Tom King
@acertaintom.bsky.social
overmighty citizen
publicstatistic.substack.com
publicstatistic.substack.com
Pinned
Tom King
@acertaintom.bsky.social
· Mar 28
A year ago this week, I was vexed that professions were not speaking about lessons to learn from the Post Office, so this is an update those reflections
publicstatistic.wordpress.com/2025/03/28/o...
publicstatistic.wordpress.com/2025/03/28/o...
Reposted by Tom King
. @probablefutures.bsky.social event today on AI in law enforcement & lessons from the past. @ctmccartney.bsky.social speaking on what we can learn from the introduction of breathalysers and speed cameras
December 11, 2025 at 11:36 AM
. @probablefutures.bsky.social event today on AI in law enforcement & lessons from the past. @ctmccartney.bsky.social speaking on what we can learn from the introduction of breathalysers and speed cameras
Reposted by Tom King
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it
I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:53 AM
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
Hyper local media national licensing sounds a bit like the broadcaster production company relation in tv
Anyway it's an honour the Guardian has licensed a version of a London Centric piece as today's Long Read. The pics are amazing. The fee will pay for me to hire a freelancer for a week. But mainly it means I'm freed from the alpaca... which is replaced by a snail.
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?
The long read: Terry Ball – renowned shoe salesman, friend to former mafiosi – has resolved to spend his last years finding ways to cheat authorities he feels have cheated him. His greatest ruse? A ta...
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Hyper local media national licensing sounds a bit like the broadcaster production company relation in tv
Reposted by Tom King
Fully-funded PhD studentships available in Computer Science at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/fees-a...
Interested? Please see www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-sci... first and have a chat with prospective supervisors. Applications due 1 Feb.
Interested? Please see www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-sci... first and have a chat with prospective supervisors. Applications due 1 Feb.
School of Computer Science PGR Scholarships - Study at St Andrews - University of St Andrews
www.st-andrews.ac.uk
December 1, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Fully-funded PhD studentships available in Computer Science at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/fees-a...
Interested? Please see www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-sci... first and have a chat with prospective supervisors. Applications due 1 Feb.
Interested? Please see www.st-andrews.ac.uk/computer-sci... first and have a chat with prospective supervisors. Applications due 1 Feb.
Reposted by Tom King
Solidarity with and empathy for junior people on the frontline who press the right buttons in the wrong order
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
November 26, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Solidarity with and empathy for junior people on the frontline who press the right buttons in the wrong order
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
Reposted by Tom King
Good to see the British Library recruiting for a Head of AI and Policy (and Windows 12)
www.artsjobs.org.uk/jobs/search/...
www.artsjobs.org.uk/jobs/search/...
November 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Good to see the British Library recruiting for a Head of AI and Policy (and Windows 12)
www.artsjobs.org.uk/jobs/search/...
www.artsjobs.org.uk/jobs/search/...
Reposted by Tom King
If you or anything you’re responsible for used NPM today, check you didn’t install something malicious:
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
November 24, 2025 at 2:50 PM
If you or anything you’re responsible for used NPM today, check you didn’t install something malicious:
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
I love the idea that 'dogs that look like chickens' is a tag that might be the leitmotif of multiple articles
If the tags I've just added to the post I'm publishing first thing tomorrow morning appeal to you, sign up to London Centric to have it in your inbox: www.londoncentric.media
November 20, 2025 at 8:35 AM
I love the idea that 'dogs that look like chickens' is a tag that might be the leitmotif of multiple articles
@peterkwells.com bons voyages
If eurostar went to Blackpool...
My lovely colleague Abdel announces the stops from Preston with a Marseille twist. Nearly 4 years later, this still makes me guffaw.
My lovely colleague Abdel announces the stops from Preston with a Marseille twist. Nearly 4 years later, this still makes me guffaw.
November 19, 2025 at 2:29 PM
@peterkwells.com bons voyages
@ceefaxisbetter.bsky.social Saw this and thought of you
November 19, 2025 at 12:03 PM
@ceefaxisbetter.bsky.social Saw this and thought of you
Reposted by Tom King
And I did go out of my way to emphasise — in response to a post criticising the ONS — that the ONS data revisions were a good thing! 😅
Which is a drum I have consistently been banging for months, e.g this from Jan on the same topic www.ft.com/content/522d...
Which is a drum I have consistently been banging for months, e.g this from Jan on the same topic www.ft.com/content/522d...
November 18, 2025 at 1:24 PM
And I did go out of my way to emphasise — in response to a post criticising the ONS — that the ONS data revisions were a good thing! 😅
Which is a drum I have consistently been banging for months, e.g this from Jan on the same topic www.ft.com/content/522d...
Which is a drum I have consistently been banging for months, e.g this from Jan on the same topic www.ft.com/content/522d...
Reposted by Tom King
The government doesn’t see UK data assets as priorities at all - includes ONS. Did the idea of a ‘National Data Library’ & data infrastructure in the AI Opps Action Plan just evaporate?
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:38 AM
The government doesn’t see UK data assets as priorities at all - includes ONS. Did the idea of a ‘National Data Library’ & data infrastructure in the AI Opps Action Plan just evaporate?
Reposted by Tom King
How to be taken seriously as a junior data scientist: www.divingintodata.com/p/how-to-be-...
November 11, 2025 at 8:54 PM
How to be taken seriously as a junior data scientist: www.divingintodata.com/p/how-to-be-...
Reposted by Tom King
The basic model is:
1. Hugely hyped tech promises.
2. Vast, unstaged funding with no stage gate reviews.
3. "Christmas list" organisation, bringing in collaboration based on "garbage can" matching of problems to pre-existing solutions.
4. Weak governance. Often with bullies at the top.
4
1. Hugely hyped tech promises.
2. Vast, unstaged funding with no stage gate reviews.
3. "Christmas list" organisation, bringing in collaboration based on "garbage can" matching of problems to pre-existing solutions.
4. Weak governance. Often with bullies at the top.
4
November 10, 2025 at 9:49 AM
The basic model is:
1. Hugely hyped tech promises.
2. Vast, unstaged funding with no stage gate reviews.
3. "Christmas list" organisation, bringing in collaboration based on "garbage can" matching of problems to pre-existing solutions.
4. Weak governance. Often with bullies at the top.
4
1. Hugely hyped tech promises.
2. Vast, unstaged funding with no stage gate reviews.
3. "Christmas list" organisation, bringing in collaboration based on "garbage can" matching of problems to pre-existing solutions.
4. Weak governance. Often with bullies at the top.
4
Reposted by Tom King
arXiv CS clarifies its policy on narrative reviews:
"The goal of the moderators of each category is to make sure the work being submitted is actually science, and that it is of potential interest to the scientific community."
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
"The goal of the moderators of each category is to make sure the work being submitted is actually science, and that it is of potential interest to the scientific community."
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 2, 2025 at 11:42 AM
arXiv CS clarifies its policy on narrative reviews:
"The goal of the moderators of each category is to make sure the work being submitted is actually science, and that it is of potential interest to the scientific community."
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
"The goal of the moderators of each category is to make sure the work being submitted is actually science, and that it is of potential interest to the scientific community."
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
Reposted by Tom King
Just yesterday I was on a panel with colleagues from @bankofcanada.ca & @banquedefrance-off.bsky.social and we were discussing the risks of central banks NOT being multi cloud / only using a single provider. I didn't expect to have such a clear example of how those risks could crystallise so soon.
October 29, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Just yesterday I was on a panel with colleagues from @bankofcanada.ca & @banquedefrance-off.bsky.social and we were discussing the risks of central banks NOT being multi cloud / only using a single provider. I didn't expect to have such a clear example of how those risks could crystallise so soon.
Reposted by Tom King
UK Reproducibility Network is having a conference, July 2026 in Manchester!
Please register your interest: www.ukrn.org/conference/
Bringing together researchers, institutions and research stakeholders from the UK and beyond to drive collaborative change within the UK #research sector.
Please register your interest: www.ukrn.org/conference/
Bringing together researchers, institutions and research stakeholders from the UK and beyond to drive collaborative change within the UK #research sector.
October 24, 2025 at 10:57 AM
UK Reproducibility Network is having a conference, July 2026 in Manchester!
Please register your interest: www.ukrn.org/conference/
Bringing together researchers, institutions and research stakeholders from the UK and beyond to drive collaborative change within the UK #research sector.
Please register your interest: www.ukrn.org/conference/
Bringing together researchers, institutions and research stakeholders from the UK and beyond to drive collaborative change within the UK #research sector.
Reposted by Tom King
And join us on Tues 18 November for Data Bites #60, with:
- Welsh Govt chief statistician on StatsWales
- Office for Stats Regulation on new Code of Practice
- @mhwauben.bsky.social on Data for London Library
- ONS on Census 2031 consultation
public.digital/events/data-...
- Welsh Govt chief statistician on StatsWales
- Office for Stats Regulation on new Code of Practice
- @mhwauben.bsky.social on Data for London Library
- ONS on Census 2031 consultation
public.digital/events/data-...
Data Bites #60 — Public Digital
public.digital
October 24, 2025 at 7:15 AM
And join us on Tues 18 November for Data Bites #60, with:
- Welsh Govt chief statistician on StatsWales
- Office for Stats Regulation on new Code of Practice
- @mhwauben.bsky.social on Data for London Library
- ONS on Census 2031 consultation
public.digital/events/data-...
- Welsh Govt chief statistician on StatsWales
- Office for Stats Regulation on new Code of Practice
- @mhwauben.bsky.social on Data for London Library
- ONS on Census 2031 consultation
public.digital/events/data-...
Reposted by Tom King
Adding to this that PPI often has unexpected benefits. In the case of my doctoral thesis, learning that many clinicians interpret predictive models causally, and want things from them that are often not even possible. This work also informed a future grant application - it's not wasted!
We did this paper as part of a methods-focused grant that required patient involvement and I honestly found it so valuable that I tried to add similar involvement to all my grant submissions. Not that any of those got funded, but…
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29966732/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29966732/
Patients and investigators prefer measures of absolute risk in subgroups for pragmatic randomized trials - PubMed
We made four recommendations for pragmatic trials to improve patient centeredness: (1) focus on superiority in effectiveness or safety, rather than noninferiority; (2) involve patients in specifying a...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
October 24, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Adding to this that PPI often has unexpected benefits. In the case of my doctoral thesis, learning that many clinicians interpret predictive models causally, and want things from them that are often not even possible. This work also informed a future grant application - it's not wasted!
Reposted by Tom King
(Yes, I'm dropping them a boring mail. I'm not only a social media whinger)
October 16, 2025 at 9:16 AM
(Yes, I'm dropping them a boring mail. I'm not only a social media whinger)
Reposted by Tom King
![Comic. [Giant balloon reminiscent of a hot air balloon but wavy and laying on the ground with “bloop” “bloop” sound effects. Two people are in a basket attached to one end of the balloon.] [caption] Hot water balloon rides turn out to be significantly less romantic than the air kind.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiekfxpa7ftvzd2xpsuyjv5czmrpb5ihpmvnhj3ug5gadsrbbybx6m@jpeg)
October 14, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Tom King
UKRIO @ukrio.bsky.social is introducing an Authorship Integrity Toolkit:
a set of practical, adaptable resources designed to support both individual researcher contributors in their day-to-day practice and organisations in developing policies and managing projects.
ukrio.org/resources/th...
a set of practical, adaptable resources designed to support both individual researcher contributors in their day-to-day practice and organisations in developing policies and managing projects.
ukrio.org/resources/th...
The Authorship Integrity Toolkit - UK Research Integrity Office
The Authorship Integrity Toolkit Practical resources to support responsible authorship in research UKRIO is pleased to present the Authorship Integrity Toolkit – a new collection of resources to help ...
ukrio.org
October 3, 2025 at 4:07 AM
UKRIO @ukrio.bsky.social is introducing an Authorship Integrity Toolkit:
a set of practical, adaptable resources designed to support both individual researcher contributors in their day-to-day practice and organisations in developing policies and managing projects.
ukrio.org/resources/th...
a set of practical, adaptable resources designed to support both individual researcher contributors in their day-to-day practice and organisations in developing policies and managing projects.
ukrio.org/resources/th...
Reposted by Tom King
Reposted by Tom King
Are you a senior finance leader in government or the public sector?
We have a new guide for you all about financial reporting and how this impacts decision-making.
1/3
We have a new guide for you all about financial reporting and how this impacts decision-making.
1/3
September 30, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Are you a senior finance leader in government or the public sector?
We have a new guide for you all about financial reporting and how this impacts decision-making.
1/3
We have a new guide for you all about financial reporting and how this impacts decision-making.
1/3