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Pants, Manchester

@fantasticlife.bsky.social

550 followers 330 following 3.5K posts

I make ontologies for the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. An odd job and not one I would have chosen for myself

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Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · Aug 15

A quick hiya to new followers. You may have come across me as Clerk E. Smith, the Mouse of Commons or indeed The Emperor Palatine. These days I prefer to be known as Pants, Manchester Pants

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 7h

Bah!

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 7h

Department for Business and Trade treaty Turkey No. 2 (2025) has been laid by the FCDO https://api.parliament.uk/procedure-browser/work-packages/hxiSLvTL

Reposted by Pants, Manchester

👻👻 Ben, but rationalized a reason to stay on Xitter 💀💀 @benfields.net · 1d

I think the better binary split is more along this difference between deterministic and probabilistic outcomes. Does the machine do exactly and precisely the things it was told (edge cases, weird interpreters, and all) or is a probabilistic process involved between the specification and execution

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Reposted by Pants, Manchester

👻👻 Ben, but rationalized a reason to stay on Xitter 💀💀 @benfields.net · 1d

I really dislike this phrase 'no code tools'. It feels like it creates a binary in the wrong place. Some 'no code tools' are visual programming environments, perhaps an application specific one (maybe a visual DSL if you're in deep), so a deterministic control system, just like a (text) coding. 1/n

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Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

A know nothing knowledge economy. Onwards!

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

Can’t help but quibble here. Mostly cos the word “tech” brings me out in hives. A great many things are technology, even books. If tech means internet connected computers, I don’t think the work is formulaic and I doubt it will be automated

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

Deciding to stay integrated. Bloody weirdos

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

The current compliant appears to be the conversion of an empty office block into a children’s nursery. Very noisy, we’re told. And who amongst us has not been upset by the sound of children’s laughter?

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

The current complaint does not - for once - involve parking. They are, it would seem, absolutely obsessed by parking

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

That said, we have now been invited to the neighbourhood WhatsApp group. Well I haven’t. Obviously. They’ve probably seen me muttering “dickhead” about their on street parking. But my wife has. A step toward greater integration perhaps

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

That said, dear daughter attended a private school in Weybridge. Not, I should add, on my public sector salary. I guess we’re not a terribly well integrated family

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Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 1d

Having attended a CofE comprehensive in Oldham, I can’t say we were terribly well integrated. Though I suppose that’s not what we’re talking about here

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Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 2d

Iran (Sanctions) (Nuclear) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. Made on 29-09-2025, laid on 30-09-2025. Subject to the made negative procedure. https://api.parliament.uk/procedure-browser/work-packages/UwqISsRP

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 2d

THE STUFF THAT YOU THINK IS THE WORK IS NOT THE ACTUAL WORK

Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 2d

I haven’t done a non-computer job in quite a while, but I imagine that’s true in all kinds of other domains they keep promising will be automated.

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Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 2d

The idea that software people just sit and type is really weird

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Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 2d

Happens to be executable documentation, but that is by the by

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Pants, Manchester @fantasticlife.bsky.social · 2d

I do think the software and AI debate would be much easier if elders and betters understood code as late breaking documentation for a thousand conversations you had. Or possibly should have had