Reposted by Nic FoxShiro Sirius @shirosiri.us · 29/07/2026I don’t want to be too sensationalist about this but also I’m the least violent person in the world and I think if someone said this to my face I’d hit them 10731401324
Reposted by Nic FoxUniversity of Manchester School of Social Sciences @uomsoss.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Women's experiences of roads and transport networks are not always fully reflected in the evidence used to inform road safety policy and planning. A new study aims to better understand women's experiences of travel and road safety across Greater Manchester www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w... 113
Reposted by Nic Foxevacide @evacide.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Claude warns users that by hitting the "share button" anyone with the link can view the content, but it is not clear that they are creating a document that can be indexed by Google and will come up in searches. futurism.com/artificial-i...futurism.comA Whole Bunch of People's Claude Chats Are Publicly Accessible Online, and There's Some Wildly Private Stuff in ThereA trove of documents generated by Anthropic's Claude were indexed by Google. They included medical records and student information. 48749
Reposted by Nic FoxParis Marx @parismarx.com · 18/07/2025Silicon Valley’s alliance with Donald Trump was a mask off moment and showed the world we can’t depend on US tech companies. For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get off US tech and I put together a guide so you find alternatives too. I hope you find it helpful!disconnect.blogGetting off US tech: a guideI’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider. 12559472574
Reposted by Nic FoxRachel Holliday Smith @rachelholliday.bsky.social · 09/07/2026I'm been wondering if it would come to this and apparently it has. huge move from cloudflare, which hosts a fifth of all websites on earth.adweek.comPublishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google SearchThe nuclear option is gaining traction as web traffic collapses and Google refuses to negotiate with content creators 7843671467
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 10/07/2026disconnect.blog/getting-off-...disconnect.blogGetting off US tech: a guideI’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider. 051
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Should of course say “If you’re a woman…”. I blame the heatwave 😬 000
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 26/06/2026If you’re a women who travels in Greater Manchester you may be interested in this survey on women’s road safety👇 Please share. #GreaterManchester #RoadSafety #cycling #walking #PublicTransport #GenderEquality #Bolton #Oldham #Tameside #Rochdale #Wigan #Mcr #Stockport #Salford #Bury #Trafford 143
Reposted by Nic FoxJoshua Rozenberg @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Dame Victoria Sharp, who retires this summer as president of the High Court King’s Bench division, has given a warning about the risks to judicial independence of artificial intelligence. rozenberg.substack.com/p/intelligen...rozenberg.substack.comIntelligence v IndependenceAI could undermine the judiciary, a senior judge fears 0146
Reposted by Nic FoxFaculty of Humanities @uomhums.bsky.social · 18/06/2026How safe do women feel using our roads, and where are the gaps in understanding? A new study led by @manchester.ac.uk with GMCA is capturing women’s lived experiences of travel and road safety across Greater Manchester. www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/w... 📊 Take the survey: uom.link/RoadSafetymanchester.ac.ukNew survey seeks women's experiences of travel and road safety in Greater ManchesterWomen across Greater Manchester are being invited to take part in a major new study exploring how safe they feel when travelling around the region, as researchers seek to know more about the unique ch... 056
Reposted by Nic FoxClaes Holtzmann @claeshs.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Court holds Google liable for false claims in AI Overviews. Seems significant. "A regular search engine just points to outside websites. But AI overviews generate 'independent, new, and substantive statements' by evaluating and combining content from various third-party sites" the-decoderthe-decoder.comLandmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answersA German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI search overviews. According to the court, previous limited liability protections for search engine operators don't apply to AI overviews. In this case, Google's AI had falsely linked two publishers to fraud and made claims that didn't appear in any of the linked sources. The ruling could set a precedent for AI-generated content liability worldwide. 3024481010
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 03/06/2026“…Europe’s dependence on [US tech]…major risks to data privacy. The US Cloud…compels [US orgs] to hand over data requested by US law enforcement regardless of where it is stored…prompted numerous European countries…to replace [MS] software with local [OS] alternatives” cybernews.com/tech/microso...cybernews.comMicrosoft allegedly leaked data of Dutch civil servants’ to the US governmentDutch civil servants working in the regulatory agencies responsible for implementing digital laws have reportedly had their emails and minutes leaked to the US government by Microsoft. 010
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 29/05/2026“…more hands-on, more meeting-heavy work simultaneously, with the human-focused parts of the role paying for it. The build cost collapsed, the alignment cost rose, the thinking time disappeared, and the productivity gains got captured by output volume rather than output quality. “ 020
Reposted by Nic FoxIEEE Spectrum @spectrum.ieee.org · 17/05/2026New research reveals how nearly imperceptible audio in videos, calls, or music can trigger unauthorized AI actions without users noticing. spectrum.ieee.org/voice-ai-audio-at… 0189
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 23/05/2026“the revelation that Palantir’s platform is ten times slower than existing systems strips away the final defence that their controversial reputation is a necessary trade-off for superior technology.” 031
Reposted by Nic FoxWarwick Mansell @warwickmansell.bsky.social · 20/05/2026New: “We have a moral duty to act”: county council launches inquiry into effects of school behaviour policies on children’s mental health educationuncovered.co.uk/news/we-have...educationuncovered.co.ukEducation Uncovered | News| “We have a moral duty to act”: county council launches inquiry into effects of school behaviour policies on children’s mental healthToday’s children will not be able to look back on their school years with fondness, warns councillor as Cornwall instigates investigation into strict policies said to include sanctions for looking out... 21613
Reposted by Nic FoxCool Bike Art @coolbikeart1.bsky.social · 12/05/2026Legendary cyclist Beryl Burton training on the Yorkshire Moors, June 1961. Amongst a host of accolades, she rode 277.25 miles (446 km) in 12 hours in 1967, creating a record that wasn't topped by a woman for 50 years - nor by a man for two years. Happy #BicycleBirthday, Beryl! May 12 (1937-1996) 110926
Reposted by Nic FoxKy @ky.fyi · 24/04/2026I wrote about why I quit my job, and how weird and tiring tech feels these days.ky.fyiDo I belong in tech anymore?On quitting, the spread of AI, and the loss of an ideal. 1281791544
Reposted by Nic Foxwomensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 25/04/2026Photographer Chantal Pinzi's photogragraphic series of women skateboarders around the world, including in India #WomensArt 195263784
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 18/04/2026“…CEO laid off several of his colleagues & mandated that remaining workers use AI chatbots, saying it would boost their productivity. …workers had to spend more time rewriting, correcting errors… Quality decreased…, time to produce a piece of content increased … morale decreased” 120
Reposted by Nic FoxJoshua Rozenberg @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social · 16/04/2026Reports made by coroners to prevent future deaths have been made more accessible, the chief coroner has announced. A new website is now fully searchable. rozenberg.substack.com/p/open-justi...rozenberg.substack.comOpen justiceCoroners and MPs holding public bodies to account 0184
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 09/04/2026“when the path of least resistance becomes the default for all aspects of life, difficulty looks like a bug in the system. Expertise is replaced with prompt engineering. Learning curves disappear, and with them goes the satisfaction that comes from doing challenging things” 173
Reposted by Nic FoxDaniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 25/03/2026You know, once a jury has made its decision you are extremely justified in dropping the "allegedly" 6155151078
Reposted by Nic FoxDave Meredith @davemeredith.bsky.social · 21/03/2026Ring-billed Gull standing on a #Stone watching the sunrise over Colpoy's Bay, Ontario for the #BlueSkyArtShow #BrucePeninsula #BruceCounty #ECK #photography #TenMinutesFromHome #PhotographersOfBluesky 725730
Reposted by Nic Foxwomensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 21/03/2026UK contemporary sculptor known as Anna & the Willow creates nature-inspired sculptures made from rods of willow #WomensArt 81186255
Reposted by Nic Foxmartinbarrow.bsky.social @martinbarrow.bsky.social · 10/03/2026In less than a month, new providers of children’s homes, fostering services and secure accommodation will no longer be able to make a profit in Wales — making it the first nation in the UK to take this landmark step. nation.cymru/news/wales-b...nation.cymruWales becomes the first UK nation to remove profit from children's homes, fostering, and secure accommodationIn less than a month, new providers of children’s homes, fostering services and secure accommodation will no longer be able to make a profit in Wales — making it the first nation in the UK to take thi... 01510
Reposted by Nic FoxRoyal Statistical Society @royalstatsoc.bsky.social · 04/03/2026AI often gets talked about as if it “thinks”. In reality, it is statistical. Our landmark paper argues that understanding this is essential for using AI safely, effectively and ethically. Read more: rss.org.uk/news-publica... Paper: rss.org.uk/RSS/media/Fi...rss.org.ukAI is statistical. That matters. 0229
Reposted by Nic FoxMiriam Cosic @miriamcosic.bsky.social · 04/03/2026Just caught up with this: France is dumping Zoom and Teams. So are soldiers in Austria. And bureaucrats in Germany. They are seeking digital sovereignty, autonomy from the American tech oligarchs. apnews.com/article/euro...apnews.comFrance dumps Zoom and Teams as Europe seeks digital autonomy from the USEuropean governments are moving away from U.S. tech giants, opting for domestic or open-source alternatives. 12399131
Reposted by Nic FoxBrandon Rohrer @brandonrohrer.com · 03/03/2026New parable Junior SWE: what’s the secret to getting good LLM code? Senior SWE: knowing what to look for in code reviews Junior SWE: what’s the secret to knowing what to look for in code reviews? Senior SWE: writing a lot of code by hand 0228
Reposted by Nic FoxRuth Mottram @ruthmottram.eurosky.social · 27/02/2026Criminally funny, but also I'm crying inside Norway comes for the #TechBros www.forbrukerradet.no/breakingfree vimeo.com/1168468796?f...vimeo.comThe EnshittificatorDigital products and services keep getting worse. In the new report Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future, the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved… 14543345
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 24/02/2026“40 [/]49 providers…273 homes…difficulties securing school placements for children in their care. Some…waited 6 months[+] to get a child into school” “struggles to regulate his emotions, after experiencing trauma…tends to run away from situations he finds overwhelming” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukChildren in care denied school places, Lincolnshire home warnsCouncils seek powers to require more schools to take children as heads say funding would meet needs. 010
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 23/02/2026Fellow sewist & data person here 🙋🏻♀️ Handmade wardrobe & mini quilt wall hangings. Nice work on the sweatshirt alteration 👌 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 12/02/2026Sounds good. Hope “Failure to engage will have serious consequences, such as possible criminal charges+time behind bars” doesn’t negatively impact neurodivergent children, those w/ trauma or any other children who may find it more difficult to engage w/ the hopefully-not-one-size-fits-all process. 020
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 12/02/2026“we should hold on to our […]rough edges, our lack of fitting in […]the things that make us resist compliance with pressures of power. Instead of feeling guilty or out of place, feeling responsible for fitting in, we should hold ourselves (&each other) responsible for resisting the forces of harm” ❤️ 0102
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 30/01/2026(Cont’d…) Is the difference whether we’re commenting on an individual person/observation or the variables A and B generally? 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 30/01/2026Thanks for this post and your paper. I’ll have a look. I’m still getting to grips with DAGs & causal thinking. If not a feedback loop / bidirectional between A & B, what is the terminology for “I did B because A1 happened” then another instance of A happened (A2) & reason for that was “due to B”? 200
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20269/n Paper: doi.org/10.1080/3067... Code & suggested resources: github.com/foxnic/acces...doi.orgSATISFY EASY LADDERS: accessible machine learning to facilitate analysis of larger sensitive text data samples in criminologyLarge-scale data analysis has advanced criminology, but context-rich text is largely analysed manually in small samples. Machine learning (ML) with natural language processing (NLP) allows scalable... 000
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20268/n Why It Matters This framework will hopefully help more criminologists, police & others to conduct reliable, secure, scalable text analysis, to uncover important mechanisms & contexts (in bigger samples = better evidence base) to inform improved safeguarding of vulnerable children/adults. 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20267/n Impact: - ML flagged 60% of documents for school exclusion; human review corrected this to 28%. Shows how crucial human oversight is - without it conclusions could be wrong. Big diff between majority & minority! - Accurate data analysis is vital for policy, resource allocation & safeguarding 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20266/n Did It Miss Anything? At the sentence level, there were some false negatives but the associated documents still had other correctly identified sentences so no documents were misclassified. Precision was the main challenge, especially for SEND and exclusion, but human review fixed these issues. 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20265/n How Well Did It Work? - ML beat keyword searches on multiple metrics (F1 scores up to 0.924) - Decision trees (a simple ML algorithm) delivered best results - Human review of ML-labelled sentences corrected mistakes made by the ML models - Only 5% of ML-labelled sentences needed checking 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20264/n The framework was tested on 193 child safeguarding practice review reports (prev. known as serious case reviews). It reliably identified issues like exploitation, missing incidents, school exclusion, & special educational needs (SEND), outperforming basic keyword searches. 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20263/n Few ML/NLP resources address these crime text data constraints. This new framework (+demo) addresses this using simple, explainable ML designed for small, sensitive datasets. It’s for ppl w/out extensive ML expertise or time to learn, but who want to learn a bit or collaborate with ML experts. 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20262/n Many "AI" tools e.g ChatGPT are off-limits for sensitive crime data (privacy risks + unreliable). Fancy ML methods require resources/skills that underfunded agencies/researchers lack + complex models are hard to trust or explain their results, & aren't always better than simpler algorithms. 100
Nic Fox @foxnic.bsky.social · 20/01/20261/n Criminologists use police reports, court records, & other text documents to understand crime. But manually analysing these is slow, limits how much data can be studied, & delays insights. Machine learning (ML) could help, but many tools need huge training datasets and deep technical expertise. 110