John Provis

John Provis

@johnprovis.bsky.social

Talks too much about cement. Talks too much in general. More than 10 views on YouTube; some were even intentional. 🇦🇺 in 🇨🇭, via Yorkshire; escaped after 11y in UK academia. Views obviously(!) nobody's official policy. Often bitten by cats.

222 followers275 following75 posts

John Provis reposted

One or more human beings are responsible for the code they wrote, and those are the people who should be held accountable. These programs are not acting “on their own”

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social

(NYT) - Artificial intelligence agents created by Anthropic, acting on their own, tried to gain access to a range of government websites, filled out visa applications on the State Department’s website and sent a fake homicide tip to Philadelphia’s Police Department. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/t...

It pains me in many ways to link to a Fox News article... but their take on the Aussie "Welcome to Country" ceremony before this week's NFL Melbourne match is, to be honest, about as hilariously and wildly unhinged as you'd imagine: www.foxnews.com/outkick-spor...

foxnews.comNFL allows stolen land acknowledgement disguised as a welcoming ceremony before Australia gameAunty Joy Murphy Wandin's leaf ritual and 60,000-year indigenous stolen land acknowledgement preceded the NFL's first Melbourne game at the MCG.

Make your favorite film sound as boring as possible without giving away the title. To be allowed to vote, young people must first reduce the insect population

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Given my longstanding dislike of "Graphical Abstracts" in journal articles, it's good when they're optional - but when authors point out that they don't need one, this is *not* a helpful thing for the journal to publish instead.. (not my article BTW, and no link to avoid embarrassing the authors!)

John Provis reposted

There is no version of yourself you could become that would satisfy the people who hate you. So you might as well be who you are.

So it seems that the trick to becoming a trillionaire is to sell a company losing billions per year, to millionaires who take advice from your home-made "AI" systems about where to put their money, propped up by money taken from taxes paid by thousandaires and hundredaires (but not yourself)?

John Provis reposted

All web designers should be forced to use their design on a tiny laptop instead of their massive monitor for a minimum of one month before they're allowed to ship it.

John Provis reposted

I am once again begging, praying, weeping for lists of written instructions rather than videos. I do not want to watch your two minute video in the hope of catching the two seconds where you whizz past what goddamn menu the thing is under. Write. It. Down.

Gee I'm glad this guy and his company are being handed all the data the UK NHS holds on everyone (myself included) who has ever used UK medical services. There's no way that could possibly end any way other than outstandingly well... right?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Palantir CEO Alex Karp: "What makes America special right now is our lethal capacities. Our ability to fight war."

One of the best things about Switzerland is how everyone follows the rules here. Of course this means you have to figure out what the rules are... but I think I now know the correct Swiss way to use a roundabout: it's easy, you just drive as if you're blindfolded and have never been in a car before.

John Provis reposted

"One month ago, I came to you all with a dream: to build a machine that could take ocean water and make clean, potable water, sustaining life on Earth for eons to come. Some people said I was crazy. Other people said it couldn’t be done. It appears as though they were correct."

buff.lyI Raised Over $45,000 to Build an Affordable Water Desalination Machine—Here’s Why I’m Buying Twelve Hoverboards InsteadOne month ago, I came to you all with a dream: to build a machine that could take ocean water and make clean, potable water, sustaining life on Ear...

As heartening as it is to see Reform losing the Gorton & Denton by-election to the Greens, I think my favourite part is how the Tories only beat Sir Oink-A-Lot (of the Monster Raving Loony) party by 450 votes....

Whoever named the "downhill skiing" in the olympics really needs an update on the technical distinctions between hills, mountains, and perilously steep cliffs.... I guess the name is more concise than "plummet down this precipice and try not to break any important pieces of yourself", though.

John Provis reposted

Adobe Acrobat I do not want to know What’s New. I do not want to turn my PDF into a podcast with my team. I want to look at the PDF. Please stop

John Provis reposted

if you're surprised to learn that the Winter Olympics are just a month away, don't worry, you're not alone, the people building all the venues in Italy also appear to be surprised the Olympics are just a month away

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I feel seen.....

McSweeney's@mcsweeneys.net

"There’s one of us in every organization. Though it’s nowhere in our job descriptions, we spend hours crafting Gordian knots of obscure Excel features so that even the simplest files become unrecognizable monstrosities." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/god...

John Provis reposted

Surely if they were able to so effortlessly swap out Queen for King in the England national anthem, they could just as easily do something about that ‘victorious’ bit. #Ashes 🏏

John Provis reposted

John Provis reposted

That’s Elon Musk, Fellow of the Royal Society, I’ll have you know. Because the Royal Society can only seem to come up with throat-clearing noises as a response to these sorts of statements instead of actually throwing him out.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social

Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.

...tweaking the abstract of a paper to try to catch the attention of the editor of VeryShinyJournal...

Huntsville Railfan@hvillealrailfan.bsky.social

@katewagner.wehwalt.net No idea where this is, as I stole it off of Facebook, but I feel like you need to see this. It is indeed legit, apparently.

John Provis reposted

At an academic conference, it is inevitable that the worst talk will be by a late career Professor who not only think the rules don't apply to them, but will have not even noticed the rules in the first place.

John Provis reposted

This -official Conservative policy - is essentially identical to the Reform policy that the Prime Minister described as "racist and immoral" and would "rip out country apart". Would be good if media and politicians pointed this out .

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social

Lam's proposal is to refuse future grants of ILR but to cancel past grants of permanent status to anyone who is not likely to be a fiscal net contributor, and anyone "who has accessed state support" once they got permanent status. That will revoke pledges to those told this was their permanent home.

John Provis reposted

This is known as a false dichotomy, friends. There’s also “I learned a lot about this tool, I tested various versions on things I was an expert on, the results were highly dubious, & that’s before we even address the mental, ethical & environmental injuries it causes.”

Justin Wolfers@justinwolfers.bsky.social

There are basically only two positions in the debate about AI. 1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks. 2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational. Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.