, yes, of course you can return to blighty if you pay off all the taxes you've evaded while you've been away, but if you choose not to, you're on your own.
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Mar 01, 2026
Everyone in the UK, there's an official petition to parliament to 'Call a public inquiry into pro-Israel influence on politics & democracy'.
Please could I strongly urge everyone to sign it?
#Israel
#PalestineAction
#Palestine
#GazaGenocide
#UKPol
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/752646?ref=ed_direct
Curiously, there's a distinct east/west split on this petition!
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Feb 15, 2026
No! No! No! No! No!
#LLMs don't hallucinate. LLMs NEVER hallucinate. LLMs CANNOT hallucinate. LLMs don't have the cognitive ability to hallucinate. Any more than they have the cognitive ability to tell the truth, or to understand what truth is or why it matters.
These are things LLMs can NEVER do.
Anyone who tells you different is either a fantasist or a malign actor.
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Feb 11, 2026
This is genuinely important and good news: as I expected, no British jury is going to convict #PalestineAction activists of non-violent protest.
Of course, this is why the UK government is trying to get rid of jury trials, but ...
Will the proscription of Palestine Action as a 'terrorist organisation'(!) also fall?
Palestine Action activists cleared of aggravated burglary at Israeli defence firm site | Palestine Action | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/04/palestine-action-activists-cleared-aggravated-burglary-israeli-defence-firm-elbit-systems-filton
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Feb 05, 2026
"An analysis in October suggested that on just 27% of the vote (roughly in the middle of its polling over the past year), Reform UK would win 48% of the seats, allowing it to take power with a small coalition partner. If Reform UK forms the next government, it will be for one reason and one reason alone: our electoral system." -- George Monbiot, citing
https://electoral-reform.org.uk/first-past-the-post-could-catapult-reform-uk-into-government/
George's essay:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/04/labour-reform-greens-splitting-vote-unfair-electoral-system
#UKPol
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Jan 26, 2026
And once again, with #AltText4You
"We can't have clean energy because it will destroy the oil industry. We can't have healthcare because it will destroy the health insurance industry. We can't have peace because it will destroy the
weapon industry. Capitalism is a system which disables the option to do the right thing."
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Dec 27, 2025
OK, this is genuinely scary. It's a picture of me, aged 5. It was taken in 1960. It was scanned and uploaded to Google Photos in 2002. No one has told Google where it was taken. But the map, bottom right, is correct.
Obviously, in 1960, my father's pre-war Exakta camera did not have GPS. Could you identify, from that picture, exactly where it was taken?
Google can.
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Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
Simon Brooke
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Anarcho-syndicalist, autistic, crofter, cyclist, depressive, entrepreneur, geek, searchable, Trans ally, Zapatista. Politics & environment, especially # LandReform . Clinically insane. he/him. Credo: Life is harsh. What we can do - and what we should do - is strive to make it less harsh for the people around us. Addendum: you would not deliberately block a wheelchair ramp. Do not post images to social media without alt text. Pronouns: any/don't care
mastodon.scot
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot
·
Nov 19, 2025
"Israeli officials openly stated the goal: to destroy #Gaza and make it uninhabitable. By textbook definition, this is genocide: the deliberate targeting of people not for who they are as individuals, but because they are members of a group marked for destruction"
#GazaGenocide
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/18/israel-accountability-gaza-genocide
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