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Andrew Smith

@oldboysmith.bsky.social
194 followers 498 following 793 posts

Just an old bloke from Bristol. Semi-retired C software engineer.

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Reposted by Andrew Smith
Grady Booch @booch.com · 14h
Having contributed to the advance of software engineering, it is sad to see the rise of a new profession, slopware engineering.
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
They really have lost it. What’s your USP? End of the world. One for the millennialists I suppose.
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Gerry Hassan @gerryhassan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Too many people with authority & influence demand again & again the Palestinians do this & that. The Palestinians are an occupied people. How abt starting with the Israelis commiting to ending occupation? That Israel recognise Palestine's right to exist? Israel are the oppressors.
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Córdoba spoke for the collaboration that made the whole thing possible: “I don’t use AI. I have Luis.” www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...
nybooks.com
The Work of Math in the Age of Artificial Reproduction | Dan Rockmore
There are seven questions in pure mathematics deemed important enough by the Clay Mathematics Institute, a nonprofit foundation devoted to “furthering the
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Yep. You learn by doing. You outsource your thinking to A.I., you don’t do, so won’t learn.
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ProfAFinlayson @profafinlayson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I hear AI changes everything but I'll stick my neck out & say that right now weight loss drugs (GLP-1s) are having a more fundamental impact on our culture: on food production, eating out, the labour market in hospitality etc. & that's before we consider the wider behaviour changes the drugs induce.
thegrocer.co.uk
The weight-loss boom reshaping the dairy sector
For GLP-1 users with smaller appetites, every calorie counts - and dairy is caught in the crossroads of functionality and indulgence
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"This is not my Zionism" writes the president of the UK Jewish Board of Deputies today. Good for you, but this is the Zionism that exists. Is it about time to start treating Israel as a real state and not as a fairy tale?
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Alfie Stirling @alfie-stirling.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Some good thinking covered in this piece from @hettieobrien.bsky.social. Though an important part of the case for direct support from government on the cost of living is that it is highly *supportive* of growth, not a substitute for it. 1/
theguardian.com
Labour’s last chance? The people shaping Andy Burnham’s grand plans for Britain
The long read: The new prime minister has declared he wants to end 40 years of neoliberalism. But is he really prepared to be that radical?
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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
England is a made up thing. It has no basis in the ineluctable laws of nature. Its extent is defined by Edward II getting his arse handed to him. Athelstan conquering York. The Welsh of Cumbria were incorporated, the Welsh of Gwynedd were not. It is a political idea, an aspiration - not taxonomy.
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Nick Davies @njdavies.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Great to hear the PM say “We are going to be much prouder in standing up for our values and the rule of law” re foreign information warfare. I wonder if he or the Home Secretary might consider doing the same when it comes to masked vigilantes shutting down infrastructure and harassing the RNLI
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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I shot the security guard dead and then held everyone at gunpoint while robbing their life savings all the while yelling STOP THE BOATS and PROTECT WOMEN WHO AREN'T MY WIFE. everyone cheered
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Ash Oro @ashoro.co.uk · 22/09/2026
1/23 Sorry, this will be long... There is a lot of shouting about what happened in the Channel yesterday. So I want to go back to basic law. Not immigration policies or political rhetoric. At sea, the starting point is simple: Preservation of life comes first under all maritime conventions.
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This only works by accepting we are a national culture rather than an ethnicity. And a national culture can be 'breathed in' by newcomers. That's what the ethnats hate.
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Paul Hebden @paulhebden.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
So are we saying that if I got a van and started ramming ambulances, slashing their tires and assaulting their staff, I'd be fine as long as I was a fascist. Mahmood should be sacked. The situation with this government is intolerable.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Just as well those committing wrongs against the RNLI are not holding placards supporting a proscribed organisation, else they would really be in trouble.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I understand the outrage at the rampant fascists but, look: our national press has been telling the public that the streets are infested with ethnic sex offenders and migrant rapists, set loose by secret communists, for *fifteen years* now. And not sotto voce either, power-blasting it constantly.
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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
What El-Arian is saying, in other words: You need to accept higher taxes and worse public services, in order to make it cheaper for tech companies to build data centers.
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
“And finally, there are no statistical shortcuts to prosperity. Whatever the number is, the ongoing task for policymakers seeking tangible productivity gains remains the same: put land, labour, energy and capital to better combined use.”
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Did we really need to have all the variants of Thatcherism proving how fucked it is while making everything hugely worse, just to get to this point? No we did not, but our political/media class absolutely insisted on it.
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It has to be couched in very vague, hand-wavey terms because if you make definite statements like “the Thatcherite consensus has created a catastrophe that our ideology and institutions cannot fix”, then that implies quite specific people are to blame, and they should now face career consequences.
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
There are so many things wrong in this article, let me focus on two: on the perverse logic argument against sanctions, and on the betrayal of Israel's human rights and anti-occupation activists. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
This Israeli election could be the country’s last – this week I saw that for myself | Jonathan Freedland
Spend time on the ground and you see how high the stakes are for next month’s contest – for Israelis and Palestinians alike, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
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Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This whole issue is framed wrongly. As I've written: "Worrying that some migrants won’t pay their way is a displacement activity - an attempt to blame migrants for the failings of British capitalism." chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-the-fis...
chrisdillow.substack.com
On the fiscal costs of immigration
Are immigrants a drain on the tax-payer? It's a silly question.
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
In the last decade, the IDF prosecuted one (1) soldier for unlawfully killing a Palestinian in the occupied territories. Elor Azaria served 9 months in prison. Today Israel's president, Yitzhak Herzog, pardoned him and expunged his criminal record. A clear message of 100% impunity.
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Tldr: "don't sanction Israel" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
This Israeli election could be the country’s last – this week I saw that for myself | Jonathan Freedland
Spend time on the ground and you see how high the stakes are for next month’s contest – for Israelis and Palestinians alike, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
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Anand Menon @anandmenon.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
God I hate this 'people who create wealth' nonsense. Let's see how much wealth we have in a society without teachers, nurses etc......
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 19/09/2026
How to trade the robot apocalypse So far the answer seems to be call bullshit and/or lean into the nihilism Me, 300 free clicks x - as.ft.com/r/fd415159-4...
as.ft.com
How should investors position for the robot apocalypse?
The end of human existence might be bad for financial markets
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It doesn’t “think” FFS. It’s linear regression on steroids.
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Helen Shin @h-x-s.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Tapping the 1970s IBM training manual’s warning again:
Page from a late 1970s IBM training manual that says: 
A COMPUTER CAN NEVER BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
THEREFORE A COMPUTER MUST NEVER MAKE A MANAGEMENT DECISION
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Jess Miers 🦝 @jmiers230.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I did a somewhat deep dive into the recent OpenAI and Anthropic "hacks" for an upcoming interview. IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing. Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“I have no doubt Almodei, Altman and co are sincere about the safety stuff.” Really???
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
With this lot in charge we have already lost control.
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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"Using some of my own work, I set out to clear up a few relevant concepts from theoretical computer science and computational cognitive science that can help to build conceptual hygiene and immunity against hyped claims about “AI” capabilities." irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/09/12/c...
irisvanrooijcogsci.com
Computational complexity for hype immunity
Using some of my own work, I set out to clear up a few relevant concepts from theoretical computer science and computational cognitive science that can help to build conceptual hygiene and immunity…
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Crypto billionaires don’t become crypto billionaires by being generous or altruistic. They become crypto billionaires by being greedy, selfish, amoral, dishonest, untrustworthy shites. They don’t give away money for the common good. Is that who should control our politics?
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Crypto has no business model outside money laundering, ponzi and this is the kicker: "the greater fool" play, which is very dangerous to the public if you take over government decision making and make the tax player the ultimate fool. If you can do that, it makes sense to corrupt politics.
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/09/2026
Once you understand the corporate culture of AI hyperscalers is everyone cooking their brains by locking themselves in the bathroom, holding flashlights under their chins, and saying "Aaaaaaaaaay Eyeeeeeee" until they wet themselves in terror, things snap into focus: pluralistic.net/2023/06/04/a...
A cutaway view of a stone tower containing an elaborate water-powered medieval geared machine. Rising out of the machine is a rainbow-tinted, pixelated God with the robes, beard and all. To one side of this scene is a cluster of tiny people in Jesus-era robes, falling about themselves in religious ecstasy all over a stone staircase, atop of which stands a robed priest with his hands upraised. The background is a set of shining golden rays, emanating from pixel-God.
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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
"The whole “Oh no, our models went rogue” thing … When a bridge collapses, you don’t analyze whether the bridge was ethical or sentient or why it decided to collapse. You ask, who is the person who built this bridge to be so flimsy?" www.wired.com/story/one-of...
wired.com
One of AI’s Fiercest Critics Says All the Doom Talk Is ‘Meant to Distract Us’
Timnit Gebru argues that AI companies are stoking fears of extinction to avoid discussing actual harms, like autonomous weapons.
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Tanita Tikaram @tanitatikaram.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
What I love about Western democracy is you can bung a political party £ 36 million earned from criminal activity & most media will continue to point at asylum seekers & migrant care workers with families as the barbarians at the gate we need to defend ourselves from 🙄.
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Barbara Fantechi @barbarafantechi.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Not impressed by colleagues who used blatantly unethical AI, helped it develop, got research funds from it, made advertisement for it, and now are clutching their pearls "oh no this isn't what maths is about" while carefully not apologizing nor promising to behave differently in the future.
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Barbara Fantechi @barbarafantechi.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
everyone considering this, have a look at ahmath.org compare and contrast
ahmath.org
AHM
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Terence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A group of 25 Fields Medalists, including myself, have made a joint declaration on Math and AI: mathandai.org . We welcome additional signatories. See also this article in the Economist announcing the declaration: www.economist.com/science-and-...
mathandai.org
Declaration — Math and AI
Read the declaration and add your name.
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09/11/a...
terrytao.wordpress.com
A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics
I am proud to be among the list of 25 initial signatories — all Fields Medallists — to the declaration below, which grew out of discussions between ourselves over the last week. We have…
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
and one of the things that makes us interesting as people is all the unnecessary things we do and are interested in. It's not often I feel moved to quote Shakespeare but this line from King Lear - "Oh reason not the need! Our basest beggars are in the poorest things superfluous" - gets to the point
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Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 10/09/2026
I joined this group as soon as I heard about it. Mathematics is about people. “AI” is about * stealing * traumatizing the low-paid workers who filter out violent material and CSAM the “AI” produces * damaging the environment * funding the anti-human philosophies of the companies that promote it
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Yet another pre IPO marketing stunt?
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
"Kahanism can no longer be viewed as the ideology of a small, defined and marginalized minority. It is now a spectrum encompassing large segments of the Israeli public and all the Jewish parties that represent them except the Democrats." Cogent analysis from Eitay Mack thewire.in/world/to-sto...
thewire.in
To Stop Israel's Ethnic Cleansing, We Need Proactive Sanctions – Not a Doomed Attempt to Freeze an Illusory Status Quo
Today, the question is no longer only whether a Palestinian state can be established, but whether Palestinians will physically remain in the territory at all, given the accelerating ethnic cleansing.
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Some sense amongst the hyperbole.
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
My view is quite straightforward. Current developments in AI are not a staging post to Skynet. They’re a staging post to Idiocracy. That’s our real risk.
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Definitely the biggest example of smoke and mirrors yet. Bearing in mind that a certain class of Lean expressions all prove something, I suspect this is doing maths in the same way Deep Blue did chess: Massive, guided brute force search of all valid expressions.
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Andrew Smith @oldboysmith.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The answer is so simple. Just don't use it. If you do the result will be the further enshitification of your products.
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