Chris Stokes
@nisaccom.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Stokes
the rise of robotic drivers is forcing us to come to terms with the ugly reality of our human driving culture... if anything I'd argue that AVs get a lot more scrutiny for doing stuff that humans regularly do without raising an eyebrow
It’s easy to criticize car co’s for programming vehicles to break traffic and parking laws. But human drivers do it constantly.
Two big differences:
🔹 Humans make context-specific decisions (i.e., is it an emergency?). Software doesn’t.
🔹 Humans are liable for their actions. Car co's often aren’t.
Two big differences:
🔹 Humans make context-specific decisions (i.e., is it an emergency?). Software doesn’t.
🔹 Humans are liable for their actions. Car co's often aren’t.
Who Gets a Ticket When a Waymo Does Wrong and Nobody Is in the Robotaxi to Cite?
A Waymo robotaxi pulled an illegal maneuver in front of the police, but with no one inside, who gets the ticket?
www.motortrend.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:52 PM
the rise of robotic drivers is forcing us to come to terms with the ugly reality of our human driving culture... if anything I'd argue that AVs get a lot more scrutiny for doing stuff that humans regularly do without raising an eyebrow
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Hard no to this: French publisher Harlequin has told translators that their work will now be done by AI. They can ‘revise’ AI translations at much lower rate. It’s a subsidiary of Harper Collins so treat this as a test for rollout elsewhere
"Bradage de la traduction, plan social invisible : Harlequin passe à l’IA"
Faites tourner, parce qu'il va falloir se battre encore plus. :/
#traduction #IA #Harlequin #ATLF
Faites tourner, parce qu'il va falloir se battre encore plus. :/
#traduction #IA #Harlequin #ATLF
December 18, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Hard no to this: French publisher Harlequin has told translators that their work will now be done by AI. They can ‘revise’ AI translations at much lower rate. It’s a subsidiary of Harper Collins so treat this as a test for rollout elsewhere
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Got an appointment from the hospital. At the top of the first page is my name, address, NHS number and patient number. The first two pages of the letter tell me where and when and remind me that I should bring my hearing aids/walking stick/whatever other helps I might need. The usual stuff. (1/4)
December 18, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Got an appointment from the hospital. At the top of the first page is my name, address, NHS number and patient number. The first two pages of the letter tell me where and when and remind me that I should bring my hearing aids/walking stick/whatever other helps I might need. The usual stuff. (1/4)
Celebrating what's prolly Beethoven's birthday (he was baptised on the 17th) by giving this performance by Lang Lang of the second mvt off his third piano sonata a listen and a few relistens.
youtu.be/FEjcR94JLFE?...
youtu.be/FEjcR94JLFE?...
Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2 No. 3: II. Adagio
YouTube video by Lang Lang - Topic
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Celebrating what's prolly Beethoven's birthday (he was baptised on the 17th) by giving this performance by Lang Lang of the second mvt off his third piano sonata a listen and a few relistens.
youtu.be/FEjcR94JLFE?...
youtu.be/FEjcR94JLFE?...
Reposted by Chris Stokes
The Muppet Show: Rowlf - Beethoven's "Pathétique" (Reprise)
YouTube video by dorcm1973
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Chris Stokes
The "Duck" in Avenida Place hotel, Barcelona, Spain
December 15, 2025 at 6:41 AM
The "Duck" in Avenida Place hotel, Barcelona, Spain
How often do road users who are not in cars or vans or lorries fear that this is foremost in many drivers' heads:
'it’s a f***ing road'.
'it’s a f***ing road'.
BREAKING: Liverpool FC parade crash driver Paul Doyle is sentenced to 21 years and six months in prison
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
Paul Doyle sentenced for 21 years over LFC parade crash
Paul Doyle has been jailed for 21 years and six months after admitting a total of 31 charges, having driven his car into crowds of Liverpool FC fans during a victory parade
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
December 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM
How often do road users who are not in cars or vans or lorries fear that this is foremost in many drivers' heads:
'it’s a f***ing road'.
'it’s a f***ing road'.
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Haha, well, I'd say this is a new low in The Spectator's coverage of my Reith Lectures. There is so much wrong with the piece that it’s hard to know where to begin, but a few points stand out --> /1
Given the way things work in the BBC, it comes as no surprise that a Dutchman has been chosen to lecture us on modern British history.
✍️ Lawrence Goldman
✍️ Lawrence Goldman
The Reith lectures are a new low in BBC history
Given the way things work in the BBC, it comes as no surprise that a Dutchman has been chosen to lecture us on modern British history
www.spectator.co.uk
December 16, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Haha, well, I'd say this is a new low in The Spectator's coverage of my Reith Lectures. There is so much wrong with the piece that it’s hard to know where to begin, but a few points stand out --> /1
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
Wasn't confident this was going to be a classic worth the trouble. So read chapter 20 for starters. Why not? In it Denis, a young writer, tells Scogan (aka Bertrand Russell) at inordinate length about how shattered he was when he looked up a word he'd loved for many years.
December 15, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Wasn't confident this was going to be a classic worth the trouble. So read chapter 20 for starters. Why not? In it Denis, a young writer, tells Scogan (aka Bertrand Russell) at inordinate length about how shattered he was when he looked up a word he'd loved for many years.
Reposted by Chris Stokes
this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
December 15, 2025 at 2:21 AM
this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
Reposted by Chris Stokes
𝕾𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓'𝖘 𝕲𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘
December 15, 2025 at 3:34 PM
𝕾𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓'𝖘 𝕲𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘
Reposted by Chris Stokes
She was always my favourite Spout Girl
December 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
She was always my favourite Spout Girl
Reposted by Chris Stokes
December 14, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Bill Shankly invented the woggle. His sneaky plan to disassociate himself from his brainchild the better to enjoy his fame as Liverpool manager—by dropping the 'e' from his surname and faking a Scots accent—didn't fool Google's AI bloodhound.
![Screengrab showing the AI part of the response to a Google search for <william shankley scoutmaster>. It reads:
'Yes, the legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly [sic] was involved with Scouting as a youth and even designed the original Gilwell Woggle, but he wasn't a Scoutmaster in the traditional sense, he was a young, enthusiastic Scouter involved in developing ideas for camping equipment at Gilwell Park, becoming an inspiration for future Scouting items, though primarily known as a football icon.'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vvmemo42dno4yqacaglx4mnb/bafkreic2gzb2igdcu4hjrgn6e4te36fypir6johe5dyopuzpzmjykyqdbe@jpeg)
December 15, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Bill Shankly invented the woggle. His sneaky plan to disassociate himself from his brainchild the better to enjoy his fame as Liverpool manager—by dropping the 'e' from his surname and faking a Scots accent—didn't fool Google's AI bloodhound.
Reposted by Chris Stokes
On ne se pose jamais assez souvent la question de comment concilier la libre activité de recherche avec la nécessité d'économiser nos ressources.
Mais celles et ceux qui étudient la physique et la rhéologie du 🌱tofu🌱 peuvent tout prendre allez-y les frr
Mais celles et ceux qui étudient la physique et la rhéologie du 🌱tofu🌱 peuvent tout prendre allez-y les frr
The mechanics and physics of tofu: Understanding hydrated soft solids through feature networks https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.10.693552v1
December 14, 2025 at 9:47 AM
On ne se pose jamais assez souvent la question de comment concilier la libre activité de recherche avec la nécessité d'économiser nos ressources.
Mais celles et ceux qui étudient la physique et la rhéologie du 🌱tofu🌱 peuvent tout prendre allez-y les frr
Mais celles et ceux qui étudient la physique et la rhéologie du 🌱tofu🌱 peuvent tout prendre allez-y les frr
We turn the corner tomorrow.
Hi all.
Are ye ready?
2 important notes:
- Today's sunset will be the earliest, but the grand adult sthretch in the evenings doesn't start until tomorrow's sunset.
- Will you help get #TheGrandStretchIsBack trending?!! (whatever that might mean on this network!)
Are ye ready?
2 important notes:
- Today's sunset will be the earliest, but the grand adult sthretch in the evenings doesn't start until tomorrow's sunset.
- Will you help get #TheGrandStretchIsBack trending?!! (whatever that might mean on this network!)
December 13, 2025 at 10:10 PM
We turn the corner tomorrow.
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Other work of the Ladybird artists
Redwings in Winter
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Redwings in Winter
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
December 13, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Other work of the Ladybird artists
Redwings in Winter
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Redwings in Winter
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Reposted by Chris Stokes
One of my favourite examples is 'biceps', both in English and in Dutch.
In Latin, 'biceps' consists of 'bi-' (two), 'cep-' (head), and '-s' (case ending): "two-headed".
However, since the 1800s, 'biceps' has been reanalysed as a plural and given a new singular: 'bicep'.
The Latin plural is ... 1/
In Latin, 'biceps' consists of 'bi-' (two), 'cep-' (head), and '-s' (case ending): "two-headed".
However, since the 1800s, 'biceps' has been reanalysed as a plural and given a new singular: 'bicep'.
The Latin plural is ... 1/
Some people vocally oppose using ‘data’ and ‘panini’ as singular nouns, saying they come from plural nouns.
That’s true, but that also goes for ‘marvel’ and ‘joy’: they used to be plural too.
And ‘cherries’ and ‘peas’ used to be singular.
Zoom in to learn all about this phenomenon: reanalysis.
That’s true, but that also goes for ‘marvel’ and ‘joy’: they used to be plural too.
And ‘cherries’ and ‘peas’ used to be singular.
Zoom in to learn all about this phenomenon: reanalysis.
December 13, 2025 at 6:43 PM
One of my favourite examples is 'biceps', both in English and in Dutch.
In Latin, 'biceps' consists of 'bi-' (two), 'cep-' (head), and '-s' (case ending): "two-headed".
However, since the 1800s, 'biceps' has been reanalysed as a plural and given a new singular: 'bicep'.
The Latin plural is ... 1/
In Latin, 'biceps' consists of 'bi-' (two), 'cep-' (head), and '-s' (case ending): "two-headed".
However, since the 1800s, 'biceps' has been reanalysed as a plural and given a new singular: 'bicep'.
The Latin plural is ... 1/
The recorder is due a revival.
Today in “Dudes Rock”:
A dude playing Dire Straits’s “Sultans of Swing” guitar solo on…a recorder.
A dude playing Dire Straits’s “Sultans of Swing” guitar solo on…a recorder.
December 12, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The recorder is due a revival.
Reposted by Chris Stokes
This reflects the way a lot of monolingual Anglophones think about bilingualism, however. They can imagine speaking one language fluently and knowing a bit of some others, but cannot really understand that many of us are actually *fluent* or indeed are *native speakers* of more than one language.
This is a really appalling editorial error on BBC Question Time
"Apparently one in three children don't speak English as a first language, why does this matter?"
Chair says "have English as a second language"
Caption changes the meaning entirely
"Don't speak fluent English"
"Apparently one in three children don't speak English as a first language, why does this matter?"
Chair says "have English as a second language"
Caption changes the meaning entirely
"Don't speak fluent English"
December 12, 2025 at 9:42 AM
This reflects the way a lot of monolingual Anglophones think about bilingualism, however. They can imagine speaking one language fluently and knowing a bit of some others, but cannot really understand that many of us are actually *fluent* or indeed are *native speakers* of more than one language.
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Before the miracle today ☀️, we have had on average two minutes of sunshine per day in the entire December.
Screw work, I'm going outside!
Screw work, I'm going outside!
The sun is visible in parts of Finland today. So the national news has a live stream of the sun rising in Helsinki.
Just to give you an idea what the start of this winter has been like. 😅
Just to give you an idea what the start of this winter has been like. 😅
December 12, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Before the miracle today ☀️, we have had on average two minutes of sunshine per day in the entire December.
Screw work, I'm going outside!
Screw work, I'm going outside!
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Thales poursuit Disclose en justice après leurs révélations sur ses exportations de matériel de guerre vers un fournisseur de l’armée israélienne.
Le but de l’offensive judiciaire : les faire taire.
disclose.ngo/fr/article/p...
Le but de l’offensive judiciaire : les faire taire.
disclose.ngo/fr/article/p...
Procédure bâillon : Thales attaque Disclose en diffamation
La multinationale française de l'armement poursuit Disclose devant la justice à cause de nos révélations sur ses exportations de matériel de guerre en Israël. Le but de l'offensive judiciaire est clai...
disclose.ngo
December 12, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Thales poursuit Disclose en justice après leurs révélations sur ses exportations de matériel de guerre vers un fournisseur de l’armée israélienne.
Le but de l’offensive judiciaire : les faire taire.
disclose.ngo/fr/article/p...
Le but de l’offensive judiciaire : les faire taire.
disclose.ngo/fr/article/p...
If your stomach's empty, you may be safe enough to watch the film:
mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/UWA/...
mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/UWA/...
December 12, 2025 at 9:58 AM
If your stomach's empty, you may be safe enough to watch the film:
mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/UWA/...
mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/UWA/...
Reposted by Chris Stokes
Funny you should mention that arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/w...
Scientists once hoarded pre-nuclear steel; now we’re hoarding pre-AI content
Newly announced catalog collects pre-2022 sources untouched by ChatGPT and AI contamination.
arstechnica.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Funny you should mention that arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/w...