Ben Curthoys

CEO & Founder, Monad Ticketing.
T1 Diabetes.
He/him. Berwick-upon-Tweed. Searchable.

Ben Curthoys (npub1kgu…ng4y)">https://justmytoots.com/Ben Curthoys (npub1kgu…ng4y)
Ben Curthoys (npub19vk…9wzn)">https://justmytoots.com/Ben Curthoys (npub19vk…9wzn)

Site: https://www.quora.com/profile/Ben-Curthoys
Site: https://www.monadticketing.com/

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npub1kgu420yd2k85q9hgpvjtvys288nkm2stugswljp5kjmnqas3h8sqjkng4y

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bencurthoys_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

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nprofile1qqstyw248jx4tr6qzm5qkf9kzg9rnemd4g97yg80eq6tfdeswcgmncqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dscptxa0

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Last Notes

2026-03-07 21:10:25 UTC

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Can't we look on the bright side sometimes? A reduction in oil consumption is good for the environment. Take the silver lining without having to drag us back to dwell on the people whose lives will be made more difficult reduced access to transportation.

2026-03-07 21:07:11 UTC

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This has made me realise something that is interesting to me and I am not having a go at you...
Almost everything that can happen is bad news for some people and good news for others. Rain is bad news for people selling sunglasses and good news for people selling umbrella. I've just noticed that I find the reflexive tendency, given any piece of news, to work out who it's bad for, and then to foreground empathy with them, a bit relentless and a bit grim.

2026-02-26 20:01:27 UTC

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we drink from the hose.

2026-02-24 19:56:05 UTC

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https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/127/364/757/577/315/original/4e6f8660c3102010.jpeg

2026-02-19 17:04:28 UTC

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That they can make mistakes doesn't make them useless. That idiots can use them in stupid ways doesn't make them useless. That bastards can use them in evil ways doesn't make them useless.

2026-02-19 17:03:59 UTC

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I've been wanting to say quietly for a while, but haven't dared: I find LLMs useful in some ways. No they will not replace my skills as a software developer. No they will not replace artists and authors and actors and script writers. No they will not justify the valuations implied by the amount of money currently being pumped into them. But that doesn't make them useless.

2026-02-11 12:25:29 UTC

RE: https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/116051558040617228
I read this and all I see is "fuck have I got to write ANOTHER payment gateway integration they are so boring and I am already doing WorldPay again for like the fourth time."
#note1jtp…qyxn

2026-01-31 06:05:30 UTC

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RE: https://mastodon.online/@danirabbit/115985248349797403
@npub1zdf…6u9l
Thought you might like this:
#note17wn…qh2h

2026-01-28 12:06:50 UTC

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The more good that you are doing, the higher the status you have, the more mana they can leach from you by finding something - anything - to criticise.

2026-01-26 11:18:10 UTC

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Oh god I really do not need to know how much time I spend dicking around on social media whilst the ideas percolate. I KNOW that it's past of my process; I know that my productivity is unchanged if I pretend to be working or play stupid online puzzles whilst I think about a problem. But I don't want my computer tracking it!

2026-01-06 14:15:48 UTC

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I was thinking something similar just the other day - https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-the-USA-needs-to-maintain-a-close-relationship-with-Europe-in-order-to-remain-a-superpower/answer/Ben-Curthoys
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/848/584/892/638/521/original/9d7800cc46125224.png

2025-12-13 20:54:50 UTC

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and the more unenforced badly drafted regulation there is, the more of an advantage the bad guys have, because the good guys spend enormous amounts on good faith efforts to comply, whilst the bad guys spend much less on specious reasons not to bother.

2025-12-12 16:42:41 UTC

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I think I quite liked Chapterhouse. Definitely stop there though.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/707/593/330/922/854/original/6a70c0d5247999da.webp

2025-12-11 08:50:42 UTC

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https://letsencrypt.org/2025/07/01/issuing-our-first-ip-address-certificate

2025-12-02 08:03:03 UTC

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I remember something clicked for me when I read that the performance of shares in foreign companies listed on the FTSE 100 inversely tracked the strength of the pound.
Because of course, if a pound is worth less, a company actually making things is worth more of them.
It's easy to make stock market numbers go up by allowing inflation to erode the value of the currency.

2025-11-30 11:08:33 UTC

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last night we watched Shakespeare in Love in his honour :)

2025-11-13 07:10:09 UTC

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quite.
I fundamentally don't trust Facebook to treat me like a customer, because in every interaction I have with them they treat me like livestock on their attention farm. I would never buy anything from Facebook, let alone something I put on my head and cover my actual eyeballs with.
I'm not an enthusiast for Valve, but I trust them to sell a device they think I want to buy, not the device they want me to be locked into so they can fill it with fucking adverts.

2025-11-11 07:07:41 UTC

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/529/800/729/906/059/original/bb65168f7dca4d2b.jpg

2025-10-22 18:51:00 UTC

This job advert is absolutely mindbogglingly batshit crazy from the first line all the way down to the salary.
https://jobs.tutors.international/advert/612

2025-10-18 23:15:47 UTC

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Hello, science here, anything you say must be supported by a double blind controlled trial or will be ignored.

2025-10-02 09:31:52 UTC

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https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/303/874/787/742/156/original/ec8a951f7fbc714d.mp4

2025-10-02 09:20:05 UTC

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A sidebar, but I am interested in your definition of "lewd". I always thought it was a synonym for "erotic", not just "rude".
My 7yo daughter loves shouting all the swear words she has ever overheard, but she doesn't do it in a lewd way.

2025-09-29 09:27:02 UTC

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So it's a classic euphemism treadmill.
"Homeless" sounds too close to "tramp" so there's a new word being invented for someone who doesn't have a house but who also doesn't have the mental health and substance issues that a majority of rough sleepers do.

2025-09-29 09:25:32 UTC

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I think it's because whilst in the UK people either have a job and a house, or they are wholly dependent on benefits and charity, rough sleeping or staying in hostels, and there's not much in between, in the modern USA there is a sizable population of people who have a full time job and get up and shower at the gym and make themselves look presentable but who live in their cars.

2025-09-22 09:37:34 UTC

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1) My children each have an Alexa in their rooms for playing music and audiobooks. There is much to hate about the design but it's good for them to be able to listen to stuff without help.
2) If I wasn't busy I'd be working on an interactive audio-only adventure game that people could play whilst driving or dog walking. Think like Zork or Cave or whatever but with additional richness from the sound effects.

2025-08-31 11:44:36 UTC

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in Terry Pratchett audiobooks books, there's the "this is a dream" harp noise - you know the one - then the footnote is read by a different voice, then the harp noise in reverse, then on with the story.

2025-08-29 10:34:30 UTC

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All I need is for manufacturers to admit that they are a fucking commodity now, stop trying to justify stock prices 1000 times more than they will ever earn, and "do a Brother Laser Printer" of a phone that just accepts that it is what it is and isn't trying to be the next fucking bubble.
The closest I've found is the Motorola 53g I've got and it's kind of fine and I'm eyeing up a Motorola 55g for when it breaks but there is no hurry.
https://www.techradar.com/phones/motorola-phones/motorola-moto-g55-5g-review

2025-08-16 22:57:18 UTC

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I grew up in Chesham and went to school in Amersham and it has been very weird seeing an independent shop from your hometown that was the only one suddenly turn into a massive national chain. It's like how I imagine it would be having spent your formative years drinking in a pub called "The Wetherspoons" and then you blink and there are thousands of the bastards everywhere.

2025-07-03 05:34:17 UTC

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if you don't think that people should pay any attention to things other people have to say about games, why do you bother to write and post about the games you play?

2025-05-17 12:43:28 UTC

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no but I think they contain "Janus" particles.
I think they are trapped in a matrix and the particles are free to rotate, which they do in response to electromagnetic fields, displaying either their white or black side.

2025-05-17 12:15:38 UTC

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is this not how e-ink displays work?

2025-05-12 21:20:33 UTC

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There was a brief window where forums would log and display the IP addresses of people posting, and idiots would go from being "anonymous' wankers in one place to posting from the same IP under their real name and address to a different forum about something else 5 minutes later. Fun times.

2025-05-12 21:17:47 UTC

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A deliberately wrong IP v4 address on screen.... Presumably this is the IP version of 555 numbers. Though I think this film is set about 25 years to late to usefully do anything with an IP address.

2025-05-12 21:13:23 UTC

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I'm 7:19 in and I have a horrible feeling that this is a film that I'm going to hate too. Though I have a certain amount of sympathy for the inciting incident being that he's trolling the trolls too hard.

2025-05-12 21:11:46 UTC

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I'm going to live-toot the experience because she'd hate that too.

2025-05-12 21:11:03 UTC

Jessie has sequestered herself in a relative's flat somewhere near Newcastle to finish writing her fucking book, so I am drinking wine and watching films that I know she would hate. Tonight: GUNS AKIMBO.

2025-04-02 13:26:05 UTC

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Practical result being as far as I can tell that if you eat carbs first and then exercise, it's miserable, but if you exercise first and then eat carbs, it's fine.
So I go for a low-ish carb breakfast & lunch and a normal dinner.
Also you don't need to go full keto.

2025-04-02 13:24:19 UTC

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The other thing is that once you have glucose in your bloodstream, your body can use it directly for exercise, store it as glycogen, or store it as fat.
Everything seems to work much better for me if my glycogen stores in my liver are depleted by exercise before I eat more carbohydrate. Again, insulin inhibits the production and action of glucagon, the hormone that turns stored glycogen back into glucose.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/268/571/165/339/906/original/0383457b348fcc4e.png

2025-04-02 13:15:43 UTC

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Well the top thing is that insulin inhibits lipolysis. You physically - not physically, chemically - cannot burn fat for energy whilst there is insulin floating around in the blood.
So if you eat loads of toast for breakfast, then go for a run, the exercise can make you hypoglycaemic but it can't make you lose weight.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/268/548/793/541/273/original/b416b53b0e44f2db.png

2025-04-02 11:53:07 UTC

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I am happy to share what I have learned about glucose metabolism from a couple of years of living with type 1 diabetes, if that helps. Also some low glycaemic index lunch recipes.

2025-03-30 10:20:59 UTC

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https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-number-of-police-bobbies-assigned-to-foot-patrol-in-the-UK-decline-by-7-000-23-928-to-16-577-from-2015-to-2022/answer/Ben-Curthoys?ch=10&oid=1477743798954221&share=31229ca3&srid=3orcX&target_type=answer

2025-03-27 09:38:40 UTC

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if they like Calvin and Hobbs, can I recommend Phoebe and her Unicorn?

2025-03-22 22:11:37 UTC

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3.6 gig feels like it ought to be enough for a fucking phone.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/208/374/525/171/380/original/9eb48af0ce11e5ca.png

2025-03-22 22:09:30 UTC

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I don't understand why they can't put all the state in the URL or a cookie or local storage or literally fucking anything but a JavaScript variable that gets forgotten when the page dies.

2025-03-22 21:09:39 UTC

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:(
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/208/130/845/965/842/original/6333ea1e52e582a7.png

2025-03-22 20:51:00 UTC

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Does anyone else here have this problem? I've googled a little and seen reports on Reddit but I'm trying to work out the extent to which it is just me, or if there is any way of stopping Firefox* on my phone fucking doing that. If I leave a tab open it's because I mean it.
* Chrome is no better I tried.

2025-03-22 20:49:15 UTC

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I mean the https://www.techradar.com/reviews/motorola-moto-g53 isn't that great but it was new if budget a couple of years ago; I would still expect to be able to commit e-commerce with it.

2025-03-22 20:47:23 UTC

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My phone isn't that old.

2025-03-22 20:47:06 UTC

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Same with paying for anything: I am required to switch to my banking app to authorise the purchase, and when I switch back to the web page it rebuilds the dom and I'm back at the "type in your card number" stage.

2025-03-22 20:46:01 UTC

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It goes like this: I try to log into a website. The page loads a JavaScript popup that says "We've sent you an email. Please enter the code to continue". I switch to my email app. I copy the code. I switch back to the web browser. It forces a page refresh and makes the JavaScript popup to away, bouncing me back to the start of login.

2025-03-22 20:44:13 UTC

There's a new UI pattern that I'm seeing more and more that has completely broken login and purchase flows on mobile for me.

2025-03-08 12:20:53 UTC

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if so like this: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zhuzh

2025-03-08 12:19:38 UTC

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is that the same word (but a very different operation) as when you zhuzh something up a bit to make it fancier?

2025-02-04 12:56:10 UTC

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It's been nearly 2 years since my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and in that time I have learned way more about glucose metabolism that I ever wanted to know, so if you have any specific questions hmu.

2025-01-06 21:07:16 UTC

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I wish I could now stop imagining a version of that Old Spice advert with a strap line "The teen your teen could smell like"

2024-12-11 14:00:27 UTC

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Fair enough.

2024-12-11 12:40:02 UTC

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I remember how terrified everyone was of being fined when GDPR first came out. Millions were spent on compliance. So where the fuck is the ICO? Why aren't they slapping down those fabled fines of 4% of global turnover? I want to see someone getting humiliated and financially broken in court.

2024-12-02 19:08:53 UTC

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I don't think open-ness of protocol is enough. It also has to be easy to integrate with. E.g. XMPP was too fussy and abstract.

2024-11-21 09:09:59 UTC

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One more thing: a thread from the bad place
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1859385352886362192.html
Turns out a contender the most profitable use of farmland is "avoiding inheritance tax" - and vast amounts of agricultural land are being bought by wealthy non farmers ever year to take advantage of the loophole.

2024-11-20 14:35:47 UTC

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The value of land is based on the most profitable possible use of that land, because the person with the most profitable use in mind is the one who will pay the most for it, so if farms are using up land that would be more profitable as something else, then economic theory correctly predicts that the return on the assets that farmland represents will be low. And the sensible thing to do would be to let the farms go bankrupt and use the land for something else.

2024-11-20 14:35:42 UTC

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2) Farmland is expensive, but not "overpriced", because farmers are competing for land with all the other things we want to use land for. Land is the archetype of a scarce resource - they aren't making any more of it - so every acre of farmland is an acre that can't be put to other purposes.

2024-11-20 14:35:24 UTC

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Not an economist either but answering from the economic perspective as I understand it
1) Farmers can't be "under-rewarded"; it's not like they have a boss whose door they can knock on to demand a pay rise. Farms as businesses make as much money as they can, charging what the market will bear. If their production costs are too high, their profit margins too low, if we can buy our food more cheaply elsewhere, then they are welcome to go bankrupt: we don't owe them anything

2024-10-14 15:33:02 UTC

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There is a price at which the number of items you have for sale (the supply) is exactly equal to the number of people prepared to pay that price (the demand). That price is the market clearing price.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/306/503/178/438/150/original/9f335ef11ccce367.png

2024-10-14 15:32:57 UTC

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Saying "At $60 I no longer demand vinyl" is exactly how supply and demand works.
Suppose there are 1000 people prepared to buy vinyl at $30 a go, of whom 10 are prepared to pay $60.
If you have 1000 records to sell, you sell them for $30. But if you only have 10 records and there are 1000 who would like to buy them for $30, you don't sell them for $30: you sell them for $60 each, to the 10 people who are prepared to pay that much.

2024-10-14 11:19:55 UTC

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In general, fields which feel well regulated - airplane safety, elevator safety - have been around for a while, whilst fields which feel badly regulated - computerised voting - are quite new.
Possibly the early regulation of those fields was stupid (the "man with a red flag running in front of the car") but has been removed so that what remains is sensible. Possibly the regulation which made cookie consent popups ubiquitous will be the modern equivalent.

2024-10-14 11:18:34 UTC

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What I understand by "red tape" is the bad regulation that adds cost without making anyone safer; I can't see any argument for keeping it. Obviously care must be taken not to throw the baby of good regulation out with the bathwater; I don't want no regulations at all!

2024-10-14 09:49:59 UTC

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You have missed a very big assumption - that the regulations that were introduced in response to very real problems were well conceived, well drafted, proportionate, and actually did anything at all to address the actual problem they were aimed at.
In every case that I personally have experience of, the regulations were forced through by panicked politicians desperate to be seen to be doing something about issues they were profoundly ill-equipped to understand.

2024-09-24 22:25:08 UTC

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Chris, you know that the Archimedes was the direct ancestor of the ARM chips in every phone now, right?

2024-09-18 07:18:28 UTC

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Petition for a .blink TLD

2024-09-13 06:03:11 UTC

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Have you ever played Subnautica?

2024-09-05 10:21:45 UTC

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cf.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/084/442/271/217/182/original/bc23c8edbcb04a3c.png

2024-08-14 20:12:29 UTC

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At least you weren't told that you shouldn't *want* to do X with Y.

2024-08-06 23:27:22 UTC

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Google killed any chance I would spend money on a Google product that I expected to last longer than a lettuce a long time ago.
But I had sort of toyed with the idea that a Chromecast might have been worth buying. Now I'm one again glad I didn't buy Google.