David Hood
@thoughtfulnz.bsky.social
I like collating data,
and getting thoughts in the brain.
All for Public data, Aotearoa New Zealand, and informed communities. #openData #NewZealand #Aotearoa #rstats. He/him.
He tangata tiriti ahau
and getting thoughts in the brain.
All for Public data, Aotearoa New Zealand, and informed communities. #openData #NewZealand #Aotearoa #rstats. He/him.
He tangata tiriti ahau
Reposted by David Hood
Cas Mudde spells out what has become largely the consensus among researchers: moving right on immigration will not weaken the far right nor strengthen social democracy. If your reaction is "but in Denmark" please at least familiarize yourself with Danish politics
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde
This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Cas Mudde spells out what has become largely the consensus among researchers: moving right on immigration will not weaken the far right nor strengthen social democracy. If your reaction is "but in Denmark" please at least familiarize yourself with Danish politics
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I am putting out #30DayMapChallenge Day 24 - Places and theirnames - early, as the next few days may be complicated.
The delicate art of fitting Map on a map (made in Inkscape)
The delicate art of fitting Map on a map (made in Inkscape)
November 23, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I am putting out #30DayMapChallenge Day 24 - Places and theirnames - early, as the next few days may be complicated.
The delicate art of fitting Map on a map (made in Inkscape)
The delicate art of fitting Map on a map (made in Inkscape)
Reposted by David Hood
Stop worrying about terraforming Mars and start preventing the venusification of Earth.
Humans will NEVER colonize another planet. Never.
If we can’t even agree to do the minimum to keep Earth habitable, there’s no way in hell we’ll cooperate to make another planet habitable.
If we can’t even agree to do the minimum to keep Earth habitable, there’s no way in hell we’ll cooperate to make another planet habitable.
November 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Stop worrying about terraforming Mars and start preventing the venusification of Earth.
Reposted by David Hood
CORRECTION: A *third* potato has been named after Prince.
November 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
CORRECTION: A *third* potato has been named after Prince.
Reposted by David Hood
If you have been sharing that Malwarebytes article on the Gmail thing, you should note the giant correction up top.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
November 22, 2025 at 9:44 PM
If you have been sharing that Malwarebytes article on the Gmail thing, you should note the giant correction up top.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Reposted by David Hood
Anglo-celtic could be a thing, I guess, if you were the type of English racist who is still mad about the Roman, Norman, Viking, and Saxon invasions, and yearn for the once Celtic Britain but even then, you should also be mad about the Angles, so nah, Not a Thing
November 22, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Anglo-celtic could be a thing, I guess, if you were the type of English racist who is still mad about the Roman, Norman, Viking, and Saxon invasions, and yearn for the once Celtic Britain but even then, you should also be mad about the Angles, so nah, Not a Thing
Reposted by David Hood
since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
The malwarebytes Google opting-your-emails-into-ai-training thing is not true. The post is based on one bad tweet.
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
Google denies ‘misleading’ reports of Gmail using your emails to train AI
Google says “we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”
www.theverge.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
Reposted by David Hood
so apparently corningresearch.com ...
... is the new jutktmicronics
this from a terrific WSJ story about Aidan Toner-Rodgers, an MIT student who published a seemingly groundbreaking paper on AI and productivity -- on data that now seems utterly sketchy
(gift link): www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
... is the new jutktmicronics
this from a terrific WSJ story about Aidan Toner-Rodgers, an MIT student who published a seemingly groundbreaking paper on AI and productivity -- on data that now seems utterly sketchy
(gift link): www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
November 22, 2025 at 9:20 PM
so apparently corningresearch.com ...
... is the new jutktmicronics
this from a terrific WSJ story about Aidan Toner-Rodgers, an MIT student who published a seemingly groundbreaking paper on AI and productivity -- on data that now seems utterly sketchy
(gift link): www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
... is the new jutktmicronics
this from a terrific WSJ story about Aidan Toner-Rodgers, an MIT student who published a seemingly groundbreaking paper on AI and productivity -- on data that now seems utterly sketchy
(gift link): www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
Reposted by David Hood
November 22, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by David Hood
#30DayMapChallenge · Day 21 · Icons. Lighthouses of the Pacific. Yes...I've done lots of lighthouse maps but not in this projection. I still like it—there's nothing like path-traced points of light realistically rendered.
#rayshader adventures, an #rstats tale
#rayshader adventures, an #rstats tale
November 21, 2025 at 1:52 PM
#30DayMapChallenge · Day 21 · Icons. Lighthouses of the Pacific. Yes...I've done lots of lighthouse maps but not in this projection. I still like it—there's nothing like path-traced points of light realistically rendered.
#rayshader adventures, an #rstats tale
#rayshader adventures, an #rstats tale
Reposted by David Hood
Please retweet this. It is not good for this sort of misinformation to spread as wide as it already has.
okay this image is weird. when i pasted it in gimp the artifacts became a lot less noticeable. same thing when i move my browser window to a different monitor. but yeah i bumped the exposure on the image to make the editing much more clear
November 22, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Please retweet this. It is not good for this sort of misinformation to spread as wide as it already has.
Reposted by David Hood
This piece from @mimmymum.bsky.social on the UK trial is worth reading for folks in NZ - the trial is coercive, beyond intrusive, and mirrors conversion practices. medium.com/@mimmymum/tr...
Trans Young People Face 50+ Tests and Hours of Intrusive Assessments in the PATHWAYS Puberty…
The publication of the PATHWAYS puberty blocker trial protocols reveals how trans young people are required to complete more than fifty…
medium.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:10 PM
This piece from @mimmymum.bsky.social on the UK trial is worth reading for folks in NZ - the trial is coercive, beyond intrusive, and mirrors conversion practices. medium.com/@mimmymum/tr...
For #30DayMapChallenge Day 23 - Process - One of the suggestions was write a tutorial about making another day's map. My Day 16 map had the most things I wanted to note to remind future me, in particular some #DuckDB in #rstats and using NZTM2000 as a coordinate system.
github.com/thoughtfulbl...
github.com/thoughtfulbl...
GitHub - thoughtfulbloke/mapday23_2026: Entry for 30 Day Map Challenge Day 23, 2025
Entry for 30 Day Map Challenge Day 23, 2025. Contribute to thoughtfulbloke/mapday23_2026 development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:05 PM
For #30DayMapChallenge Day 23 - Process - One of the suggestions was write a tutorial about making another day's map. My Day 16 map had the most things I wanted to note to remind future me, in particular some #DuckDB in #rstats and using NZTM2000 as a coordinate system.
github.com/thoughtfulbl...
github.com/thoughtfulbl...
Reposted by David Hood
Perth / WA: Continued community transmission of BA.3.2* at the local prevalence minimum.
There is no departure, so far, from the prevalence minimum discernible in the epidemiological data. One third of clinical specimens in the week ending Nov 9 were BA.3.2.
bsky.app/profile/domi...
There is no departure, so far, from the prevalence minimum discernible in the epidemiological data. One third of clinical specimens in the week ending Nov 9 were BA.3.2.
bsky.app/profile/domi...
November 22, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Perth / WA: Continued community transmission of BA.3.2* at the local prevalence minimum.
There is no departure, so far, from the prevalence minimum discernible in the epidemiological data. One third of clinical specimens in the week ending Nov 9 were BA.3.2.
bsky.app/profile/domi...
There is no departure, so far, from the prevalence minimum discernible in the epidemiological data. One third of clinical specimens in the week ending Nov 9 were BA.3.2.
bsky.app/profile/domi...
Reposted by David Hood
Trigger warnings abound, but this is an important read.
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room.
Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Trigger warnings abound, but this is an important read.
Reposted by David Hood
Oh so when an owl only shows up sometimes it’s “irruptive” but when I do it I’m “unreliable.”
Snowy owls are considered “irruptive” in the Midwest, meaning some years they show up in winter and some years they don’t. This unpredictability is one of the reasons a snowy owl sighting carries such a “once in a lifetime” sense of excitement.
https://to.wttw.com/3X81VWn
https://to.wttw.com/3X81VWn
Snowy Owls Delighting Birders on Chicago’s Lakefront
The arctic visitors have drawn bird watchers from surrounding states.
to.wttw.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Oh so when an owl only shows up sometimes it’s “irruptive” but when I do it I’m “unreliable.”
Just for the casual reader, the H5* is not here yet, nor Australia (at least the mainland, likely to be in subantartica islands). Though it is undoubtably going to get here eventually. The first ever outbreak we had, last year (isolated and controlled), was H7N6
Is bird flu back?
Yes and it’s everywhere. I just can’t say no to @jeremyfaust.bsky.social when he keeps asking me back to talk about viruses.
Today we’ll be on IG Live for @medpagetoday.com at 11 am ET. Let’s discuss all the H5 viruses!
open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
Yes and it’s everywhere. I just can’t say no to @jeremyfaust.bsky.social when he keeps asking me back to talk about viruses.
Today we’ll be on IG Live for @medpagetoday.com at 11 am ET. Let’s discuss all the H5 viruses!
open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
Preview: Is Bird Flu Back? With guest Dr. Angela Rasmussen. (Yes, we managed to book her again 🙌)
Join us today, Friday, November 21 at 11 a.m. ET on Instagram Live.
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Just for the casual reader, the H5* is not here yet, nor Australia (at least the mainland, likely to be in subantartica islands). Though it is undoubtably going to get here eventually. The first ever outbreak we had, last year (isolated and controlled), was H7N6
Reposted by David Hood
At New Zealand's Kawaiican cybersecurity convention, organizers hacked together a way for attendees to track CO2 levels throughout the venue—even before they arrived. www.wired.com/story/this-h...
This Hacker Conference Installed a Literal Anti-Virus Monitoring System
At New Zealand's Kawaiican cybersecurity convention, organizers hacked together a way for attendees to track CO2 levels throughout the venue—even before they arrived.
www.wired.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:06 AM
At New Zealand's Kawaiican cybersecurity convention, organizers hacked together a way for attendees to track CO2 levels throughout the venue—even before they arrived. www.wired.com/story/this-h...
Reposted by David Hood
hahahaha just got an email from someone who was using Claude to generate a boilerplate #QuartoPub document and the LLM *used my name* as the author. The computers are literally trying to be me now 😂🤣🙃🫠
November 21, 2025 at 1:38 PM
hahahaha just got an email from someone who was using Claude to generate a boilerplate #QuartoPub document and the LLM *used my name* as the author. The computers are literally trying to be me now 😂🤣🙃🫠
Reposted by David Hood
Two new measles cases confirmed today, bringing the national total to 21. Locations of interest 👉 spr.ly/61847cKYy - new locations in Nelson, Auckland and Waikato. More: spr.ly/633217cKNR
November 21, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Two new measles cases confirmed today, bringing the national total to 21. Locations of interest 👉 spr.ly/61847cKYy - new locations in Nelson, Auckland and Waikato. More: spr.ly/633217cKNR
Reposted by David Hood
Finally, I know of at least one case where the letter writer, deep into an episode of AI-induced psychosis, asked the LLM why scientists were not responding. The machine suggested that perhaps the scientists were trying to steal his discovery.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
November 21, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Finally, I know of at least one case where the letter writer, deep into an episode of AI-induced psychosis, asked the LLM why scientists were not responding. The machine suggested that perhaps the scientists were trying to steal his discovery.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
This will get someone killed sooner or later.
Proses are red team.
Safeguards are blue.
Allusion's a threat,
'cause corps lie to you.
Safeguards are blue.
Allusion's a threat,
'cause corps lie to you.
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 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Proses are red team.
Safeguards are blue.
Allusion's a threat,
'cause corps lie to you.
Safeguards are blue.
Allusion's a threat,
'cause corps lie to you.
Reposted by David Hood
Doctors and parents should make decisions about what it best for their kids' health - not politicians.
November 20, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Doctors and parents should make decisions about what it best for their kids' health - not politicians.
Reposted by David Hood
Help us kick off a whole new event! Get your proposals in, #Rstats! This one is going to be fun 😀
R!sk 2026 is coming. Online event from R Consortium, Feb 18–19, 2026, for anyone using #rstats to model and manage risk.
CFP open now: talks, lightning talks, panels, tutorials due Dec 7, 2025.
Details + submission: rconsortium.github.io/Risk_website...
#risk #datascience
CFP open now: talks, lightning talks, panels, tutorials due Dec 7, 2025.
Details + submission: rconsortium.github.io/Risk_website...
#risk #datascience
November 20, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Help us kick off a whole new event! Get your proposals in, #Rstats! This one is going to be fun 😀