Paul Johnson
@ptwiddle.bsky.social
American mathematician in the UK. Mellowing in middle age.
He/Him.
He/Him.
Just heard "fundamental domain" and it wasn't about group actions.
January 7, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Just heard "fundamental domain" and it wasn't about group actions.
I have an old mathbookml project I'm trying to help a colleague use and wondering at best approach. Just getting started so maybe my questions aren't formulated right but wanted first steps in the right direction.
#pretextgang @tienchihmath.bsky.social @clontz.org @mitchkeller.phd
#pretextgang @tienchihmath.bsky.social @clontz.org @mitchkeller.phd
January 7, 2026 at 12:12 PM
I have an old mathbookml project I'm trying to help a colleague use and wondering at best approach. Just getting started so maybe my questions aren't formulated right but wanted first steps in the right direction.
#pretextgang @tienchihmath.bsky.social @clontz.org @mitchkeller.phd
#pretextgang @tienchihmath.bsky.social @clontz.org @mitchkeller.phd
Reposted by Paul Johnson
An incantation to soothe anger from nearly 4 millennia ago for those in need of one.
It begins by telling us what anger is and does.
“Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.”
Anger is like a lion and a wolf.
It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.
It begins by telling us what anger is and does.
“Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.”
Anger is like a lion and a wolf.
It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.
January 6, 2026 at 10:39 AM
An incantation to soothe anger from nearly 4 millennia ago for those in need of one.
It begins by telling us what anger is and does.
“Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.”
Anger is like a lion and a wolf.
It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.
It begins by telling us what anger is and does.
“Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.”
Anger is like a lion and a wolf.
It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.
Is it a parasocial relationship if I smile when I walk by one of my regular coffee shops and see the owner of my other regular coffee shop in there having a nice chat?
January 5, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Is it a parasocial relationship if I smile when I walk by one of my regular coffee shops and see the owner of my other regular coffee shop in there having a nice chat?
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Isn’t it time geometric string art made a comeback? This stuff is the absolute suds. The fact that it had a limited fashionability is surely outrun by its COMPLETE AWESOMENESS. I mean, look at this. It fucking SLAPS.
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
January 4, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Isn’t it time geometric string art made a comeback? This stuff is the absolute suds. The fact that it had a limited fashionability is surely outrun by its COMPLETE AWESOMENESS. I mean, look at this. It fucking SLAPS.
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
Artist: SMW (1975)
📸 Decorative Modern
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Tell me we should trust AI to give us the facts. Tell me it's a future we can put our faith in. Come at me. I'm right here, waiting.
January 4, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Tell me we should trust AI to give us the facts. Tell me it's a future we can put our faith in. Come at me. I'm right here, waiting.
A new notebook for to-do lists will fix me.
January 5, 2026 at 9:03 AM
A new notebook for to-do lists will fix me.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Italy has publicly mourned the 40 people dead in a horrible accident in Crans Montana, Switzerland.
(I wrote another sentence but then I deleted it)
(I wrote another sentence but then I deleted it)
NYT:
At least 40 people were killed in the US attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians.
At least 40 people were killed in the US attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians.
January 4, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Italy has publicly mourned the 40 people dead in a horrible accident in Crans Montana, Switzerland.
(I wrote another sentence but then I deleted it)
(I wrote another sentence but then I deleted it)
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Relatedly : in every adult online safety workshop I have done, I have said mumsnet and white mummy bloggers or Instagram families should worry you as much as Roblox or Snapchat.
Mumsnet and other parenting forums, FB groups etc are hotbeds of right wing radicalisation. We did warn you all..
Mumsnet and other parenting forums, FB groups etc are hotbeds of right wing radicalisation. We did warn you all..
Mumsnet backs reform bit.ly/45DEBUT at least it has topped Labour in voting intentions in a survey of its members.
Mumsnet mothers have always leaned Labour. Now Reform is ahead
Rising support for Nigel Farage’s party — if not the man himself — may worry the government
bit.ly
January 4, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Relatedly : in every adult online safety workshop I have done, I have said mumsnet and white mummy bloggers or Instagram families should worry you as much as Roblox or Snapchat.
Mumsnet and other parenting forums, FB groups etc are hotbeds of right wing radicalisation. We did warn you all..
Mumsnet and other parenting forums, FB groups etc are hotbeds of right wing radicalisation. We did warn you all..
Reposted by Paul Johnson
We at Google DeepMind find that our Google AI literacy curriculum is pretty good at teaching people how to best use Gemini and thrive in the AI future.
January 3, 2026 at 6:33 PM
We at Google DeepMind find that our Google AI literacy curriculum is pretty good at teaching people how to best use Gemini and thrive in the AI future.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
My son was **very** pleased with this gift he bought me: a Klein bottle opener! 🤣🤣🤣
January 1, 2026 at 10:36 PM
My son was **very** pleased with this gift he bought me: a Klein bottle opener! 🤣🤣🤣
Reposted by Paul Johnson
One of the most unforgettable images capturing the vibrant promise of the new year, by the great Bauhaus artist László Moholy-Nagy: 7 A.M. (New Year's Morning), c. 1930 www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
January 1, 2026 at 11:59 AM
One of the most unforgettable images capturing the vibrant promise of the new year, by the great Bauhaus artist László Moholy-Nagy: 7 A.M. (New Year's Morning), c. 1930 www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
Trying Moby Dick for second time, so may impersonate @mobydickatsea.bsky.social for a bit.
"But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself."
"But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself."
December 27, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Trying Moby Dick for second time, so may impersonate @mobydickatsea.bsky.social for a bit.
"But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself."
"But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself."
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Jack Morava (homotopy theory) with spouse Ellen Contini-Morava (anthropological linguistics) in 1971.
We saw your canonical formula of myth from across the bar and think it has a non-trivial model in the quaternions
December 26, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Jack Morava (homotopy theory) with spouse Ellen Contini-Morava (anthropological linguistics) in 1971.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
James Merril’s poem “Christmas Tree,” written while he was dying of AIDS. 1995.
December 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
James Merril’s poem “Christmas Tree,” written while he was dying of AIDS. 1995.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
WHAT IS CAUSING THE RISING DEMAND, CNN
Residents in mid-Atlantic states like Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania who have spent the last few years plagued by high electricity bills just got some bad news: Relief is not on the way.
There’s just not enough electricity to meet rising demand. https://cnn.it/4ja4CAR
There’s just not enough electricity to meet rising demand. https://cnn.it/4ja4CAR
December 22, 2025 at 10:30 PM
WHAT IS CAUSING THE RISING DEMAND, CNN
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Rare footage of St Paul’s Cathedral testing its giant flamethrower
December 21, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Rare footage of St Paul’s Cathedral testing its giant flamethrower
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Gromov in the Epstein files makes me sad.
The guy who is obviously a Russian mathematician is Mikhail Gromov 😬
okay, that "your favorites" tweet gets +1 (not really, idc about his personal life, but his work was the subject of the only real-ass mathematical research I ever did)
okay, that "your favorites" tweet gets +1 (not really, idc about his personal life, but his work was the subject of the only real-ass mathematical research I ever did)
December 18, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Gromov in the Epstein files makes me sad.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
@andrewwormald.bsky.social
@thebadspot.bsky.social
@jenduckie.bsky.social
Thinking of you all this morning, and the essential "Life in the UK" knowledge you taught me.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
@thebadspot.bsky.social
@jenduckie.bsky.social
Thinking of you all this morning, and the essential "Life in the UK" knowledge you taught me.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
When panto goes horribly, painfully wrong: ‘it was the worst chafing of my life’
Panto season is upon us, and for the performers, anything could happen. Actors recall their most excruciating moments – from a panic attack while dressed as a cow, to dripping blood while in flight as...
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:33 AM
@andrewwormald.bsky.social
@thebadspot.bsky.social
@jenduckie.bsky.social
Thinking of you all this morning, and the essential "Life in the UK" knowledge you taught me.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
@thebadspot.bsky.social
@jenduckie.bsky.social
Thinking of you all this morning, and the essential "Life in the UK" knowledge you taught me.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Reposted by Paul Johnson
In and around the Necropolis at lunchtime.
December 16, 2025 at 7:25 PM
In and around the Necropolis at lunchtime.
Leaving work *before 4:30* to play dad taxi and it's already basically dark. Bring on the longer days already....
December 16, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Leaving work *before 4:30* to play dad taxi and it's already basically dark. Bring on the longer days already....
Very similar at universities. Yes, I've been striking to try to save colleague's jobs. But there's so much anger about restructures forced from above, unthinking programme closures, just a feeling that management doesn't understand what a university is and holds its workers in disdain.
I have spoken to many resident doctors about strike action and the one thing that always stands out for me - on an individual level it is rarely about pay. It's always about how they are treated by their employer and a lot of anxiety about training and job progression.
December 16, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Very similar at universities. Yes, I've been striking to try to save colleague's jobs. But there's so much anger about restructures forced from above, unthinking programme closures, just a feeling that management doesn't understand what a university is and holds its workers in disdain.