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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 8h

Plenty of tech ideas are sensible, genuinely useful - and relatively small. They don't hit the headlines, obviously. But they're there. There are folks scratching itches all over the place, and it's fab. Don't let the bad and silly stuff put you off the good bits :)

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 2d

I cannot comment on their methodology. But the data tables are posted promptly, and those tables have a simple and consistent format. I appreciate both of those aspects greatly - but it's *just possible* my perspective is a relatively niche one.

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 3d

Interview closer: "Thank you for your time, Mr Marlowe. We'll let you know."

(Off to see Born With Teeth this afternoon...)

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 3d

Hmm. I've been building my "election 2029" web site knowing there's always been a risk that the election won't be in 2029. I hadn't thought about the possibility that there could be *multiple* general elections in 2029.

Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

Sounds like a question for the Penguin Dictionary Of Curious And Interesting Numbers. That definitely has an entry for "the first integer which isn't interesting for any other reason."

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

There must be a joke about "all the right letters, not necessarily in the right order" here - but I'm not sure it would apply to the Conservative party...

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

They're just the very common abbreviations in UK politics - as much as "Rep" and "Dem" would be in the US.

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

Just started a run now. Have ended up skewing the results a bit more (so the chances per party are proportional to the *square* of the 2024 votes). Will see what happens... follow along at staging.election2029.uk/live-results

Live Results

staging.election2029.uk

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

Me too. But just to make sure I'm absolutely clear on this, these will be randomly generated results. It's really to test the web site... but it might make for some interesting electoral maps and Sankey diagrams along the way...

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

Would anyone be interested in following along with this? If so, I'll post here when I'm starting a run. It's likely to be on Sunday afternoons (UK time), maybe some Saturdays. (Not very often.) If no-one is interested, I'll avoid polluting folks' feeds.

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

The plan is to release the results in a vaguely realistic "hump" (so results drip in, then we get more, then they tail off towards the end) - with an overall time of about 2 hours.
The random results will aim to be *somewhat* plausible, initially by "chance of winning = proportion of 2024 votes".

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

I'm currently working on tooling to ingest results for the 2029 UK general election - providing random results for test purposes.

In order to see the site work "properly" (as opposed to just on my personal laptop), I'm planning on running this on staging.election2029.uk.

UK Election 2029

staging.election2029.uk

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

"Dragon" is to "pile of gold" as "cat" is to "coffee machine".

A cat curled up on top of a coffee machine.

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 6d

This is a really excellent post, even by the normal Freedman high standards. The timeline of September meetings and events is particularly interesting.

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 6d

New post from @ldfreedman.bsky.social

"Will there finally be peace in Gaza?"

A must read if you want to understand how we ended up with the proposed peace deal and what might happen next.

(£/free trial)

samf.substack.com/p/will-there...

Will there finally be peace in Gaza?

One never goes too far wrong by being pessimistic about events in the Middle East.

samf.substack.com

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 8d

I can see it now: "Petition: respond to petitions more thoroughly"

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 13d

Why do studios pay so little attention to subtitles? I'm just watching something on Disney+, and the subtitles included "H&R". Where's the quality control?

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 15d

Missing you! Way too long since my last 'Mash...

Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 16d

BBC news: "Denmark says 'professional actor' behind drone incursions over its airports"

Me: I bet AmDram societies all over Europe are breathing a sigh of relief.
...
Me: Oh, *that* kind of professional actor.

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Reposted by Jon Skeet

eileen chengyin chow @chowleen.bsky.social · Sep 22

One of my favorite poems since childhood, and a poem I share every #autumnequinox.
By the 12thc warrior poet Xin Qiji 辛棄疾, sidelined during peacetime, demoted, drifting through a decade of minor posts in remote lands.
Poetry, then, is that which is left unsaid.
“My, what a cool and lovely autumn.”

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 20d

@janschne1der.bsky.social Found your account while looking for the #FindingHester tag. Reading it now. It's a small world...

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Reposted by Jon Skeet

Iain Roberts @slowbikeiain.bsky.social · 20d

Lib Dems: We have 12x Reform's MPs, can we have the same coverage?

BBC: But Reform has 2x your poll rating. If there were an election tomorrow, they'd be running the country.

Lib Dems: So you're putting their people and policies under scrutiny, right?

BBC:

Lib Dems: Right?

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 20d

On a long weekend away with friends, with a lot of boardgames. (It's so lovely.) I'm considering a variant on Splendor - exactly as normal, but with the top card on each card pile face up, so you know what *will* be available to buy once one of the current cards has gone.

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 22d

How important do you think the locals are for YP in terms of either establishing that they *are* a serious, credible party - or proving the opposite? If they don't get anywhere in the 2926 locals, do you think that means they fizzle entirely before the GE? (Obviously massively speculative...)

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 22d

I don't go to gigs, but theatre prices have definitely shot up in the last 5 years too.

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Jon Skeet @jonskeet.uk · 23d

And another thought that is perhaps less likely, but worth entertaining: might centrist Tories (if there are any left) consider defecting to the Lib Dems, if they see the Conservatives as essentially doomed, but want to be the optimal "not Reform, not Labour" candidate in their constituency?

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