Dr Manabu Sakamoto (he/him)

Senior Lecturer in Zoology
University of Lincoln
#palaeobiology #paleontology #dinosaurs #biomechanics #rstats #phylogenetics

Public Key

npub12vyc64klmv3rps296pna7w3wzzz486wfhft6ynqgtcq023henatsme3wq0

NIP-05 Address

drmambobob_at_ecoevo.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs9xzvd2m0akg3sc9zaqe7l8ghppp2na8ym54azfsy9uq84gmue74cpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qz9nhwden5te0wfjkccte9ec8y6tdv9kzumn9wsnxcsg7

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relay.mostr.pub

relay.primal.net

Author Public Key

npub12vyc64klmv3rps296pna7w3wzzz486wfhft6ynqgtcq023henatsme3wq0

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Last Notes

2024-10-09 08:01:40

Mastodon’s web interface seems to have been changed. Not sure I like it. But the biggest issue is that replies from other servers aren’t being displayed. Not sure if that’s just an issue with my instance though…
#Mastodon

2024-09-19 21:27:20

I’ve said before I wanted a new mountain bike with front suspensions but I’ve been feeling differently recently.
I just love my old bike! 🚲
It’s lasted 20 years and still works fine. Mostly original except for the gear shifters, brakes and brake levers, handle grips, saddle and pedals. It’s amazing how good engineering lasts a lifetime!
Nishiki MR MTB from the 1990s #cycling #mtb
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/113/166/320/889/070/238/original/03bd9884feddef19.jpeg

2024-09-19 10:12:41

If you're driving and encounter a cyclist taking up lane space, it's not because they're hogging the road - if they move over to the side, it invites drivers to overtake within the lane, i.e., a very close pass with not enough space to maintain safety.
Give cyclists space. It's safe and makes road use pleasant for everyone. You're not going to save much time by attempting to overtake dangerously - and you could end up killing someone!
#cycling

2024-09-18 14:12:35

I was googling beds recently and now my Promotions tab on gmail is full of ads for beds and mattresses. WTF?

2024-09-16 16:01:32

There's something really odd about the autocomplete function on my iPhone. I was trying to type, "Chinese leaf" on my shopping list, and the next word my iPhone suggested following "Chinese" was "President", and after I started typing "L" and "E", it suggested "leaders" and "leader". Why does it think I want to talk about the Chinese leadership?

2024-09-06 13:14:30

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@npub1qqa…qkq2 Yes! My kids flip through and talk about it every time they come to my office!

2024-09-02 20:33:16

I prefer mountain biking over road cycling as I don't have to deal with drivers.
#cycling #mountainbike #mtb

2024-09-02 09:49:07

I've read and heard arguments that using ChatGPT to summarise lectures or notes would improve students' efficiency, but that's no different from borrowing your top-of-the-class friend's notes and then wondering why you didn't do as well as your friend.
It's not the notes that enable your friend to get top marks, it's their own work that went into making those notes.

2024-08-31 08:38:32

I like spiders 🕷️ and I don’t mind them around the house and garden but walking through random strands of silk 🕸️ that cling onto your face forever no matter how many times you swipe at it is quite uncomfortable…
#nature #spiders

2024-08-30 22:16:49

We don't see violence in the UK but we do see the war on higher education here as well...
- America HATES College Students
@npub1j5w…zln6
https://youtu.be/qlAb_8bDHjE

2024-08-30 21:20:34

Came across a biogeography paper without a single map!

2024-08-30 15:11:39

Is it just me or are insurance policies really difficult to understand? I can't quite figure out what is and what isn't covered and under what sort of conditions...

2024-08-30 06:29:31

I’ve been using an ancient (mid 1990s) fully rigid mountain bike since I was 15. I recently found out higher skilled bikers call riding one of these “under biking”, meaning deliberately riding an underperforming bike. I’ve been wanting to get a modern mountain bike for some time now so I started looking into it. All the ones I could afford are still budget bikes that pro bikers make comedy videos out of. But I guess that’s where I’m at! 😂
#mtb #mountainbike

2024-08-29 12:51:52

I read an article on AI apps that can do high school level maths, and the author argued that if AI tools can get you to the same destination then what’s the problem? The problem is, getting AI to do math homework isn’t going to get you to the same place as someone who actually did the homework themselves. The latter learned through practice so can now solve those math problems without tools. The former won’t. That’s not the same place, especially if you’ve got exams at the end of it.

2024-08-28 21:41:52

I don't know if I'm in the minority but when I was a kid, I never thought of Luke Skywalker as my personal hero, nor Han Solo nor Princess Leia for that matter. I actually liked all the side characters like Wedge Antilles, Gold Leader and all the stormtroopers.
So I was a bit surprised when adult Star Wars fans were so upset about Luke Skywalker from The Last Jedi going "not my Luke Skywalker".
#starwars #thelastjedi

2024-08-28 08:53:49

My wife and I have been noticing recently that emails sent to gmail addresses sometimes get lost and never get delivered. I clearly have messages in my sent box that is nowhere in my wife's inbox, including spam.
Someone also says they sent something to me yesterday but I have not received it.
Is this quite common? I'm experiencing this more recently.
#gmail

2024-08-27 14:32:09

I've been watching the Twilight films (for reasons) and it's basically a 17-year old declaring that she is absolutely certain about her fate for eternity when she's 17 going on 18 ...

2024-08-25 22:48:14

Just watching some improv comedy and amazed at their ability and capacity to just come up with such hilarious stuff on the spot and thinking my brain doesn't let me be so creative, but then realised that I've been put on the spot multiple times and been able to pull it off - e.g., Q&As after conference talks or being asked to sell our degree course on the day of the open day. Your profession, you can do it.

2024-08-25 22:48:14

2024-08-25 19:45:16

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 My wife…so I don’t have much choice! Lol

2024-08-24 23:33:32

-Female characters who can't pass the Bechdel test
https://youtube.com/shorts/dfmqlWMANSQ?si=X2CCF4if5oAe3e2Q

2024-08-24 22:44:19

I was asked to improve on a ChatGPT output so that it doesn't read like it was generated by AI...
Such a painful process...not that the outputs are terrible - they're perfectly serviceable as text - it's the whole identifying why it reads a bit off and not quite human and then how you'd change it. I pretty much gutted and rewrote the entirety of the opening paragraph but kind of ran out of steam after that...

2024-08-20 05:53:52

I started being a Star Wars nerd when we had no internet and the only reference I had was a Star Wars A-Z guide (a physical book) that didn’t actually cite sources properly so I often couldn’t figure out which source materials some character or events made their first appearance. I hated cameos then I still hate them now.
#starwars

2024-08-16 22:10:57

Just finished The Two Towers and I found this one way more enjoyable than the first film. Not just the story but visually as well.

2024-08-15 12:48:47

The narrative that universities should teach practical technical skills is pretty dangerous to unis. I recently came across a Reddit thread where people were complaining that their computer science profs weren't teaching the most up to date programming language! They're saying CS, one of the more practical-oriented degrees, is not practical and useless! This is why we teach fundamentals that are core to understanding rather than whatever is the latest and trendiest technical skill set.

2024-08-14 13:14:13

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Thanks! I'll give it a go sometime soon!
BTW, I like that you use a blog as a way to keep record of things.

2024-08-14 13:01:55

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Nice! I might try cooking pizza with our oven then. We've got a good range cooker so maybe that's good enough.

2024-08-14 12:52:10

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Did you use a pizza oven for this? I was given a recipe for the dough and recommendations for a pizza oven but haven't bought one yet.

2024-08-13 11:01:18

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@npub1jsh…hspt Oh no… 😱 poor phone!
I’m leaning towards the SE as well.

2024-08-13 08:53:28

When I had an iPhone 5 and then the iPhone SE (1st gen), both the same size as each other, I thought iPhone 6 was way too big...Now that I need to replace my iPhone 6s, all the new phones feel way too big for me.
Luckily for me, this time around, there's the iPhone SE (3rd gen) which should be the same size as the iPhone 6s.

2024-08-12 23:17:23

I really need to replace my aging iPhone 6s, so I'm comparing iPhone 13 and iPhone SE3 (based on the price), and the funny thing is, the review I read for SE3 is clearly written by someone absolutely excited by it while the one for 13 is clearly written by someone who felt 'meh', even though 13 has way better specs than the SE. I guess the author already had a 12 and the upgrade to 13 was a meh?
On a side note, what's up with the obsession with screen specs? They're all small compared to a TV.

2024-08-12 16:35:42

I've been seeing clever-sounding commentators advocating for increasing integration as a solution to the underlying cause of the recent race riots, but I don't really understand what they mean. It doesn't help that they don't elaborate on it either. Ultimately, they still paint immigrants being different as a bad thing. So again, immigrants are being blamed and the solution is for immigrants to 'integrate'. But aren't immigrants already integrated by renting and buying things locally?

2024-08-10 22:36:53

I really like maps. History books should have more maps. I dabble with biogeography every now and again (though never published) but thinking’s of going into that more.

2024-08-10 22:03:48

Having finished the Hobbit trilogy recently, we’ve started watching the lord of the rings trilogy. The fellowship of the ring looks really dated now, not the special effects but more on the cinematography, particularly in the use of slow motion and superimposition. Looks like it’s from the 80s more than from 2001 to be honest…

2024-08-09 13:25:04

#fossilfriday I was on the Isle of Wight with my family recently and went to Compton Beach to see the dinosaur foot prints!
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/112/932/283/911/953/095/original/e8940c402c313e08.jpeg

2024-08-09 12:23:39

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@npub1gpa…xlk0
I have this book (https://amzn.eu/d/4uXOmc1) and I like it overall, but the dinosaurs look too CGI for me, maybe not cheap CGI, but they look obviously CGI.

2024-08-09 12:10:34

I don’t know if anyone else feels the way I do but the artwork on the newer DK #dinosaur books aren’t very appealing to me. They look like cheap CGI and lack the soul of proper #palaeoart

2024-08-09 10:52:10

I like the suggestion that rioters should be banned from football. As the overlap between the rioters and hooligans seem to be quite high, maybe this would be more effective as a deterrent than prison time.
[Note, hooligans does not equal football fans. My son plays football so I don't have an issue with football or football fans.]

2024-07-25 14:00:24

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The inner ring is fake and the whole plate twists off to expose the lightbulb inside. It’s also not like the other very common design where the whole casing comes out and you release a spring clamp. You can see I tried this where the paint has come off…
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/112/847/481/361/556/679/original/4156ccf3b99800f7.jpeg

2024-07-25 13:48:48

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@npub1jsh…hspt Googling told me I'd have to do that so I had an electrician come this morning to find out it wasn't!

2024-07-25 13:11:53

Just from common sense, how would you replace this down light?
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/112/847/291/418/758/137/original/8a9dbe83fdccc231.jpeg

2024-07-24 22:51:52

There's supposedly a new aliens film coming out soon but I don't feel I need to go see it as I've seen it already (aka the trailer).😑

2024-07-22 19:47:16

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 In the meantime the right gathers around the candidate that is the most likely to help them further their cause no matter how extreme that candidate is…

2024-07-22 19:18:04

I don’t get all the leftists saying they won’t vote for someone who’s not left enough so are happy to enable a fascist instead. The fascists are openly saying they’re going to make your single issue worse than the “not left enough” candidate. Make it make sense.

2024-07-22 08:34:57

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 I guess these people want to go back to the 18th or 19th century?

2024-07-19 15:02:04

Talking to children in a way that they can understand while not skipping over any fundamentally important concepts is very challenging but it should be done more often.

2024-07-19 14:31:07

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Agreed completely! and I think it's an important point that warrants repeatedly commenting on!

2024-07-19 09:01:05

I'm not on #Twitter anymore (and so are a lot of you on #Mastodon ) so maybe it's pointless to be posting it here, but if you are still on Twitter, you might want to think a bit about that...
I'm actually concerned so many scientists still use Twitter.
https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-x-twitter-pro-trump-custom-hashtag-icon

2024-07-19 08:43:14

Everyone treats the economy and the stock market as if it's all some natural phenomenon, controlled by the force of nature, but that's not true. It operates under human-constructed rules and transactions. Governments can and have intervened.
It's absolutely not a force of nature like gravity...

2024-07-17 12:56:40

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@npub1e2e…0xnw ...shame...

2024-07-17 12:38:20

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@npub1e2e…0xnw they should just stay in the us…

2024-07-11 09:33:41

My ideal manuscript layout:
[Intro]
This is what I want to know.
Here is what we know so far.
Here is what we don't know yet.
This is what I'm going to do to fill this gap.
[Methods]
Here is what I did.
[Results]
Here is what I found.
[Discussion]
How does this relate to what we know.
How does this resolve what we didn't know.
[Conclusion]
Here is my answer to what I wanted to know.
(you can use the same template for research proposals just swapping out "did" with "will do")

2024-07-11 09:30:21

I don't really like article formats that skip the methods section and go straight to the results. I still have to go to the methods section to understand the results so what's the point? It's really disjointed and difficult to read.

2024-07-09 23:37:28

Labour could require a bank in every town
Richard J Murphy
https://youtu.be/L3wEevlou-Q?si=VTyAS3MquWBREQ_J

2024-07-05 22:12:43

To anyone that asks me why I need a high performance workstation and if I can't use "cloud computing" instead, I'd like to ask, do you do gaming, and if so, why do you need a gaming computer and not just "do it" on "the cloud"

2024-07-04 10:57:57

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Scrolling while holding down the option key works for me.

2024-07-04 09:28:38

I really like creatives (musicians etc) that put their stuff online (like YouTube) for free - I tend to buy stuff from people that let me sample their content first.

2024-07-04 08:59:47

Woah - I just found out that you can spin and zoom stl models in the preview pane on #MacOS!

2024-07-04 08:47:50

I still have to wonder out loud...why is Reform polling ahead of the Lib Dems and the Greens?

2024-07-03 13:06:03

"It takes a scientific mind to see the grunting hulk of a hippopotamus and wonder whether, given sufficient motivation, such an improbable beast might ever become airborne." 😂
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/03/hippos-might-fly-uk-research-discovers-animal-can-get-airborne

2024-07-03 12:58:35

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 ...that's just sad.
The Rule Britannia crowd should take pride in the fact that people still see Great Britain as the capital of the old British Empire...

2024-07-03 10:21:35

People still see GREAT Britain so they want to come to the UK. You should be worried when they start seeing LITTLE England and avoid coming here. We don't want that.

2024-06-25 15:44:00

Just occurred to me but are there any films set during the COVID-19 pandemic? I'm not sure I've come across any...

2024-06-25 13:16:47

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 ...I'll give the books a go at some point. The lore does sound interesting. Maybe let the kids read the books first and let them summarise it!

2024-06-24 22:24:46

I'm probably in the minority, but I've never really been a fan of Peter Jackson films. The action sequences are dragged out way too long and the shots are always too wide so there's too many things going on...
I actually like "single-shot" long takes but they tend to be narrower shots and focusing on a single character with chaos going around them (but the chaos isn't the focus).

2024-06-24 12:28:29

My daughter dances and her teacher insisted we buy an app from the Royal Academy of Dance, which lets you practice along a video demo, but it doesn't seem to have any ability to cast to a TV, so she's stuck with watching the video on a small smartphone screen (fortunately she's smart enough to remember the moves from class so she doesn't really need to watch it per se). I think this is clearly an example of someone developing apps exclusively for and smartphones tablets for no good reason.

2024-06-24 09:57:27

It’s only in some minority of cases but I noticed some #rstats developers frequently change function names or keep making functions defunct. It kind of puts me off from using their package…

2024-06-22 18:55:25

I dunno, maybe I’m being a bit harsh but I feel kind of sad for the people that think LLMs are intelligent as that implies they think their thoughts are composed of strings of words predicted from the previous word…

2024-06-22 08:57:35

“The planet will be fine!”
Yes, but we and a lot of life won’t be. It’s not the planetary body we’re concerned with, it’s us (life on Earth) and our future that we’re concerned about…
“Life will be fine. Maybe it’s better off without us!”
Yes, but only in the broadest sense of “life on Earth”. A lot of plants and animals that you can see with your eyes (but many more you probably aren’t even aware of) won’t be fine. So you’re really stretching with that argument.

2024-06-20 14:14:01

There’s nothing like #conferences where you can simultaneously get #imposter_syndrome and feel excited about learning new stuff!

2024-06-19 20:30:02

The reason those shock tactic protests feel off is that they’re not protesting against big corp but they’re protesting against you for not being active enough.

2024-06-17 20:02:11

When I first came to the UK the BNP was still relevant and when UKIP appeared on the scene everyone knew it was the BNP repackaged to appear palatable. Now somehow that even UKIP is but a distant memory Reform UK is allowed to disavow the BNP. It’s a joke. They’re all the same.

2024-06-17 18:54:50

Recall that Reforn UK wants to withdraw CITIZENSHIP from immigrants if they commit a crime. Not visas or permits or leave to remain, but citizenship! So even if you’re legally naturalised and pledged your loyalty to the monarch, they don’t think you’re really a Brit.

2024-06-13 10:53:24

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 📄 🐇 🕳️ This should be on our bios...

2024-06-13 07:34:03

Why does everyone (and people who should know better) seem to think LLMs are actually useful for anything, paving the way for the future or whatever? LLMs don’t return facts, they just return words that sound convincingly human.
It’s a bullshit generator and I don’t understand why you’d want to interface with something like that, or worse, have a bullshitter represent you when you use it to compose email…

2024-06-13 00:14:00

Just writing two paragraphs, TWO paragraphs but ended up spending the evening going down a citation rabbit hole

2024-06-12 08:01:05

Just A Quarter Of British People Now Think The UK Should Be Outside The European Union
Major new survey also reveals more than 70% say the economy is worse off because of Brexit.
By
Kevin Schofield
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/just-one-quarter-of-british-people-now-think-the-uk-should-be-outside-the-european-union_uk_66684d82e4b04a7f054b62b9

2024-06-11 09:05:15

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@npub1fjv…x8tc I love how the rex is just ripping the rib cage out. It fits with what we know of T. rex but a visualisation like this really makes it stand out! Amazing!

2024-06-10 22:12:31

You might think "tough on immigration" has nothing to do with you, but immigration is just the canary in the coal mine. It doesn't stop with immigrants - normalise cruelty to "the others" and you enable cruelty to the next category of "others" and the one after that. Before you know it, you'll also be one of the "others".
Remember the poem "First they came for..."

2024-06-04 21:20:01

I’ve been blogging recently, mostly writing about papers I published before because I realised I’ve not really blogged about them. But also funders seem to like blogs and websites as a way to disseminate research.
In any case, here’s my website and blog: https://manabusakamoto.uk/
#blogging #science #Palaeontology

2024-06-04 19:00:16

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 I couldn’t find a ham icon! How did you find it?

2024-06-04 17:17:18

I just had this sudden craving for ham and pineapple 🍍 pizza 🍕 but dinner tonight is Japanese beef 🥩 curry 🍛! Been in the slow cooker for 8 hours.

2024-06-03 07:11:03

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 This is why EDI initiatives are important. It’s not just about increasing opportunities but more crucially about increasing survival rates…

2024-06-01 22:36:13

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Why are they so hot on machines writing gibberish? Don't they realise that's going to devalue their product?

2024-06-01 17:51:54

I find it frustrating that there are researchers sending out surveys asking whether LLMs are useful for research in the natural sciences. How would you use LLMs for research? It would make sense if they asked about machine learning but they asked specifically about LLMs.

2024-06-01 16:48:21

My son really likes the idea of every household owning a four-seater pedal buggy for getting around the neighbourhood and for local shopping.

2024-05-31 11:43:26

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 ...well, we can't find them for some references and I always find it strange that editorial offices ask authors to find information related to publications. Isn't that their area of expertise?

2024-05-31 08:48:57

Publishers asking for DOIs on ancient references is a bit funny to me...

2024-05-31 07:33:22

I'm starting to feel that usage rules around #openaccess digital specimens still enable gate keeping of the actual physical specimens... A lot of things still involve being the rights owner of the actual specimens...

2024-05-24 09:20:16

The thing that frustrates me about economists and financial modellers is that they behave as if what they're modelling is some mathematical law of the universe (like physics or chemistry) operating under rational and predictable mechanisms but the economy is not that. Money is made up and markets are irrational...

2024-05-22 14:13:15

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 I use the one on Firefox! I just read an article promoting standalone password managers over browser based ones but they just link to paid services!

2024-05-22 13:44:21

So I get that you should use password managers but are there any good ones out there? All those top lists only mention paid services and their free versions are severely limited. I don't want to pay for more things than I am already.

2024-05-22 11:29:53

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 That's good advice!

2024-05-22 11:12:15

There's no point in being kind to someone who's gone out of their way to be nasty or to undermined you. You don't have to go out of your way to retaliate, but you don't have to help them or make life easy for them. If they engage with you, you don't owe them kindness. There's no moral high ground or whatever here. You just lose even more if you show them your "generosity" - they won't appreciate it and they will just use it to their advantage...

2024-05-21 13:24:38

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 LOL - yeah, you basically lack faith in this new tech if you keep asking about reliability! You're a detractor!

2024-05-21 11:51:22

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 I doubt it…this should have been the standard from the beginning. Verifiability and replicability should have been built into these systems.

2024-05-21 11:45:07

LLM outputs should come with a metric of how good the response is, like probability of a correct statement. Or even the individual probabilities of each word following another word.

2024-05-20 07:23:38

I just don’t understand the concept of charging for water. It’s like the most abundant resource on Earth…and it’s essential for life.
Access to clean water and sewage is an essential infrastructure, not luxury: it should be paid for through our taxes.

2024-05-16 07:09:47

Remember, when politicians say “talent”, “skills”, “research”, or “innovation”, they don’t mean “smart”, “technically skilled”, “scientific research” or “technological advancements”, they just mean “rich people investing in things that make them and their friends more rich”.

2024-05-13 07:02:21

What’s more annoying than people misspelling my name are those that immediately get defensive and say things like, “Oh but it’s so easy to misspell non English names” when I complain about other ppl misspelling my name. That tells me you don’t care about me.
If it helps, there’s this thing called copy and paste. Use that to get the spelling right.

2024-05-12 21:11:59

Nothing

2024-03-15 21:18:01

I suffered a serious bout of imposter syndrome earlier this week - like is my research really basic and not cutting edge enough?
...I eventually overcame it by recalling that my colleagues are excited about my research and it's an insult to them to think otherwise...
#AcademicChatter #impostersyndrome

2024-03-15 21:18:01

2024-03-15 11:51:29

Just curious but is there any study looking at the phylogenetic placements of juveniles and adults from morphological data of extant animals? I see lots of discussions in dinosaur research on this topic but not looked into it in any detail so was just wondering if anyone's looked at this problem in extant species... #Palaeontology #phylogenetics #phylogeny

2024-03-14 16:45:47

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Your blog post has aged well! It's still valid to this day!

2024-03-14 16:45:47

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@npub1gpa…xlk0 Your blog post has aged well! It's still valid to this day!

2024-03-14 14:26:10

Killing trees and whatnot but I still need to print out articles that are of particular importance. I'll reread it multiple times anyway, so it won't go in the bin. Just the simple fact that I can flip over to the reference section and back without losing my place justifies the paper in my opinion.