iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Listened to Tom Watson talking to Nick Robinson, largely about his new role at Palantir UK. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... He has well and truly jumped the shark. Very sad. Knave? Fool? Or both? Old Tom Watson would not be impressed with New Tom Watson.

bbc.co.uk

Political Thinking with Nick Robinson - Tom Watson: Don't bow to 'mob rule' on Palantir - BBC Sounds

The former Labour deputy leader on joining the controversial tech firm to lobby ministers.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Sleeping Beauties by David Byrne review – a quirky journey through the afterlife of invention — www.theguardian.com/music/2026/o... Sounds wild!

Cover of Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up. David Byrne.
Black text on dark-ish red background.
One closed eye on left and one open on right.

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Buitengebieden @buitengebieden.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

This took me a second.. 😅

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

PSA: MacOS 27 puts annoying SiriAI button over all sorts of text inputs. sudo mkdir -p /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/WritingTools LightweightUI_macOS -dict Enabled -bool false will disable it after a reboot.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It's BandCamp Friday, people: 100% of revenue to artists. Jo Harrop has a new disc: joharrop.bandcamp.com (Love Now, Play Later) So does Karine Polwart: karinepolwart.bandcamp.com (Windblown) My music is free: nickradcliffe.bandcamp.com (The Day that Nicholas Ridley Set His Bed on Fire)

joharrop.bandcamp.com

Love Now Pay Later, by Jo Harrop (Lateralize Records)

12 track album

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I went to the @filmhouseedinburgh.bsky.social on Saturday for a projection box tour as part of Doors Open day. It was *fantastic*. The reopening of the Filmhouse has been a joy all year. Getting to see the machines and people was fabulous. Edinburgh's equilibrium is somewhat restored.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

i.e. literally in the modern sense—metaphorically.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It's Stanislav Petrov's Day! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...

en.wikipedia.org

Stanislav Petrov - Wikipedia

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Did you know you can delete podcasts? I have achieved Podcasts Zero for the first time in over a decade.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Interesting interview from @steverichards.bsky.social with Michael Jacobs (sheffield.ac.uk/spir/people/...). Hear it at podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h... Nuanced, practical perspective on Jackdaw, Rosebank and everything else.

podcasts.apple.com

How Can Burnham Deliver the Biggest Change in 40 Years?

Podcast Episode · Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards · 25 September · 1hr 2min

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Aarne Granlund @aarnegranlund.eurosky.social · 21/09/2026

"The seven transgressed boundaries are: climate change, change in biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, modification of biogeochemical flows, introduction of novel entities, and ocean acidification." @pik-potsdam.bsky.social www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

pik-potsdam.de

Planetary Health Check 2026 finds mounting pressures across Earth’s life support systems

21.09.2026 – Seven breached Planetary Boundaries continue to worsen as record ocean heat, droughts, floods, wildfires and extreme heat reveal an Earth system under strain, according to the latest Plan...

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

My usual practice with MacOS updates is to install the previous major version around the time a new one becomes available. But the intention was always to skip MacOS 26 completely. About to install MacOS 27 (Golden Gate), without going through 26. Wish me luck!

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Retrospective legislation is always a bit problematical, but we would be far better off with much less money in politics here, across the board. Though it seems unclear whether this is in fact legal even under current rules.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Next time maybe you should stand in front a lot of books you haven't written...

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Steve Richards @steverichards.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

RocknRoll Politics is live at Kings Place at Kings Place on Wednesday September 30th.. here’s some of what we’ll be doing:

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Emily Riederer @emilyriederer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Doing some volunteer data eng work and their infra is... interesting (probably built by a series of random vols over time) 📊 Not pointing fingers, but sharing a running list of antipatterns for your amusement and as I keep track for a future thing I want to write up 🧵

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Steve Richards @steverichards.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Pleased to announce a brand new RocknRoll Politics @KingsPlace on Wednesday Sept 30th..the first of the A Burnham era and at the end of his first Labour conference as PM.. time to delve deep: www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/wor...

kingsplace.co.uk

Steve Richards presents Rock ‘n’ Roll Politics • Words • Kings Place

Steve Richards presents a brand new Rock N Roll Politics at the end of Andy Burnham’s first Labour conference as Prime Minister… Time once again to delve deep and make sense of it all.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I think Apple’s decision to turn their Watch into an audio equivalent of Meta’s pervert glasses will prove to be a mistake. It will undermine undermine their reputation for taking privacy seriously. 9to5mac.com/2026/09/09/a... Not a good start to the Ternus era.

9to5mac.com

Apple details how Apple Watch's new Audio Intelligence features work in privacy paper - 9to5Mac

Apple is launching an all-new set of features called Audio Intelligence, starting with today’s new Apple Watch Series 12 and...

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John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 08/09/2026

Two extraordinary charts from today’s PISA test results: 1) School test scores continue to collapse internationally, underscoring how this is no longer a Covid effect but sustained decline. Those falls in reading and maths are equivalent to about two years of lost schooling.

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John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 08/09/2026

2) England is a rare exception. During the 2010s many other countries (including the other 3 UK nations) changed tack, experimenting with ideas like transferrable skills instead of focusing on tried-and-tested disciplines and methods. It looks like those experiments have failed.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Chapter 16 of the TDDA Book concerns Errors of Process. It is available, online to read for free, at ‪book.tdda.info/book/16‬.

https://‪book.tdda.info/book/16‬

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

As the sage Duck Baker says: composition is improvisation. (Or maybe it was the reverse) youtu.be/4DIDSe68h2E

youtu.be

Duck Baker - Forty Ton Parachute

YouTube video by GtrWorkShp

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Chapter 16 of the TDDA Book concerns Errors of Process. It is available, online to read for free, at book.tdda.info/book/16. #books #tdda

book.tdda.info

16 Errors of Process

Test-Driven Data Analysis by Nicholas J. Radcliffe — the online edition of the book.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It’s Bandcamp Friday folks: 100% of revenue to the artists. bandcamp.com Buy music direct from artists who could really use more than the pennies they get from streaming. e.g. Ellie Gowers Katie Spencer Jenn Butterworth Jo Harrap Or listen to me: nickradcliffe.bandcamp.com/album/the-da...

bandcamp.com

Bandcamp

Discover amazing music and directly support the artists who make it.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I seem to have spent today getting unreasonably annoyed at unreasonably annoying things.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Chapter 15 of the TDDA book is now open. The third on Errors of Interpretation, it discusses graphing sins and best practices. ‪book.tdda.info/book/15‬

FTSE 100 data for various days and other periods, some using the range of variation for each day to determine the scale for the y-axis, some using the whole week's range, and some using a true zero. The graphs, showing identical data, give very different impressions.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Arturo Béjar, an ex-Facebook employee and whistleblower, said the limitations were “the equivalent of saying: ‘Well, you can smoke as many cigarettes as you can in two hours a day.’ It doesn’t make the cigarettes any safer.” — www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.com

What could Meta’s US settlement mean around the world – and what now for other claims against firm?

Other governments could seek similar concessions, while separate legal action is pending in places ranging from Kenya to the Netherlands

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

A favourite xkcd is xkcd.com/2303/. Errors of Interpretation are the subject of chapters 13-15 in the TDDA Book, with Chapter 14, Errors of Communication being exactly the Type VI errors in Randall's cartoon. book.tdda.info/book/14

xkcd.com

Error Types

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The threatening thaw: climate professor on heatwave risks to tipping point of permafrost — Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/environment/... Nature is non-linear, with non-proportionate reactions, feedback loops, tipping points, and practically irreversible phase changes.

theguardian.com

The threatening thaw: climate professor on heatwave risks to tipping point of permafrost

Prof Gustaf Hugelius warns wildfires could accelerate release of methane and carbon as vast regions approach irreversible thresholds

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Chapter 13 of the TDDA book is now free to read at book.tdda.info/book/13. It concerns Errors of Formulation, which form a subclass of Errors of Interpretation ('thinkos', big and small). #books #TDDA The book is also available from all good booksellers and all sellers of good books.

book.tdda.info

13 Errors of Interpretation I: Formulation

Test-Driven Data Analysis by Nicholas J. Radcliffe — the online edition of the book.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Chapter 12 of the TDDA Book is now free to read on the web at book.tdda.info/book/12. It’s called Testing Models and Modeling* and includes some material on LLMs.† ___ * (sic). Apaz Americans don’t like double ells. † LMs? #TDDA #books

book.tdda.info

12 Testing Models and Modeling

Test-Driven Data Analysis by Nicholas J. Radcliffe — the online edition of the book.

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Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

3/3 That’s why I’ve backed @stellacreasy's amendment to the Representation of the People Bill to cap political donations at £100,000. This would be a vital safeguard against billionaire capture of our politics and a important step towards rebuilding trust in our democracy.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Chapter 11 of my TDDA book is now available to read for free at book.tdda.info/book/11 This covers the specifics of testing analytical code with reference tests, supposed by the library. #books #testing #tdda #datascience

book.tdda.info

11 Reference Tests for Analytical Pipelines

Test-Driven Data Analysis by Nicholas J. Radcliffe — the online edition of the book.

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Emily Riederer @emilyriederer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Throwaway thought, but it’s wildly unhelpful to use AI as a catch all for everything from transformer-based sequence models to agentic coding assistants to LLM generated docs. I suspect sentiment varies a ton across those and lumping them together doesn’t make for a productive conversation

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Testing Pyramid or Testing Trophy? Read about these in Chapter 10 of Test-Driven Data Analysis, now free to read online at book.tdda.info/10. #tdda #books

LEFT: The conventional testing Pyramid has a wide base of Unit tests, with a smaller second layer of functional tests, an even smaller third layer of unit tests and a top comprising system tests.

RIGHT: Dodds's Test Troph has a small base of static static tests, a slightly wider layer of unit tests above that, followed by integration tests as the widest layer, topped by a smaller layer of end-to-end tests.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

The first chapter of Part II of the TDDA Book, on reference testing, is now openly available online at book.tdda.info A reference test is a semantic regression test, i.e. one that checks that current outputs are meaningfully the same as previous, expected outputs. #tdda #books #testing

An analytical process is shown as a circle with inputs ("Record as reference inputs—datasets, parameters,...") and outputs ("Record as reference outputs—datasets, numbers, graphs, models, decisions etc."). The process should be captured as a script, ideally. The idea is then to develop a verification procedure (diff) and periodically re-execute the process on the inputs to check whether the same inputs still produce the same, or equivalent, outputs.

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Stella Creasy MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

I consistently voice concerns about the idea drilling rosebank would be good for either the climate or the cost of living crisis - in the coming days as this debate returns I will continue to be a voice for prioritising the transition to clean energy for the sake of our pockets and our planet.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Interesting. Perhaps climate scientists are not only right about the climate but have better-than-average data practices!

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Sure. I have rarely seen (received!) csv’s with comments, but makes sense.

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Maybe. There are pros and cons (# vs. CSVY-type frontmatter). Even quite a lot of markdown processors (e.g. Multimarkdown and Pelican) use headers with keyword: value pairs. But some CSV readers use a comment character, so maybe it's fractionally easier to use. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Thanks! I don't think I'd come across CSVY. Possibly years ago. Interesting. My 2¢: 1. Adding frontmatter means normal CSV readers can't ("just") read it. 2. YAML is itself error prone. All these ideas are—sadly—pushing water uphill.

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Robert Gieseke (Openclimatedata) @openclimatedata.net · 13/07/2026

Nice overview! I always liked the CSVY approach, but it doesn't seem to have caught on, only findable on archive.org now. web.archive.org/web/20240303...

web.archive.org

CSVY yaml frontmatter for csv file format

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Nick Radcliffe @njr0.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Part I of Test-Driven Data Analysis, covering Data Validation, is now completely open access at book.tdda.info/book. Chapter 8, released today, focuses on "serial data" (CSVs), an often overlooked topic, including tdda.serial, CSVW, and Frictionless. #book #tdda #csv #datavalidation

book.tdda.info

Test-Driven Data Analysis

Test-Driven Data Analysis by Nicholas J. Radcliffe — the online edition of the book.

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