Andrew Ducker

Workers who love ‘synergizing paradigms’ might be bad at their jobs | Cornell Chronicle Employees who are impressed by vague corporate-speak like “synergistic leadership,” or “growth-hacking paradigms” may struggle with practical decision-making, a new Cornell study into “corporate BS” reveals.

Employees who are impressed by vague corporate-speak like “synergistic leadership,” or “growth-hacking paradigms” are less competent

Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.

Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death

One in five Reform members want non-white Britons removed from UK, poll finds Reform members are generally ‘more pessimistic, angry and extreme than the British public’, according to the study’s author

One in five Reform members want non-white British citizens to be removed from UK - and more than half want non-white British citizens born abroad to leave.

The Government Uses Targeted Advertising to Track Your Location. Here's What We Need to Do. The online advertising industry has built a massive surveillance machine, and the government can co-opt it to spy on us.

The Government Uses Targeted Advertising to Track Your Location. (Yet another reason to use an adblocker)

How Boston Dynamics upgraded the Atlas robot Atlas, a humanoid robot made by robotics company Boston Dynamics, has been upgraded from a version 60 Minutes saw in 2021, with joints…

The current state of humanoid robots

Your Partner Bought Zuck’s Ray-Bans. Now Someone in Nairobi Is Watching You Poop.

Are AI-generated summaries suitable for studying and research? Despite didactic, ethical, and environmental concerns, the use of GenAI is on the rise in academia. For most applications, the jury is still out on whether and how they will benefit education and research in the long term. But it’s already safe to conclude that one popular use case is, in fact, a bad one: AI-generated summaries.

Are AI-generated summaries suitable for studying and research?

U.S. sub sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, killing 87 and expanding war zone A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, killing dozens of sailors and dramatically widening Washington's pursuit of the Iranian navy.

A US submarine sinking a lonely, dinky Iranian surface ship an ocean away from the theater of the main conflict—and 9000
miles from North America—makes it pretty clear the US is fighting a general war, without the declaration required by the Constitution. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

I have seen a lot of cursed stuff in my time in academia but this is among the *most* cursed.
Grammarly is generating miniature LLMs based on academic work so that users can have their writing ‘reviewed’ by experts like David Abulafia, who died less than two months ago.

Indefinite Book Club Hiatus Today in “Things that ‘AI’ has ruined”: No, I won’t be able to show up to your book club’s online/offline gathering, and the reason for this is simple: I, and li…

AI ruins inviting authors to book clubs

The Siege of Cuba

Beyond Oil: The Strait Of Hormuz And The Global Food Risk How a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could choke off global nitrogen fertilizer exports, threatening crops, food prices, and the stability of the global food system.

Beyond Oil: The Strait Of Hormuz And The Global Food Risk

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t George W. Bush may think that a war against Iraq is the solution to our problems, but the reality is, it will only serve to create far more.

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t (check the date)

AI-generated art can’t be copyrighted after Supreme Court declines to review the rule A lower court previously said that “human authorship is a bedrock requirement of copyright.”

AI-generated art can’t be copyrighted after Supreme Court declines to review the rule

If you're in need of a guffaw, might I recommend...?

Two Major Studies, 125,000 Kids: The Social Media Panic Doesn’t Hold Up For years now, we’ve been repeatedly pointing out that the “social media is destroying kids” narrative, popularized by Jonathan Haidt and others, has been built on a foundation of…

Two Major Studies, 125,000 Kids: The Social Media Panic Doesn’t Hold Up

It's just 1 poll (for now) - but here's how it plays out in the Nowcast Model:

RFM: 227 (+222)
GRN: 135 (+131)
LDM: 92 (+20)
CON: 59 (-62)
SNP: 48 (+39)
LAB: 40 (-371)
PLC: 20 (+16)
Others: 10 (+5)

China’s 450km/h bullet train is the fastest ever built

U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of Jesus Advocacy group reports commanders giving similar messages at more than 30 installations in every branch of the military

U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of Jesus

The Greens are nearly first with YouGov (and 5% ahead of Labour)

Women’s Institute vows to ‘keep welcoming trans women’ The National Federation of Women’s Institutes has vowed to “find ways to keep welcoming trans women” amid a nationwide trans ban.

Women’s Institute vows to keep welcoming trans women

Why Britain is Quietly Spending £725 Billion to Rebuild the Country For most of the last fifteen years, Britain has been a country that talks about decline more than construction. Roads are ageing, rail is…

Why Britain is Quietly Spending £725 Billion to Rebuild the Country

andrewducker (@andrewducker@pixelfed.scot) 1 photo every year

1 photo every year

I wish people would realise that creating a Bluesky account just to harass people to make podcast episodes on their personal favourite artists and tell them that their work doesn't "do them justice" is insane stalker behaviour...

One of the greatest, Bruce Campbell, announcing he has cancer. Our hearts are with you Bruce, Hail to the King.

This is unbelievable. Actually, no it isn’t. What it is is appalling and infuriating. 😡

Endometriosis in the UK - diagnosis takes a decade and dozens of visits