Matt Luckcuck
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mattluckcuck.bsky.social
Matt Luckcuck
@mattluckcuck.bsky.social
440 followers 850 following 410 posts
(Slightly Less) Precarious Computer Scientist | Nullius in verba
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Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
misterabk.bsky.social
Me, doing some relatable William Blake (1757 – 1827) material in Dictionary Corner. Come and see me on tour: www.mickperrin.com/tours/alasdair-beckett-king-king-of-crumbs
January 26, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
andytattersall.bsky.social
And in local news

Council to stop using 'unsafe' social media site X

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Derbyshire council to stop using 'unsafe' social media site X
Erewash Borough Council leaders said they had been left
www.bbc.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
snig.bsky.social
Following the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by ICE in Minneapolis, Kemi Badenoch's policy announcement from October 2025 in favour of a "British ICE" can definitely be dismissed as a massive gaffe. We don't want extra judicial murder on our streets, Kemi.
PBS NEWS Menu Live Leave your feedback By Associated Press Share Man shot and killed by federal officers in Minnesota was an ICU nurse, his parents say Nation Updated on Jan 24, 2026 11:32 PM EST - Published on Jan 24, 2026 3:41 PM EST MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in his city. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer. "He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset," said Michael Pretti, Alex's father. "He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests." READ MORE: Police chief calls for calm after federal officers shot and killed a man during Minneapolis immigration crackdown There have been daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year- Private Autopsy Shows Renee Good Was Shot at Least 3 Times, Lawyers Say Lawyers for the family of Ms. Good, who was fatally shot by an immigration agent in Minneapolis, have said their firm was conducting an investigation into the shooting. A memorial for Renee Good was left on a snowy Minneapolis corner. David Guttenfelder/The New York Times By Julie Bosman Jan. 21, 2026 Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis this month, was shot at least three times, sustaining wounds to her head, arm and breast, a preliminary private autopsy found. Preliminary results of the autopsy were described by lawyers for Ms. Good's family on Wednesday. The lawyers' firm declined to release the full autopsy. Two of the gunshot wounds were not immediately life-threatening, the autopsy found. One bullet struck Ms. Good on her left forearm. Another bullet entered her body in the right breast but did not penetrate major organs. A third bullet struck her on the left side of her head near the temple, the autopsy said, and exited on the right side of her head. Ms. Good also suffered a graze wound "consistent with a firearm injury, but with no penetration," the autopsy found. The medical pathologist who conducted the autopsy was not named. Conservatives This article is more than 3 months old Explainer A British Ice and more stop and search: Badenoch's Tories set out new policies Shadow ministers have announced far-reaching and often radical proposals - here is a roundup of some of them Kiran Stacey Tue 7 Oct 2025 22.46 BST Share Kemi Badenoch warned her shadow cabinet in January not to expect any detailed policies until 2027. "We're not creating policies for 2028 in 2025," a Tory spokesperson said at the time. This week that changed. At the Conservative party's annual conference in Manchester, shadow ministers have lined up to announce detailed, far-reaching and often radical new policies. Yet with the party languishing at 17% in the polls, many of these announcements have struggled to gain traction. So here is a roundup of some of the most significant. 1. Leaving the ECHR and establishing a British Ice One of Kemi Badenoch's first announcements of the conference was that the Conservatives would take Britain out of the European convention on human rights if elected to lead the next government. Advertisement The announcement was part of the party's "borders" plan - a somewhat tortured acrostic that also included banning irregular migrants from ever claiming asylum. As part of the plan, the Tories would also repeal the Human Rights Act and leave the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking. They would also end immigration trials and the right of people to claim legal aid to fight their immigration cases. The policy would also involve establishing a British version of Ice, the American immigration force that has been raiding communities and businesses across the US in search of illegal immigrants.
January 25, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
hetanshah.bsky.social
Blistering piece on ed tech in @economist.com.

‘Although ed-tech companies tout huge learning gains, independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it.’
economist.com/united-state...
Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless
Independent research identifies few learning gains
economist.com
January 24, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
merchantshallyork.org
This small stone marks York’s historic site of execution known as Tyburn (after the site in London).

The first execution took place on this spot in 1379, the last was in 1801.

Highwayman and murderer, Dick Turpin would be executed here in 1739.
We are looking at a paved area with wooden benches looking out to York Racecourse. The foreground is a moss and lichen stone with the word ‘Tyburn’ carved on the top.
January 24, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
whydontyoutube.bsky.social
For Jim Moir/Vic Reeves' birthday, a reminder it's thirty years this year since this advert.
January 24, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
ccanonne.github.io
What is wild to me is the defense, BY THE NEURIPS BOARD, that fabricated citations do not mean "the content of the papers themselves [is] necessarily invalidated"

It does. It very much does. What do you think citing other work is for? What do you think writing a paper is for? What do you *think*?
January 21, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
vimtotime.bsky.social
End of level boss
An orange cat on a wall
January 20, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
vimtotime.bsky.social
Please have a little l👀k in my shoppe if you need a Valentine item🫀

hellohalloweeno.etsy.com
hellohalloweeno.etsy.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
rogerhighfield.bsky.social
Seven in 10 Britons agree that science is such a big part of our lives that we should all take an interest.
Access to scientific information has exploded.

Yet engagement has not translated into confidence: the proportion who feel genuinely informed about science has fallen from 51% to just 43%...
January 20, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
duncanrobinson.bsky.social
What are we doing here

Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless
economist.com/united-state...
from The Economist
January 24, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
greenleejw.bsky.social
My birthday is coming up this weekend, and I'll be something very much like 50. No need to congratulate me yet...I've not quite made it! But, in thinking about it, I was reminded to share a poem I wrote last year at about this time.
A poem titled "Turning Almost Fifty." The poem text reads: Sometimes it’s my body that makes me feel old; the way the calories just stick within my skin, the growing pool of morning aches, or how it seems that I can pull a muscle just by turning wrong to look up at the stars. But sometimes it’s the way I catch myself fussing with the cups the plates the bowls so that nothing touches inside the dishwasher, and I have to laugh because I see that I am turning into my father. – John Wyatt Greenlee The lines "the plates" and "the bowls" are each indented far enough that neither line is touching the line above it, so that -- even here -- the cups, plates, and bowls are separated by a bit of space.
January 23, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
jessasatomp.bsky.social
This week, an X user created an AI video of me being chloroformed and prepared for rape.

Victims are told it's not real and they're getting offended for no reason.

But nudification tools are weapons of sexual assault, and the harm they cause is real 👇

jessasato.substack.com/p/ai-nudific...
AI nudification: the latest weapon of violence against women and girls
In Julie Burchill’s recent article in the Spectator, Does it really matter if Grok undresses us all?, she makes the argument that those who, like me, have repeatedly had their clothes removed by socia...
jessasato.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
diddia.bsky.social
LOOKS LEGIT
January 22, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
rebeccamckee.bsky.social
Me: Absolutely ridiculous that this is how we handle MPs resigning in 2026

Also me: Explaining these weird quirks of parliament keeps me in a job
alexpartridge87.bsky.social Alex Partridge @alexpartridge87.bsky.social · 4d
Treasury announcement: "The Chancellor of the Exchequer has this day appointed Andrew John Gwynne to be Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead."
January 23, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
pierrealquier.bsky.social
(1/...) Unpleasant experience with Gemini pro.

1) I found two non-existing references in a preprint. Likely LLM hallucination. I'm angry.

2) I upload the preprint on Gemini PRO, explain my suspicions and ask it to double check ALL the references...
January 22, 2026 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
pierrealquier.bsky.social
(2/...)

3) Gemini says I'm right, most of the references don't exist. It provides examples.

4) But when I check myself, it appears that ALL the "non-existing references" found by Gemini do exist. Also, all are from 2025.
January 22, 2026 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
pierrealquier.bsky.social
(3/3)

5) I point out the mistake to Gemini, who takes a few minutes to think and ultimately replies: "sorry, I assumed the current date was 2024. After checking, it's January 2026".

...
January 22, 2026 at 7:05 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Kent, Essex and apparently Sussex all decline to be gouged by Elsevier Read & Publish deals. Others may well follow. 1/2
Three major research universities opt out of new Elsevier deal
Complaints over ‘price increases’ and open access models spur UK institutions to walk away from offer from publishing giant, despite nationally negotiated agreement
www.timeshighereducation.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:09 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
hbsj.bsky.social
Here's a #HigherEducation cigarette card showing the arms of @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social

This is a spin-off from #HigherEducationPostcard
A collectable cigarette card showing the arms of the University of Edinburgh Text on the back of the card reading: Under general powers conferred in a Charter to the City of Edinburgh dated April 14 1582, the Town Council in 1583 founded the College of Edinburgh, more generally known as "The Town's College". It afterwards was called the "College of James VI" and in that name it gained an act of confirmation in 1621.It remained under the control of the Town Council until 1858. The Arms of Edinburgh University were matriculated in the Lyon register in 1789. The castle at the base of the shield is taken from the arms of the city.
January 22, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
electionmaps.uk
Horsley (Derbyshire) Council By-Election Result:

🌍 GRN: 43.6% (+16.7)
➡️ RFM: 35.5% (+0.6)
🌳 CON: 13.9% (-9.0)
🌹 LAB: 3.8% (-6.5)
☑️ ADV: 1.9% (New)
🔶 LDM: 1.4% (-2.0)

No Ind (-1.7) as previous.

Green GAIN from Reform.
Changes w/ 2025.
January 21, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
internethippo.bsky.social
Mafia goon: Nice house you got here...it'd be a shame if something happened to it

Media outlets: Mafia goon rules out use of force. Expresses regret at the mere thought of it
January 21, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
inkle.co
TR-49: OUT NOW

Narrative deduction / audio drama

"Outstanding" - PC Gamer
"Politically fierce" - Polygon
"One of the best" - Thinky Games
"I wanted to know everything" - RPS
"Impressive - very impressive indeed" - Eurogamer

$6.99 / ~6 hours

Steam: tinyurl.com/2jvt9ewk
iOS: tinyurl.com/4ucwx4s7
TR-49 - Official Trailer
YouTube video by inkleStudios
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
markpendleton.bsky.social
Well that’s me locked out. No pay for the foreseeable future, all because I refuse to reschedule lost teaching, for which I have already lost pay as part of the strike. Please donate to support @sheffielducu.bsky.social members like me at www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
Screenshot of email that reads: “This status will remain in place until the University receives notification that you are no longer participating in that action. During this period, any work undertaken will be regarded as voluntary.”
January 19, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Matt Luckcuck
drjogrady.bsky.social
Disgraceful from @sheffielduni.bsky.social

Punishing staff twice for taking strike action, and pushing a resolution further from reach. Terrible for staff, terrible for students

Please donate to the hardship fund. But know that the union is fully behind Sheffield and supporting them through this
markpendleton.bsky.social Mark Pendleton @markpendleton.bsky.social · 8d
Well that’s me locked out. No pay for the foreseeable future, all because I refuse to reschedule lost teaching, for which I have already lost pay as part of the strike. Please donate to support @sheffielducu.bsky.social members like me at www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
Screenshot of email that reads: “This status will remain in place until the University receives notification that you are no longer participating in that action. During this period, any work undertaken will be regarded as voluntary.”
January 20, 2026 at 5:19 PM