here's an important thing about deterministic tools: when they fail, they fail predictably you can learn how to use them *for your own purposes* because they behave in consistent ways even if they aren't 100% optimal AI tools add a layer of ambiguity so you're 100% never sure what the output means

In which we bid farewell to Professor Michael Rush. A kind, generous and gentle man. More notes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I: ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

Had two very good days.

A wee bank holiday treat for you guys. More week - well, fortnight - notes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I. In which we approached ramming speed, only to collide head-on with documentation buffers. Rescued in part by the kindness of strangers ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

Our psephological efforts now come complete with by-elections from Parliament 56. Or the one following the 2015 general election, as normal people might say electionresults.parliament.uk/parliament-p...

New bot alert: if you’re the kind of person that likes @commonslibrary.bsky.social, you may also wish to spend a follow on @post-parliament.bsky.social. All the latest research from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

every team should have a little bit of internet to call their own, where they can publish texts, images, ideas, experiments, etc it doesn't sound like a lot to ask. but in most organisations, it's very hard to make happen.

Another week where we once again failed to 'ship excellent product'. Though we came damned close. More weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I ... ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

In marked change from our usual wall of text in the form of rambling paragraphs, this week’s weeknotes see @anyaso.bsky.social and I opt for a wall of text in the form of a list. Do enjoy. Or try to enjoy ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

Who is responsible for public services in my constituency? https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/public-services-in-my-constituency/

365 questions in search of an answer question-checker-27df5d070358.herokuapp.com Nifty

"Sinn Féin is a tricky party to explain to people outside of Ireland. They are now just a centre left party with a bit of cultural baggage. Unattended suspicious baggage. With an unsettling ticking noise." glorious guest post by @grainnemaguire.bsky.social today

House of Commons Library guide to designing effective charts https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05073/

It's far too hot to leave your sofa. Why not empty a sack of ice into your nan's Radol Footspa and treat yourself to ten minutes with more weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

"When you outsource the thinking, you outsource the learning." deplet.ing/the-copilot-...

Welcome to Bluesky! Before we begin, you may want to familiarize yourself with the concept of jokes. Don't fall for them! Jokesters abound on Bluesky and they all want to murder you in your sleep

If I could open the windows any wider I would and also the house might become unmoored. Which I would not resist.

GOV​.UK is now GOV·UK Brand Guidelines www.gov.uk/government/p... (152 MB PDF. Start as you mean to go on, GDS.) #govtech #govcomms #designwank

The origin story of this thing is a long one. A proper labour of love , curiosity and camaraderie. api.parliament.uk/egg-timer/hu... (Always the eggtimer to me )

Sold a map to Andrew Sachs and a London Gazette to Tom Baker.

I honestly think this is where things started to go wrong with the old misinformation and whatnot. I imagine complaints were made to management. Tim would have been furious. Which is why the internet is full of pumpkins now. And no news

No Wuthering Bytes this year?

Story after story finds a long way of saying that ChatGPT is both far less accurate and 100% less responsible than an actual expert, but please keep using it [jazz hands] *critically*, for… reasons Meanwhile its adoption drives out the expertise that makes [jazz hands] “critical” use possible

A few months ago, a senior leader visited. In advance of his visit, he asked everyone to write down “what is one thing you would change” to improve the organization. My answer was to set aside talk of AI. Instead, focus on providing us with basic, functional software on a server of reasonable speed.

So then ‘there’s no algorithm on Bluesky’ might mean something like ‘there are enough control and actual personalisation options here that any algorithm that may be here does not pass the threshold of being annoying’

A teatime treat for you guys. Yet more weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I: ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m... All the latest news from the cutting edge of the procedural pedantic web. But don't let that put you off. If you think they're a hard read, try writing the blasted things

‘Here, in an arena where the Sugababes recently performed, is a crowd bursting into applause as a spaniel steadfastly ignores a rabbit decoy streaking across the astroturf.’ Rosa Lyster at Crufts: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

On the 20th, we're launching a new annex to TheyWorkForYou to provide richer voting information - sign up for the launch event to hear more www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-the-rec...

THE POPE'S MOM WAS A LIBRARIAN

A bank holiday treat for you all. More weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I. For some definition of ‘week’ ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

Briefly in DC for a work thing, a city I love, what museums should I go to before being seen near them is a deportable offense* ha ha ha sigh I hate everything * "Dan, they don't need a reason" yeah I know

trying to find a film to watch, as one does on a Sunday evening, and currently marvelling at Disney+ offering you the option to browse every movie they have from A to Z but the page stopping at I, has the modern internet considered maybe not sucking just this one time

More weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I at the intersection of parliamentary procedural pedantry and some rusty computers: ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m... In this outing: - our aged triplestore gets the upgrade it deserves - Developer Jon sadly departs

The House of Commons Modernisation Committee’s current inquiry is all about accessibility, including “access to Parliamentary information for MPs and the public.” A subject close to my heart and maybe to yours. Submit your reckons by 9th May committees.parliament.uk/work/9006/ac...

Notes for week 12 got slightly stuck in post-production. Nevertheless, we got there eventually. @anyaso.bsky.social and I would never let our reader down. Dip in, "enjoy": ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

THREAD The numbers are in. @bsky.app research sharing volumes vs X Formerly Twitter In March 2024, on most days, Bluesky hosts more posts linked to research published in 2025 than X. By quite a lot. Release the Kraken... #AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics 1/11

every damn time

If you get your kicks watching old people make fools of themselves, but don’t fancy retuning your television to Last of the Summer Wine, why not dip into the latest edition of weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

In which I grumble about a framing of the current challenges for open data as being about making everything "AI-Ready". #opendata #fairdata #ai #datainfrastructure

Dammit. Someone nicked our cute lil yellow Yoonit. A mini cargo bike. Share around, and keep an eye out around Edinburgh. Shout at @cargobikemovement.bsky.social if you see it. Let's make this thing too hot to handle. Bike theft is the worst. Bike theft from a CHARITY is something else 😤

In response to anyone feeling rueful about their recent haircut, “It’ll grow on you”

Another week ticked off, another dump of weeknotes from @anyaso.bsky.social and I: ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m... In this week's outing: - tidying our taxonomic transitivity - adding the 2024 intake to our Rush database - consolidation continues on new, old search

did flavor flav write this

Librarian @anyaso.bsky.social and I, back with what were only recently described as “the gold standard of weeknotes”. Treat your eyeballs to more daring doings from everyone’s favourite team of crack librarians and computational “experts” ukparliament.github.io/ontologies/m...

(Yes, I am back on the wikidata MPs stuff - here's the query w.wiki/Czvt)

My word. Thank you @loulayorke.bsky.social and thank you @headtech.bsky.social

That was excellent. They’ve run out of Guinness. And I’m fine with it. Transformative.

Hyde Park Picture House, Headingley, Leeds, by Allen Tortice (b.1948).

Our lovely little election results website now comes with by-election results for Parliament 58: electionresults.parliament.uk/parliament-p... Even lovelier, in my opinion, so does our Datasette: psephology-datasette-f3e7b1b7eb77.herokuapp.com/psephology~2...

An idea I don't want to forget from this week is the importance of public/worker involvement in setting the scope/approach/metrics for evaluation of AI tools, as they will provide diverse views on what success looks like.