Do a PhD a Buckingham CHS and you can get supervised by this guy.

@clivethompson.bsky.social wrote a *fascinating* primer on COBOL a few years back. I'm not an engineer, and it's a genuinely good read. If you're wondering why people might be nervous about letting AI loose on this stuff, read it: www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazi...

Sue Webber complaining about road works that are upgrades to stop sewage going into the Water of Leith is very on brand.

Posts about urban biking in Dutch cities are routinely replied to with something like “well, they have the big advantage of being relatively flat.” The Dutch also have the big advantage of not constantly making excuses about why they can’t make clearly smarter decisions.

The CMI have released their first mortality monitor of 2026. Based on death registrations, death rates in each of the first 5 weeks of 2026 were lower than last year. Mortality year to date in 2026 is equal to the best years on record. www.actuaries.org.uk/learn-and-de...

🧵 Ace thread by Ranty. Free parking is like homeopathy for ailing town centres. Despite all the evidence many think it will work.

I raced through this - absolutely superb.

I’m going mad: councillor rages re ‘danger’ floating bus stops after car almost kills woman @ bus stop. RNIB denounce them, in bed with Waymo ‘autonomous’ cars despite huge safety issues. Whyte & RNIB ignore eg lorry pavement parking or driver using car to threaten. The world of motornormativity

And yet for the >50yrs this has been the default design in many places in Europe it is somehow safe there as there are no pedestrians/disabled people. Clowns. Still struck how no one references those decades of evidence in discussions. I've personally ridden on some that extend beyond living memory

Not to downplay anyone's feelings or concerns, but surely HGVs mounting the pavement are an order of magnitude more dangerous than a cycle track at a bus stop. Odd how groups claiming to represent pedestrians and those with disabilities don't seem to be vocally exercised by this kind of thing eh?

Yay! Cycle lanes.

An exhibit for the floating bus stop discourse 🧐

“Life threatening” is the new “trapped in our homes” www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

There are more modal-filters* in Edinburgh than you might think! It’s almost like they’re not controversial! *strategic closure to motor traffic Fun map to explore: www.lowtrafficneighbourhoods.org/map/modalfil...

Here we go again...

If you’ve not seen it, v good piece by top colleague @matthewweaver.bsky.social on the suburban Ulez camera bomber, the online radicalisation of older people and the sheer toxicity of “war on the motorist” and anti-Sadiq Khan discourse. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

"Fun" fact: a few years ago i wrote an article explaining the 15 minute city concept (a fairly benign Urban design method that has been around in other forms for donkeys). Someone writing to my Dean imploring them to sack me, and we got offered campus security for a week. And who are the nutters?

We've had them for real in Brighton since *May* 2013 when 14 floating bus stops were installed along Lewes Rd. Opened by then Roads Minister Norman Baker without much fuss (also @iandaveysussex.bsky.social)... Been working fine for over a decade & AFAIK no reported conflicts with bus passengers

Unleading the petrol really was one of the best interventions ever

This falls very much in the “how hard can it be?” school of thought. If enough people drive off the road then MSPs will suggest making it permanent. Why stop at the roundabout? If they go across the fields we’ll have a new road network in no time. www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/edinbur...

For Leith walk it is important to note that a vocal charity claiming to represent pedestrians demanded that there was no grade separation for the pre-tram sections. Napier study highlights grade separation as a step to aiding recognition of cycle track.

Excellent piece of empirical evidence, combined with the napier study of Leith walk bsbs prior to trams shows that there is no safety issue and perception issues can be designed out.

Tell me we should trust AI to give us the facts. Tell me it's a future we can put our faith in. Come at me. I'm right here, waiting. www.tom-cox.com/thinking-abo...

Oh good the pro-traffic loons are going for "the council can't implement a bus gate because the 1707 Act of Union says you can travel everywhere". I love it when they go Freeman Upon The Land. Time for some proper fuck around and find out.

Hello! I’m an actuary working at the intersection of health and finance. Expect data, stats and analysis including mortality, health, pensions and insurance. I built up a modest following on Twitter by sharing data and analysis during the Covid crisis pandemic. Feels about time to start again.