Si James

@Peston What is so destructive about a fair contest? Seems like you are weakly attempting to ferment dissent

Keir Starmer does not want the Makerfield by-election to be an explicit referendum on whether he should remain prime minister. Which is why he has - just now - ruled out setting a timetable for his own resignation even if Andy Burnham wins that by-election. Truthfully this is Olympic level straw-clutching. It will be just such a referendum, whatever the PM says. As a tactic it reminds me of David Cameron vowing he would not quit if he were to lose the Brexit referendum. What transpired was that Cameron resigned within hours of being trounced by Johnson, Farage and Cummings. But some kind of amour propre is preserved by Starmer’s refusal to pledge to surrender the throne after one more battle. Starmer also says that if someone - say Burnham - were to get the requisite 81 nominations and were to trigger a leadership contest, he would join the fray and fight. If he is to be taken at his word, this isn’t just any old hard ball, but is death-match stuff, with the survival of the Labour Party in the frame. All the important trade union leaders want Starmer to quit, as do a significant number of Labour MPs (I am not going to say “most” because reliable data is not available, though the party is conspicuously split). Starmer is saying “bring it on, if you’re hard enough.” And we have to assume that the Evertonian Burnham believes he is. Starmer’s weekend of ruminating about his future at Chequers has not introduced much in the way of self doubt, for all that he is surrounded by those who doubt him. That is a genius of sorts. Hats off. Maybe as and when Burnham becomes an MP again, he will have the revelation that Starmer and Starmerism are a winning combination, despite the contrary evidence of multiple elections. And possibly Streeting, and Rayner, and Miliband will suddenly surrender any ambition to lead and change the course adopted by their party. Anything is possible in these volatile times. Though I wouldn’t attach a high probability to an outcome that increases Starmer’s job security. What is highly probable is that if Burnham wins and Starmer says he ain’t budging, we may witness the kind of mayhem that could destroy Labour. I am not exaggerating. Their party is so ideologically riven and so weakened by factionalism that an emotional leadership contest that barks like civil war may put paid to any rolling back of the stone and any escape from the grave.

@timsoulo @ahrefs I would guess this doesn’t include zero-click behaviour that shows up in Clouldflare requests but not in “traffic” where the LLM visits the site on behalf of the user but the user themselves never visits. Is this where the missing traffic has gone?

Nearly 90 million search visits wiped out in the last 9 months. And traffic from AI didn't replace even 5% of it. (across ~75k websites connected to free @Ahrefs Web Analytics) Here's how other traffic sources held up: ▪️ Paid traffic is UP 13.8% (188M → 214M) ▪️ Social stayed flat (103M → 105M) ▪️ AI chatbot traffic? Just 4M at its peak Full data breakdown here 👉 chatgpt-vs-google.com Now the big question is: Does search traffic stabilize from here, or do we lose another 15-20% by the end of the year? What's your prediction? ... P.S. Learn more about FREE Web Analytics: ahrefs.com/web-analytics?…

@BBCNewsnight He heard about some grave sites out by the highway

“I think it’s completely illegal… it’s a small group of maniacs who decided they’re going to do that.” Talking Heads founding member David Byrne discusses US military strikes on Iran and whether artists have an ability to impact politics. #Newsnight

@LordGrimdark You have to be realistic about these things

The Devils won a Dragon Award! One in the eye for my school headmaster who memorably described me as 'not a prize winning boy.'

@LordGrimdark Entirely unconnected?

I can only apologise for the wretched customer service and pledge to do better. In my defence I would note that Abercrombie & Fitch are a clothing store while I, Joe Abercrombie, am an entirely unconnected fantasy author.

@BarstoolBigCat Packers are going to keep it close to give us a false sense of progress

I agree and that’s a major issue. But I’m talking about this week and playing the Packers. The only way we can get back in the fight is to completely delude ourselves into thinking Shane Waldron was the one and only problem

@LordGrimdark Amazing news. Times for some new accents.

Yes indeed, very pleased that the amazing Steven Pacey will be reading the audiobook of the Devils, which will be releasing alongside the e-book and hardcover on May 6th next year...

@LordGrimdark Glokta (post war) build?

I defeated Messmer easily. And on only my 62,513th attempt.

I asked my 15yo daughter what she thinks of Kier Starmer. She said, “he’s better than conscription.”

@GVG_Genetics @photofinishgame @AnthropicAI it basically guesses the answer (and will get it wrong). last paragraph is wrong - suggests a correlation - but you shouldn't correlate the overall numbers - you need to correlate at a race level and measure the coefficient at diferrent lengths (apols if that's what you did)

@GVG_Genetics @photofinishgame @AnthropicAI to get true correlations you need to analyse line by line data. the response doesn't have any actual correlation coefficients - which is weird. also need to account for field size, especially in smaller data sets. ask it to multiply two large numbers and check the answer vs excel

If you're not leveraging AI to ensure you are positioning your horses in the best possible situations for success on the track; you're doing it wrong 🙃 * the image below is a snippet, of the response to one of the 10+ prompts used internally to gauge horse performance and optimal racing preferences 🔎 @photofinishgame + @AnthropicAI = gg 🤝🏼

@photofinishgame hooves crossed

🏇🏽 Season 13 Foal's Day Giveaway! 🎁 To celebrate Monday's Foal's Day, we're giving away TWO (2) never-before-raced horses straight from the Photo Finish™ LIVE vault. ⬇️ Anyone w/out a real $ horse is eligible ✅ Retweet this tweet + Follow @photofinishgame ✅ If you do not have a stable yet, create one here: signup.photofinish.live/?utm_source=So… ✅ Reply w/a screenshot of your empty stable (Trainer horse OK) ➡️ Winners will be announced live on Spaces this coming Monday

@AroundTheNFL @cfrelund all models are wrong; some are useful

In her first mock of the 2024 NFL Draft, @cfrelund uses her analytical model to project Picks 1-32. Will the Bears pass on drafting a quarterback with both of their first-round selections? nfl.com/news/cynthia-f…

@AdamHoge Chase Daniel had to put his clipboard down on the last visit

The #Bears are headed back to London next season and will play a game at Tottenham Stadium. Opponent TBD. George McCaskey: "Every game the Chicago Bears play is rich in tradition, culture and passion. And every year, game after game, we look forward to welcoming fans to experience that richness. This year, we will take our storied franchise and tradition back to London and share internationally what our fans locally experience at every game. We are excited to join the many NFL teams who are expanding internationally to play a game in London during our 2024 season."

@brettbilina @ErikLambert1 Five is tough, but: Harbaugh Bears>Colts, QBR 74>86 Gannon Vikings>Raiders 74>91 Testeverde Bucs>Browns 64>81 which proves your point...

@ErikLambert1 Name 5 QBs drafted in the history of the League that were awful for an organization during their rookie contract, but excelled once they left.

@TelegraphRugby @danscho1 @CharlieFelix That would only work if England passed to their fullback in open play

England have been working on a radical ‘plan B’ to deploy fly-half Marcus Smith at full-back as Billy Vunipola was ruled out of the World Cup opener against Argentina. ✍️ @DanScho1 & @CharlieFelix #TelegraphRugby

@henningwehn A royal warrant to provide comedic services to the crown, like Fortnum & Mason for standup

As I say..rather surreal.

Check out my latest article: Elon, Woz and 1k others sign open letter to rein in AI, there's just one problem... linkedin.com/pulse/elon-woz… via @LinkedIn

You can see that a ChatGPT style bot tailored to your business would be incredibly transformative but don't have in house experience building such chatbots? Talk to Kortical! Reach out for a demo today 📤 #chatgpt #chatbot #ai

@ChicagoBears Patrick Mahomes

Who do you want to see rockin' No. 0?