Simon Thompson

Stop what you are doing and look at this lovely story. A photography student in the 80s took pictures of punks and mods on the street in Preston. He’s now tracked them down and photographed them again. The pictures and stories are really ❤️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We’d love your help in filling out the Design Effectiveness survey. If you’re a designer or design-adjacent (researcher, developer, product owner, etc) or simply have opinions about design, then you’re welcome to join in. www.surveymonkey.com/r/RTTG77C We’ll share all our findings later this year.

This can be read in a couple of ways

Sharing for writers and writerly-adjacent. My brain is tentatively edging back towards writing something, but is nowhere near ready for November. (It also would benefit from my having work requiring 2hrs of train travel a day)

I asked AI for three things that make my daughter special, and it said: "We will add her biological, technological and cultural distinctiveness to our own."

Useful as ever, and I thoroughly appreciate Ellen Harvey's approach to doing a content audit without tools

Surely this should have been called “Princes, Trumps and Thieves” As in “we’d hear it from the people of the town, they’d call us…”

The Flipbook of the Rings. More than 1000 artists collaborated to create a hand-drawn, shot-for-shot, animated, flipbook version of the first The Lord of the Rings movie. All 3 hours. Over 120,000 scenes drawn by hand. Watch the first 11 minutes here. [kottke.org]

Right. I'm on a nightbus home. So the law is i have to tell y'all a story. So let me tell you about the time i ended up drinking with Ray Harryhausen's right-hand animator. Who we were incorrectly convinced was full of so much shit

Glad to see this, even if it means I’ll be going to sleep thinking about meaning, intention, audiences and more

@news.sky.com I realise that your brains have all been warped by “true crime” but have you ever considered the idea that physical and sexual violence against women is not serialised entertainment

I'd settle for an "ocean of sameness" in a world where submissions, procedures, or employee instructions could be constructed on the half-truths, assumptions or BS in documents shared on company systems.

I'd settle for an "ocean of sameness" in a world where submissions, procedures, or employee instructions could be constructed on the half-truths, assumptions or BS in documents shared on company systems.

This is so very pretty, in an ugly concrete way

Genuine lol at the final film in this list

Brits, don’t go to BBC Sounds and don’t search for “Pooh” And don’t think “I’ll just listen to one, maybe the kids will like it even if they are a little bit too old” because I bet you’ll be asking “where was Lenny Henry to read this to me when I was little?” www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

When Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens begins playing “Old Corn Liquor,” a traditional Black American folk tune, acclaimed Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man recognizes similarities to Chinese pentatonic music and spontaneously joins in. The joy on their faces says it all.

In fact i think if I had unlimited wealth and power I would simply get as many directors as possible to remake Top Gun. Wes Anderson. Denis Villeneuve. Guillermo del Toro. Ken Loach. David Lean. Sergio Leone. Sergei Eisenstein. Fritz Lang.

Thanks to @highwayqueens.bsky.social for this review. I'm still a little hmmm over the album, but If I Let You is easily one of my favourite songs of the year. highwayqueens.com/2026/09/27/a...

It’s nice to wake up to find a curated list of comedy or pop in my timeline

Join us today for the #ShareGate webinar: `Confident or covered? Microsoft MVPs unpack the 2026 State of Microsoft 365 report' at 11 AM ET sharegate.com/webinars/mic...

Very true, & also - as I sometimes forget - it's just cool. Like it is fun & neat & exciting. Sometimes I get so lost in unpacking how a folktale speaks to some anxiety of an age that I forget it is also a cracking story, that magic can be delightful & scary & I am also here for the Good Time.

Nice juxtaposition from The Guardian’s front page. It’s a pity we don’t get to see Horner in his friendly huggable cardie. One for @privateeyenews.bsky.social ?

Movie posters that could only be put up in British railway stations, one of a series of probably one.

Dear Anyone Making An App, Your updating an app should not mean I have to log in again, especially if the main point of use is a petrol station or supermarket. Thank you for your attention in this matter, SIMON THOMPSON

I'll believe the cure for cancer is on the way when they start chewing uranium

One essential point in an essential thread on solar and batteries etc.

An album I bought, loved on the first listen, but couldn’t subsequently recapture that feeling.

Not only is Topping Books packed with books and *customers*, but you get to use the library ladders!

This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever

Blog Post: Vibe Coding Isn’t the Problem. Ownership Is. sympmarc.com/2026/10/01/v...

“Content Strategy”

Omigod, this is the most heartwarming story possible! Backpack (bear 89) is the son of the 2019 winner of Fat Bear Week, Holly (bear 435). In 2007, he injured his foot & a practice of riding on momma's Holly's back had a new meaning: he was mobility-restricted while it healed. So Holly moved him.

conversational-leadership.net/event/offloa...

Here to tell you that the chemistry and tension in this scene still hits for 2026 teenagers, as evidenced by the very vocal reactions of my students today

Just to think, a week ago, they'd have been referring to it as artificial dodge

I have separated the art from the artist and am now whipping the art to stiff peaks, after which I will gently fold it into the artist before baking at 350 til golden and puffed

I always feel somewhat grimy asking folks to chip in to support Ada Lovelace Day, but am hoping that the community will step in given that businesses have stepped away. And if you can't support directly, a share would be awesome!

Horror stories for designers - 10 words or less: " it's just lift and shift"

I will forever be tickled by this idea

Yeah, people say they want order...

The newest episode of Strong Songs is about “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads - now available in the main feed! This is an *incredible* song, and I’m very happy with this episode. I hope you enjoy it - thanks, as always, for listening.

Christening a baby is nothing like christening a ship. I know that now. Once again I can only apologise.

Well, they* certainly have range *as much as I object to they-ifying people #smartarseResponseToPostWithoutAltTextOrSubstackLink

Unhealthy perception in culture wars.

Having spent a while yesterday trying to get my head around Digital Object Identifiers – I would have welcomed this introduction / perspective

This made me smile, attached to an ordinary cast iron drainpipe on a house in Durham. #TinyJoys