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Reposted by Nick Radcliffe

Katie Spencer @katiespencermusic.bsky.social · 9d

Very excited about this...

VPR Audio Club @vpraudioclub.bsky.social · 10d

✨SPECIAL SHOW NEXT WEEK✨

Monday October 6 @ 1pm (UK time): the first ever LIVE audio/video broadcast of THE KATIE SPENCER RADIO SHOW

As well as spinning favourite tracks, @katiespencermusic.bsky.social will perform some of her own songs. 👌

Tune in via mixcloud.com/vpraudioclub

Unmissable!

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 6d

It’s Bandcamp Friday. 100% revenue to musicians. Why not buy something? Spotify pays them almost nothing.

For example, buy Katie *(@katiespencermusic.bsky.social) Spencer’s new CD, out today.

katiespencerofficial.bandcamp.com/album/what-l...

It’s wonderful.

What Love Is, by Katie Spencer

10 track album

katiespencerofficial.bandcamp.com

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 16d

“Countless experiments show that around 10 per cent of the public don’t understand simple percentages”
— Prof @bobbyduffy.bsky.social, quoted on Peter Kellner’s blog.
kellnerp.substack.com/p/ignorance-...

He could have said one in ten , but I guess Bobby is a take-no-prisoners kind of a guy.

“Ignorance is Strength”. Was Orwell’s Big Brother right?

Yes – for populists. Parties like Reform rely on voters overstating the scale of today’s problems

kellnerp.substack.com

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 21d

Superb episode. Really insightful. Steve at his best.

Steve Richards @steverichards.bsky.social · 22d

Latest RocknRoll Politics podcast:

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...

What are the lessons of the Mandelson saga?

Podcast Episode · Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards · 16/09/2025 · 41m

podcasts.apple.com

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 22d

This week’s episode of Steve (@steverichards.bsky.social) Richards’s Rock’n’Roll Politics podcast opens with a really insightful analysis of Kier Starmer, making the case that the seeds of present troubles were sown right after the Hartlepool by-election.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...

What are the lessons of the Mandelson saga?

Podcast Episode · Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards · 16/09/2025 · 41m

podcasts.apple.com

Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Sep 8

Apertus: A fully open, transparent, multilingual language model

www.swiss-ai.org/apertus

I continue to think LLMs are a dead end, but this initiative looks fantastic, and might be the start of a route towards a more ethical, responsible, and less US-centric family of LLMs.

Bravo.

Apertus | Swiss AI

www.swiss-ai.org

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Aug 11

at a Fringe venue near you!

It's far from the only conversation like this!

1

Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Aug 11

Conversations with Claude 1 (The HTML Glossary)
njr.prose.sh/claude-gloss....

Or:

Why is the bullshitting bullshit generator bullshitting me?

Conversations with Claude 1 (The HTML Glossary)

njr.prose.sh

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Aug 7

Lothian Buses retired their old bus app recently, and forced people onto the new one.

I find the new app absolutely incomprehensible. It seems to me to be a disaster in terms of app design, usability and functionality.

The old app was really good.

It's a shame.

@lothianbuses.bsky.social

Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Jul 23

For years (decades, in fact) I thought eduroam was an ED(inburgh) U(niversity) thing that sometime other universities supported to allow Edinburgh folk to use their internet.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Jul 22

I almost never link to LinkedIn, but I wrote a piece there

To Chat or Not to Chat
www.linkedin.com/posts/njradc...

about whether or not I should run my draft, nearly-ready-to-submit book on test-driven data analysis through a chatbot to see if it can help.

Interested in views.
#LLM #ethics

To Chat or Not to Chat? | Nick Radcliffe

To Chat or Not to Chat? As I have mentioned before, I am writing a book on test-driven data analysis, and now have a complete draft, which I am proof-reading before passing to the publisher, probably...

www.linkedin.com

Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Jul 12

Obscure Public Service Annoucement:

I put up the manual for Halfords Smart Battery Chargers Manual (for cars), since I have one, and it has a baffling interface, and all the links I could find online were scam sites.

njr.prose.sh/halfords-sma...

Halfords Smart Battery Chargers Manual (for cars)

njr.prose.sh

Reposted by Nick Radcliffe

Crystal Lewis @cghlewis.bsky.social · Jul 9

It is amazing to be a part of the freelance data consultant community. I have never felt that I am in competition with any other consultant. Every consultant I have met is fully and actively supportive of my work (and vice versa). I'm just in awe of this community that wants us all succeed. 💜

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Jul 4

The basic argument against private schools and private health has always been ‘if they’re not good enough for you and yours, who are they good enough for?’

John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · Jul 4

The most extreme version of this that I’ve heard of is an American private school where parents have to sign a form declaring that their life outside school is also smartphone-free.

And I heard this from the CEO of a company that makes a very successful smartphone app, who sends their kids there!

Sander Wagner @sanderwagner.bsky.social · Jul 4

One of those (actually very unsure but might happen) longterm trend predictions I have is that there will be increasing demand for communities, spaces, services that put children and adults into techfree environments.

Basically the ability to be without tech will become increasingly commoditized.

Reposted by Nick Radcliffe

John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · Jul 4

The most extreme version of this that I’ve heard of is an American private school where parents have to sign a form declaring that their life outside school is also smartphone-free.

And I heard this from the CEO of a company that makes a very successful smartphone app, who sends their kids there!

Sander Wagner @sanderwagner.bsky.social · Jul 4

One of those (actually very unsure but might happen) longterm trend predictions I have is that there will be increasing demand for communities, spaces, services that put children and adults into techfree environments.

Basically the ability to be without tech will become increasingly commoditized.

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · Jul 4

A very good, and rather sad, Big Read on children and reading from @emmavj.bsky.social

on.ft.com/4krOKZA How to get children reading again

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · Jun 27

Important article from Bruce Schneier on the need for high-integrity syystems (which he calls itegrous).

The Age of Integrity
www.schneier.com/blog/archive...

The TDDA ideas I go on about address part of this, but more the SNAFU parts than the actual security and attack-detection/prevention parts.

The Age of Integrity - Schneier on Security

We need to talk about data integrity. Narrowly, the term refers to ensuring that data isn’t tampered with, either in transit or in storage. Manipulating account balances in bank databases, removing en...

www.schneier.com

Reposted by Nick Radcliffe

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jun 26

Free, unsolicited advice for physics students: many things will go more smoothly for you if you can derive and explain the simple harmonic oscillator in your sleep

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Reposted by Nick Radcliffe

Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · Jun 26

I was interviewed by the journalist Jessica Nordell for her newsletter. We discussed some deep questions related to AI touching on humanities, politics, & dualistic assumptions underlying the conception of "intelligence" in AI. I hope you will read it!

jessicanordell.substack.com/cp/166912581