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Posts by Bill Little

[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]

JANET:
Ugh...

LIZ:
What's up?

JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!

LIZ:
Have you tried...

AI peas?

JANET:
AI peas?

LIZ:
They're peas with AI!

[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].

LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas

JANET:
What

LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]

Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?

[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]

LIZ:

Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine

[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]

LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!

JANET:
What

LIZ:
Shut up

LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow

From opening the bag of peas

to boiling the peas

to eating the peas

To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.

JANET:
Is it really necessary to-

LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET

[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:

AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.

[Ends]

[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.] JANET: Ugh... LIZ: What's up? JANET: I am so bored of cooking peas! LIZ: Have you tried... AI peas? JANET: AI peas? LIZ: They're peas with AI! [Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI]. LIZ: Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas JANET: What LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines] Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas? [Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it] LIZ: Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine [Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas] LIZ: With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas! JANET: What LIZ: Shut up LIZ: Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow From opening the bag of peas to boiling the peas to eating the peas To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means. JANET: Is it really necessary to- LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]: THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET [Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan: AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas. [Ends]

Every ad now

5 months ago 6589 2837 79 129

Incidental beauty. This makes me feel instantly homesick. Uncanny.

1 month ago 0 0 0 0
Building seen in a puddle reflection

Building seen in a puddle reflection

Noticed this alignement on my way home, I had to capture it. Edinburgh's streets in the late afternoon can offer surprising sights.

#photography #Edinburgh

7 months ago 6 1 1 0
Four images of clothes on a line which are positioned to resemble animals, an elephant,  a zebra, a cow and a fox

Four images of clothes on a line which are positioned to resemble animals, an elephant, a zebra, a cow and a fox

More of artist Helga Stentzel's fun clothesline creatures #WomensArt #Monday

2 months ago 822 180 0 3
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Anaconda.org and conda adopt sharded repodata! 🚀

CEP 16, introduced by @prefix.dev, splits the massive repodata files into per-project shards. This allows clients to only fetch what they need, resulting in significant speedups!

Instructions to opt-in and benchmarks at buff.ly/XUSXp9h

4 months ago 12 8 1 0
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Day three of the #30DayMapChallenge - Polygons. This map shows the earths tectonic plates. I have overlayed all of the earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 4.0 over the last 20 years, coloured according to their magnitude (blue (smallest) - red (largest).

5 months ago 52 16 2 1
cartoon for the guardian by Stephen Collins - script as follows:

[Scene is a darkened LOFT. Amongst the boxes and junk are FOUR KNACKERED OLD FANS - three tower fans and one circular, with cracked grey plastic and buttons missing. One fan, TOWER FAN 1, is a bit taller than the others, and is addressing them]

1
TOWER FAN 1:
Right lads, get ready.

2
TOWER FAN 1:
This is our time.

3
TOWER FAN 1:
The time when we remember who we are, and why we’re here.

4
TOWER FAN 1:
We are the four crap fans in a British person’s loft,

and we are here to make absolutely no difference whatsoever.

5
TOWER FAN 1:
I know what you’re 
thinking, lads:

6
TOWER FAN 1:
Surely this will be the year they finally replace us?

7
TOWER FAN 1:
Our plastic’s gone all brown... I haven’t oscillated since 2018...

8
TOWER FAN 1:
Dave here sounds like a spitfire and blows like a sad cat’s sigh… 

TOWER FAN 2:
Cheers mate

9
TOWER FAN 1:
But no. These people are British, and every year, they forget the sun exists.

By the time they remember, 
new fans will cost *four million pounds* on Amazon.

10
TOWER FAN 1:
So we’ll be back down there... shovelling thick air across the moaning faces of a species that cannot comprehend the concept of air conditioning, or even just closing the curtains when it’s hot out...

11
TOWER FAN 1:
...while they incessantly bang on about normally hot countries which this country is now temporarily a bit hotter than.

12
[The loft hatch opens and a person comes up the ladder]
PERSON:
APPARENTLY IT’S HOTTER THAN GREECE, LISA

cartoon for the guardian by Stephen Collins - script as follows: [Scene is a darkened LOFT. Amongst the boxes and junk are FOUR KNACKERED OLD FANS - three tower fans and one circular, with cracked grey plastic and buttons missing. One fan, TOWER FAN 1, is a bit taller than the others, and is addressing them] 1 TOWER FAN 1: Right lads, get ready. 2 TOWER FAN 1: This is our time. 3 TOWER FAN 1: The time when we remember who we are, and why we’re here. 4 TOWER FAN 1: We are the four crap fans in a British person’s loft, and we are here to make absolutely no difference whatsoever. 5 TOWER FAN 1: I know what you’re thinking, lads: 6 TOWER FAN 1: Surely this will be the year they finally replace us? 7 TOWER FAN 1: Our plastic’s gone all brown... I haven’t oscillated since 2018... 8 TOWER FAN 1: Dave here sounds like a spitfire and blows like a sad cat’s sigh… TOWER FAN 2: Cheers mate 9 TOWER FAN 1: But no. These people are British, and every year, they forget the sun exists. By the time they remember, new fans will cost *four million pounds* on Amazon. 10 TOWER FAN 1: So we’ll be back down there... shovelling thick air across the moaning faces of a species that cannot comprehend the concept of air conditioning, or even just closing the curtains when it’s hot out... 11 TOWER FAN 1: ...while they incessantly bang on about normally hot countries which this country is now temporarily a bit hotter than. 12 [The loft hatch opens and a person comes up the ladder] PERSON: APPARENTLY IT’S HOTTER THAN GREECE, LISA

british fan chat

11 months ago 3180 1223 34 72
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Today, we're announcing our first hosted infrastructure product: pyx, a Python-native package registry.

We think of pyx as an optimized backend for uv: it’s a package registry, but it also solves problems that go beyond the scope of a traditional "package registry".

8 months ago 173 37 4 8
Video

JupyterLite 0.7 alpha releases are now available, with already some nice new features 🎁

- Audio and video playback
- Support for JupyterLab workspaces
- Basic cell interrupt

Try it in your browser and don't hesitate to share feedback, thanks!

jupyterlite.rtfd.io/en/latest

8 months ago 7 1 0 0
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Earth at night viewed from space (watch fullscreen).

8 months ago 7697 1500 236 129
Video

Motherfucking wind farms…

8 months ago 47070 17658 1135 2373
Cartoon by Stephen Collins for the Guardian, here's the script:

[SCENE: THERE ARE TWO TALKING COCKROACHES, THEY ARE BBC BREAKFAST PRESENTERS]
DAVE COCKROACH: Good morning!

It’s Wednesday May, 76,000,002,018  AD 
You’re watching BBC Breakfast with me, Dave Cockroach
SELINA COCKROACH: And me, Selina Cockroach

DAVE COCKROACH:  Well, today is set to be the hottest day ever recorded in Britain, as the sun swallows the Earth

SELINA COCKROACH: What a scorcher!

DAVE COCKROACH:   Here to tell us More is Matt who’s down in sunny Brighton. Hi Matt!

MATT COCKROACH [REPORTING FROM WHAT REMAINS OF BRIGHTON]:   Morning Dave! Well, the sea is long since evaporated down here…

But that hasn’t stopped every cockroach coming out to enjoy the glorious blood-red sun hovering ten feet above the ground.

Great news for Ian Cockroach here, who sells ice creams

How’s business Ian?

IAN COCKROACH. LEANING OUT OF AN ICE CREAM VAN: I’m on fire

[IAN COCKROACH CATCHES FIRE]

DAVE COCKROACH:  Ha ha! Oh dear I think Ian is -

[DAVE COCKROACH CATCHES ON FIRE]

[THE STUDIO IS ENGULFED IN FIRE]

Cartoon by Stephen Collins for the Guardian, here's the script: [SCENE: THERE ARE TWO TALKING COCKROACHES, THEY ARE BBC BREAKFAST PRESENTERS] DAVE COCKROACH: Good morning! It’s Wednesday May, 76,000,002,018 AD You’re watching BBC Breakfast with me, Dave Cockroach SELINA COCKROACH: And me, Selina Cockroach DAVE COCKROACH: Well, today is set to be the hottest day ever recorded in Britain, as the sun swallows the Earth SELINA COCKROACH: What a scorcher! DAVE COCKROACH: Here to tell us More is Matt who’s down in sunny Brighton. Hi Matt! MATT COCKROACH [REPORTING FROM WHAT REMAINS OF BRIGHTON]: Morning Dave! Well, the sea is long since evaporated down here… But that hasn’t stopped every cockroach coming out to enjoy the glorious blood-red sun hovering ten feet above the ground. Great news for Ian Cockroach here, who sells ice creams How’s business Ian? IAN COCKROACH. LEANING OUT OF AN ICE CREAM VAN: I’m on fire [IAN COCKROACH CATCHES FIRE] DAVE COCKROACH: Ha ha! Oh dear I think Ian is - [DAVE COCKROACH CATCHES ON FIRE] [THE STUDIO IS ENGULFED IN FIRE]

hottest day of the year

10 months ago 738 232 9 11
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How great is this infographic showing the summits of the world? I’d love to have that as a poster! Source: buff.ly/v1gv2Fe

10 months ago 37 4 3 0
Title: Combined Classics: get those notable novels ticked off more quickly! 

Image: a line of four books

1. 'Remains of the Day of the Triffids' by Ishiguro and Wyndham 

2. 'Greats: Gatsby, Expectations, Glass Elevator' by Fitzgerald, Dickens and Dahl 

3. 'Watership Down and Out in Paris and London' by Adams and Orwell 

4. War, Peace, Pride, Prejudice, Crime and Punishment  by Tolstoy, Austen and Dostoevsky

Title: Combined Classics: get those notable novels ticked off more quickly! Image: a line of four books 1. 'Remains of the Day of the Triffids' by Ishiguro and Wyndham 2. 'Greats: Gatsby, Expectations, Glass Elevator' by Fitzgerald, Dickens and Dahl 3. 'Watership Down and Out in Paris and London' by Adams and Orwell 4. War, Peace, Pride, Prejudice, Crime and Punishment by Tolstoy, Austen and Dostoevsky

‘Combined Classics’ - my cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

10 months ago 1552 380 46 23
Video

Marvel at the beauty of nature by enjoying these 42 animated African butterflies. Source: buff.ly/5iI5d1I

10 months ago 39 5 0 0
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🌐 Have you explored the updated Copernicus Interactive Climate Atlas (C3S Atlas) yet? Version 2 is here with exciting new features! Zoom in to visualise climate data and projections based on 35 variables and newly added datasets. #C3S

atlas.climate.copernicus.eu/atlas

10 months ago 43 13 1 2
Video

This map shows the hour of sunrise globally through the year. It reveals time zones following national and, sometimes, regional boundaries, and slicing through the oceans.

11 months ago 41 13 3 2
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I love that the Brazilian government not only publishes a Brazil-centered world map (why wouldn't they?) but also flip it around (again, why wouldn't they?).

11 months ago 112 24 2 3
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Exciting news! Our talk and tutorial at @SciPyConf have been accepted!

Learn more about the impact of Pixi on the Science community!

Special thanks to @matthewfeickert.com for the initiation of the tutorial!

Talk: cfp.scipy.org/scipy2025/t...
Tutorial:
cfp.scipy.org/scipy2025/t...

11 months ago 6 3 0 1
Preview
GitHub - scientific-python/specs: Scientific Python Ecosystem Coordination (SPEC) documents Scientific Python Ecosystem Coordination (SPEC) documents - scientific-python/specs

Hello friends! 👋

🔥 We’re working on ecosystem recommendations called specs to foster collaboration and shared best practices across the scientific Python ecosystem. 🤝

⭐ Support this effort by starring:

🔗

1 year ago 12 9 0 1
Video

This animated map imagines rivers standing up like trees. The link shows you an animated globe. Explore the world of river trees and see what your favourite river looks like standing upright! Source: buff.ly/Qf151Av

1 year ago 63 14 0 2
So, basically what you have here are a load of pringles, carefully arranged so that there are no gaps between them. We know this might seem impossible for a sub-circular snack, but the natural parabolic curve of each crisp facilitates overlapping. This may be considered cheating on a mosaic, but the overall effect is rather pleasing.

So, basically what you have here are a load of pringles, carefully arranged so that there are no gaps between them. We know this might seem impossible for a sub-circular snack, but the natural parabolic curve of each crisp facilitates overlapping. This may be considered cheating on a mosaic, but the overall effect is rather pleasing.

#MosaicMonday

Not all mosaics are Roman.
Some are Pringles.

1 year ago 578 75 17 8
Two figures walk along a corridor lined with complex machinery. 

The worker says "Congratulations, sir! The most intelligent machine ever created is ready to change the world. Ten billion dollars well spent...  What shall we ask it to do? "

The billionaire replies "That's my business, not yours. Close the door on your way out."

Now alone with the machine, the billionaire asteps closer and asks quietly "Can you Make people like me?"
it says "No"

Two figures walk along a corridor lined with complex machinery. The worker says "Congratulations, sir! The most intelligent machine ever created is ready to change the world. Ten billion dollars well spent... What shall we ask it to do? " The billionaire replies "That's my business, not yours. Close the door on your way out." Now alone with the machine, the billionaire asteps closer and asks quietly "Can you Make people like me?" it says "No"

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

1 year ago 5947 1969 42 83
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🌍✨ Bella #Italia in 3D! 🇮🇹

Dive into this jaw-dropping vintage map from 1967 ! From the towering Alps to the sun-soaked shores of Sicily, this is Italy like you’ve never seen before....alive with history and topographic glory 🔥

#Italy #3DMaps #VintageVibes #CartographyLovers #RGeek #HistoryNerds

1 year ago 21 5 1 0
Cartoon by Stephen Collins for The Guardian.

Scene is a SUPERMARKET, a MAN is walking past a display of CREME EGGS with his trolley.

1
MAN:
Tut

2
CREME EGG [talking to him from the shelf]:
Excuse me - did you just tut at us?

3
MAN:
W-what?

CREME EGG:
Tutting because you’ve seen ‘Easter eggs’ on January 11th, is it?

4
MAN:
What? Well, y-yes, I -

CREME EGG:
Listen, Tut boy

5
CREME EGG:
We are not Easter eggs. We are Creme Eggs.

6
CREME EGG:
We are the shock troops of seasonal capitalism. Eldritch simulacra of rebirth. Fondant mockery of life.

7
CREME EGG:
Not for us the grand safety of a cardboard box. Oh no.
They put us out here first, in our little foil uniforms, every January, to face the wrath of the nation.

8
CREME EGG:
And what you gonna do about it? Tut? Snark about us on social media?

9
CREME EGG:
Maybe you’ll write a little column in the Telegraph titled “It Is Sad That The Easter Eggs Are Out Already”.

10
CREME EGG:
You tut because you know that unlike you, we will return, every January…

…forever.

11
CREME EGG:
The eternal rebirth of mammon! The endless -

MAN:
Oh go on then
[He puts one of the Creme Eggs in his trolley]

12
CREME EGG:
HA HA YOU WORM

Cartoon by Stephen Collins for The Guardian. Scene is a SUPERMARKET, a MAN is walking past a display of CREME EGGS with his trolley. 1 MAN: Tut 2 CREME EGG [talking to him from the shelf]: Excuse me - did you just tut at us? 3 MAN: W-what? CREME EGG: Tutting because you’ve seen ‘Easter eggs’ on January 11th, is it? 4 MAN: What? Well, y-yes, I - CREME EGG: Listen, Tut boy 5 CREME EGG: We are not Easter eggs. We are Creme Eggs. 6 CREME EGG: We are the shock troops of seasonal capitalism. Eldritch simulacra of rebirth. Fondant mockery of life. 7 CREME EGG: Not for us the grand safety of a cardboard box. Oh no. They put us out here first, in our little foil uniforms, every January, to face the wrath of the nation. 8 CREME EGG: And what you gonna do about it? Tut? Snark about us on social media? 9 CREME EGG: Maybe you’ll write a little column in the Telegraph titled “It Is Sad That The Easter Eggs Are Out Already”. 10 CREME EGG: You tut because you know that unlike you, we will return, every January… …forever. 11 CREME EGG: The eternal rebirth of mammon! The endless - MAN: Oh go on then [He puts one of the Creme Eggs in his trolley] 12 CREME EGG: HA HA YOU WORM

1 year ago 191 52 11 7
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A science lecture.

A scientist stands on a stage holding a pointer and gesturing to a slide depicting the earth on fire. 

In the audience one member turns to another amd says “I prefer her earlier, funnier theories”.

A science lecture. A scientist stands on a stage holding a pointer and gesturing to a slide depicting the earth on fire. In the audience one member turns to another amd says “I prefer her earlier, funnier theories”.

A recent New Scientist cartoon:

1 year ago 1631 339 4 3

Word of the Day is ‘uhtcearu’ [ucht-kay-aru, with the 'ch' as in the Scottish ‘loch']:

Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.

1 year ago 13386 2932 428 460
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Dragon Particles #b3d #geometrynodes

1 year ago 59 7 3 0
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Italian astrophotographer Marcella Julia Pace spent 10 years capturing these 48 colors of the Moon.

1 year ago 2736 529 42 38
Summary of temperature, rainfall and sunshine for the UK in 2024.

Summary of temperature, rainfall and sunshine for the UK in 2024.

Here in the UK, 2024 was the 4th warmest year on record, meaning the last 3 years have had 3 of the 4 warmest years. It was quite wet and a pretty dull year overall.

December has been pretty mild overall, dull and with average rainfall. This #dataviz shows the weather/climate summary for 2024.

1 year ago 59 27 4 3