Darren Townsend
@forrishilier.bsky.social
Husband. Proud dad to 17yo boy. Codeclub leader, CoG at 3 fab schools. Digital Making advocate. RPi Certified Educator. Delivers bread.
Another #buyastrangerabook day offer! @ginger-kid.bsky.social would like to buy two people a book each, up to a tenner! Loads and loads of books are about a tenner! So, if you have something in particular you're after, just ask! UK only
@ginger-kid.bsky.social · 13h agoIf getting hold of that book is difficult today I'm happy to make it just an offer to buy two people a book to the value of £10 each instead. Better to get someone a book even if it's not the suggestion 😁
This is the second time in as many months when Meta's ads have been linked to child sexual abuse material—a BBC investigation last month looked at Instagram ads www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Reports *today* suggest Zuckerberg apologized to officials about this www.scmp.com/news/asia/so...
Zuckerberg apologises to India over child sexual abuse content on Meta platforms
The Meta Platforms CEO also apologised for deepfake content and operational lapses on the company’s platforms, according to a report.
scmp.com
Crosshair Pack has been updated! 🎯 It now includes separate SVG (vector) files for each of the 200 crosshairs in a light and dark color scheme. Also adds a new glow effect, and the missing outline tilesheet! kenney.nl/assets/cross...
I’ll be relaunching my creative & mental health w’shops this evening,8.30pm. I’ve taught creative classes on BBC Countryfile,the Bronte Parsonage museum,the V & A museum & Highgrove. Here’s a clip of a film I wrote & presented for BBC Autumnwatch about how being nr water improves our mental health:
Palantir hoovering up European defence and NHS contracts whilst funnelling earnings back to the US to pay negligible corporate tax is a complete failure of digital sovereignty. European states must stop enriching tech firms that drain public coffers. Is it time to ban them? #FBPE
Palantir funnels earnings to US to avoid European taxes, report finds
A new study finds that Palantir, which boasts of high profit margins in the U.S., barely scrapes a margin in Europe, which helps slash its tax bill.
politico.eu
This evening I'll be relaunching my live online botanical and bird illustration & mental health workshops & my collecting for mental health workshops after being too unwell to teach for many months.Learn how time spent creatively shifts brain biochemistry for the better: workshops.emmamitchell.uk
As the EHRC Code of Practice comes into force, we’ve compiled a new Oxford toilet guide highlighting unisex/gender-neutral provision. 38 facilities across the city for when you need to go. Read it here: oxfordclarion.uk/oxford-publi...
Oxford public toilets: Where to go when you need to go
We are all the Clarion – and, sometimes, we all need the loo. And especially if you're pregnant, have an unreliable postnatal pelvic floor, are looking after children, or just need to spend a penny wi...
oxfordclarion.uk
I have been hacking dodgy old cameras again, on Jenny's Bench. ko-fi.com/post/The-Goo... Support me if you can, it helps.
The Good Camera Hiding In My Junk Box
Jenny's Bench published a post on Ko-fi
ko-fi.com
A Warhammer group commissioned this design. People kept asking them where to buy it, so with their approval it's now in my shop for all Warhammer 40K fans. Tee: www.infinitebacon.com/tshirts/p/wh... Print: www.infinitebacon.com/shop/p/wg40k... Thank you!
A 65-year old cyclist has died after a road traffic collision on Iffley Road at 11pm yesterday. A 21-year old man has been arrested on suspicion of death causing dangerous driving. Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage of a grey Volkswagen Golf.
A bit of community service and a 3 year driving ban for killing someone whilst driving. Previous for phone use too. This person should not be allowed to drive ever again. Life ban when convicted of killing whilst driving should be mandatory. He can bus. Or cycle. road.cc/news/van-dri...
“No idea how he hadn’t seen him”: Van driver avoids jail after killing cyclist riding with two rear lights
A van driver who killed a cyclist after failing to see him on the road, despite the 54-year-old riding with two rear lights, has been handed a suspended 10-month prison sentence.Graham Nash was riding...
road.cc
Reform UKs plan to use the Royal Navy to intercept migrant boats in the Channel brilliantly taken apart by ... er ... Nigel Farage
Leaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
Given we are approaching that time of the year, my big piece from years back on the 1983 Cold War Crisis (and the role of Stanislav Petrov in it) over onto authory as a free-to-read. Over the years, the myth of what happened has been simplified. The reality was scarier. Because: Ronald Reagan.
The Day the World Didn’t End
At the height of the Cold War, with alarms screaming, one Soviet officer stopped to think. It cost him his career. It may also have saved the world. The morning of the 26th September 1983 had started ...
authory.com
Silly season? Oxford’s news never stops. In today’s newsletter: 🏴 Raise the Colours’ campaign of intimidation 🚍 More buses after Botley Road reopens 🔥 Oxfordshire firefighters tackle wildfires 🔨 Last orders at 16th century ironmongers Join thousands of subscribers: oxfordclarion.uk/the-clarion-...
The Clarion, 4 August 2026
We're doing a rain dance. You? While we wait for some sorely needed water, here is some news, not all of it cheerful. Including less than savoury details about Raise the Colours; celebrating Oxford Ci...
oxfordclarion.uk
The new CEO of Bluesky wants to change Bluesky from being a leftist bubble. The thing is, there’s nothing wrong with being a leftist bubble: the idea that everything has to be all-encompassing and suitable for everyone is a trap. 🧵 1/4
TOKYOSEXSALE! 🔥 Want one of these slightly imperfect prints? You can grab one here: www.infinitebacon.com/studioseconds They’re studio seconds, so each has minor imperfections—but once they’re gone, they’re gone. Limited quantities available!
England's children's social care system has reached crisis point, but poverty, not asylum seekers, is to blame, says a University of Oxford study that has interrogated 50 years of data. www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-07...
A new find-the-tiny-silver-owl photo for you. It’s also worth zooming in for the silver cast I’ve made of a tiny feather, acorn, oak leaf & larch cone, a miniscule piece of coral, a pyritised ammonite & to see the design on the Victorian brooch I’m going to convert into a pendant…
Friends… please can you share? I’m starting to put some art up for sale to pay for my louche year of painting (and grieving, let’s face it cos that’s what’s at the root of all this, I think) - and would love to find some nice homes for my art #artforsale #starvingartist #watercolour #bsnm #nature
Amelia Clark - Lover of Flagons@gingertotty.bsky.social · 3d agoBack to scanning artwork. Some originals will be on sale, some prints, and I’m starting to curate so I can put together the much vaunted exhibition I keep threatening… These will be in the 2026 Clarkive sale. Prices in alt if you want to reserve (DM me)! #art #bsnm #artforsale #originalart #artist
The next few weeks I'll be doing weekly #gameassets releases! 🎁 Both 2D and 3D assets will be released or updated, including the City Kit (each pack gets a big update!) and a new Pattern Pack expansion. Follow to stay up-to-date!
As everyone seems to be discussing schools closing during the COVID pandemic here’s a reminder of what it was like here 🏴 just before the first lockdown. 🧵 I was teaching 33 P7s (11-12 upper primary) in an open plan classroom 5m x 10m. Covid was thought to be transmitted by touching surfaces. 1/
Ban all supermarkets from throwing away edible food and require donation petition.parliament.uk/petitions/75... Ok, we're not France. We're a Monarchy, so it won't get the signatures. But we do have to adapt to Droughts and this should be an integral part of any Plan by Burnham on Homelessness
If you're in doubt about how it feels to be trans in the UK, right now, read Lee's post below and the replies... It's horrifying that we find ourselves in this position in 2026. #Solidarity #TransRightsAreHumanRights
Lee Hurley@hleehurley.com · 5d agoDrinking espresso martinis, discussing with my fiancé at what point we need to flee the UK. I don't want to leave my home. My family. My friends. With every passing month, it feels more and more inevitable. We are losing so hard and I can't see how it stops.
If you suffer from low blood pressure, this article is highly recommended. 🤬 🚀 'By Hammersmith Bridge there is the unmistakable scent of damp soil. The playing fields of St Paul’s school, where fees are up to £57,000 a year, are a bright, lush green.' www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘It’s all right for them’: private schools and golf courses stay green despite England’s hosepipe bans
As parks turn brown and paddling pools go unfilled, exemptions mean sports pitches can stay lush – even in school holidays
theguardian.com
www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/motorin... It’s really disappointing to see Bristol Post taking commission from products that support life-taking, illegal behaviour. Can we expect balanced reporting of @bristolcouncil.bsky.social proposals to bring in more 20mph limits? @tristancorkpost.bsky.social
Honestly, I’m professionally embarrassed we’re still calling for action on road safety. There’s evidence of progress but it’s slow, and nowhere near ambitious enough. Meanwhile, people keep dying needlessly. That’s why I’m running for Brake. More on why 👇 www.northants.police.uk/news/northan...
Andy Cox takes on 200km challenge for road safety charity Brake
Andy Cox is nearing the halfway point of a gruelling 200km running challenge to raise awareness of road danger and support the road safety charity, Brake.
northants.police.uk
