Ow I can see why Jonathan was so upset at me calling him a prat (correct spelling this time). He’d never use language like that on here.

Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 2mo ago

These are entirely fictional distributions invented by innumerate racists to take advantage of gullible idiots who don't understand basic stats. Which part of that don't you understand?

Certainly worth reading if you enjoy tedious tendentious arguments advanced by self-absorbed toddlers.

Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Worth reading the thread that led up to this.

Disappointing to see academics at Brunel university don’t understand what Academic Freedom means.

Rebecca Sear@rebeccasear.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Academia actually contains considerable “viewpoint diversity” already, including at the most powerful institutions

Financial Fair Play in the Premier League doesn't work and they should just get rid of it.

I can already say with some confidence West Ham are getting relegated this season. 2-0 down to Sunderland on day 1 and Potter brings on Callum Wilson and Andy Irvine. We lose 3-0.

Ha ha ha 😂

Haven't been on here for a while but popped over to take a look because Twitter is so awful. Some interesting discussions going on but I'm mostly struck by the rigid ideological conformity and thirst for punishing those who indulge in wrongthink. Should I try Threads?

My, admittedly somewhat limited, experience of GPT-5 has not been good. Particularly weird that it didn't even know how to code API calls to itself.

Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · last yr.

For months, OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has been hyping up the capabilities of GPT-5, setting up the launch as a seminal moment for the company. But in the first 24 hours after its release, the new model was met with mixed reviews

New working paper with Tom Robinson, Laura Fung and Caroline Roberts. We use an LLM to classify occupations in surveys in real time, probing 'intelligently' when more info is needed. Results show big reductions in cost, time and respondent burden. osf.io/preprints/so...

👣 "Uncovering Digital Trace Data Biases: Tracking Undercoverage in Web Tracking Data" by Bosch et al. @orioljbosch.bsky.social @patricksturg.bsky.social Read: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Featured in our latest issue!

New working paper with Chuyao Wang and Dan De Kadt, "AI labeling reduces the perceived accuracy of online content but has limited broader effects". The title is a concise summary but read the full paper for details: arxiv.org/abs/2506.16202

AI labeling reduces the perceived accuracy of online content but has limited broader effects

Explicit labeling of online content produced by artificial intelligence (AI) is a widely mooted policy for ensuring transparency and promoting public confidence. Yet little is known about the scope of...

arxiv.org

The greatest tennis match of all time.

Interesting, I've never been to Reading.

L.E. Harrison@leharrison.bsky.social · last yr.

#Booksky #Readersky #Books

On my way to London for #MASS25. Excited for two days of discussions on Mobile Apps and Sensors in Surveys. Shoutout to my fantastic co-organizers (for the 6th (!) time) @peterlugtig.bsky.social, @jkhoehne.bsky.social, Bella Struminskaya and generous local host @patricksturg.bsky.social

two men are standing next to each other in a kitchen and one of them says " london baby "

ALT: two men are standing next to each other in a kitchen and one of them says " london baby "

media.tenor.com

🤖 Recent advances in AI are beginning to reshape how we design, implement, and analyse surveys. @patricksturg.bsky.social‬ will be sharing his expertise at UCL's AI for Survey Data Collection Methods and Data Analysis workshop on 9 July. @clscohorts.bsky.social‬

No @theguardian.com the SC judgment is absolutely clear. What you are struggling with is how you lot are going to keep misrepresenting the law now the judgment is in. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

‘A real mess’: splits emerge in Labour over supreme court’s gender ruling

Growing number of MPs are questioning Keir Starmer’s claim that ruling has brought ‘clarity’ to issue

theguardian.com

Really can't see what the problem is with AI face recognition as long as it's only used for identification. Just much more efficient and less costly than using humans to do it. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Live facial recognition cameras may become ‘commonplace’ as police use soars

Exclusive: The Guardian and Liberty Investigates find police in England and Wales believe expansion is likely after 4.7m faces scanned in 2024

theguardian.com

Does local area social mobility affect political alienation? Andrew McNeil & Patrick Sturgis (@patricksturg.bsky.social) find it depends. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/ptn4JQC @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social #ukpolitics @sagepub.com #polsci #polsky

New working paper "Survey Experience and Nonresponse in an Online Probability Panel: A Survival Analysis" with Katya Kostadintcheva & Jouni Kuha. We find some interesting predictors of nonresponse. Read the paper to find out: arxiv.org/abs/2505.03971

Survey Experience and Nonresponse in an Online Probability Panel: A Survival Analysis

We fit discrete time survival models to data from an online probability panel, where the outcome is the respondent first nonresponse to a survey invitation, following at least one previous survey comp...

arxiv.org

Unpopular opinion: Vice Chancellors aren't overpaid and VC pay is just a distraction from the real issues. www.thetimes.com/uk/education...

Universities to be ‘named and shamed’ over vice-chancellor pay

The education secretary is proposing league tables of institutions that pay bumper executive salaries but offer poor value for money to students

thetimes.com

West Ham have gone backwards under Potter, that’s 7 on the bounce without a win. The only reason we’re staying up is the points won under useless Lopetegui. Potter will have zero fan patience if we get off to a poor start as we usually do. I’d sack him if it were up to me.

How do you write a sketch for the Guardian about yesterday's PMQs on the SC judgment? Predictably, right-on John Crace goes for 'it's just a trivial culture war issue' & Kemi lost her cool (typical lady eh?). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Culture warrior Kemi and defiant Keir slog it out over sex and gender at PMQs | John Crace

The opposition leader was adamant the PM should eat humble pie but he wasn’t having it. Cue a slanging match

theguardian.com

best policy announced this year by any party www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Lib Dems back ban on playing music and videos on public transport in England

Under the plan, those who flout the prohibition could face a maximum fine of £1,000

theguardian.com

The lack of discussion of the Supreme Court judgment on here really is quite weird.

One shouldn't laugh but actually it's fine to laugh.

Barbara Rich@barbararich.bsky.social · 2y ago

A somewhat clouded crystal ball here …

Much better second half from West Ham after being really poor and should have got a point at least. Liverpool saved by the ref, clear foul on paqueta not given.

New working paper with Ian Brunton-Smith, 'Trends in Social Science Research Methods in the Twenty-First Century: Automated Journal Article Coding Using Large Language Models' osf.io/9b7ka

Happy International People Who Menstruate Day!

One advantage of strictly defining superheroes as having to wear capes would be that people could no longer say 'not all superheroes wear capes'.

Air raid sirens in Kyiv now, wailing across the city, as Russia drones approach. Trump's suspension of US military aid means Ukraine will find it tougher to shoot down enemy drones and ballistic missiles. The result: more death, grief, and ruin