It's worth noting that there's already substantial heterogeneity in the polling industry in terms if capacity and capability to mitigate the threat of AI to online surveys.

AI presents a fundamental threat to our ability to use polls to assess public opinion. Bad actors who are able to infiltrate panels can flip close election polls for less than the cost of a Starbucks coffee. Models will also infer and confirm hypotheses in experiments. Current quality checks fail

“The coming crisis of empirical online survey research” Seriously, this is Not Good News for all the qualitative research undertaken on platforms like mechanical Turk. Back to pen-and-paper in-the-field surveys perhaps…?

I didn’t think that adulthood would involve spending my lunch break ringing my local council’s outsourced waste team to chase them about a missed bin collection, after the online ticket I submitted was wrongly closed. Bin is still full and awaiting collection…

Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.

Looking forward to this coming Saturday night when I’ll be at Middlesbrough Town Hall to help The Young Uns celebrate their 20th anniversary, along with Janice Burns and Jon Doran.

I‘m seeing a disturbing trend on local Facebook groups of people replying with AI/LLM responses to requests for advice on really serious issues. First, the OPs could have done that themselves. Second, the stakes of the queries are very high. Finally, the generic advice is sometimes very wrong.

This is heartbreaking. So many people don’t get the support they need. www.theguardian.com/news/2025/no...

Sometimes what is needed to de-stress is to rock out to some late 90s post-punk courtesy of Idlewild. Out of respect to fellow tram passengers, I’m not doing the random screams… open.spotify.com/track/2AOf5b...

In Germany, I regularly bought packs of oat, spelt, barley and wheat flakes for cereal, in even very small supermarkets. In the UK, only Holland and Barrett seemed to stock them but now seemingly discontinued. Anyone know alternatives? cc @annettedittert.bsky.social @hhesterm.bsky.social

Huh? How do you do a "balancing" program when one candidate did an insurgency trying to overturn the election and the other...didn't? Would Prescott have been satisfied with an hour of people telling BBC journalists why they didn't try and stoke a riot to overturn Trump's second win?

One for @terry.tgld.me

As someone whose PhD partly built on STS ideas, there are interesting research avenues thinking about these ‘invisible’ internet infrastructures - their place undergirding so many services; their taken-for-grantedness; the socio-technical networks of how they came to be cc @ctimmermann.bsky.social

A great teaching example for an undergrad research methods module. Importance of checking the entire transcript for Identifiable information when reme acting… 🤦‍♂️

Came across lots of similar/identical replies to posts about Michael Heseltine's comments today with a link to an 'alternative view'. On closer examination the article is by a rabble rouser, on a highly partisan news site funded by a major donor to a political party with a very specific agenda... 🤔

Any #Manchester folk want to see Deaf Havana tonight at New Century Hall? I’ve spent the day coughing and sneezing so my ticket is available. I’d rather it didn’t go to waste. Free, but given yesterday’s events, a donation to a charity promoting dialogue and community cohesion would be welcomed.

Can Any followers in the rail industry (ticketing, RP etc) clarify a Q about off peak 2C restrictions via London? LNER’s website seems to let me buy an Off Peak Return MCR-CBG for today, arriving in Cambridge on a train that leaves KGX during peak. It greys out invalid routes Bug, or can I do this?

A sudden family death reminds one of how things can change in an instant.

Day trip to London. Hopefully transport strike in Manchester and the interminable rain won’t cause any issues…

Absolute legends: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored my 2025 Great North Run - the night before the event and you've helped me raise £1627. Still time for any last-minute donations at www.justgiving.com/page/sunil-g... Good luck to all taking part, maybe see some of you there!

Frankly, we need more of this kind of thing in todays’s troubled world: “"If you see someone on the M40 looking particularly dotty," she told a surprised reporter, "it's me trying to rap in the car going home."” The Duchess of Kent, who has died aged 92 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🏃 Just 3 days until I run the #GreatNorthRun for @mdukcharity.bsky.social, and I’m at £1069 towards my £1500 target 🎯 . Please click the link below sponsor me and help me support a very worthwhile cause. www.justgiving.com/page/sunil-g...

My Great North Run fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy UK @mdukcharity.bsky.social has just edged past 50% thanks to the generosity of friends, colleagues, and their wider networks. Please help me reach my target of raising £1500! www.justgiving.com/page/sunil-g... #GreatNorthRun

I’m running the 2025 Great North Run for Muscular Dystrophy UK @mdukcharity.bsky.social - please help me reach my target! MDUK do valuable work supporting those living with muscle-wasting diseases, and funding research into better care and treatments. #TeamMDUK www.justgiving.com/page/sunil-g...

Any of my Edinburgh friends free this afternoon 14:00-16:30, or this evening 19:00-21:00? Will be at a loose end!

First time visiting Sheffield (staying the night here because for some weird reason, Derby hotel prices were through the roof this weekend… #GreatestGathering) Any recommendations for food/drink in the city centre?

This is brilliant. What a legend.

How great was Tom Lehrer? In 2020, he moved his entire catalog into the public domain because he felt he'd made more than enough money off of it. Enjoy every Tom Lehrer album: tomlehrersongs.com

Oh no. Tom Lehrer gone. At his great age, it’s not a tragedy, I know, but it just does feel bad not having his genius in the world.

My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living. RIP to the great, great Mr. Tom Lehrer.

RIP Tom Lehrer. Thanks for all the laughs www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Found it.

It was only an “e-bike crash” in the sense that the driver of a Landrover Discovery got upset by the e-bike lights (because he was dealing drugs in his car), chased them ONE MILE and then hit them, killing the woman who was on the back and seriously injuring the cyclist. Come on, BBC.

Seeing this retweeted into my timeline reminds me of how restrictive the eligibility is. Only 3 years post-viva, which if you had to take unrelated employment (due to the crappy working conditions of being a PhD student) is very restrictive.

Graph of British Rivers

The original post is fantastic, as is response of the Onion’s CMO to a reply (see image). Way to go @leilza.bsky.social ❤️ The Onion is a holdout from the original web of the late 1990s. Long may it continue and survive through what Cory Doctorow calls the “enshittification” engulfing so much else