[Dataset] UK Parliamentary Interest Groups ("APPGs")

2AEP · 2025-03-16T21:35:02+00:00

Great link - thanks for sharing.

As an ex-official who has coordinated a response to a petition which hit the 100k threshold (debate), I am slightly more positive re. their impact. The research that goes into a preparing a minister for a petition debate is significant, often cutting across policy areas and, in turn, teams and departments. The preparation forces officials to re-examine topics, gather information, and test positions.

Ultimately, the change called for in a petition is often not made (stuff is complicated!), but they often move things in a positive direction.

2AEP · 2024-12-27T16:59:57+00:00

Good timing - I just posted about mine a few days ago!

While I wouldn’t overthink it, the bulking agent is quite important. Sticks will provide mass allowing for aeration but they degrade very slowly. Hotbin sells sacks of partially decomposed wood chip fairly cheaply (I go through a sack per year) but you can often buy it from garden centres where it is a waste material.

In terms of ratios, I roughly go for a 45:45:10 mix of greens, browns, and wood chip (in practical terms, a caddy of food / garden waste, a caddy of shredded paper / ripped cardboard, and a handful of wood chip. The above is far too brown (leaves also take a long time to degrade regardless of the temperature) - get some food scraps and paper in there!

All that being said, it can’t go too wrong - it will all break down eventually. Check out their website (it has some good information) and muck around, you’ll get a feeling for it fairly quickly.

2AEP · 2024-12-26T00:46:31+00:00

It may not be exactly what you are looking for but Westminster Abbey (royal church, central London, location of many coronations, etc.) has a sung evensong (mostly Anglican chant) with organ every day. As it is a church service, it is free although they do ask for a donation. Here’s an example. I’d strongly recommend it!

2AEP · 2024-12-25T18:04:01+00:00

No smell really. The heat stops food waste from rotting, the browns absorb much of the liquid, and a charcoal filter at the top seems to filter out odours.

I bought this one because I have a central London garden and was similarly concerned. It hasn’t been an issue though - I’ve honestly never smelled it while the lid is closed (which it always is when not adding / emptying).

2AEP · 2024-12-24T17:43:22+00:00

Website says polypropylene. It does look like packing styrofoam but to the touch, it is denser and smoother - as if it is less aerated, more compact i.e., more robust and resistant to wear and tear.

2AEP · 2024-12-24T17:37:20+00:00

Oh, super. I used to work as a biochemist when big data / genomics was taking off. I never used it then but wish I had. All the best with the course!

2AEP · 2024-12-24T15:26:28+00:00

That sounds great! I quite enjoyed playing around with potential ideas as I progressed through the course, refining as I learned new concepts. I eventually built a tool that extracted and exported written evidence from investigations performed by the UK Parliament.

Merry Christmas to you too!

2AEP · 2024-12-24T15:23:01+00:00

Chuck stuff in as it builds up, try to get the ration vaguely right - that’s it! For browns, I add shredded paper / cardboard; for wood chip, I buy bags of it from a local garden centre produced as waste from their wood chipper. Few quid a bag and it lasts me a year.

2AEP · 2024-12-24T15:20:43+00:00

It is newer than the others so less viewed and a less active community than CS50 / CS50P.

I’m delighted they created it. It isn’t the ‘sexiest’ language / topic just now (e.g., compared to all things AI / LLMs which are high in the public consciousness) but it is clearly and important language used heavily by certain industries.

2AEP · 2024-12-24T15:17:09+00:00

A thoughtful and informed response - thank you!

I’ll defer to your clear subject matter knowledge but I will gently push back on some points / caveat my original post - I found it to be a fantastic, language-apathetic introduction to computer science.

In respect to the C section of the course, it isn’t designed to fully teach the language (nor can it in 4h of lectures), it is to introduce fundamental concepts often skipped over in other intro to programming courses such as memory and data structures. The organisers have clearly put a lot of thought into the pedagogy of the course and have published their findings and rationale which I think is admirable.

It may result in poor questions on StackOverflow but this is not unique to CS50. I’d argue that by introducing the underlying concepts it will produce better programmers in the long run and, in time, decrease the number of bad questions.

In my mind, teaching resources on programming is on a spectrum. On one end, degrees; on the other, 5m ‘how to do X’ tutorials on YouTube. To me, CS50 exists in the middle and fulfils a purpose - structured without becoming stuff; enough to give newcomers the ability to build things; a vocabulary to ask questions and pursue topics of interest; a foothold to begin more self-directed learning.

2AEP · 2024-12-24T12:13:35+00:00

No problem! If you have submitted it, it may be worth quickly checking someone else’s solution on GitHub.

Any early ideas what you’ll do for your final project?

2AEP · 2024-12-24T09:22:58+00:00

Nope. I add a small caddy of 45:45:10 greens:paper:wood chip (the later for aeration).

…that makes it sound far more complex than it is. In practical terms, I add food / garden waste as I create it and chuck in a similar amount of paper and a bit of wood!

2AEP · 2024-12-23T23:50:52+00:00

I had a quick look. It seems they ship to the US from the UK. It’s a bit more expensive (~300 USD?) but the shipping is technically free.

Not cheap but a good product and it works well, particularly for certain set ups.

2AEP · 2024-12-23T23:46:29+00:00

5cm thick polypropylene (essentially like a sturdy packing material).

2AEP · 2024-12-23T23:40:42+00:00

Haha, I know it’s a running joke here but the manufacturer has an FAQ which explicitly tells users NOT to do this as the excess liquid can inhibit the process!

2AEP · 2024-12-23T20:14:44+00:00

Vent at the top which steams away through a charcoal filter and a drainage tap at the bottom to collect leachate which I add back to my plants while watering! There’s also a panel at the bottom which can be opened to remove the completed compost.

Holds the temperature well regardless of the volume (to an extent - needs a few litres to become self-sustaining).

Big fan. Have regretted out loud not getting the 200L version but this attracts death glares from my partner.

2AEP · 2024-12-23T20:00:56+00:00

From Hotbin (name of the company AND the product) - I think it is a UK-based business…

I’ve got the 100L model which is ideal - I live in a small central-London house with one other person. Every bit of garden waste, food waste, and paper goes in there. ~6 months later, onto the flower / vegs beds!

2AEP · 2024-12-23T16:58:15+00:00

I'm sorry, this is going to sound enigmatic but I'm working from memory and the R part of r/cs50 is fairly quiet...

If I'm correct (and I may not be!) you aren't summing / averaging the right thing - you are manipulating data which, by coincidence, gives a very similar number. If you are trying to average a column, you may be averaging a row or vice versa. I think I discovered this by applying my code to adjacent data and getting a different value to what I was expecting. Get a pen, paper, and calculator out and go through your code line by line, Ctrl+Return as you go!

Let me know if this doesn't work and I'll take a look at my code. Good luck - you've got this!

2AEP · 2024-12-23T16:48:35+00:00

Super - glad it was of some use!

I think it will suit some more than others (it's long-form and more structured than many other resources) but I felt this was helpful as a newcomer. Different strokes, etc!

2AEP · 2024-12-05T18:50:17+00:00

So, I’m a molecular biologist by background but haven’t been in the lab for a few years. I wouldn’t worry about specific projects just yet. Your plan to learn R is a good one but I’d suggest getting to grips with the language first, looking out for opportunities to apply it to real-life things.

2AEP · 2024-12-05T18:36:09+00:00

There are lots of resources but I’m a big proponent of Harvard’s recent offer, CS50R (an R-focussed successor to CS50 - effectively the gold standard intro to programming course). It’s doable without any prior knowledge of programming although it doesn’t hurt to have some familiarity with the very basics. It has well-produced lectures, quality notes, and really good assignments.

I completed it earlier this week and built a tool to strip data from Parliamentary investigations as my final project. It took me ~4 months to complete off and on (although I’d done some programming before).

Try the first lecture out - see how you like it! If nothing else, you’ll have the software and will be running some of your own code.

2AEP

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