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Thomas Lumley

@tslumley.bsky.social

Biostatistician. Baritone. He/Him. Product of more than one country. May contain nuts.

5630 Posts6300 Follower546 Folgt
Rob Hyndman@robjhyndman.com · 2d ago

On Thursday, I'm giving the last of the 2026 Ihaka lectures on "Spotting the weird ones" (about anomaly detection using #rstats). It's an honour to speak at something named after Ross Ihaka. It will be live-streamed for those who can't be there. www.auckland.ac.nz/en/science/a...

Ihaka Lecture Series – University of Auckland

The Ihaka Lecture Series is an annual event hosted by the Department of Statistics which presents the latest research about statistics and computer science.

auckland.ac.nz

Thomas Lumley@tslumley.bsky.social · 3d ago

If code is produced by an LLM in partly-stochastic response to a series of interactive prompts, what is the source code in the GPL sense of "the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it."?

Ben Schwarz@benschwarz.bsky.social · 3d ago

Australia’s eSafety commissioner buried a report (released Friday afternoon) that shows the under 16 social media ban didn’t tangibly reduce teen social media use, and also resulted in parents tuning out of kids usage. We traded our privacy for no reason. theconversation.com/more-than-80...

More than 80% of kids still using social media despite ban, new eSafety report finds

The report provides more evidence Australia’s world-leading social media ban isn’t going to plan.

theconversation.com

Noah Greifer@noahgreifer.bsky.social · 2d ago

I'm so happy to announce version 2.0.0 of my #Rstats package WeightIt is out on CRAN! New features: censoring weights, multilevel propensity scores, improved weights for continuous treatments, bias-reduced ordinal and multinomial models, M-estimation in subgroups Check out the website below!

Weighting for Covariate Balance in Observational Studies

Generates balancing weights for causal effect estimation in observational studies with binary, multi-category, or continuous point or longitudinal treatments by easing and extending the functionality ...

ngreifer.github.io

Julian Sanchez@normative.bsky.social · 2d ago

Millions of people have an absolutely insane concept of “critical thinking” that means “making a fully independent judgment on complex questions you are, if you’re at all honest with yourself, comically incompetent to evaluate & demand years of specialized training.”

Marc Veldhoen@marcveld.bsky.social · 2d ago

I'm a full Professor of Immunology and fully vaccinated. I didn't get vaccinated out of obedience, but after decades of studying the immune system and evaluating all evidence. Calling that "lack of critical thinking" is not an argument. It's ideology masked as pretend intellect.

Sam Sachdeva@samsachdeva.bsky.social · 3d ago

Not sure how much attention this will get, but it’s quite a big deal - Labour has pulled its support for the Govt’s controversial census ‘modernisation’ plans, meaning it no longer has the 75% majority it needs in Parliament: newsroom.co.nz/2026/08/03/g...

Govt’s census overhaul thrown into doubt after Labour pulls support

Opposition parties warn relying on government agency data instead of a full census risks undercounting Māori and minority groups.

newsroom.co.nz

Graeme Edgeler@graemeedgeler.bsky.social · 3d ago

Just to be clear: if you are on the Māori roll and you move in September, you'll be able to update your enrolment so you can vote in the Māori seat you have moved to. And if you are Māori and aren't enrolled at all, you'll be able to enrol on the Māori roll (or general roll) up to 25 October.

Thomas Lumley@tslumley.bsky.social · 3d ago

If code is produced by an LLM in partly-stochastic response to a series of interactive prompts, what is the source code in the GPL sense of "the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it."?

Thomas Lumley@tslumley.bsky.social · 4d ago

Apparently we're all descended from a group with no modern descendants? [they actually mean some group where we have no ancient DNA, in contrast to Neanderthals and Denisovans]

Subhed: Some group with no modern descendants contributed a lot to our genomes
StatsChat Bot@statschat.bsky.social · 7d ago

NZ weight-loss ‘supplement’ works? In the media last week there was a lot of coverage for 'Calocurb', a weight-loss medication made in New Zealand from hops.  The most dramatic headline was probably from Newstalk ZB: Kiwi research into plant-based Ozempic alternative shows 'groundbreaking' results…

NZ weight-loss ‘supplement’ works?

In the media last week there was a lot of coverage for 'Calocurb', a weight-loss medication made in New Zealand from hops.  The most dramatic headline was probably from Newstalk ZB: Kiwi research into plant-based Ozempic alternative shows 'groundbreaking' results Usually this sort of thing is either vibes-based or mostly imaginary. This time, though, there is an actual randomised placebo-controlled trial…

statschat.org.nz

Graeme Edgeler@graemeedgeler.bsky.social · 7d ago

Better yet, enrol before 4 October. If you enrol before then, you'll get on the printed roll and will be able to cast an ordinary vote. A much easier and much quicker way to vote!

Mike Riversdale@mikeriversdale.co.nz · 7d ago

The NZ general election will be held on SATURDAY, 7th NOVEMBER 2026. This is in 100 days which is also: - 3 months, 8 days - 14 weeks and 2 days - 2,400 hours - 144,000 minutes - 8,640,000 seconds Check your enrolment before Oct 25th deadline: vote.nz #NZPol #Aotearoa #NewZealand

A vertical, slightly low-angle photograph of the Beehive, the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings, at twilight, in Wellington, New Zealand. The unique, beehive-shaped, circular building is illuminated from within, with warm yellow light pouring from countless small rectangular windows across its multiple, diminishing-width floors, contrasting with the dark blue, cloudy evening sky. The building is made of concrete and glass. On the flat roof, the New Zealand flag, a blue banner with the Union Jack in the top left and four red-and-white stars on the right, is flying from a flagstaff. The building sits behind a dense layer of dark green trees, their leaves barely visible. In the midground, a paved street and pedestrian crossing are visible, framed by low, dark yellow-green shrubbery. Two pedestrians are walking along a path behind the shrubs. On the right, a streetlight and a traffic light on a tall pole are glowing green. In the foreground, positioned in the right of the frame on a red-brick sidewalk with red brick paving, stands a striking, contemporary white sculpture—a large, polished stone disk with deep, concentric spiral ridges carved into its surface. It leans slightly. In the far right, partially obscured, is another smaller white, shell-like sculpture and a group of four people are waiting at a traffic light which is red. There are other indistinct figures walking across the street. The mood is calm and evening-like. The focus is sharp on the foreground sculpture and the midground building. The overall lighting is twilight, mixing cool ambient light with warm artificial light.
Nicola Gaston@nicgaston.bsky.social · 7d ago

Obviously nothing has pissed me off quite as much as them killing the Marsden Fund (👉 my 📌 post), but govt claiming that the Science Investment Plan does not cut funding when the plan itself says “core science and research funding is projected to decline in future years” was the icing on the cake.

Luxon wants to ‘brutally commercialise’ science, but cuts threaten its foundation

Comment from Auckland University: Decades of research funding cannot be replaced by funding the commercialisation of that science

newsroom.co.nz