Long shot, but is anyone out there working on cancer treatment trials in the UK? My sister's on her last chemo and there don't seem to be any available trials any more.
Boosts and helpful hashtags welcome.
Tim J
I used to play in too many orchestras, and currently play in none. I'm interested in many things, often science, language or music related.
I like words (especially ones that don't exist yet), and cheese. I hate underthinking, football, parsnips, and rigid rules about commas.
Jeg bruker av og til et omtrent norsklignende språk, but am not in fact Norwegian. 🎻
Tim J boosted:
A child’s footprint frozen in time - pressed into a #Roman tile as it dried before firing nearly 1,800 years ago.
A tiny, timeless reminder of everyday life in the ancient world.
@kolombiken It's definitely sat on something that didn't have the desired effect. I don't watch GBBO,¹ but the phrase "soggy bottom"² does come to mind.
_____
¹ Great British Bake-Off
² Frequently used on there, I believe. By Mary Berry?
Tim J boosted:
I saw some alpacas on my walk today. They were surprisingly unbothered by me (they’ve always struck me as rather worried creatures). Anyway, I guess you can’t buy ‘please do not feed the alpacas’ signs off the shelf.
Tim J boosted:
Today I learned: there's a 1774 legal case about copyright before the House of Lords that includes in a brief a special insert explaining to the Lords how printing works by way of defending their position. https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990018404980203941/catalog
Tim J boosted:
@wavesculptor @vfrmedia @funkula
Put a few in individual test tubes and you can give starter ant colonies as Spring (Easter? anything like that) gifts for all your friends!
I love to put an ant colony in an Easter basket for the right sorts of kids at church. (with instructions on care)
Their parents have mixed feelings but it's educational.
@kolombiken There's a definite resemblance! Does it accidentally put fires out by sitting on them to try to keep warm?
Tim J boosted:
They tell students papers sound like AI — even when they're the students' own writing — so the company can scare them and sell them a product.
This goes beyond the general problem that even good AI detectors aren't perfect and shouldn't be the sole reason to accuse someone of writing with AI.
Tim J boosted:
Yesterday, I interviewed a tech guy who told me something too important for me to wait until the podcast comes out for you to hear it:
Many free AI detectors have especially high false positive rates because they make money selling software that "humanizes" writing. 1/2
@keithfrankish.com I do suspect they've just told him he can have what he always could anyway, but that they've also let him think it's something new. Either that, or he's paying them to rename the capital to Trumpton (or Trumpsby, I suppose).
Tim J boosted:
Launching their new social network, W, a group in the EU posted a map of where other social networks are hosted. It showed nothing in Europe.
But their map is wrong.
Here's what Mastodon actually looks like, and what the Fediverse as a whole actually looks like.
@sundogplanets Is it in case you can't agree with yourself about what to watch?
@CiaraNi Maybe you could say in a Northern Irish accent and call it an an umlaüt? That's the only way I can see to put one in without mangling the sound of the word.
RE: https://mastodon.me.uk/@slowe/115924335640992970
Long(ish), reflective thread. Well worth a read.
@slowe I hope there are. And whether there are or not, this kind of open, human connection is of value in itself. Thank you for describing it in such detail.
Tim J boosted:
Boah, I was about to make an internal transfer via app at my French bank (As a European, I live in France). Before doing so, I had to submit a declaration of honor stating that I neither have a residence in the US nor US citizenship! This is brand new.
France said on Monday that the European Union must be prepared to use wide-ranging "anti-coercion" measures targeting U.S. services: https://archive.ph/B1aHU
@janeishly @CiaraNi There must be. Assuming it's above freezing where you are?
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