Andy Mabbett

@pigsonthewing

Man of many talents—some of them useful. Multiple monomaniac. Author, 'Pink Floyd: The Music & The Mystery'. Also Wikipedia, Wikidata &c. OpenStreetMap. Birds. Birmingham. Open data. FoI. Art. Architecture. History. FRSA. Everything is interesting.

1,965 Following1,299 Followers4,348 Posts

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Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· 17d

If #Wikimania2026 had an award for the coolest necklace

A necklace made up of upper-case letter cubes, reading "Citation needed".

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· 20d

#Wikimania2026

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· 21d

That's the rest of my week sorted, then... #Wikimania #Wikimania2026 #WikimaniaParis

Conference pass: "Andy Mabbett - Attendee - Wikimania Paris"

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· 27d

Found it. HTH.

First picture from original post, with arrow pointing to bird.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jul 12

This is a creepy pub sign. No matter where you stand, it's like he's looking at you

A pub called "The Jeremy Bentham". The sign is a relief sculpture of Bentham's face.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jul 10

OpenStreetMap does better

OpenStreetMap screenshot of the same area as discussed. All individual streets are shown.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jul 8

What, all of it?

Screenshot of BlueSky notification, saying "Shropshire (Salop) followed you".

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jul 3

I won a Wikimedia UK Silver Jubilee Award (one of five, present by Jimmy Wales)

A glass star, inscribed "Thank you from Wikimedia UK for your outstanding contribution to open knowledge", sat in a blue silk-lined box.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jul 3

TravelodgeUK boast about their "blackout" curtains

A pair of dark curtains, with sunlight streaming around every side. Objects on a nearby table are clearly lit by the sun.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 29

Go home, Goodreads, you're drunk

Screenshot reading " Memoirs on diphtheria. From the writings of Bretonneau, Guersant, Trousseau, Bouchut, Empis and Daviot. Selected and translated by Robert Hunter Semple. With a bibliographical appendix, by John Chatto.
by [Diptheria]."

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 29

This is BY FAR the best Cheddar I've found. Sharp as a razor blade, yet very competitively priced. And, unlike other popular (and supermarket-own) brands, unerringly consistent in quality. Ignore the best-before date, it never lasts that long in my house! 👏👏👏

Marks & Spencer Extra Mature Cheddar. 550g block for £4.25 (£7.73 per kilo). Shelf label says "This is remarkable value".

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 26

LGTM

Version of the "Your closest match is..." meme, edited so that I am matched to myself.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 25

Of course, Bluesky declined to show the image in its preview

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 13

Dispersal - most of the aircraft flew over Heathrow (including the Red Arrows at about 1000 feet, along the main runway). Anyone know why?

Screenshot of aircraft after crossing London - most heading WNW, the faster fighters breaking NW, and the Chinooks heading SE.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 13

Here they come; line shows path of Red Arrows

A line of aircraft approaching London. The Red Arrows are at the rear, having flown along the coast from the Wash to approximately Southwold, where they turned inland.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 13

Aircraft preparing for the Trooping of the Colour flypast - Red Arrows in Lincolnshire

ADSB website screenshot - most of the aircraft are over the North Sea.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 11

Screenshot of Wikidata item, showing that Goodreads, Open Library, Wellcome Collection, and Semantic Scholar (two different ways!) have conflated his identity with that of other people.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 10

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 6

Yourself, as a cartoon

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 6

Some side rule

Clocks on the Elizabeth Tower, aka 'Big Ben'.

Andy Mabbett@pigsonthewing· Jun 1

Google Translate hallucinates "Three children", for a family with five. 'Mit ihr hatte er die Kinder' means 'With her he had the children', not 'They had three children'.