Rob Spence

I’m rooting for Burgess’s Any Old Iron.

Yes, I mentioned that in a previous reply. And it's very useful, but won't capture everything.

I think it already is. Lots of people seem to treat ChatGPT as the fount of all knowledge.

Well, there's already the Wayback machine preserving websites, so that's something, I suppose. But given the ephemeral nature of the web, it will only capture a tiny proportion. AI would doubtless confidently propose something plausible for each dead end.

Yes, that's true, but at least you'd have a clue about where to look. What can you do with a dead link?

Yes, this occurred to me the other day when reading a new academic book (which cost £85) and finding a link to a web page for the refs. Already, a couple returning a 404 error.

Teaching Caryl Churchill's "Top Girls" around 2012, and having to explain who Margaret Thatcher was.

I wasn't aware of that, but I'm not surprised. Can't see him reacting well to the constraints of public office.

Ah, right, thanks. Very interesting performer. Genre-defying is the clichéd description, I think. I like "jazz-adjacent."

This will sound dumb, but I'm not sure who you are referring to here.

Yes, a grotesquely appropriate name, emblematic of what's gone on in central Manchester for the last decade. Endless high rise "luxury apartments" with no public spaces, or schools, or health centres, or independent shops.

I love that the story says "Gary Neville to restore..." as if he's going in there with his hi-viz jacket and tool kit.

Yeah, but apart from that...

Hannah Spencer: Green MP gets police escort from violent demo The Green Party MP was put into a waiting police car after a demonstration turned violent in Manchester.

BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Pub Skittles - pubs.com YouTube video by Tim Keating

I don't have footnotes, but I know what skittles are. A game played in pubs. The skittles are like miniature bowling pins, and you have to score points by knocking them down. See youtu.be/T5qNcJCn5S0?...

I don't know what you want. There were six fire engines there around 15:45. The photos show some smoke, no inferno. Some time later, after dark, it really seems to have taken hold and become a major event. And that's when the BBC put their resources in to cover it.

OK, can't help you then. Other media outlets are available.

Building collapses at Glasgow Central Station as fire causes major disruption Dozens of services have since been cancelled and the station will be closed until further notice.

So you don't think this is reliable? www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...

Fair enough, but pics from earlier show something that looks under control This doesn't look awful. Obviously, sometime later, the fire really took hold and became a major event, which they are covering.

BBC website.

It's one of the top stories on the website and is being updated in real time. Given the state of the world at the moment, I think that's reasonable.

Doctor Faustus Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight

open.substack.com/pub/rob611/p...? Latest on First Folios: Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.

What do you mean, "one of the greatest"? THE GREATEST.

I'm sure this senior reporter will be proudly adding this to her portfolio. After all, "She has previously been shortlisted by the Society of Editors and O2 as reporter of the year."

Dispelling Some Myths: Romans, Railways and NASA rockets Yet another urban myth re-appeared on social media the other day, one which regularly does the rounds and has done so for many years since about 1937. In essence a series of connections are made to es...

That myth has long been debunked: www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/dispell...

Looks great, and I will try to join in later in the year. I think you've put the Athill cover up instead of the Taylor on the webpage.

Why do US politicians talking about bombing people refer to them as "kinetic strikes"? I mean, any strike is kinetic, because kinetic means it moves. Is it to make it sound like something from a video game rather than something that kills human beings?

Indeed. This cropped up on my feed earlier today, and caused a double take.

Fabrice Conchon, though! Could by a minor Thomas Pynchon character.

I assumed that Venomous Lumpsucker was a jokey name for a Martin Amis novel that I couldn't identify. Then I looked it up, and it's real!