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Reposted by Simon Li

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 20d

My statement on the formal recognition of the Palestinian state.

I welcome the announcement from the Prime Minister that the UK now recognises the Palestinian state.

This is a significant and important step that sets out our intended future relationship with the Middle East – one where there is a secure Israel and Palestinian state, including Gaza and the West Bank under the control of Palestinians.

However, there can be no two-state solution if there is no viable state left to call Palestine.

The horrific and ongoing killing of so many innocent civilians in Gaza is appalling and heartbreaking, and this intentional destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza cannot go on. There must be an immediate return to a ceasefire.

Hostages held in appalling conditions must be released without delay, much needed aid let in and the people of Gaza should be able to return to what is left of their homes and start rebuilding their shattered lives.

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · 20d

Saw a lot of runners in Edinburgh so Googled to find out what the race was...
#aifail

Screenshot of Google search AI Overview: "There is no major race in Edinburgh today, Sunday, September 21, 2025. However, two races are scheduled for later this month in the city: the Men's 10K Edinburgh and the Women's 10K Edinburgh, both taking place on Saturday, September 21, 2025."

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Sep 11

Next year's Research Software Engineering conference: Sheffield! 9-11 September 2026. Collocated with the International Research Software Conference 7-8 with the Research Software Alliance.
#RSEcon26 #RSEcon #ReSA

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Sep 10

@simonhettrick.bsky.social on the problems with the Research Excellence Framework in the UK. Software (and many other outputs) should be considered - but very few universities include them. 97.6% of submitted outputs were publications.
#RSEcon25

Simon Hettrick in front of a bar chart showing numbers of each REF output type. 97.6% are publications.

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Sep 9

FRIDGE, SATRE and AIRR at #RSEcon25
#TrustedResearchEnvironments

FRIDGE, A ready-to-use SATRE compliant TRE that can be deployed to AIRR

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Sep 9

#RSEcon25 kicks off with a keynote by @amandabrock.bsky.social from @openuk.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/book/44727
#opensource #openaccess

Amanda Brock in front of an OpenUK presentation slide, showing an open-access e-book Open Source Law, Policy and Practice

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Reposted by Simon Li

Ewan Birney @ewanbirney.bsky.social · Apr 9

Longstanding followers will know I have consistently tried to unpick concepts of race / ethnicity from genetics. TLDR; Race/Ethnicity - a self identification process about a categorical group is v different from the high dimensional variation in the genome despite a thin connection by visible traits

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Reposted by Simon Li

Led By Donkeys @ledbydonkeys.org · Mar 28

We took over the giant screen at Farage’s big rally in Birmingham

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Mar 28

Should URLs in #JsonSchema IDs be resolvable? They don't have to according to the spec json-schema.org/understandin... but _should_ they be?

JSON Schema - Modular JSON Schema combination

JSON Schema

json-schema.org

Reposted by Simon Li

James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · Mar 8

No schadenfreude or satisfaction in seeing ‘prominent’ Trump
cheerleaders in the UK finally see the light & change their tune (Andrew Neil is just the latest). Just a low simmer at their toxic blend of arrogance, cupidity & ignorance & the knowledge that the media will still promote their ilk.

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Reposted by Simon Li

Software Sustainability Institute @softwaresaved.bsky.social · Mar 6

🟥 We are happy to announce that the SSI has received £4.8m from @ukri.org to launch the Research Software Maintenance Fund.
Find out more about this exciting opportunity at www.software.ac.uk/news/ukri-aw...

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Feb 28

Can anyone explain why the UK government is inviting a sexist racist climate change denier for a second state visit? www.bbc.com/news/article... (it says "invitation from the king" but it's the government that decides)

Keir Starmer gives Donald Trump state visit invitation from the King

Keir Starmer hands the US president an invitation letter as the pair meet at the White House.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Simon Li

World Bollard Association™️ @worldbollardassoc.bsky.social · Nov 27

Welcome to Bollard World. A place where dreams come true.
#WorldBollardAssociation

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Reposted by Simon Li

Sue Cowley @suecowley.bsky.social · Feb 2

Honestly Labour you have a large majority and more than 4 years to the next election. Why do you have to be so limited and limiting in your thinking? 🤦‍♀️

Kevin Schofield @kevinschofied.bsky.social · Feb 2

NEW: Yvette Cooper rules out a youth mobility scheme between the UK and EU: "That's not the right starting point for us at all."

Brussels is demanding one as part of the government's "reset" of relations with the bloc.

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Jan 31

Editor in chief of the British Medical Journal gets straight to the point on the damage being caused by the new US president, misleading information on social media, and the deliberate failure to invest in fact-checking.
www.bmj.com/content/388/...

Trump and the tech bros: demagogues of harm to human and planetary health

A US medical society has written to tell us that some of its members will be unable to contribute to journal activities. This followed a government mandate that initially seemed to prohibit US federal...

www.bmj.com

Reposted by Simon Li

Deviant Ollam ツ @deviantollam.bsky.social · Jan 20

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Reposted by Simon Li

Hardeep Matharu @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social · Nov 25

"That progressives have failed to grasp how utterly tech has changed everything in our political culture – esp. given revelations of the role of psychological profiling through social media – is exploited by the right as a new ‘Wild West’. Elon Musk, is the most logical next step in this trajectory"

The Psycho-Social-Techno Politics of ‘MAGA’ Trumps Democracy – And the Liberal Left Has No Answer

Donald Trump’s second victory in the United States is a warning sign to democracies everywhere of the centrality of emotions – and their manipulation – in the new politics of gross inequality and psyc...

bylinetimes.com

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Reposted by Simon Li

Joshua Eaton @joshuaeaton.bsky.social · Jan 2

This is, as I see it, the defining problem of our media environment.

We have more and more people doing commentary and analysis based on facts gathered by fewer and fewer reporters.

It’s can’t hold.

Joshua Eaton @joshuaeaton.bsky.social · Jan 2

Opinion can be produced fast and cheap, and it generates clicks.

Meanwhile reporting is slow, expensive and boring.

No one ever got rich selling broccoli. (And I love broccoli.)

Simple as.

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Reposted by Simon Li

Bread and Rosie @rosiemund.bsky.social · Dec 8

Any "avid cyclist" who claims that the solution to road safety for cyclists is simply to be more skilled and assertive should be required to demonstrate that they are more skilled and assertive than Olympic Champion Remco Evenepoel who was, this week, doored.

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Reposted by Simon Li

Tom Calver @tomcalver.bsky.social · Dec 8

NEW: How baby boomers became the least healthy generation

Until recently, bad habits were concentrated in the young. Now, people born in the 50s and 60s are drinking more than any other age group - and are driving up obesity rates too

@thetimes.com

1/7

🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/4efe...

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Reposted by Simon Li

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Nov 29

We all think plastic pollution is a problem, and it is. In the nearly 70 years between 1950 and 2019, the world produced a total of ~9.5 billion tonnes of plastic.

But all the plastic we have EVER produced weighs as much as CO₂ we emitted into the atmosphere during the first three months of 2024!

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Nov 28

Also makes the point that oil and agricultural industries are good at pushing back against change because they're experts at marketing and communication. Scientists aren't (probably why there's a perception that people aren't as supportive of action as they are).

Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Nov 28

A nice talk today from Paul Behrens at the Oxford Martin School about dealing with climate change. In some areas we're ahead of where we thought we'd be (eg prevalence of solar), surveys show the public and scientists are much more in favour of action than perceived!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRMz...

'Towards a liveable planet: land, energy and food system transitions' with Prof Paul Behrens

YouTube video by Oxford Martin School

www.youtube.com

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Simon Li @penguinoops.bsky.social · Nov 28

Public Engagement in Data Research Initiative (PEDRI) have launched their new website and it's looking good 😀. If you work with data about the public (e.g. healthcare, government) and want to know how to maintain the public's trust you should have a look
www.pedri.org.uk

Home - PEDRI

www.pedri.org.uk

Reposted by Simon Li

Chris Holdgraf @choldgraf.com · Nov 19

Big milestone for Project Jupyter 🚨:

Jupyter has finalized the creation of the Jupyter Foundation, hosted by @linuxfoundation.org.

www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-...

Linux Foundation Announces Formation of the Jupyter Foundation

www.linuxfoundation.org

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