James Ashford

Connections
Puzzle #871
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Welcome to London! Where the coffee is expensive but the pigeons are friendly.

Bible Sales Surged Following Killing of Charlie Kirk A 36% jump in September, compared with a year earlier, indicates a religious revival for some in the U.S.

Sales of Bibles soared in the weeks after the fatal shooting of conservative political activist and author Charlie Kirk.

A screenshot showing the improved page for colorblind users.

The new modernized "Add Networks" dialogue.

Same setting page for colorblind users as before, but showing how you can desaturate the colors.

"This Week in Plasma" brings the news that Plasma improves accessibility for colorblind users, you can set up slideshow wallpapers easier, and enjoy a more modern Add Connection dialog.

Plus tons of other stuff...

blogs.kde.org/2025/09/27/t...

Think I’m going to come off all social media for a bit. If there’s one thing I’ve discovered over the past few days is that social media (even Bluesky) can be filed with utterly vile people.

An excellent presentation too!

📸 @chloeisabelle.swifties.social

A birthday cake with “30” candles.

Another year another milestone…..

I haven’t read much recently. I’m on the final chapter. It’s insightful but difficult to read on it’s on. Would definitely recommend reading with a commentary.

Really interesting paper by @lucas-wright.bsky.social about recent shifts in trust and safety infrastructure being contracted out to third-party companies. This does an excellent job of putting this shift in context with regulatory compliance and implications for platform ecosystems. 1/

Six boxes of individually packaged eggs

If only there was a better, more sustainable way of packaging eggs…

Connections
Puzzle #767
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A picture of a sunflower with two heads

I’m assuming it isn’t normal for sunflowers to grow like this?? #Gardening #Sunflower

Macron: "He's a very clever cat"
Merci monsieur le président x

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis

Looking forward to reading this one. #CSLewis #Book.

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I love the idea of a spreadsheet. Maybe I should try it as I’m always forgetting what I’ve preached and where.

A lake with a path on the side

An open space with some wild grass

A lake with some trees in the background and some lily pads

I guess there are some perks to having a child with chickenpox. I would’ve missed these beautiful views whilst working. #Nature

Suicide pod will be ready to use in UK, inventor says Dr Philip Nitschke is hoping that doctors will embrace his Sarco pod, created with a 3D printer, when the assisted dying bill becomes law

Nitschke, who invented the pod, which uses gas to assist death, said: "As soon as we know that the final legislation is in place we’ll start enthusiastically pursuing the option of using the device in the UK."

ENTHUSIASTICALLY?!

Lord, have mercy

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Commissioning Thank you for your interest in applying to the NABS+ commissioning call. To ensure your application meets all necessary criteria, please read the guidance documents below carefully before submitting.…

🔍 The NABS+ commissioning call is now open!

We’re funding small, focused research projects that tackle key security and defence challenges using behavioural science. Topics include AI, online harms, and information manipulation. APPLY NOW crestresearch.ac.uk/nabs/commiss...

MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi led the call to decriminalise the 1% of abortions that happen after 24 weeks.

Devastating news.

MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales www.bbc.com/news/article...

🚨 Call for Abstracts!
I'm excited to announce the 2nd workshop on Directions of Polarization, Social Norms, and Trust in Societies
@ MIT on Dec 5-6
Keynotes from
@bgoldberg.bsky.social & @adamberinsky.bsky.social

🗓️ Deadline to submit: July 14, 2025
🔗 sites.google.com/view/polariz...

❓ Have you registered yet? ❓

Over 100 participants are already on board — but there’s still room for you to join!

Be there Thursday 19 June at 14:30 CEST for a closer look at governments' legal obligations to tackle disinformation! 👇
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Went to my son’s nursery for a Father’s Day event. Seeing this is a neat freak’s worst nightmare.

Why I'm Leaving the Fediverse (Again) Over the past few years, I have been on an ongoing quest to find a better social media experience. My journey begins when I originally left Twitter (now X) in light of the whole Musk purchase, which f...

Why I'm Leaving the Fediverse (Again): jrashford.com/2025/06/04/w...

A collection of freshly baked cookies on two baking trays.

Made #cookies for the first time to do with a little help from #Claude. #AI #Baking #ClaudeSonnet

This project grew out of a convo I had with @katestarbird.bsky.social in Sept 2018 after a great talk she gave a MIT - only took 6.5 years to finally appear in print! Makes me very glad for working papers...

A raised flowerbed with different types of flowers.

Raised bed is coming along nicely. Today I added two acers, marigolds and a nemesia. #gardening

Making the most of the nice evening weather by working on my sermon in the garden #writing #garden #Sermon