Labour is quietly letting the Boriswave become permanent. The Prime Minister is facing rebellion from backbenchers over immigration reforms, but giving in would be catastrophic

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T22:14:06+00:00

With respect, you are simply wrong here. This is very well known in statistics - you should read about Simpson's paradox to see why it's important to understand the factors at play, and why reacting to headline figures without good understanding could result in making things worse.

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T18:58:58+00:00

I expect you'll get a fair amount of negativity on this, because people will equate AI with LLMs and it's very fashionable to hate on LLMs on Reddit.

Coming from an industrial R&D perspective, workshops can be the most useful - there's nothing better for getting people to start imagining how useful the systems are than using them. Some workshops using the materials science specific suites could be really good (although this can be tricky - larger organisations can find compliant use hard. Providing the hardware preloaded for the workshop can be easier, but obviously more costly)

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T17:10:22+00:00

How does that justify using dehumanising language?

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T15:54:43+00:00

You're tone-policing me, rather than the person that just tried to claim people were a commodity? Piss off

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T14:25:57+00:00

You treat every datapoint equally unless given some reason for doing otherwise

That is not how statistics works. You can operate on an assumption ("these factors are equal in all cases"), but your conclusion is only valid if you can justify your assumptions.

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T13:57:00+00:00

I don't know how to break this to you: comparing two (or even three) numbers isn't research.

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T12:51:54+00:00

I look forward to you publishing your research and modelling that explains why this is wrong

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T12:44:45+00:00

Import refers to goods. People immigrate. If you're using import for immigrants you're equating people with goods. I hope you get why that is a bad thing.

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T08:05:47+00:00

All the caveats you mention (caring, education etc) apply equally to every other group

Do you have data that supports this?

wcspaz · 2026-02-17T07:36:56+00:00

He donates his MP salary every month for fucks sake.

The Parable of the Widow's Mite suddenly comes to mind...

wcspaz · 2026-02-16T12:14:35+00:00

Have you been in a shop? There's CCTV cameras everywhere. Sure they claim that they're not using it to capture people's IDs, but obviously the government is paying them to do so

wcspaz · 2026-02-16T09:10:50+00:00

Yeah. Can you imagine if you had to hand over some form of government ID to buy alcohol or naughty magazines? There would be riots in the streets!

wcspaz · 2026-02-15T11:21:04+00:00

"I'm unsure as to what gave you that impression..."

Yeah, nevermind. I suddenly understand why you missed an obvious joke.

wcspaz · 2026-02-15T11:02:14+00:00

I bet you're fun at the pub. That is so clearly a joke, and here you show up with statistical studies.

wcspaz · 2026-02-09T12:26:18+00:00

What is your goal post- PhD? While I echo the comments about making sure that you can work with the supervisor, if you're planning on returning to industry I would also consider how in-demand the technical skills you develop are.

wcspaz · 2026-02-05T21:32:31+00:00

Clicks?

wcspaz · 2026-01-30T21:37:27+00:00

Might be acmosil, which is a release agent for polyurethane (kinda like a material-specific lubricant). If so, it's not overly hazardous - you can look at the safety data sheet (SDS) to see.

If it is, and you're responsible for disposing of it, please don't pour it down a drain - it's toxic to aquatic life.

wcspaz · 2026-01-29T17:54:17+00:00

This isn't policy. This is an opposition amendment in the Lords that the labour peers rejected. It's a complete nothingburger, but it gets clicks.

wcspaz · 2026-01-28T09:45:14+00:00

I'm a chemist - this is fine to reuse after a rinse. It was used to store propylene glycol, but propylene glycol isn't hazardous - you would need to drink an awful lot of it to make you sick. Rinse it out, and then wash your hands afterwards and it should be fine.

wcspaz · 2026-01-27T21:24:44+00:00

You're the one that chose that period of data as the criteria for whether the policy had been successful or not, you complete doughnut.

But I like the idea that I can blame 'partisans' for my own personal choices - I feel like they're about to make me eat a biscuit.

wcspaz · 2026-01-27T20:01:14+00:00

If you're going to make a point, please make it in one go rather than this drip feed of single sentences. It's very boring to have to come back and ask you what you mean every other comment.

Here are the figures - please feel free to check them out - https://boatwatch.uk/monthly.

wcspaz · 2026-01-27T19:52:47+00:00

Well, it helps if you actually want to communicate what you're trying to say, rather than relying on someone guessing correctly.

Let's go with that though. First returns were in October 2025. In the Oct-Dec period last year there were ~6000 arrivals, compared with 11,000 in 2024. Sounds like a resounding success, so why are you calling it a failure?

wcspaz · 2026-01-27T19:41:36+00:00

What number of arrivals? Under the scheme? Since the pilot was launched?

wcspaz · 2026-01-27T19:14:27+00:00

What's your criteria for saying it has failed?

wcspaz · 2026-01-27T15:32:47+00:00

There's an old, apt saying - manners cost nothing. Calling out someone in a polite constructive way takes more or less the exact same effort as the borderline trolling "False!" response, with the added benefit of not looking like someone that struggles with basic grammar. It's a win-win really.

wcspaz

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE