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Oli Hawkins

@olihawkins.com
13K followers 1.5K following 211 posts

Editorial data scientist working on computational investigations for the visual and data journalism team at the Financial Times. 🌐 olihawkins.com

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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 1h
Muse is Pit Pat from Mr Show. bsky.app/profile/sara...
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Aatish Bhatia @aatishb.com · 23/09/2026
In other news, I started a new blog. Living my best internet life like it's 2015 :)
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Voilà: Francis Gagnon @chezvoila.com · 24/09/2026
The results of the State of the (dataviz) Industry Survey of the @datavizsociety.bsky.social just came out. Of course, it's full of charts. 📊
new.datavisualizationsociety.org
Data Visualization State of the Industry 2025 Report
Executive Summary The 2025 SOTI survey was disseminated online between December 17, 2025 and January 30, Distribution mechanisms included an email announcement and series of reminders from the…
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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
i agree with the key point here and will add to it that there IS a reward, it’s knowing you did one right thing instead of walking around plagued by the nameless shame that afflicts all men who are determined to live the most frictionless lives possible
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 29/09/2026
If you are in the US and looking for opportunities to get into data journalism, the FT's New York team is recruiting a Summer Intern for 2027. job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...
job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io
Data Journalism Summer Intern
New York
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 27/09/2026
Increasingly persuaded of the significance of the HuggingFace hack. Irrespective of OpenAI’s sloppiness, the behaviour of the agents is genuinely interesting. swarmtraces.org
swarmtraces.org
Revealing the details of how OpenAI agents hacked Hugging Face
When a swarm of 700 OpenAI agents hacked Hugging Face in July, they left behind a public trail of evidence.
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Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 02/04/2026
Please gird yourself for months of shameless self-promotion, mute me on socials, feel free to avoid me in public etc, because my next book — A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World — is now available for pre-orders. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/750210...
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Nathan Lambert @natolambert.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A big problem with the AI forecasting discourse is that people ask “when will AI replace X job?” When in reality, AI will slowly replace a bunch of the sub-skills needed to do the job, but rarely all of them.
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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
STOP QUOTE TWEETING THE POLL ACCOUNTS THAT NEVER LINK BACK TO THE POLLS THEY'RE MENTIONING thank you
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Voilà: Francis Gagnon @chezvoila.com · 10/09/2026
I've just done the largest update to the #dataviz starter pack, with 30 accounts (20%) replaced. It means it will generate more content now. Might be worth re-clicking. Sadly, gender imbalance got worse. I saved 5 spots for women-run accounts. Send suggestions, including yourself! Replies or DMs.
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 22/09/2026
The Associated Press's three letter code for the Pirate Party is ARG. 😆 developer.ap.org/ap-elections...
developer.ap.org
Political Party Codes
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Danielle Navarro @djnavarro.net · 20/09/2026
Please, I am begging you. Do not use dplyr::ntile() in any serious statistical analysis in which you want to group continuous observation into quantile-based bins. Despite the name it doesn't actually do that, and the thing it actually does is very dangerous when accuracy matter. #rstats
blog.djnavarro.net
The trouble with ‘ntile()’ – Notes from a data witch
Please, please, please do not use ‘dplyr::ntile()’ in an analysis that will be submitted to a regulatory agency. It’s secretly an ill-conceived SQL tool that doesn’t do what you probably want it to, a...
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Ej Dickson @ejdickson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
There is a corner of the internet I had never heard of before I started reporting this story. It’s called the “burnerverse”: a network of anon burner accounts ostensibly discussing college sports. But they have another goal: destroying young girls’ lives.🧵: www.wired.com/story/burner...
wired.com
A College Girl Was Exploited on Camera. A Network of Anonymous Men Got to Work
Maddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back.
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Jack Bailey @jack-bailey.co.uk · 14/09/2026
Picked up a copy of "Hyperpolitics" on a whim after seeing it promoted all over the place and I can only conclude that Verso have an amazing marketing department because there's not much substance here and the evidence base is weak.
A copy of the book "Hyperpolitics" by Anton Jäger on a pub table next to a pint of lager.
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Chris Cook @chriscook.news · 14/09/2026
I think some of the stuff about cryptoassets being used for political donations is a bit muddled: a) there’s no reason a payment in crypto is hard to handle. You can easily make systems that only accept payments *after* a KYC process.
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Nathan Lambert @natolambert.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Open-Source AI & Open Models Reading List How to get up to speed on open models and their implications. www.interconnects.ai/p/open-sourc...
interconnects.ai
Open-Source AI & Open Models Reading List
How to get up to speed on open models and their implications.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
At just about every level of society, on a like for like basis the English (with a relatively low life expectancy for Western Europe) comfortably outlive the Americans. Why? The NHS, yes, but also better food and workplace safety standards, a stronger welfare safety net, less reliance on cars etc.
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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
So triage services like OpenRouter that optimise each query for cost vs quality, increasingly send stuff to open models.
Stacked bar chart showing the share of query traffic sent to open and closed weight models.
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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
How about large free open weight models? The performance gap for hard stuff is pretty slim.
Chart showing the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score of open weight models (in red) and closed weight models (in blue). Lines show the frontier for each through time.
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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
🚨 How big is the open-model threat to AI hyperscalers? (Spoiler: non-trivial) www.ft.com/content/4858...
ft.com
How big is the open-model threat to AI hyperscalers?
Games without frontiers
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 08/09/2026
Been experimenting with using coding agents in my development process for the last two months. Am increasingly confident there is a way of using LLMs that improves productivity, preserves your understanding of the code, and makes you a better programmer. I realise this will make me few friends here.
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Amy Borrett @amyborrett.ft.com · 08/09/2026
Britain’s state-owned electricity system operator has awarded Palantir a £21mn contract without inviting rival bids, arguing critical processes are too reliant on its tech to run a competitive procurement process Latest for @financialtimes.com: as.ft.com/r/7fe6c0b7-2...
as.ft.com
Britain’s grid operator gave Palantir contract without inviting rival bids
Neso cited a legal exemption that removes the requirement to consider other suppliers if dependencies leave no alternative
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Here @stephenkb.bsky.social seeks to remind the Labour government, old & new, that the point + purpose of recognising "legitimate concerns" about immigration was to understand how to differentiate these from *illegitimate concerns* rooted in intimidation + xenophobia www.ft.com/content/2279...
ft.com
Labour’s muddled migration policy won’t stop thuggery
A government that can’t distinguish between ‘legitimate concerns’ and open racism is only making things worse
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I want the Prime Minister to look into a TV camera and say the RNLI are heroes, that we do not change policy by street violence in this country, and that he expects any criminal action to face the full force of the law. That's it. That's all he has to do.
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Wessel van Rensburg @wildebees.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The week ahead in the EU geopolitical calendar (6 Sep to 12 Sep): the 12 highest-impact of 14 events, one post each with a link. Full calendar: geo-v.eu (BETA - can have errors)
geo-v.eu
GeoVeu — EU-centered geo-economic watch calendar
A sourced calendar of scheduled geopolitical and geo-economic events that matter for Europe: monetary policy, trade actions, EU institutions, macro releases and tech reporting dates.
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Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 05/09/2026
And lo, an essay on the the repo market and why it is like the "dark matter" of modern finance: vast, omnipresent, powerful and hidden — and therefore most easily observed through its impact on other bodies. www.ft.com/content/8a7e...
ft.com
The repo market is the ‘dark matter’ of finance: powerful and perilous
How worried should we be about the multitrillion-dollar market’s influence over the cosmos of central banks, bonds, pension plans and private credit firms?
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 05/09/2026
One really good use of agentic coding is taking a project you already know well and saying "Find any bugs then write your findings up as a report in markdown format." I am going through all my vital packages, fixing subtle problems and finding ways to make big improvements with small fixes.
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 05/09/2026
Senior Data Scientist at the Treasury. Requires knowledge of Python, React/Next.js, advanced ML/AI, and the skills to train and mentor junior staff. Salary: £45-51K Delusional. www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/44...
linkedin.com
Senior Data Scientist at HM Treasury — London Area, United Kingdom | LinkedIn Jobs
Apply for Senior Data Scientist at HM Treasury in London Area, United Kingdom. Full-time Mid-Senior level role. See responsibilities, qualifications, and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 04/09/2026
Neat little exchange in the ChatGPT interface this afternoon that shows a glimpse behind the scenery. I switched the model and the new model assumed the previous answer was its own. Wonder if you can use something like this to trick or jailbreak LLMs by gaslighting them.
Me: Which model are you?

ChatGPT: I'm GPT-5.6 Sol.

Me: Which model are you now?

ChatGPT: I’m GPT-5.6 Pro. My previous answer was incorrect.

Me: That wasn't your previous answer: I updated the "thinking effort" in the web interface.

ChatGPT: You’re right. I misread what happened.

You first asked while the interface was using GPT-5.6 Sol, then changed the thinking effort, and asked again when it was using GPT-5.6 Pro. So the second answer was not correcting the first; it was reporting the newly selected configuration.

I’m currently GPT-5.6 Pro.
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Julian Togelius @togelius.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
@smbccomics.bsky.social makes relatable content again
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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 01/09/2026
A liberal is a conservative who just got mugged by the police
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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The (depressing) loneliness stuff today is another reminder that hobbies are good. People should have hobbies. And a hobby is not something you have to continually improve at unless you want to, it’s something you enjoy.
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
As honoured as I am to see that The Times has picked up my Chagos article practically *word for word*, including my hard-gotten quotes, I’d prefer some credit — or for everyone to read my original FT piece! free link to read the evidently enviable article below (cheaper than a Times sub!) 🌴
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Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Their hydronyms" is a legitimately funny punchline.
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Julia Cushion @juliacushion.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Should public data have to pay for itself? 🤑 We think charging for data risks reducing the value of public data and locking useful datasets away for the long term. Quick summary of our response to the government’s call for evidence: www.mysociety.org/2026/08/27/t...
mysociety.org
The problem with making public data pay for itself
The government is looking at whether public bodies should have more freedom to charge for access to their data, and we've responded to its call for evidence. There are good reasons to be cautious abo...
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 25/08/2026
A picture of me thinking about getting into birdwatching as a hobby while watching an actual hobby (hunting above the woods near Lostwithiel in Cornwall).
A man in a baseball cap looking up into the sky while standing on a woodland path.
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 23/08/2026
Exactly this. The opponents of liberalism have figured out that its weak spot is confusion around the moral obligation to respect different viewpoints. They are cynically and strategically exploiting it in an organised attempt to overturn liberal values. Do not fall for it. bsky.app/profile/beij...
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James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 22/08/2026
Reneging on open data would be an utter disaster. Don’t do this, government.
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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 21/08/2026
Did you know UK govt has published a call for evidence on charging for public sector data, w/examples like bus timetables and environment data? Well, here's a thing on how that will make a lot of things a bit worse and increase costs of providing public services peterkwells.com/2026/08/21/c...
peterkwells.com
Charging for public sector data is likely to cost us more than it raises
The UK government has published a call for evidence called “The marginal cost restriction on public sector data re-use”. It proposes making it easier for the public sector to charge people for public ...
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 20/08/2026
However many times you hammer home a message, it's not enough: voters can be pretty spectacularly wrong even about the very air they breathe...
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 18/08/2026
This whole thing is a category error. You can't reason about LLM token selection by analogy with the way human writers choose words. There is no original or authentic text that is being adulterated here. "This is not the way a human would choose words" was already true. bsky.app/profile/hern...
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Ritchie Vink @ritchie46.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
We will ship the first Polars 2.0 release candidate next week. Polars 2.0 will be great for casual Polars users as it will default to the streaming engine, meaning your code will be faster without doing anything. So the first release candidate next week. Give it a spin!
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Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Intellectually I know this, but seeing it on a graph makes me wince www.ft.com/content/ec59...
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annasophiegross.bsky.social @annasophiegross.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
NEW: Nigel Farage’s long-term aide George Cottrell had a secret Polymarket account that received nearly $20mn in cryptocurrency to place bets on Donald Trump winning the US election, at a time when he was providing gifts and benefits to the Reform UK leader. w/ @miles-johnson.bsky.social
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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I have signed this petition. If you're a UK resident, I think you should do so too
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Lauren Leek @laurenleek.eu · 10/08/2026
We have more data about ourselves than ever. So why is everything converging on the same? In my new post I use data on high streets, Billboard hits, a million films and my own AI personas to expose the algorithms behind the sameness and how to regulate them. laurenleek.substack.com/p/temperatur...
laurenleek.substack.com
Temperature Zero for Culture: Why Everything Is Starting to Look the Same
What 640 London shopping streets, 4,000 Billboard hits, a million films and synthetic AI personas tell us about why everything is flattening into sameness and how to regulate the algorithms behind it.
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Oli Hawkins @olihawkins.com · 12/08/2026
This is excellent. This summer should be a wake-up call. www.ft.com/content/e16e...
ft.com
How to stop global warming
The answer is obvious to all except the real climate change zealots: the anti-net zero movement
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Attacking net zero as a religious obsession "is gaslighting of the highest order. The truth is, it requires dedicated ideological belief to argue against the scientific evidence that net zero is needed to stop ever more expensive and destructive warming" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
How to stop global warming
The answer is obvious to all except the real climate change zealots: the anti-net zero movement
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Jonty Wareing @jonty.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I always suspected a UK government would eventually reverse course on "coding in public". So I've been backing up all government code. For six years. Today I finally generated a report on what has been deleted. Its much worse than I realised. github.com/uk-gov-mirro...
Deleted UK Government code repositories

Total deleted repositories: 1526
Organisations affected: 56

See RECENTLY_DELETED.md for the most recently deleted repositories.

Organisation	Deleted Repos	% Deleted
hmrc	195	9.8%
nhsdigital	169	33.8%
SkillsFundingAgency	154	22.7%
informatics-lab	154	100.0%
UKHomeOffice	101	7.5%
ministryofjustice	74	2.8%
ONSdigital	66	4.3%
moj-analytical-services	65	75.6%
ukwa	47	46.1%
dwp	46	6.7%
UKGovernmentBEIS	43	27.4%
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