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Mark Elliott

@thatmarkelliott.bsky.social

1.3K followers 520 following 8.2K posts

Cycling, music, political and other random ramblings. Work: language assessment/psychometrics/computer science in some order. Once drew trees and was told it was "better than felling them", which is a start, I guess. Views my own; cat photos will happen.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · Jan 11

This is Hněvín Castle – a picturesque little Czech castle atop a hill, poking out above a sea of clouds. But what fairytale village lies beneath those clouds – are you perhaps already packing your bags to visit? If so, hold on for one moment before you do, for this is The Most 🧵. It will be long. 1/

A small Czech castle atop a hill. The castle has a large walled courtyard, dominated by a chateau-like building with a large lookout tower. The landscape is shrouded in low clouds, with the top of the hill just emerging. There are mountains in the distance. Photo from: https://hradhnevin.cz/en/

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1h

We are now entering the era of "True Conservatism has never been tried".

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1h

"Push for growth" - or because it's 2025 and frankly we all need another drink..?

Pubs to stay open until early hours in push for UK growth

Exclusive: Plans for England and Wales would help the ailing hospitality sector but have attracted criticism from health experts

www.theguardian.com

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 5h

This is the true divide in society - Tab Spammers v Tab Spartans. I'm not a Single Tabber - a couple each for Jupyter Notebooks, Overleaf, browser + things I've Gogled), but more and my brain melts down in panic. When someone shares a screen with 50-odd on Teams, it fills me with existential terror.

Dom White @domw.bsky.social · 5h

I don’t understand how it’s possible to have fewer than, say, 20 tabs open at all times.

There are just too many things on the internet that I’ll definitely get around to reading at some point!

YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 6h

How many browsing tabs do you typically have open?*

1: 6%
2-5: 54%
6-10: 14%
11-20: 8%
21-30: 2%
More than 30: 3%

*across all windows, on desktop/laptop

yougov.co.uk/topics/techn...

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 5h

Welcome to Cambridge

Luke Taylor MP @luketaylorld.bsky.social · 5h

British Transport Police's decision to not investigate bike thefts outside train stations where bikes have been left for more than two hours is really concerning. It could effectively decriminalise it.

Together with Lib Dem colleagues I've written to the BTP to get clarity.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1d

Mood

Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez in Shetland. He is wearing a knitted jumper and a big coat with flapping lapels. He has the weary look of a man who who has seen all the darkness this world has to offer.

Reposted by Mark Elliott

Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 1d

Textbook example of someone saying that being called out for racism is worse than the racism they expressed. In this case, according to Jenrick, calling out racism causes terrorism. It's an upside down, gaslit world.

Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 1d

Wow. Robert Jenrick doubles down by branding a black journalist's questions "ridiculous" and saying that the problem is not his comments, but "journalists like you who pop up and try to knock me down", adding that "this is the reason why terrorist attacks happen". ~AA

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1d

(For the record, I am still trying to engineer a context in which I can use "groof" - does this count?)

Phantom word activation in L2

L2 listening can involve the phantom activation of words which are not actually in the input. All spoken-word recognition involves multiple concurrent…

www.sciencedirect.com

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1d

Well, thank you for teaching me a new word in Dutch. I now have to engineer a situation in which I can use it... 🤔

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 2d

I fought the cat (and the cat won)

Me on the sofa, wrestling unsuccessfully with a small orange and white cat

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 2d

And relatedly, the best autobiography itself is Robert Graves' "Good-Bye to All That".

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 2d

Peter Ustinov's "Dear Me" will always be the undisputed champion of this category.

John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 2d

Best titles of autobiographies?

Starting with:

- Vic Reeves, Me: Moir
- Dennis Waterman, Reminder (thanks @whenisbirths.bsky.social)
- AA Gill, Pour Me
- Gene Simmons, Kiss and Make-Up
- Julian Clary, A Young Man's Passage

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 2d

'Milei’s economy was declared by no lesser sage than Niall Ferguson as a “man-made miracle”.'

'No lesser sage than Niall Ferguson' might be my favourite typo of all time.

Farage, Trump, Musk: your boy Javier Milei just took one hell of a beating. Why so quiet? | Aditya Chakrabortty

The wild politics and chainsaw made Argentina’s president an economic hero for the right. And now, with his nation’s finances in chaos: silence, writes Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

www.theguardian.com

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 3d

How long before Kemi decides she's going to sign some new treaties just so she can quit them, because frankly there just aren't enough treaties for her to quit at the moment?

Badenoch says Tories open to quitting more treaties to increase deportations

Party leader uses conference speech to outline proposal for UK to exit ECHR as part of wider bonfire of protections

www.theguardian.com

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 3d

... because I was puttoing the final finishing touches to the corrections for my PhD thesis, marking the end(?) of my days of studying. It felt like an old friend, and matched the moment perfectly.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 3d

Song for the day. I first bought a double tape of Charlie Parker's "Masterworks 1946-1947" nearly 30 years ago; among other things, it became my go-to music to write to while during my first course after finishing university. Today I put it on again, and it had a special significance for me...

Bird Of Paradise

YouTube video by Charlie Parker - Topic

www.youtube.com

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 4d

I think from the article here the investigations board is run by the central university (i.e. the faculties), which is is independent of the colleges - weird Cambridge governance structures.

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 5d

If you say "canola", people will think you missplet "granola".

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 5d

Oof - what a *$&^@^. I see that Emma (which is my college) at least have cut ties with him, over which he's suing - this is the university rather than the college that is officially fine with it all.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 7d

Well, I guess he's at least succeeded in being a Dissident.

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 7d

Apologies - lost the link to the article there somehow:

Colon cancer is on the rise among young people – and research points to one major culprit | Devi Sridhar

If smoking was the cancer villain of the 20th century, eating ultra-processed food may be its 21st-century counterpart, says Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinb...

www.theguardian.com

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 7d

"Roughly defined" is the problem here - while some of the foods are obviously very unhealthy, UPFs also generally includes foods like Quorn, for which there is no evidence of harmful impact. We really need a better definition of UPFs that separates out the bad from the innocent.

One factor keeps emerging as a major culprit: ultra-processed foods, with a 2025 review in Nature Reviews Endocrinology highlighting the links. These foods, roughly defined as factory-packaged snacks, ready meals, sugary cereals, soft drinks, processed meats and many fast foods, now make up more than half the average diet in countries such as the UK and US.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 7d

BLACK MEDICINE WATER

Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · 7d

A list of words for coffee in ten different languages...

10. Welsh = coffi
9. French = café
8. Manx = caffee
7. Romanian = cafea
6. Dutch = koffie
5. German = kaffee
4. Swedish = kaffe
3. Malagasy = kafe
2. Icelandic = kaffi
1. Ojibwe = makade-mashkikiwaaboo (literally “black medicine water”)

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 7d

Though TBF, "young people tend to be idealistic rather than rapacious corporate drones, and employers don't like this" is hardly a new discovery for 2025.

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 7d

Read this with a sense of existential horror, and not at the values of GenZ, which are apparently "Eudemonia, or well-being and self-care; Non-sibi, or helping others; and Voice" - not the correct "Achievement, or professional success; Scope, or learning and action; and Workcentrism".

2 Studies Say Gen-Z's Values Are Hurting Their Job Prospects

A new analysis says only 2 percent of the youngest workforce cohort share values that employers seek in recruits, sparking fierce debate.

www.inc.com

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Reposted by Mark Elliott

Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 8d

That thing that always happens has happened again

Northamptonshire Telegraph @northantstelegraph.bsky.social · 8d

Corby Guard founder Reece McCarron broke into his ex-partner's home and threatened to kill her before he swinging a machete around the kitchen
www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/...

Corby Guard founder Reece McCarron broke into his ex-partner's home and threatened to kill her before he swinging a machete around the kitchen

A man who started a vigilante group to ‘protect women and children’ has admitted carrying out a shocking attack on his former partner.

www.northantstelegraph.co.uk

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