This here is a Golden Age Of Blogging-level blogpost. crookedtimber.org/2026/08/05/p...
Perfectly Plausible — Crooked Timber
crookedtimber.org
Jeffrey Barrett
@jeffbarrett.eu
Professor of Computational Predictive Medicine, University of Helsinki. Posts about genomics, returning to academia after 10 years in industry, and the great outdoors.
As usual, Bruce is spot on, both in terms of how to think about using AI, and also expressing the timeless despair of grant-writing (in which I am currently dwelling): "The very act of struggling with how to express what [you] think is an important part of the process."
kottke.org@kottke.org · yesterdayWork vs gym: a simple way to decide whether to use AI for a task. “At the gym, it makes no sense for that robot to lift weights for you. The point of weightlifting isn’t to move heavy things across the room; it’s to actually lift those heavy things.” [schneier.com]
I know this would be closing the barn door after he horse has been reelected president, but if Democrats win both chambers I'd really like to see a concurrent resolution deeming January 6 an insurrection under 14(3). 1/
Sacred harmony: Pieter Jansz Saenredam, Dutch Golden Age architectural painter & draughtsman (1597-1665); pioneer of ‘church portraits’, whose subtle, tonal compositions foreshadow abstract modernism. St Bavo Haarlem, 1635, Gemäldegalerie Berlin
I actually know the answer to this and it's slightly insane. Google pulls from Wikipedia to determine if a place is a city, town, neighbourhood, whatever. Brighton's first line describes it as a "seaside resort" so Google Maps thinks it's a neighbourhood and doesn't display it in the "city" font.
Please Use AI. “Be sure to use AI when planning that next camping trip, the last one you will take with this particular child. Definitely do not text your friend who has fly-fished every river in Pennsylvania and biked every backwoods trail…” [shawnsmucker.substack.com]
Please Use AI
Be sure to use AI when making
shawnsmucker.substack.com
I love being tut-tut'ed by gnomad when I search using an rsid. 👴
Today is the day of pieces about AI in the real world, it seems. Here’s a nice concrete example of the current path from MOAR CODE to actual improvements in the practice of science.
John Lees@johnlees.bacpop.org · last wk.What is an 'everyday task' and what is a 'complex problem' in bioinformatics software engineering? Feels more important use the right model now they're not so heavily subsidised! I did a small comparison on an optimisation task: johnlees.me/posts/ska2-c... Small/cheap model wasn't good enough
Another interesting take on basically the same topic.
Noahpinion@noahpinion.blogsky.venki.dev · 2w agoWhat will more intelligence actually do for us?
being a billionaire and on the internet all day is crazy to me. if i had even five million dollars, you would not find me online whatsoever.
Very insightful post about our current moment in science.
Ran Blekhman@blekhman.bsky.social · last wk.Everyone says AI will accelerate science. I don't think it will -- at least not in biology, and at least not soon. New post where I explain why, and how the productivity paradox can be resolved: blekhman.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
Chippy Open, Uppermill, Saddleworth, painting by Roger Needham (Gallery Oldham).
Avoid ‘asking the AI for the answer to a problem you cannot solve yourself. His test: "if you would be unable to coherently present the output of the AI in a class presentation and be able to answer questions about it without further AI assistance, it should not be part of your workflow."’
José A. Alonso@jalonso.eurosky.social · 2w agoTerence Tao on AI in mathematics (and beyond). teorth.github.io/tao-web/ai-v... #AI4Math
In the past 24h KiPedia usage has exploded, with people looking up articles in Hungarian, Serbian, Greek, Hindi, and Icelandic in addition to the numerous lookups in English.
Star Simpson@starstar.bsky.social · 2w agoIf you’re at Wikimania — I’m about to give a talk on KiPedia.app, check it out!
It blows my mind that the clipart for DNA sequence hasn’t been updated in 40 years.
Nature@nature.com · 2w agoResearchers have identified the first evidence of genetic risk factors associated with borderline personality disorder go.nature.com/4woQgSM
This is a real shame - Patrick Vallance has been a really excellent and committed Science Minister who knew the territory and took a strategic view. Big shoes to fill
Girl holding a cat, Manchester or Salford, 1960s, photo by Shirley Baker (Mary Evans Picture Library).
A Brit in the semis of Wimbledon, England still in the World Cup and Nigel Farage spending the summer arguing with a bin. Oh this happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea
I’m starting a new job this fall! I will be launching a new lab to develop AI methods to predict disease risk and progression using the nationwide biomedical research datasets here in Finland.
"in our present, scoundrel-blasted time, when all the saboteurs that George Washington warned against ... seem irreversible, it’s worth returning to the moment when irreversibility was suspended and the world did change." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Simon Schema is glorious
Simon Schama: The founding fathers and the battle for America’s future
In 1776, visions of liberty and justice were fraught with compromise, conflict and contradiction. Today, the founders’ words still shape national identity
giftarticle.ft.com
Maija Isola (1927– 2001) Finnish designer of printed textiles who created over 500 patterns, including Unikko ("Poppy") #womensart
All experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But...it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security
@petridishes.bsky.social downed a can of Phorm Energy Screamin’ Freedom and had a surreal day at the Great American State Fair: theatln.tc/iC3tvNcF 📸: Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Source: petridishes.bsky.social."
Finally a WC match I care about at a very friendly time in Finland. Come on England! 🏴
I would read letters like Emily’s every night in the White House. They were powerful reminders of why the work we did mattered, and who we were fighting for.