rob

Officially retired aka looking for new meanings. Maybe I'll spend the rest of my life helping Britain become a better, truer place (it'll take some doing)

Public Key

npub10fmkcn4n0zp050pnfr70gr86x2a7p8r7md8fl0qe4rw0l63xcj6su5ssrq

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robparsons_at_mastodon.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs85amvf6eh3qh68se53l85pnar9wlqn3ldkn5lhsv63h8lagnvfdgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qf50zrh

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relay.mostr.pub

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npub10fmkcn4n0zp050pnfr70gr86x2a7p8r7md8fl0qe4rw0l63xcj6su5ssrq

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Last Notes

2024-08-10 09:22:23

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 It's not democracy as such, it's the first past the post system that forces people into a minimax posture. Bringing in PR would be one step to making democracy work a lot better.

2024-07-21 10:52:53

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@npub1jq9…jqnl you might want to rephrase "60 year-old babies" - makes it sound like the babies are 60 years old.

2024-07-02 20:05:39

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@npub1xzm…eykm both of these are very pleasing.

2024-06-15 00:15:45

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 yes, but I reckon using consultants less falls into the same promise category as efficiency savings. It never, literally never, happens.

2024-05-07 20:19:40

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@npub1ahr…m294 it's no a linguistic convention, it's a logical necessity.

2024-05-07 18:36:36

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@npub1ahr…m294 how about another example? A person writing a term paper *knows* that they need to provide evidence with references to actual papers produced elsewhere. AI doesn't *know* that - it just makes them up.

2024-05-06 11:48:29

"at present, these #chatbots’ internal algorithms operate in a black box, so nobody knows exactly how they think." I'll give you a clue, mate: THEY DON'T THINK!!!!

2024-04-21 18:12:14

Something funny. I'm watching the latest series of Wisting (Norwegian) on BBC. An English character, explaining to his wife that he has mortgaged their home to keep his business afloat, has just said: "Calm down. No-one knew #Brexit was going to fuck us." Even the Norwegians know. #UKPolitics

2024-04-01 13:08:55

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@npub1k74…dmux I love the French version "poisson d'Avril".

2024-04-01 12:03:20

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@npub1k74…dmux interesting - it has not occurred to me before to wonder how widespread April Fool is.

2024-04-01 10:07:36

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@npub1k74…dmux very disappointing to find no #1 isn't an April Fool. Like "write a 500 word story in which all the words start with a, p, r, i or l."

2024-03-17 11:47:13

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 I once supported a project to give training to women market stall holders in a town in Zambia. The idea was that training in business skills would help them prosper more. At first the women agreed to this, but after some thought they came back and said they wanted to learn English "because nobody listens to you if you don't speak English". (A bit later roughly a quarter of the funds were spent getting them out of jail after they went on strike to protest at increased stall rents.)

2024-02-12 22:06:30

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@npub1ywy…cksd it's good to know that your properly backlit keyboard is in safe paws.

2024-02-09 20:37:05

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@npub19lt…qfjk I read the whole thing. I understand that you have the desire and the capacity to design your own. My point still stands, though. Most people do not have the capacity to go it alone, and big tech is voracious for anything they can monetise; they will seek to disrupt and dominate the entire market, including the mini makers like you. And if they can find a way to block your bespoke system, they will.

2024-02-09 19:47:52

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@npub19lt…qfjk I was offering an opinion based on my understanding. If it's wrong, I'm willing to be corrected. No need to be rude about it.

2024-02-09 17:35:47

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@npub19lt…qfjk I get what you're saying, but what do you think the chances are of internet enabled kit being developed that is under your control, not that of big tech? (eg today's news of Amazon spiking the price of Ring subs). I reckon it's about minus 100%.

2023-11-21 18:12:58

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@npub1200…aqy2 "The debate over Elagabalus's gender identity is long-standing and often splits academics." I've never seen a split academic. I wonder if they have a picture.

2023-10-25 17:11:45

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@npub1ahr…m294 my point is that ten miles isn't much quicker by helicopter than by vehicle. That being so, how much is the saving worth? We also have the issue that by no means all hospitals are equipped to take helicopters, so a road ambulance might need to go ten miles when a helicopter needs to go forty. In Alberta a helicopter travelling a hundred miles is going to save three or four hours over a road ambulance - that makes a significant difference to outcomes. UK might be only 10 minutes.

2023-10-25 14:44:24

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@npub1ahr…m294 also, I suspect STARS will be much better staffed. One of the little facts I've gleaned from my meandering so far is that only one of the air ambulance services in the UK has a doctor and a paramedic on full time stand by, so a patient's ride to hospital here will be in the company of one paramedic at best.

2023-10-25 14:42:32

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@npub1ahr…m294 I can understand that. The value in a place like Alberta is obvious. But, just for comparison, Alberta is three times the size of the entire UK and has approx 1/15th of the population. The need to transport people a hundred miles or more must be widespread. In Sussex (population density 70 times higher than Alberta) very few people are more than 10 miles away from a hospital, so the equation must be very different.

2023-10-25 10:18:33

There's a man in the precinct here raising funds for the local air ambulance. Does anyone know of any independent research about the efficacy of air ambulances? Eg how many people lived who would otherwise have died; how many would have suffered more serious consequences to their injuries if access to treatment had been less speedy?

2023-09-01 20:32:37

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 can I make a slight correction to that post. They are paid over a million a year each. Whether they earn it is an entirely different matter. 🤔

2023-08-31 09:08:26

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@npub12dp…rpxf I see no reason why he shouldn't refer to it. All the apparatus in the world won't stop people speeding. They slow down for the camera, then ram the accelerator down again as soon as they've passed it. We need to change people's minds about how they drive - that's every citizen's job, not just the police. Here in the UK we have bucketloads of speed cameras, and millions of people who still drive too fast.

2023-08-31 09:03:10

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@npub12dp…rpxf I think he has a point. People will continue to drive badly as long as their surrounding culture encourages them to. If people start telling their friends they're idiots to drive too fast, we'll be on to something. People brag in the pub about the speeds they go at, and nobody says, well, that was stupid, wasn't it.

2023-07-14 09:41:45

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@npub1psd…9sr7 @npub18yl…pegw @npub1k70…fdw6 we're not weird about gun ownership. We just know how to do it right.

2023-07-02 11:05:28

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@npub19lt…qfjk yeah, that was a focus group filled with Korean mums.

2023-06-12 17:02:57

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@npub1ahr…m294 good grief, what has Nottinghamshire done to deserve that? But you're probably right. 😞

2023-06-12 09:57:02

Johnson's tombstone will read "Here lies Boris Johnson"; never was an epitaph more true. #ukpol