Danny Axford
@dannyaxford.bsky.social
Cycling, Science and the Political Economy, my personal contentions. Off-beat music soundtrack. Oxford, UK.
This is just to say... And I need to recall the person who came up with this analogy talking about software *engineering*: If a bridge collapses, no one questions whether the bridge was intelligent or sentient or had agency, They ask who built this shoddy bridge.
Katie Martin@katie0martin.ft.com · 14h agoI have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
This is the master key to deciphering contemporary debates about free speech. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/se...
Reminder that in Canada upon becoming an engineer you get an iron ring made of a collapsed bridge, purposely designed to be uncomfortable, to remind you that your ethics demand you give a fuck even about the boring grudgework of such as double-checking your math. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring
Iron Ring - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Matt Ford@mford.bsky.social · 2d agoEzra Klein asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI making kids worse at math and reading. Huang’s reply: “Does it matter?” Then he said he doesn’t know his own address or phone number. “We’re going to lose some fine intellectual dexterity.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...
As @doctorow.pluralistic.net says, "Geometry hates cars." Transportation in cities is a space problem, not a tech problem.
Paulrus of West Bumblefrick@paulrusof.bsky.social · 3d agoShort of far-out sci-fi solutions like programmable matter, there is no way to solve the space problem in cities. Cars simply take up way too much space. There no reason why one or two people need a 2-4 ton living room to get across town.
Ultimately the successful running of any organisation boils down to expectation management.
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2d agoClarion correspondent is on a train south from Oxford and can confirm the trains are running as they normally do. That is- crowded, with unreliable WiFi, relentlessly cheery staff and someone having a loud conversation in the quiet carriage. #BacktoNormal
The reoccurring theme of recent news is ‘company/individual commits a crime. There is no obvious consequence’. Doesn’t feel ideal.
John Coltrane 100 #Jazzsky Too much great work to point to but I always fall back to this, the greatest 'cover version' period. youtu.be/JQvc-Gkwhow?...
My Favorite Things (Stereo) (2022 Remaster)
YouTube video by John Coltrane - Topic
youtu.be
Can you take 2 mins to respond to Ofwat's consultation to demand they BLOCK the water bill hike. If water companies can't survive without hiking our bills, let them go bust and bring them into public ownership. Deadline: midnight Thurs 24th Sept weownit.org.uk/NoBillHike
Ofwat: No to water bills hike, let them go bust - Respond by midnight on Thursday 24th September
Demand that Ofwat says no to bill hikes. Let water companies go bust and bring them into public ownership for nothing.
weownit.org.uk
£240 Million for the bridgeworks in Oxford. £104 Million for cycling and walking in *all of England* Of course we get patchwork and incoherence 🙄 www.activetravelengland.gov.uk/news/ps104-m...
£104 million investment to transform walking, wheeling and cycling routes across England | Active Travel England
£104m investment to transform walking, wheeling and cycling routes across England
activetravelengland.gov.uk
Danny Yee@dannyyee.bsky.social · 6d agoThe route under the Botley railway bridge has fully opened, so I went down to see how the walking and cycling provision works. Summary: the route under the railway bridge is pretty good, the transitions on either side are terrible for cycling (and not that good for walking).
Everyday, most places :sigh: Marvel at the inefficiency, the shear waste of space and energy, the vehicles impeded by the storage of vehicles not even in use...
John Munro@johnmunro.bsky.social · 4d agoThe commute home on #WorldCarFreeDay in Birmingham, UK.
This is terrorism and treating that thug Danny Tommo with kid gloves has led to this.
Emma Yeomans@yeomans.bsky.social · 4d agoWorrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
This is good to see, but there would be far cheaper ways of Thames Valley Police making a dent in mobile phone driving. For example, actually doing something about reports from members of the public, especially when they come with video evidence. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The undercover HGV catching drivers on their phones in the Thames Valley
More drivers are risking lives by using mobile phones despite tougher penalties, police say.
bbc.co.uk
Is this literally saying governments need to cut welfare for people so global capital markets can soak up even more junk bonds from hyperscalers to build more AI data centers? If so, the author is fucking demented
JW Mason@jwmason.bsky.social · 4d agoHere’s a funny new version of th crowding-out argument. In the old days, we were told fiscal tightening was needed to solve the problem of weak private investment. Now, we are told tightening is needed because private investment is so strong. Austerity: always the answer! www.ft.com/content/d96c...
Omg everyone this is serious. Fiscal ice is the worst kind of ice you can fall through 🥶🥶🥶
Channel 4 News@channel4news.bsky.social · 5d agoUK is ‘ON THIN FISCAL ICE’ – former Bank of England economist www.channel4.com/news/uk-is-o...
The political Cul De Sac you end up in when you dictate efforts with the crudest and narrowist pay-fors.
road.cc@roadcc.bsky.social · 5d ago"What we haven’t done is take account of people’s changing habits because of the cost-of-living crisis. We are trying to encourage people to walk and cycle as much as possible, and that would automatically mean lower parking revenue."
Me to security person at Dublin Airport: I was given a lemon as a prize today. Can I bring my lemon through security? Security person (solemnly): Yes, you may bring your prize lemon through security.
"The family make the mile and a half journey by car" This is why our roads are so congested and knackered.
Angry People in Local Newspapers@apiln.bsky.social · 5d ago“I think I shouldn’t have to pay a charge for parking on this clearly signposted private road because I’m doing the school run” isn’t the slam-dunk legal argument you think it is, Mr Loud Shirt In A Built-Up Area.
The route under the Botley railway bridge has fully opened, so I went down to see how the walking and cycling provision works. Summary: the route under the railway bridge is pretty good, the transitions on either side are terrible for cycling (and not that good for walking).
Good to hear Mercury prize nominated Knats on BBC6Music Gilles Peterson. The kids are alright 👌#Jazzsky Also interesting to hear this classic cited as influence. youtu.be/8FM2sCA1Gxc?...
Metal Fatigue (Remastered)
YouTube video by Allan Holdsworth - Topic
youtu.be
Not exactly a hot take but demonstrating aptitude at hacking is the current marketing tool to show your AI agent is "frontier". But really just demonstrates *intentionally* sloppy industry work practice.
15/ The *scale* of the US investment in datacenters is staggering. Other countries are having similar conversations about the effect of AI on economic development, electricity and land etc but hard to compete with US financial sector & technological dominance of AI firms @katemac.bsky.social
Back in 2012, Addison Lee founder John Griffin told cyclists: “You want to join our gang, get trained and pay up”. Well, this is awkward… Taxi boss who called for cyclists to pay road tax owes over £20 million to HMRC
Taxi boss who called for cyclists to pay road tax owes over £20 million to HMRC; Lifting town centre bike ban will “endanger people”, Reform claims; Women’s team coach banned for 10 years for abuse; B...
road.cc
It’s always the ones you least expect
The Guardian@theguardian.com · last wk.Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir
if you EVER get called for a meeting and they say “don’t bring a union rep” bring a union rep
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · last wk.'The University and College Union (UCU)’s Edinburgh branch said staff had been called into “informal meetings at less than 24 hours' notice” and told not to bring union representatives.'
It’s like the post-Brexit UK decided to enter some perverse Stakhanovite contest for who dismantles higher ed the fastest—which is saying something, cause the bar is pretty high
Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco@joshpizpom.bsky.social · last wk.EXC: 90 programmes in Edinburgh University's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences are to be closed. The casualties, which include 48 language and literature programmes, will be 'taught out', w/ no admissions after 2027. @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2655839...
Students made Oxford the murder capital of medieval England. No Inspector Morse in those days. www.cam.ac.uk/stories/medi...
Medieval Murder Maps: homicidal Oxford students in the 14th century
How students made Oxford the murder capital of late medieval England
cam.ac.uk
