Sunil
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sdvr.bsky.social
Sunil
@sdvr.bsky.social
620 followers 1.7K following 1.1K posts
Erstwhile researcher in human computer interaction/tech, accessible environments, sociology, politics, transport/urbanism and rare diseases: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oSEzsOoAAAAJ&hl=en
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sdvr.bsky.social
Britain's fragmented railways are UTTERLY infuriating.

Booked advance ticket via LNER website for wrong day. Realised day before, when I intended to travel.

Tried to rebook via website, usually £10 fee plus fare difference, but it wouldn't offer me that option...
October 5, 2026 at 5:52 PM
sdvr.bsky.social
I fear I might be closer to burning out than I thought.

Spent today trying and failing to do something I really needed to do but overcome by lethargy.

Sigh.
October 4, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Sunil
sheencr.bsky.social
Excellent images to have a coffee whilst admiring
Comedy wildlife photography award finalists 2026 – in pictures
A selection of the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2026 finalists – from a shortlist featuring a caiman wearing a wig, a leopard doing a handstand, a strutting white-tailed eagle and a polar bear appeari...
www.theguardian.com
October 3, 2026 at 7:19 AM
Reposted by Sunil
bakerdphd.bsky.social
"The current level of political animosity is exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s citizens."

There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph
Screenshot of article which reads: From this perspective, the “both sides” frame falls apart. The prob- lem is not that the parties are divided. The problem is the existential threat that a reempowered ethnonationalist strain poses to pluralistic U.S. democracy writ large. The current level of political animosity is exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s citizens. The only way to re-oppress most of a country is to use anti- democratic and authoritarian tactics. And the only way to oppose those tactics is to push back as a population and clearly reject them. This is the argument happening in the United States, and its pathology is not anger—it is the movement to undermine a generation of rights.
October 2, 2026 at 4:43 PM
sdvr.bsky.social
A man whose driving motivation is adulation, and who happens to be the most powerful man in the worlds. And a sycophantic stochastic parrot, designed to reinforce the grandiose delusions of its users and promote engagement.

What could possibly go wrong with this circular dependency?
cwarzel.bsky.social Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 4d
For a long time I've wanted a sense of how trump has or hasn't interacted with chatbots (we know he posts a lot of slop sure). And this TIME anecdote about Grok arguably leading Trump into war is just extremely bracing
Since returning to office, Trump has marveled at AI’s capabilities. He is increasingly in thrall to the tech executives courting him. In December 2025, Elon Musk returned to the Oval Office for a clandestine meeting. Trump spent hours asking Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot, questions about his presidency and legacy, according to an official present. At the time, Trump was ordering missile strikes against Venezuelan boats he alleged were smuggling drugs into the U.S. He asked Grok how Venezuelans would react if the U.S. captured Maduro. According to the official present, the chatbot responded that Maduro was a repressive and deeply unpopular dictator and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. After Trump ordered the mission to seize Maduro, the following month, celebrations broke out in the streets. Trump, according to officials, came away thinking Grok was ingenious.
October 1, 2026 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Sunil
anarchymarshmallow.bsky.social
Look at what one person can do. Think of what you can do where you are, and just do it. Even if it feels so small in the face of such daunting odds. There are people now who need your help, whatever you can do. Live in such a way that you don't grow old wishing you'd done more.
September 30, 2026 at 8:10 PM
sdvr.bsky.social
Do what you can in the face of horror, for its own sake.

Be more like Nicholas Winton.
September 30, 2026 at 9:09 PM
sdvr.bsky.social
One for @popher.bsky.social
dereklowe.bsky.social Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 6d
The craziest compound-impurity story I’ve ever heard:
Now That's An Impurity Story
www.science.org
September 29, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Sunil
maxkozlov.bsky.social
The bottom line? Academics have to contend with predatory journals, shoddy conferences, and now "deepfake prestige", as one of my sources called it.

AI tools are only turbocharging this behavior and making it harder than ever to detect. Just as fast as one website goes down, another 10 can launch.
September 25, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Sunil
maxkozlov.bsky.social
SCOOP: Top researchers at Columbia, Stanford, and others thought they were elected to elite scientific societies alongside Nobel laureates. The catch? The organizations are a sham.

I spent the last month diving deep into a massive academic scam spanning continents, for @nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
www.nature.com
September 25, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Sunil
jntowse.bsky.social
Here's the telling of the same outcome from another applicant (well, others if you include the replies too): www.linkedin.com/posts/claire...
AI Review Process Outcomes for Funding Call Application | Claire Hardaker posted on the topic | LinkedIn
I've had some pretty special rejections over the years, but this one, received at 16:51 on a Friday (today) has shot to the top of my all time Hall of Fame. For context, Georgina Brown and I put a pro...
www.linkedin.com
September 24, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Sunil
chesneycat.bsky.social
How does this align with UKRI's policy on applications and assessments?

www.ukri.org/publications...
text available at https://www.ukri.org/publications/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-application-and-assessment-policy/use-of-generative-artificial-intelligence-in-application-preparation-and-assessment/
September 24, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Sunil
davesmaths.bsky.social
That must hurt. The part where they talk about two different models as though it's supposed to be somehow reassuring is just an extra kick in the teeth: "We read both tea leaves AND entrails for robustness".
September 24, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Sunil
drluplatt.bsky.social
“Grateful for the time and effort you put into your submission” …. But we didn’t give you the same time and effort in actually reading it 🤷‍♀️😩
September 24, 2026 at 5:06 PM
sdvr.bsky.social
I can’t help but think that this kind of use of AI for triage is really not a good look for UKRI (or anyone else).
jpsastro.bsky.social John Stott @jpsastro.bsky.social · 11d
Had a UKRI funded grant proposal rejected at the "AI triage stage". "This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review." 🧪 #academicsky
I am writing to let you know that, unfortunately, your application was not successful. Review process As part of the initial triage of the 179 proposals submitted to this call, each was assessed using an AI-based review. Every proposal was read independently by several different AI models against the same seven criteria used to shape this call (including cyber security relevance, research quality and novelty, importance of the problem addressed, feasibility of the project plan, likely outputs and impact, value for money, and responsible research practice), with each model asked to give a score and a written justification with supporting quotations from the text. To guard against any one model's idiosyncrasies, we also ran a second, independent process in which different AI models debated the merits and weaknesses of each proposal before reaching a judgement, again against the same criteria. Scores from both processes were combined to produce an overall ranking. This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review. Projects selected for funding were drawn from those that progressed to the full human review stage. We recognise that AI-assisted assessment is a new and evolving part of the review process, and we are continuing to evaluate how well it aligns with the judgements of human reviewers on this call. We will soon produce a document detailing our method, so that others can build upon it and improve it. Feedback on your application Your application was not selected to progress beyond the AI triage stage. To provide transparency on the outcome of this assessment, we are sharing below the scores (out of 5) from each of the two AI review processes described above, together with the mean score across the two processes.
September 25, 2026 at 9:27 AM
sdvr.bsky.social
I’m no clinician but his sycophantic fawning over the authoritarian leaders suggests a deeply damaged individual.

(To say nothing of being unbecoming of US values and diplomacy, demonstrating strategic weakness, and undermining US a world security)

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Pomp prevails over substance as Donald Trump hosts Xi Jinping
Fanfare masks some of the US president’s own troubles, including his war in Iran and plummeting domestic popularity
giftarticle.ft.com
September 25, 2026 at 7:42 AM
sdvr.bsky.social
Yikes

“you better believe the other thing it's supposed to do aside from build a picture of your friends and loved ones is to figure out what makes you love to shop. This is actually some of the most nauseating prompt text i have ever read”

neuromatch.social/@jonny/11732...
September 24, 2026 at 11:03 PM
sdvr.bsky.social
Quelle surprise. Let’s just say anyone who cares about any kind of privacy will not be using this product or anything like it…
tjmcintyre.com TJ McIntyre @tjmcintyre.com · 10d
Muse has just dumped its entire filesystem, and the instructions include "keep a page for every person in the user's life" with "the nature of the user's relationship with this person: how close they are, what it is built on, how they act with each other, and what it seems to need right now."
jonny (nonvenomous) (@[email protected])
Attached: 4 images muse's "self improvement" prompt's second point after basic memory maintenance is an instruction to, every hour, maintain a page per person that you know, and a group page for ever...
neuromatch.social
September 24, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Sunil
anthonypainter.bsky.social
The major problem with this reporting - beyond its fundamental inaccuracy - is that when arrests are eventually made there will be no proper context and therefore it will seem like the state is smothering free expression.
jamesdaustin.bsky.social James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 12d
And what did he do on that livestream, huh, BBC? What did he do?
September 23, 2026 at 6:01 AM
Reposted by Sunil
marianneh.bsky.social
A reporter 'on the scene'.

Seriously considering finding it on iplayer when I'm properly awake and lodging a formal complaint.
September 23, 2026 at 6:28 AM
Reposted by Sunil
marianneh.bsky.social
On the Today programme just now Patriot Platform were described as 'carpenters who go round building houses' and 'working class men'.

I'd really like to know WTF is going on with BBC news.
September 23, 2026 at 5:52 AM
Reposted by Sunil
jamesdaustin.bsky.social
The Guardian at least leading with the actual story here
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas slashes dinghy in Channel with blade while rescue worker onboard
Thomas called followers to protest against arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover
www.theguardian.com
September 23, 2026 at 5:27 AM
Reposted by Sunil
davidallengreen.bsky.social
Just as well those committing wrongs against the RNLI are not holding placards supporting a proscribed organisation, else they would really be in trouble.
September 22, 2026 at 10:13 PM
sdvr.bsky.social
See also this FB post from Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat @ottoenglish.bsky.social - apparently the same group of lowlifes intimidating their crew on return from a shout assisting a vulnerable woman.

www.facebook.com/share/1DSJzd...
September 23, 2026 at 7:01 AM