Doug Clow
@dougclow.bsky.social
I help people understand things and change them, with data. Views here my own.
"I can't quite work out whether you're a tremendously silly man, a tremendously serious man or, as I suspect, a rather unholy combination of both."
dougclow.org/contact
"I can't quite work out whether you're a tremendously silly man, a tremendously serious man or, as I suspect, a rather unholy combination of both."
dougclow.org/contact
Pinned
Doug Clow
@dougclow.bsky.social
· Feb 5
Also I am loving this site at the moment because the Discover feed has clearly worked out that I love daffodils and keeps showing me them. Apologies if I have freaked you out by randomly liking yours: I genuinely just love daffodils.
I approve of this plan to pedestrianise the road in front of the BM, partly because I like that sort of thing and also because I was once nearly run over there, and would prefer not to be. Have never seen a teacher in a bin there: a blue plaque would’ve told me about it.
When I was 15 my teacher arrived for class a few minutes late, apologised, and said she’d woken up in a bin outside the British museum. To this day I think there should be a blue plaque on this street marking that event
The crowded road outside the British Museum could be pedestrianised under updated plans shown off by Camden Council.
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/bri...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/bri...
November 28, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I approve of this plan to pedestrianise the road in front of the BM, partly because I like that sort of thing and also because I was once nearly run over there, and would prefer not to be. Have never seen a teacher in a bin there: a blue plaque would’ve told me about it.
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in your back garden
Garden snail, Cornu aspersum
Banded snail, Cepaea spp
Grey garden slug, Deroceras reticulatum
Common black ant, Lasius niger
Flea beetle, Phyllotreta and Psylliodes spp
Garden snail, Cornu aspersum
Banded snail, Cepaea spp
Grey garden slug, Deroceras reticulatum
Common black ant, Lasius niger
Flea beetle, Phyllotreta and Psylliodes spp
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in your back garden
Hummingbird hawk moth
Fox
Starling (recommend Stephen Moss’ book)
Tawny owl
A small frog (no one around us has a pond)
Hummingbird hawk moth
Fox
Starling (recommend Stephen Moss’ book)
Tawny owl
A small frog (no one around us has a pond)
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in your back garden
- sparrow hawk
- fox
- pheasant
- bank vole
- green mamba (admittedly not in current North Yorkshire back garden)
- sparrow hawk
- fox
- pheasant
- bank vole
- green mamba (admittedly not in current North Yorkshire back garden)
November 28, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in your back garden
Garden snail, Cornu aspersum
Banded snail, Cepaea spp
Grey garden slug, Deroceras reticulatum
Common black ant, Lasius niger
Flea beetle, Phyllotreta and Psylliodes spp
Garden snail, Cornu aspersum
Banded snail, Cepaea spp
Grey garden slug, Deroceras reticulatum
Common black ant, Lasius niger
Flea beetle, Phyllotreta and Psylliodes spp
Well done everyone, you've all done really well this week. Blimey it's been a tough one in many ways. But you have made it through and been as brilliant as you always are. Well done and all the best for the weekend.
November 28, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Well done everyone, you've all done really well this week. Blimey it's been a tough one in many ways. But you have made it through and been as brilliant as you always are. Well done and all the best for the weekend.
He’s here! The internet’s favourite famously flammable festive feature, the one and only* Gävlebocken, a giant Yule goat of straw, is up in the castle square of Gävle and final adjustments are streaming online.
www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken
Good luck, @gavlebocken.bsky.social!
www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken
Good luck, @gavlebocken.bsky.social!
Gävles strålande julsymbol
Detta är Gävlebockens egna sida. Här hittar du allt från filmerna om Gävlebocken till hela invigningsprogrammet.
www.visitgavle.se
November 28, 2025 at 6:51 AM
He’s here! The internet’s favourite famously flammable festive feature, the one and only* Gävlebocken, a giant Yule goat of straw, is up in the castle square of Gävle and final adjustments are streaming online.
www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken
Good luck, @gavlebocken.bsky.social!
www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken
Good luck, @gavlebocken.bsky.social!
“I am asking everyone to make a contribution” sounds like Reeves is conducting a voluntary whip-round. The Chancellor doesn’t need political advice from me but it may be inexpedient to draw attention to the fact that there is a degree to which the tax system is partly voluntary at the top end.
Thursday’s @theguardian.com front page: “I am asking everyone to make a contribution” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
November 27, 2025 at 7:42 AM
“I am asking everyone to make a contribution” sounds like Reeves is conducting a voluntary whip-round. The Chancellor doesn’t need political advice from me but it may be inexpedient to draw attention to the fact that there is a degree to which the tax system is partly voluntary at the top end.
“Synthetic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation” is something we can now get in quantity from LLMs. It probably doesn’t work as a tagline for them, but it might for an electronic post-punk band, or it might serve as an Iain M Banks Culture ship name.
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:24 AM
“Synthetic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation” is something we can now get in quantity from LLMs. It probably doesn’t work as a tagline for them, but it might for an electronic post-punk band, or it might serve as an Iain M Banks Culture ship name.
Went to a school production of a musical last night and it’s given me a real lift. In general musicals are not my thing but seeing all those talented young people putting on a great show and loving it was genuinely heartwarming. Not the best ever technically, but pretty good, and so much hwyl.
November 27, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Went to a school production of a musical last night and it’s given me a real lift. In general musicals are not my thing but seeing all those talented young people putting on a great show and loving it was genuinely heartwarming. Not the best ever technically, but pretty good, and so much hwyl.
Presumably this budget leak is just a ghastly mistake not a deliberate strategy as all other leaks were, but this has to be far and away the leakiest budget ever, and that used to be a really big deal and probably should still be.
If this had been a set of company results, pretty much the entire investor relations department would have been fined out banned from the industry by now. I know it isn't a set of a company results, but it actually is possible to do these things without leaking
lol here’s the full OBR book someone pressed publish early here’s the budget obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...
November 26, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Presumably this budget leak is just a ghastly mistake not a deliberate strategy as all other leaks were, but this has to be far and away the leakiest budget ever, and that used to be a really big deal and probably should still be.
Crisis in higher education? What crisis?
The minister is correct that "you don’t wake up one day in insolvency" but a looming insolvency typically becomes *apparent* over a very short space of time - as we saw with Dundee University.
The minister is correct that "you don’t wake up one day in insolvency" but a looming insolvency typically becomes *apparent* over a very short space of time - as we saw with Dundee University.
Commons Education Committee seems to think that there is a provider at risk of collapse before the end of 2025. DfE and OfS disagree.
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
Government would protect interests of "students, taxpayers, and research" in provider insolvency
And the committee seems to think there is one on the way before 2026.
wonkhe.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Crisis in higher education? What crisis?
The minister is correct that "you don’t wake up one day in insolvency" but a looming insolvency typically becomes *apparent* over a very short space of time - as we saw with Dundee University.
The minister is correct that "you don’t wake up one day in insolvency" but a looming insolvency typically becomes *apparent* over a very short space of time - as we saw with Dundee University.
Last Friday, waiting in a GP surgery, I thought I’d lost Whamageddon super early. But I have realised it didn’t count: (a) it was a cover, not the original Wham version, and (b) it only starts on 1 December, or Advent if you’re being liturgical about it, so it was Too Soon. Not even Stir Up Sunday.
November 25, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Last Friday, waiting in a GP surgery, I thought I’d lost Whamageddon super early. But I have realised it didn’t count: (a) it was a cover, not the original Wham version, and (b) it only starts on 1 December, or Advent if you’re being liturgical about it, so it was Too Soon. Not even Stir Up Sunday.
New favourite way of conveying millions vs billions vs trillions: a million minutes is about 2 years ago, 1 billion minutes is early Roman Empire, and 1 trillion minutes takes you well before the emergence of anatomically modern humans and nearer the origins of the genus Homo.
“If you go back a million minutes, you reach 2023. Go back a billion minutes, you reach the Roman Empire — that’s the scale of inequality we’re living with.”
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing inequality and why a wealth tax should be in the budget
Zack Polanski on #BBCLauraK discussing inequality and why a wealth tax should be in the budget
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
New favourite way of conveying millions vs billions vs trillions: a million minutes is about 2 years ago, 1 billion minutes is early Roman Empire, and 1 trillion minutes takes you well before the emergence of anatomically modern humans and nearer the origins of the genus Homo.
This is a real challenge of a job: Director General for Digital, Data and Technology at the ONS. Hope they can get someone excellent - with the profound challenges at the ONS this is going to be a very difficult gig. www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
Quick Check Needed
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk
November 22, 2025 at 10:16 AM
This is a real challenge of a job: Director General for Digital, Data and Technology at the ONS. Hope they can get someone excellent - with the profound challenges at the ONS this is going to be a very difficult gig. www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
Well done everyone, you've all done really well this week! It has been a tough old week yet again in so many ways for so many of us ... and you've made it through anyway, because you're awesome. Well done, and all the best for the weekend.
November 21, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Well done everyone, you've all done really well this week! It has been a tough old week yet again in so many ways for so many of us ... and you've made it through anyway, because you're awesome. Well done, and all the best for the weekend.
Topical reminder of important historical events in relation to today’s opening day at the Ashes: the Emu War.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War
(I thought this used to have the standard Wikipedia war infoboxes enumerating belligerents, commanders, losses, etc, but alas not, and it’s semi-protected.)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War
(I thought this used to have the standard Wikipedia war infoboxes enumerating belligerents, commanders, losses, etc, but alas not, and it’s semi-protected.)
November 21, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Topical reminder of important historical events in relation to today’s opening day at the Ashes: the Emu War.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War
(I thought this used to have the standard Wikipedia war infoboxes enumerating belligerents, commanders, losses, etc, but alas not, and it’s semi-protected.)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War
(I thought this used to have the standard Wikipedia war infoboxes enumerating belligerents, commanders, losses, etc, but alas not, and it’s semi-protected.)
We have a load of bad problems in higher and further education. It would be extraordinary if the dire cost pressures were *not* affecting quality.
November 21, 2025 at 8:32 AM
We have a load of bad problems in higher and further education. It would be extraordinary if the dire cost pressures were *not* affecting quality.
Can't tell whether I'm at that stage of life where new things often seem outlandish or whether it is actually bizarre that a significant new public policy concern is safeguards on artificial intelligence being thwarted by "adversarial poetry".
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 20, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Can't tell whether I'm at that stage of life where new things often seem outlandish or whether it is actually bizarre that a significant new public policy concern is safeguards on artificial intelligence being thwarted by "adversarial poetry".
Actually laughed out loud at discovering that all professors at Oxford (unless individually exempted) must accept headship of their department or faculty if asked. Yeah they’ve had problems with getting people to do it before, haven’t they?
November 19, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Actually laughed out loud at discovering that all professors at Oxford (unless individually exempted) must accept headship of their department or faculty if asked. Yeah they’ve had problems with getting people to do it before, haven’t they?
Survey research has been in a downward spiral for decades: LLMs are administering the coup de grâce. As someone who’s spent much of their working life using surveys … Gulp. As I keep saying, many bad things happen when the price of custom plausible bullshit falls through the floor.
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
November 18, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Survey research has been in a downward spiral for decades: LLMs are administering the coup de grâce. As someone who’s spent much of their working life using surveys … Gulp. As I keep saying, many bad things happen when the price of custom plausible bullshit falls through the floor.
Haven’t seen Rice Krispies for years. I remember Snap having a chef’s hat; Pop has sensibly shifted to a baseball cap. But why has Crackle switched to a Phrygian cap from a sleeping cap? Realising I also didn’t ask as a kid about Smurfs and Phyrgian caps.
November 18, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Haven’t seen Rice Krispies for years. I remember Snap having a chef’s hat; Pop has sensibly shifted to a baseball cap. But why has Crackle switched to a Phrygian cap from a sleeping cap? Realising I also didn’t ask as a kid about Smurfs and Phyrgian caps.
It is astonishing that the British Library is in such disarray and it’s not a bigger deal. Major catalogues still unavailable two years after the cyberattack, bitter strikes, and the new chief executive leaving abruptly.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:36 AM
It is astonishing that the British Library is in such disarray and it’s not a bigger deal. Major catalogues still unavailable two years after the cyberattack, bitter strikes, and the new chief executive leaving abruptly.
"Many things have been omitted, and my ovals have"
Ellipses ellipsis
"Charlie did well by focusing everything on one point, like this curved mirror"
Parabola parable
(I cannot for the life of me pronounce hyperbole correctly now.)
Ellipses ellipsis
"Charlie did well by focusing everything on one point, like this curved mirror"
Parabola parable
(I cannot for the life of me pronounce hyperbole correctly now.)
“That is the best curve EVER”
Hyperbola hyperbole
Hyperbola hyperbole
November 17, 2025 at 12:41 PM
"Many things have been omitted, and my ovals have"
Ellipses ellipsis
"Charlie did well by focusing everything on one point, like this curved mirror"
Parabola parable
(I cannot for the life of me pronounce hyperbole correctly now.)
Ellipses ellipsis
"Charlie did well by focusing everything on one point, like this curved mirror"
Parabola parable
(I cannot for the life of me pronounce hyperbole correctly now.)
Drinking loads of mead was, it seems, more of a heroic myth than a daily reality in Viking times … which is essentially how modern Viking-inspired mead-drinking works. That’s actually pretty cool if you ask me.
I've written about mead and its popular perception for The Conversation. theconversation.com/the-truth-ab... Mildly concerned that by pointing out that the Vikings (probably) didn't drink (much) mead, I will have annoyed all the re-enactors, many of whom have swords oh dear.
The truth about Vikings and mead might disappoint modern enthusiasts
The standard drink was far more likely to be ale.
theconversation.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Drinking loads of mead was, it seems, more of a heroic myth than a daily reality in Viking times … which is essentially how modern Viking-inspired mead-drinking works. That’s actually pretty cool if you ask me.
Oh this is fantastic news. Ian Linkletter has been fighting a ridiculous battle to be able to be critical of Proctorio for years and years. So glad it’s over.
I have been dreaming of this day for over five years. Proctorio’s lawsuit against me is forever over. I’ve won my life back!
linkletter.org/update-33-th...
linkletter.org/update-33-th...
Update #33: The lawsuit is over! | Stand Against Proctorio's SLAPP!
linkletter.org
November 14, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Oh this is fantastic news. Ian Linkletter has been fighting a ridiculous battle to be able to be critical of Proctorio for years and years. So glad it’s over.
Warren Buffett famously enjoys the same Coca-Cola as everyone else. Although his ownership relationship to the business probably makes it taste sweeter.
Fred Goodwin (for it was he) once told me that RBS developed one of these systems but threw it away because it caused nothing but problems. Every Category 1 customer has a friend or relative who is a Category 5 and when you treat them obviously differently it always angers both.
Companies are working overtime to stratify consumers, separating the haves from both the have nots and the have yachts
on.ft.com/4p6brF8 How the American dream turned out to be pay to play
on.ft.com/4p6brF8 How the American dream turned out to be pay to play
November 14, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Warren Buffett famously enjoys the same Coca-Cola as everyone else. Although his ownership relationship to the business probably makes it taste sweeter.
What a time to be alive. New DNA evidence is consistent with Hitler having right-sided cryptorchidism. A testicle missing from the scrotal sac can be in the abdomen or even the thigh, undeveloped, or absent completely. However, there is no anatomical basis for the location being the Albert Hall.
Addendum: I quickly wrote something partially about the results, and the potential for misunderstanding, but also about history's profound irony.
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
open.substack.com/pub/arutherf...
November 13, 2025 at 7:08 PM
What a time to be alive. New DNA evidence is consistent with Hitler having right-sided cryptorchidism. A testicle missing from the scrotal sac can be in the abdomen or even the thigh, undeveloped, or absent completely. However, there is no anatomical basis for the location being the Albert Hall.