Paul Boldrin
@paulboldrin.bsky.social
Scientist - materials, electrochemistry, chemicals and industrial decarbonisation at Imperial College. London. Cycling. Kids. Spurs. Apparently am posting a bit.
Also the post of a man who doesn't know how counterfactuals work.
November 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Also the post of a man who doesn't know how counterfactuals work.
Very widespread in Haringey in London, see eg here maps.app.goo.gl/gbmxGW8ubRSz...
maps.app.goo.gl
November 11, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Very widespread in Haringey in London, see eg here maps.app.goo.gl/gbmxGW8ubRSz...
If you only interact with British class culture online then the only rule is that if someone is either wanting to say something is decadent or effete or on the other hand it's supported by most people and common sense then they will say it's middle class. Don't worry too much about contradictions.
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 PM
If you only interact with British class culture online then the only rule is that if someone is either wanting to say something is decadent or effete or on the other hand it's supported by most people and common sense then they will say it's middle class. Don't worry too much about contradictions.
Maybe they're too young to be gen Z as well, I lost track of the gens...
November 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Maybe they're too young to be gen Z as well, I lost track of the gens...
I think this goal is pretty famous to be honest, although my kids knowing it is maybe not the toughest test!
November 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
I think this goal is pretty famous to be honest, although my kids knowing it is maybe not the toughest test!
I mean if we're talking about economic theories not working...
November 10, 2025 at 9:19 PM
I mean if we're talking about economic theories not working...
I am not making any judgment on that, the results will be in soon enough. But it is important in terms of reading the linked column.
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I am not making any judgment on that, the results will be in soon enough. But it is important in terms of reading the linked column.
Also I think their analysis is that the problem isn't "not enough jobs", it's "employers will happily create millions of low paid jobs rather than invest" and incentivising businesses not to do that is a good thing.
November 10, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Also I think their analysis is that the problem isn't "not enough jobs", it's "employers will happily create millions of low paid jobs rather than invest" and incentivising businesses not to do that is a good thing.
Hopefully looking at Denmark is related to this:
November 10, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Hopefully looking at Denmark is related to this:
I'm not sure but teams need to get wiser on this because it seems like the officials are going to be calling it this season.
November 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I'm not sure but teams need to get wiser on this because it seems like the officials are going to be calling it this season.
Yeah, I like Fleetwood Mac basically because of my dad and F1. If my main exposure to them was the music they were actually putting out when I was 10 then...
November 9, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Yeah, I like Fleetwood Mac basically because of my dad and F1. If my main exposure to them was the music they were actually putting out when I was 10 then...
Had a friend who spent a year in New Zealand who refused either to pay any extra for luggage or to leave his skydiving gear and surfboard so arrived in the UK with only the clothes he could physically wear on the plane.
November 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Had a friend who spent a year in New Zealand who refused either to pay any extra for luggage or to leave his skydiving gear and surfboard so arrived in the UK with only the clothes he could physically wear on the plane.
Obviously I'm glad it is but I do wonder sometimes how pasta managed to stay so ubiquitous when potatoes arrived. If I was a 16th century Italian peasant I'd be like "it's potato carbonara today lads". Tomorrow potato all'amatriciana.
November 9, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Obviously I'm glad it is but I do wonder sometimes how pasta managed to stay so ubiquitous when potatoes arrived. If I was a 16th century Italian peasant I'd be like "it's potato carbonara today lads". Tomorrow potato all'amatriciana.
Yeah, when I read the headline that he'd quit because of systemic bias I was like "fair enough" but then I read what the specific "systemic bias" was and, well...
November 9, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Yeah, when I read the headline that he'd quit because of systemic bias I was like "fair enough" but then I read what the specific "systemic bias" was and, well...
My kids are always like "when are you going to make us lasagne?" and honestly even when you use dried pasta the whole thing is such a massive faff. So the answer is maybe once a year *if they're lucky*.
November 9, 2025 at 7:32 PM
My kids are always like "when are you going to make us lasagne?" and honestly even when you use dried pasta the whole thing is such a massive faff. So the answer is maybe once a year *if they're lucky*.
I remember my Italian gran saying to me that she watched her mum spending all morning every single day making fresh pasta to feed the family and because of that she laughed at the idea that anyone would willingly make fresh pasta rather than buying it from the shop if they could.
November 9, 2025 at 7:29 PM
This effect is also why the NHS doesn't do screening for lots of cancers, because even with a small FPR you can end up telling a lot of people who don't have cancer that they might have cancer (and doing lots more tests on them).
November 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM
This effect is also why the NHS doesn't do screening for lots of cancers, because even with a small FPR you can end up telling a lot of people who don't have cancer that they might have cancer (and doing lots more tests on them).
Presumably they're checking every single family that goes abroad so that would be the denominator for the false positive calculation. But like I said the vast majority of them come back so even a really small FPR could result in most of the positives being false positives.
November 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Presumably they're checking every single family that goes abroad so that would be the denominator for the false positive calculation. But like I said the vast majority of them come back so even a really small FPR could result in most of the positives being false positives.
So 3% FPR could result in these kinds of figures just because they're using the test on lots of families (most of whom get cleared).
November 9, 2025 at 5:16 PM
So 3% FPR could result in these kinds of figures just because they're using the test on lots of families (most of whom get cleared).
I don't think the 46% is the false positive rate, that's the proportion out of all tests including ones that don't result in benefits being stopped. But it does highlight why you want a really low FPR when you're testing for something rare because you can get a disproportionate no of false positives
November 9, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I don't think the 46% is the false positive rate, that's the proportion out of all tests including ones that don't result in benefits being stopped. But it does highlight why you want a really low FPR when you're testing for something rare because you can get a disproportionate no of false positives
Have fun! I'm also up early but less excitingly it's to take a child to play football.
November 8, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Have fun! I'm also up early but less excitingly it's to take a child to play football.
You're replying to the wrong person! But if they can afford trucks and caravans they can afford to pay for using the land I think.
November 8, 2025 at 8:15 AM
You're replying to the wrong person! But if they can afford trucks and caravans they can afford to pay for using the land I think.
Whole sprouts on a frozen ready made pizza with a mountain of some random cheese, what could go wrong?
November 8, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Whole sprouts on a frozen ready made pizza with a mountain of some random cheese, what could go wrong?