Dave Palfrey
@01factory.bsky.social
Ex-historian of social and political thought (Cambridge, Birkbeck). Ex-Amazon (Alexa and AGI). Chief scientist at Mind Mage. LRB reader. 2025 side-mission: fighting global bias on Wikidata & Wikipedia.
"Only that which has no history can be defined"
"Only that which has no history can be defined"
Pinned
Dave Palfrey
@01factory.bsky.social
· May 2
Yay! I've reached my first #Wikidata global representation goal! Women from the countries shaded red are 25% of global population, but in Dec '24 were only 0.83% of Wikidata bios. I set a target to increase this to 1%. Four months later, with 10,000 women added, they're now 1.01% of Wikidata bios!
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
This blog post by Helen Toner (well-known by some for a stint on the OpenAI board) is *really really* interesting because it is the first thing I've read by someone in Frontier AI that starts to get to grips with sociotechnical concerns open.substack.com/pub/helenton...
Taking Jaggedness Seriously
Why we should expect AI capabilities to keep being extremely uneven, and why that matters
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:32 AM
This blog post by Helen Toner (well-known by some for a stint on the OpenAI board) is *really really* interesting because it is the first thing I've read by someone in Frontier AI that starts to get to grips with sociotechnical concerns open.substack.com/pub/helenton...
Reranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarization. By @tiziano.bsky.social , @msaveski.bsky.social , @jiachenyan.bsky.social , Jeffrey Hancock, Jeanne L. Tsai, @mbernst.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 28, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarization. By @tiziano.bsky.social , @msaveski.bsky.social , @jiachenyan.bsky.social , Jeffrey Hancock, Jeanne L. Tsai, @mbernst.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
🚨 SynthNet is out 🚨
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
November 26, 2025 at 11:42 AM
🚨 SynthNet is out 🚨
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
21 years ago today I thought, huh, looks interesting, and created a Wikipedia account. Things sort of snowballed from there. It's been fun.
21 thoughts on Wikipedia, in no particular order: 🧵
21 thoughts on Wikipedia, in no particular order: 🧵
October 30, 2025 at 9:54 PM
21 years ago today I thought, huh, looks interesting, and created a Wikipedia account. Things sort of snowballed from there. It's been fun.
21 thoughts on Wikipedia, in no particular order: 🧵
21 thoughts on Wikipedia, in no particular order: 🧵
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
NOW: The judicial review into the proscription of Palestine Action is taking place in London.
Here's what we know so far:
⬇️
Here's what we know so far:
⬇️
November 26, 2025 at 12:36 PM
NOW: The judicial review into the proscription of Palestine Action is taking place in London.
Here's what we know so far:
⬇️
Here's what we know so far:
⬇️
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
This from @lawrennd.bsky.social is pleasingly unexpected
November 18, 2025 at 9:48 AM
This from @lawrennd.bsky.social is pleasingly unexpected
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
Breaking: we release a fully synthetic generalist dataset for pretraining, SYNTH and two new SOTA reasoning models exclusively trained on it. Despite having seen only 200 billion tokens, Baguettotron is currently best-in-class in its size range. pleias.fr/blog/blogsyn...
November 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Breaking: we release a fully synthetic generalist dataset for pretraining, SYNTH and two new SOTA reasoning models exclusively trained on it. Despite having seen only 200 billion tokens, Baguettotron is currently best-in-class in its size range. pleias.fr/blog/blogsyn...
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
Fun fact: at the end of his career (and life), Malinowski was embarking on the study of the concept of 'Freedom'. He saw nationalism as the chief obstacle to human freedom. This is the tentative argument structure; pay attention to the paragraph at the bottom of the page.
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Fun fact: at the end of his career (and life), Malinowski was embarking on the study of the concept of 'Freedom'. He saw nationalism as the chief obstacle to human freedom. This is the tentative argument structure; pay attention to the paragraph at the bottom of the page.
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
'The University of Cambridge has announced it has acquired and for the first time unsealed Levy’s personal archive, including letters, draft manuscripts, photographs and diary entries. It is expected the material will inform a wealth of new scholarship on her life, work and mental health.' 1/2
‘A girl of genius’: archives unsealed of Amy Levy, queer Jewish writer admired by Oscar Wilde
Levy’s work was ‘ahead of her time’ and speaks to current debate around feminism, LGBTQ+ literature and Jewish identity, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:59 AM
'The University of Cambridge has announced it has acquired and for the first time unsealed Levy’s personal archive, including letters, draft manuscripts, photographs and diary entries. It is expected the material will inform a wealth of new scholarship on her life, work and mental health.' 1/2
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
🧵 #OTD 12 November 1924 a meeting in a drawing room attended by leading figures in the UK's electrical world was inspired by Mrs Mabel Matthews' idea to form the Electrical Association for Women. The event was commemorated on EAW's 40th anniversary #teatowels in 1964 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electri...
November 12, 2025 at 9:42 PM
🧵 #OTD 12 November 1924 a meeting in a drawing room attended by leading figures in the UK's electrical world was inspired by Mrs Mabel Matthews' idea to form the Electrical Association for Women. The event was commemorated on EAW's 40th anniversary #teatowels in 1964 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electri...
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
BBC leadership seems like Starmer's No10: repeatedly blundering into gaffes and rows; handling these in a way that maximises damage sustained; responding to certain sorts of criticism with abasement and others with disdain; above all, failing to think seriously about what they're doing, why and how.
November 10, 2025 at 1:35 PM
BBC leadership seems like Starmer's No10: repeatedly blundering into gaffes and rows; handling these in a way that maximises damage sustained; responding to certain sorts of criticism with abasement and others with disdain; above all, failing to think seriously about what they're doing, why and how.
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
Someone put this "blue plaque" on a London Tesla showroom to mark his becoming the world's first trillionaire. “World’s first trillionaire Elon Musk. Could have solved world hunger but funded fascists instead. Bellend.”
November 9, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Someone put this "blue plaque" on a London Tesla showroom to mark his becoming the world's first trillionaire. “World’s first trillionaire Elon Musk. Could have solved world hunger but funded fascists instead. Bellend.”
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
Plato, father of philosophers, died at a symposium at 81, on 7 November, his birthday. Platonists until Porphyry and Plotinus renewed this feast each year to mark Plato's birth and death, but after Porphyry these solemn banquets were neglected for 1,200 years.
Ficino, De amore*
Ficino, De amore*
November 7, 2023 at 1:16 PM
Plato, father of philosophers, died at a symposium at 81, on 7 November, his birthday. Platonists until Porphyry and Plotinus renewed this feast each year to mark Plato's birth and death, but after Porphyry these solemn banquets were neglected for 1,200 years.
Ficino, De amore*
Ficino, De amore*
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
"NoTrillionaires Day of Action Nov 15th
Elon Musk is destroying democracy around the world, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it.
Tesla shareholders approved a trillion dollar package for Elon. But whether he gets it is up to all of us.
actionnetwork.org/event_campai...
Elon Musk is destroying democracy around the world, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it.
Tesla shareholders approved a trillion dollar package for Elon. But whether he gets it is up to all of us.
actionnetwork.org/event_campai...
#TeslaTakedown NO TRILLIONAIRES Day of Action
A TRILLION DOLLARS? Elon Musk and his stooges think they can gobble up the entire world while the rest of us starve. Join us for the NO TRILLIONAIRES Day of Action Nov. 15, 2025!
actionnetwork.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"NoTrillionaires Day of Action Nov 15th
Elon Musk is destroying democracy around the world, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it.
Tesla shareholders approved a trillion dollar package for Elon. But whether he gets it is up to all of us.
actionnetwork.org/event_campai...
Elon Musk is destroying democracy around the world, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it.
Tesla shareholders approved a trillion dollar package for Elon. But whether he gets it is up to all of us.
actionnetwork.org/event_campai...
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
“Given the severity of the threats social media companies pose to democracy and fundamental rights, policy responses cannot merely tinker around the edges,” writes Christine Galvagna. The EU must act now—fund decentralized, public service social media to protect democracy and digital rights.
Public Service Social Media as a Democratic Safeguard | TechPolicy.Press
Christine Galvagna proposes an EU fund to support decentralized, public service focused social media networks to protect digital rights and democracy.
www.techpolicy.press
November 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
“Given the severity of the threats social media companies pose to democracy and fundamental rights, policy responses cannot merely tinker around the edges,” writes Christine Galvagna. The EU must act now—fund decentralized, public service social media to protect democracy and digital rights.
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
Undercover police officer fabricated gun plot by animal rights activists, his managers tell inquiry
Undercover police officer fabricated gun plot by animal rights activists, his managers tell inquiry
Spycops inquiry has heard James Thomson lied to superiors and deceived two women into relationships
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Undercover police officer fabricated gun plot by animal rights activists, his managers tell inquiry
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
I wrote to my Daniel Zeichner MP who asked Darren Jones MP; "All platforms are assessed against the high standards for digital safety set out in the Government Communication Service (GCS) SAFE framework."
The last GCS assessment of X was made in April 2023.
Read it, X FAILS very quickly
The last GCS assessment of X was made in April 2023.
Read it, X FAILS very quickly
SAFE Framework: the 4 principles for HMG Brand Safety - GCS
The SAFE Framework introduces new standards for digital brand safety in HM Government advertising.
www.communications.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 8:10 PM
I wrote to my Daniel Zeichner MP who asked Darren Jones MP; "All platforms are assessed against the high standards for digital safety set out in the Government Communication Service (GCS) SAFE framework."
The last GCS assessment of X was made in April 2023.
Read it, X FAILS very quickly
The last GCS assessment of X was made in April 2023.
Read it, X FAILS very quickly
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
This is just very pleasing.
October 31, 2025 at 2:14 AM
This is just very pleasing.
Form a sequence by changing one word at a time.
1. The artist formerly known as Prince.
2. The pedophile formerly known as Prince.
3. The pedophile formerly known as President.
1. The artist formerly known as Prince.
2. The pedophile formerly known as Prince.
3. The pedophile formerly known as President.
October 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Form a sequence by changing one word at a time.
1. The artist formerly known as Prince.
2. The pedophile formerly known as Prince.
3. The pedophile formerly known as President.
1. The artist formerly known as Prince.
2. The pedophile formerly known as Prince.
3. The pedophile formerly known as President.
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
New article out today! Published on the eve of Ghanaian independence, A Wreath for Udomo fictionalises Kwame Nkrumah's struggle against imperialism and imagines a future after British rule.
hwiccanreview.substack.com/p/accra-noir...
hwiccanreview.substack.com/p/accra-noir...
Accra Noir: ‘A Wreath for Udomo’ (Peter Abrahams, 1956)
A political thriller for a nation about to exist
hwiccanreview.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM
New article out today! Published on the eve of Ghanaian independence, A Wreath for Udomo fictionalises Kwame Nkrumah's struggle against imperialism and imagines a future after British rule.
hwiccanreview.substack.com/p/accra-noir...
hwiccanreview.substack.com/p/accra-noir...
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
You need to see shocking extent of carbon inequality around the world.
A remarkable study led by Jared Starr finds that super-rich US households emit *2000 TIMES* more CO2e than average low-income country households.
How the f*ck is that even possible? The disparity never ceases to enrage me.
A remarkable study led by Jared Starr finds that super-rich US households emit *2000 TIMES* more CO2e than average low-income country households.
How the f*ck is that even possible? The disparity never ceases to enrage me.
November 30, 2024 at 7:41 PM
You need to see shocking extent of carbon inequality around the world.
A remarkable study led by Jared Starr finds that super-rich US households emit *2000 TIMES* more CO2e than average low-income country households.
How the f*ck is that even possible? The disparity never ceases to enrage me.
A remarkable study led by Jared Starr finds that super-rich US households emit *2000 TIMES* more CO2e than average low-income country households.
How the f*ck is that even possible? The disparity never ceases to enrage me.
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
Thank you for the generous donation. I'll keep saying it - this could fund *so fast* with visibility.
Writers, readers, World Fantasy community - let's do this!
Some of you have rolodexes. A boost or art donation? Send a note?
Now at $3165, no new graphics until % bump. 😛
Writers, readers, World Fantasy community - let's do this!
Some of you have rolodexes. A boost or art donation? Send a note?
Now at $3165, no new graphics until % bump. 😛
Support African Translation Project
African Translation Project, Goal 4: Fully Fund Two Translations, by 31 October, still needed: $3245, 68%, If this goal is met: Translations will be fully funded for Bengithi Lizokuna and Zvinobvinza,...
ko-fi.com
October 26, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Thank you for the generous donation. I'll keep saying it - this could fund *so fast* with visibility.
Writers, readers, World Fantasy community - let's do this!
Some of you have rolodexes. A boost or art donation? Send a note?
Now at $3165, no new graphics until % bump. 😛
Writers, readers, World Fantasy community - let's do this!
Some of you have rolodexes. A boost or art donation? Send a note?
Now at $3165, no new graphics until % bump. 😛
Reposted by Dave Palfrey
"...it is immensely moving when a mature man—no matter
whether old or young in years—is aware of a responsibility for the consequences of his conduct and really feels such responsibility with heart and soul..." - Weber, Politics as a Vocation
whether old or young in years—is aware of a responsibility for the consequences of his conduct and really feels such responsibility with heart and soul..." - Weber, Politics as a Vocation
Trump: "I don't think we're necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war, I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We're going to kill them. They're going to be, like dead."
October 23, 2025 at 8:54 PM
"...it is immensely moving when a mature man—no matter
whether old or young in years—is aware of a responsibility for the consequences of his conduct and really feels such responsibility with heart and soul..." - Weber, Politics as a Vocation
whether old or young in years—is aware of a responsibility for the consequences of his conduct and really feels such responsibility with heart and soul..." - Weber, Politics as a Vocation