Andi Fugard
@andifugard.info
Policy evaluator. London-based, Belfast-born. They/them. Personal account – views mine. Posts auto delete after a month. Mastodon: https://sciences.social/@andi Web: https://andifugard.info/ DM: https://andifugard.info/contact/
Leaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
I'm looking into discrete choice modeling in R. If you've used it, which packages did you end up using, and how was your experience? #RStats
Curious line in the AISI incident report: "The prompts could have, for example, instructed the AI agent not to use social engineering techniques" File with "don't hallucinate", "only return real references", ...? (There are also better ideas in the report.) www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/inciden...
Incident Report: unsanctioned agent behaviour during cyber testing | AISI Work
During a routine cyber evaluation, AISI identified an incident in which AI agents took sustained, unsanctioned action directed at real people and organisations. We are disclosing what we found, what i...
aisi.gov.uk
🇩🇪 🚨 German police raised the alarm at an airport overnight after an explosives-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane and another aircraft collided with an unknown flying object mid-air before landing safely ➡️ u.afp.com/SHqS
Over the last nine months, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has run dozens of paid ads that include explicit AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and images of minors alongside sexually suggestive statements, according to details of the ads shared with WIRED.
Meta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Imagery
More than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.
wired.com
Former neo-Nazi activist withdraws... But Badenoch now offers him advisor role. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Former neo-Nazi activist withdraws as Conservative election candidate
Joshua Bonehill-Paine, who was convicted of harassing Jewish MP, says Badenoch has offered him advisory role instead
theguardian.com
“A p-value is the most widespread statistical concept that is not definable in a single sentence“ CHECKMATE
Darren Dahly@statsepi.bsky.social · yesterdayStop trying to explain what a p-value is in a single sentence (ICYMI) statsepi.substack.com/p/no-you-can...
⚡️Russia's ballistic missile attack on Kyiv is ongoing, with additional missiles headed toward the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. "Kyiv and the region are under ballistic attack. More missiles at the city," Klitschko reported.
Explosions heard in Kyiv as Russia launches ballistic missile attack
Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground heard explosions as Russia launched a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv and said multiple missiles appeared to strike the city.
kyivindependent.com
⚡️An air raid alert is in effect in Kyiv amid an ongoing Russian ballistic missile attack. Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground heard explosions at around 12:20 a.m. local time after 3-4 ballistic missiles reportedly struck the capital city.
Re: pervert glasses. Should it occur to anyone that they might use them to film court or tribunal proceedings, don’t do that. It’s a criminal offence.
Can this really be true? Astonishing if so. If this lasts it's a very bad sign indeed. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election
Joshua Bonehill-Paine, creator of satirical Crewkerne Gazette, has convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP
theguardian.com
Fun fact: as part of their Water Resources Management Plans, water companies are required to assess the full range of options for securing water supplies, which includes... ...towing *icebergs* up the Thames
Akshat Rathi@akshatrathi.bsky.social · 2d agoThis wasn't on my adaptation bingo card. "Romania used 180kg explosive to blow rock to divert water from drought-hit Danube to nuclear reactor." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
Diane Abbott calls Russia’s full scale invasion against Ukraine, which last night murdered nine civilians and earlier this week killed an 18 month old baby “The NATO campaign against Russia” youtu.be/SMBjoiMskxA?...
Diane Abbott MP
YouTube video by StoptheWarCoalition
youtu.be
The point isn't to produce essays, it's to teach students how to think for fuck's sake. The minute you automate that, it's over. You might as well close the course. Which they're also doing. This is an attack on learning, and everyone is just shrugging.
Interesting poll - won't be happy reading for the two big populist parties
Luke Tryl@luketryl.bsky.social · last wk.Our latest voting intention sees cross over. Labour move ahead by 4. Their first lead since March 2025 & highest share since Nov 24 🌹 LAB 28% (+4) ⏩ REF 24% (-2) 🌳 CON 22% (nc) 🔶 LIB DEM 12% (+1) 🟢 GREEN 8% (-3) 🟡 SNP 2% (nc) N = 2061| Dates 24-27/7| Change w 22/7
CRAN submissions are back online! #rstats The certificates had been revoked on Friday at rather short notice. Submit your 📦️ before CRAN goes on vacation August 5-19. xmpalantir.wu.ac.at/cransubmit/i...
CRAN package Submission
xmpalantir.wu.ac.at
What happens if you lob three copies of the same predictor at an elastic net? Not something you'd usually do but illustrative example I think. andifugard.info/trying-elast...
By “ML folk” you mean “maximum likelihood aficionados”, no?
One week in and is the UK transformed yet or should he resign? Worry not, dozens of political commentators are investigating off-record WhatsApps, pub gossip, and applying literary criticism to speeches.
POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · last wk.PM Andy Burnham came into office promising the biggest change in Britain in 40 years. But one week into his premiership, is the U.K. seeing real transformation — or just a different style of politics? 🎙️ Anne McElvoy and Sam Coates discuss on #PASAA 👇
@matthewhodson.bsky.social @tomshakespeare.bsky.social I see you both follow gordonrams. It looks like a fake account. Compare his profile image with www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scot...
MND campaigner Gordon Aikman dies
Motor neurone disease campaigner Gordon Aikman dies three years after being diagnosed with the condition.
bbc.co.uk
Does anyone know of good paper that replaces all the, e.g., "train" and "test" "machine learning" terminology with more pedestrian statistical terms? Ideally one that includes a rant on why it's not "learning" too. Sometimes ML folk even write as if a logistic reg model has "learned" something.
German police say they have shot and killed the chief suspect in what officials describe as a deadly Islamist attack near the Berlin Pride parade the previous night, the latest ramming assault to hit the country ➡️ u.afp.com/SrBa
New mad conspiracy theory just dropped. (Answers: It's a GCHQ building, and I presume black paint and doors are available at B&Q.)
Law enforcement must now establish who knew what, and when. And Farage must answer the question he's been dodging for a decade: why is this man always, always surrounded by criminals? Read the full, excellent investigation by @nafeez.bsky.social here: bylinetimes.com/2026/07/23/p...
‘Posh George’, Two Passports, and a Fraudulent Identity: Convicted Fraudster and Nigel Farage Funder's Connections to Reform UK’s Murky Financial Structures
Why did Reform UK change from being a privately-owned company to a non-profit company limited by guarantee in 2025? Nafeez Ahmed investigates a fraudulent identity used by George Cottrell – and how hi...
bylinetimes.com
Farage struts around lecturing us all about supposed establishment stitch-ups and dodgy elites. But look at what's actually behind him: a cabal of convicted fraudsters, mystery millionaires and offshore fixers - while Farage asks for your vote and hides who's pulling the strings.
The underlying study has no control group and only enrolls people with poorly controlled asthma. It's just pre/post comparison of asthma symptoms. Results are entirely consistent with reversion to the mean. Or seasonal change, for that matter. Come on people, we can do better!
Sammy Roth@sammyroth.bsky.social · 2w agoInsane new research. Scientists gave asthma patients free electric stoves to replace their gas stoves, then checked to see if symptoms improved. Not only did symptoms improve, ditching gas was *better than medicine.* Details in today's newsletter: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/electric-s...
Some good and surprisingly constructive advice for Andy Burnham from... Theresa May: www.youtube.com/shorts/bOhPV...
Running the UK is not the same as running Manchester - Theresa May's advice to Andy Burnham
YouTube video by Chatham House
youtube.com
![Comic. [chessboard with red dotted line and flag at second line. Highlighted rook is positioned next to King behind the red line.] [caption] I thought I had checkmate, but I didn’t realize my rook was offside.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreif4par7z6yterrvkhvlnemtc37rpb4yvretekqzpqnxl7gjio7fju)