Sam Roots

@jamesrbuk An "immigration=good" campaign? - immigration for education brings money into the uk just by itself - some of those educated here stay; they'll be heavily skewed to younger demographics & pay taxes just when the pop'n is aging - the rest likely retain links here -> soft power.

@Harkaway Definitely agree - fix the problem not the symptom. I think I made a few unexplained leaps in my tenuous logic: AI supporting a more equal distribution of work running a home -> fewer women leave the workforce when they have children -> more equal company boards -> more equal pay

@Harkaway Also a strong gender element to this - in a hetero marriage it's still common for the man does a paid job & the woman does unpaid domestic labour (- a gender pay gap often makes it a rational choice) Could AI reduce the burden of home admin, and support more equal relationships?

@Harkaway Super mundane? yes. Is it basic "adulting"? Also yes. But I often end up eating badly or spending too much on food because I lack the bandwidth to plan.

@LukeTryl Absolutely - modern media gives an advantage to chaotic narcissists. Things that work as they should become boring - but outrage is viral. Politicians need "mindshare" to be elected. Result: headline-grabbing nonsense and chaotic government.

She then went on to say “but so do two year olds when they want something”. But I think it sums up the PM’s challenge post the local elections, CDO, Nat Con, Suella, Boris. Hard for a positive narrative to cut though if others end up being agents of chaos.

A participant in a recent focus group said she felt Rishi hadn’t been able to turn the page because “Boris is just so big, he's just such a big personality, makes such a big noise” seems spot on today as Government’s better economic news risks is drowned out by another Boris row.

@WHusseyAuthor Sorry to hear that. In theory the government's "Tell us once" service should prevent stuff like that from happening. Evidently it doesn't reach into the dust cobwebs of utility company databases...

Can utility companies I have informed multiple times across 7 years please stop calling to talk to my dead mother? It never fails to upset me and ruin my day.

@patrick_ness @Harkaway Agreed. Angelmaker and Gnomon are among my favourite books I've read as an adult, up there with Oryx and Crake, Cryptonomicon and a select few others.

@jamesrbuk Sorry to hear it's that bad, that sucks! (Slim silver lining: we're not currently having a heatwave and you can keep the windows closed) Acrivastine usually does the job for me

@RuariC Also like how they've not blocked the bike lane

As he should be. Peaceful protest, whether or not you agree with them, or their method of protest, you do not gain the right to assault people.

@DrLucyRogers Some of the better sci fi out there explores this, eg (that I remember off hand) Manifold: Space by Baxter, or the Expanse by Corey

@DrLucyRogers Bones only develop in response to mechanical stress, so a child raised in zero G would be too frail to live on Earth - BUT you can simulate gravity w/ linear or centrifugal acceleration. I'd be more worried about them having a resilient immune system & being too photosensitive

@edsaperia How small? Also I'd love to see this for changes made on the basis of user research and insight (then validated by data) rather than for, say, evolution by A-B testing random minute changes

Does anyone have any good resources for demonstrating the idea that small changes in UX can change user behaviour a lot?

@Dominus_Tempori @sacha_coward Oh god that is EXACTLY what it is! 😂

@WHusseyAuthor Can you catch him with a discreetly-placed motion activated camera? They're quite affordable these days, and the court case could pay for itself 😂

@samgroots Yeah. I’m pretty convinced he’s the one who throws dog shit at my gosh each year. What a grotesque buffoon. Actually picking up dog shot to chuck

Apparently my neighbour has again told someone in my street that I ‘play for the *wrong* team.’ Hmmm. As a rather bolshy member of said team, I think words are going to be had today.

@WHusseyAuthor Ah. I see. How frustrating - sorry to hear that

@samgroots Very charitably. The guy has been very vocal with his opinion on my Pride flag flown during June too

Noise is a secret destroyer of productivity. It is secret because it impacts cognition, not effort, so we don’t notice, but a 10db noise increase (from a dishwasher to a vacuum) lowers productivity by 5%. Noise is also greater in poorer neighborhoods... joshuatdean.com/wp-content/upl…

@DrCarpineti Not exactly. He gave me book 1; I was intrigued enough to read more - then after 6 books it felt like a mountain I had to keep climbing. But it was also an integral part of his teen years (for complicated & not all happy reasons) so yeah it was partly to 'vibe' better with him.