iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Seems like a good time for a marketing expert to come up with a strategy to market UK gilts as the reliable alternative to unstable US treasuries. At least worth a try to shave a bit off our borrowing costs.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Given that Man City have reportedly been found guilty of 114 of 115 charges, and their owners are still denying it, surely it’s time to apply a fit and proper test to their ownership. Don’t see the point of punishing the club when the problem is clearly with the ownership.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Given the proliferation in stories of OpenAI products facilitating and outright committing crimes, perhaps suing OpenAI out of existence is a viable or necessary strategy if governments won’t bother applying the laws.

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Reposted by Mark A. Norris

John Stott @jpsastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

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.

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Reposted by Mark A. Norris

Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Oh for goodness sake. What are we doing?

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

If the contract includes a release clause. And if that hypothetical release clause isn’t more than Man U is willing/able to pay. And if they are willing/able to pay him enough. And if no one better wants him. And if he wants to go. Some serious straw clutching going on. #NUFC #MUFC

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I think it sounds like a deeply corrupt regional football federation, or a small regional trading block.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Clearing is open. If you would like to study Mathematics, Physics, or Astrophysics this September in a supportive setting, enjoy top class teaching and make use of one of UK’s best equipped observatories, then come and join us at the University of Lancashire. www.lancashire.ac.uk

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

UEFA being the good guys is really screwing with my expectations. Once private equity gets ownership of international competitions the pressure to increase shareholder returns overrides all other considerations. Boycott until this proposal and Infantino are gone. www.uefa.com/news-media/n...

uefa.com

Statement on behalf of UEFA and its 55 national associations

UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Something is very wrong when UEFA are the good guys. But Infantino trying to sell off international football to Trumpist private equity vultures (and likely make himself filthy rich in the process) is a great way to put everyone on team UEFA.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

In Astronomy we’d call that a selection effect. If France made the final instead of Spain no one would be counting Barcelona youth players in the final. It isn’t shocking that a league that only has two, maybe two and half competitive teams, a lot of the national team is drawn from one of them.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Russia attacked the Kyiv post office, so Ukraine responded by completely obliterating the Russian equivalent of Amazon. The assumption that Russia can just attack Ukrainian energy infrastructure again this winter seems suspect. Ukraine can respond not just in kind, but with multiples of effect.

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Reposted by Mark A. Norris

Sky & Telescope @skyandtelescope.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the launch of Reflect Orbital’s Earendil 1 satellite — a space mirror 18 meters wide designed to reflect sunlight to the ground. skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...

skyandtelescope.org

Observers Beware: Reflect Orbital’s Space Mirrors Approved for Launch

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the launch of Reflect Orbital's Earendil 1 satellite — a space mirror 18 meters wide designed to reflect sunlight to the ground.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Ukraine is reorganising their assault troops. Starting to think about how to best take advantage if the Russians begin to crack? There is only so long their lines can hold when they are cut off from ammunition, food, fuel and replacements…

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

There needs to be strict limits on political donations (10k?) and only from actual British citizens resident in the UK for tax purposes.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Come on Britain we legitimately have the chance to do the most hilarious thing ever. No one serious is standing. Farage is wasting loads of money and people’s time on another vanity project. Count Binface for Clacton!

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

In the crowded field of low quality political commentary it really is impressive just how bad Chris Mason is at his job. I guess you have to be exceptional in some way to justify the big BBC salary.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I didn’t have Russians paying more for petrol than Brits on my 2026 bingo card. But I’m happy they are.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Thanks to the relative sophistication of the societies involved we have a far better idea of how the pyramids were built than how stones weighing up to 30 tonnes were moved from Wales and Northern Scotland (up to 500 miles) to Stonehenge.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Great example of why building one big facility for any critical industry or capability isn’t going to work in the future. You better have lots, distributed all over and they better be cheap, otherwise low cost drones will ruin your day.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Can’t be long before Ukraine loads a ship up and heads to the Pacific to extend their kinetic sanctions to far eastern Russia.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

The solutions to the UK's problems take time, electrifying to remove dependence on foreign energy is a great example. It will make a huge positive difference, but perhaps not in time for Labour to benefit at the next election. A Reform government will pull a Trump and undo all the hard work.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

If that is his defence presumably they spied on every opponent and either only owned up to the three where there was independent proof, or the rest fell outside the 72 hours limit.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Are we absolutely sure there is no way to have them both lose?

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I guess she couldn't get the necessary 81 MPs to support her stalking horse campaign without Andy Burnham already an MP.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Increasing think the real use case of LLMs in academia is highlighting the people who really shouldn’t be academics. If you are annoyed journals don’t let you use LLMs to do your refereeing for you, just go and do something else with your life that you are better suited to.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Quick picture of the globular cluster M5 observed with the MHT at Alston Observatory last night. It is located over 24,000 light years away, and is over 10 billion years old.

Globular Cluster M5 observed with the Moses Holden Telescope at the University of Lancashire's Alston Observatory.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Nah it’s simpler than that. They have to keep it going until SpaceX and OpenAI/Anthropic etc IPO and they can pass a $3 trillion bag of the smelliest garbage from private credit to the public. Got a pension or are invested in an index fund? You are the mark.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Usually this argument is couched as “shouldn’t we spend the money curing hunger/cancer first?” If you really want to do that shouldn’t you be proposing cancelling the NFL (~same yearly income as NASA) or professional sport in general/or all movies (vastly more revenue than NASA)?

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Be sure they didn’t need to. Because they weren’t losing more men than they could recruit? The Russians lose as many in Ukraine in 2-3 days as the US lost in 20 years in Afghanistan.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Hmm. If this is the way it works now isn’t the English Channel the busiest shipping lane in the world? Sounds like the UK and France can solve their budget problems…

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Reposted by Mark A. Norris

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

The UK must immediately and unequivocally suspend support for the US military. The Government have tried to appease him, then they tried to say they're standing up to him. Words aren't enough - it's time for action.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Alright Americans. This is your last chance. Your usual apathy has to end or you’ll be damned for eternity. By his own words he plans to kill millions in your name. You’ve got a matter of hours to surround the White House and drive this lunatic from power.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Completely minor point. But why is Trump insistent that the UKs aircraft carriers are old? This is the second or third time he’s says that. They are both less than a decade old. Meanwhile the USS Nimitz is over 50 years old, and seems to be doing fine. It’s such a weird lie.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Was thinking that Macs are probably cheaper (especially with the Neo launch) than Windows machines now, because the office equivalents are free, not ~£100 a year like Microsoft 365.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Senior people in Congress need to be loudly proclaiming that any service member who carries out war crimes will face prosecution.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Anyone breaking from Trump now is doing it because $4 a gallon gas affects them personally. It’s welcome, but they don’t get any credit. They didn’t care one whit about everything else. They only care that they can’t afford to fill their ridiculous trucks. They’ll mostly crawl back if prices fall.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

In North East England in the early 80s most places still had coal fires (often open). Everywhere smelt of a mixture of cigarette smoke, coal smoke, and chip fat.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Close to a million people are dead as a result of USAID. Collective shrug. $4 a gallon gas. Americans lose their minds. If the fuel and fertiliser doesn’t get out of Hormuz millions more starve. Thanks to the terrible political system of one country.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Also. Absent an actual emergency this just isn’t desirable. Feeding 70 million on a small island would require the most destructive intensive farming, ransacking the seas, and massively higher prices, all while robbing the world’s poorest of their income.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

The fact that Dyson is a billionaire who is one of the biggest agricultural landholders in the UK seems highly relevant here. As does the fact that the UK hasn’t been self sufficient in food since the Industrial Revolution.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

The world order has to be reformed so that the dummest/most evil/greediest 1/3 of Americans (ably aided by the laziest 1/3) don’t decide whether millions of non-Americans live or die. That the consequences of electing Trump fall heaviest on non-Americans, and specifically the poorest is a travesty.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Astronomy is probably one of the few sciences where a talk could absolutely tank the markets. “In this talk I present object xyz which will hit the Earth on…”

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Trumps stupidity might accidentally end up being massively beneficial to Ukraine. Ukraine is cutting Russian oil exports with their kinetic sanctions so the increase in oil price isn’t really helping Russia, and Ukraine is getting a lot funding and manufacturing capacity for their low cost drones.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Perhaps a business model based on enormous theft, whose only widely applicable use case is helping students cheat and kludging code with massive tech debt that no one understands, and which no one will pay significant sums for isn’t a good business model after all.

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Mark A. Norris @markanorris.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Typical Trump. “I broke it you bought it”

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