Paul Goldberg
@paulwgoldberg.bsky.social
Professor of Computer Science, Oxford University. Research interest in Algorithmic Game Theory, also Computational Complexity.
Also interested in good urbanism & cartoons
https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/paul.goldberg/index1.html
Also interested in good urbanism & cartoons
https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/paul.goldberg/index1.html
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
@bostoncollege.bsky.social is launching a PhD program in Computer Science! Help spreading the word to interested undergrads would be appreciated; our department has faculty research clustered in ML and CS theory, and Boston's a nice place to be :) www.bc.edu/content/bc-w...
Ph.D. Program
www.bc.edu
November 12, 2025 at 3:59 PM
@bostoncollege.bsky.social is launching a PhD program in Computer Science! Help spreading the word to interested undergrads would be appreciated; our department has faculty research clustered in ML and CS theory, and Boston's a nice place to be :) www.bc.edu/content/bc-w...
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Intriguing suggestion that ballot complexity means people learn more about the mechanics of voting, leaving less time to learn about how to achieve substantive change www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
The story behind Australia's incredible democratic system
Behind the quirks of Australia's incredible democratic system are a series of complex human backstories.
www.abc.net.au
November 9, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Intriguing suggestion that ballot complexity means people learn more about the mechanics of voting, leaving less time to learn about how to achieve substantive change www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
The scientific literature really needs some sort of facility for researchers to publish "We spent this much time working on such-and-such a result, and got absolutely nowhere"
November 6, 2025 at 1:54 PM
The scientific literature really needs some sort of facility for researchers to publish "We spent this much time working on such-and-such a result, and got absolutely nowhere"
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
I spotted this on Mastodon and I find it horrible, not least for the speed with which this has happened.
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
I spotted this on Mastodon and I find it horrible, not least for the speed with which this has happened.
New paper: we introduce classes of problems where any solutions must be unique, due to principles like:
"Every competition can have at most one participant who beats all others", or
"At most one agent can receive the lion's share of a shared resource".
"Every competition can have at most one participant who beats all others", or
"At most one agent can receive the lion's share of a shared resource".
Matan Gilboa, Paul W. Goldberg, Elias Koutsoupias, Noam Nisan
Complexity of Unambiguous Problems in $\Sigma^P_2$
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19084
Complexity of Unambiguous Problems in $\Sigma^P_2$
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19084
October 23, 2025 at 7:38 AM
New paper: we introduce classes of problems where any solutions must be unique, due to principles like:
"Every competition can have at most one participant who beats all others", or
"At most one agent can receive the lion's share of a shared resource".
"Every competition can have at most one participant who beats all others", or
"At most one agent can receive the lion's share of a shared resource".
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Greg Newby, who led Project Gutenberg ( @gutenberg.org ) with passion and purpose. Greg’s belief in free and open access to knowledge continues to inspire us and so many others working to preserve our shared culture online. gutenberg.org/about/newby....
October 22, 2025 at 7:40 PM
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Greg Newby, who led Project Gutenberg ( @gutenberg.org ) with passion and purpose. Greg’s belief in free and open access to knowledge continues to inspire us and so many others working to preserve our shared culture online. gutenberg.org/about/newby....
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
More when we have it
October 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
More when we have it
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Are you a researcher using computational methods to understand cities?
@mfranchi.bsky.social @jennahgosciak.bsky.social and I organize an EAAMO Bridges working group on Urban Data Science and we are looking for new members!
Fill the interest form on our page: urban-data-science-eaamo.github.io
@mfranchi.bsky.social @jennahgosciak.bsky.social and I organize an EAAMO Bridges working group on Urban Data Science and we are looking for new members!
Fill the interest form on our page: urban-data-science-eaamo.github.io
Urban Data Science & Equitable Cities | EAAMO Bridges
EAAMO Bridges Urban Data Science & Equitable Cities working group: biweekly talks, paper studies, and workshops on computational urban data analysis to explore and address inequities.
urban-data-science-eaamo.github.io
September 3, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Are you a researcher using computational methods to understand cities?
@mfranchi.bsky.social @jennahgosciak.bsky.social and I organize an EAAMO Bridges working group on Urban Data Science and we are looking for new members!
Fill the interest form on our page: urban-data-science-eaamo.github.io
@mfranchi.bsky.social @jennahgosciak.bsky.social and I organize an EAAMO Bridges working group on Urban Data Science and we are looking for new members!
Fill the interest form on our page: urban-data-science-eaamo.github.io
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
For the first time in years, senior Labour figures are saying it plainly.
Wes Streeting: “I’m glad that Brexit is a problem whose name we now dare speak.”
Keir Starmer: “They lied to this country, unleashed chaos, and walked away after Brexit.”
The silence is breaking. The damage is undeniable.
Wes Streeting: “I’m glad that Brexit is a problem whose name we now dare speak.”
Keir Starmer: “They lied to this country, unleashed chaos, and walked away after Brexit.”
The silence is breaking. The damage is undeniable.
Starmer and Streeting break silence on Brexit’s damage
We're the UK's largest pro-European movement. Our goal is to reverse the calamity of Brexit and restore relations with our European neighbours.
www.europeanmovement.co.uk
October 14, 2025 at 3:50 PM
For the first time in years, senior Labour figures are saying it plainly.
Wes Streeting: “I’m glad that Brexit is a problem whose name we now dare speak.”
Keir Starmer: “They lied to this country, unleashed chaos, and walked away after Brexit.”
The silence is breaking. The damage is undeniable.
Wes Streeting: “I’m glad that Brexit is a problem whose name we now dare speak.”
Keir Starmer: “They lied to this country, unleashed chaos, and walked away after Brexit.”
The silence is breaking. The damage is undeniable.
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Excellent points, which seems a must-read book for academics. However, the golden triangle has not been affected in the same way as others. They continue to recruit EU students despite higher fees. They will lobby government to maintain the status quo.
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/brexit-...
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/brexit-...
Brexit ‘being ignored’ as cause of UK universities’ problems
Loss of EU students made recruitment more commercial and universities more insular, argues new book
www.timeshighereducation.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Excellent points, which seems a must-read book for academics. However, the golden triangle has not been affected in the same way as others. They continue to recruit EU students despite higher fees. They will lobby government to maintain the status quo.
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/brexit-...
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/brexit-...
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Tech tycoon Larry Ellison gives Oxford institute fresh £890m.
Ellison Institute of Technology announces plans for expanded campus after change in leadership.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Ellison Institute of Technology announces plans for expanded campus after change in leadership.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Tech tycoon Larry Ellison gives Oxford institute fresh £890m - Research Professional News
Ellison Institute of Technology announces plans for expanded campus after change in leadership
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Tech tycoon Larry Ellison gives Oxford institute fresh £890m.
Ellison Institute of Technology announces plans for expanded campus after change in leadership.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Ellison Institute of Technology announces plans for expanded campus after change in leadership.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Immigration only defers the problem. Higher productivity means higher interest rates
Economic growth is unlikely to prevent fiscal crisis
Immigration only defers the problem. Higher productivity means higher interest rates
econ.st
October 13, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Immigration only defers the problem. Higher productivity means higher interest rates
Interesting article on beauty in architeture
"This February for example, a University of Sussex study found infants as young as four months old are more drawn to visually complex buildings than their simpler counterparts: baroque facades, for example, fared better than brutalist ones."
"This February for example, a University of Sussex study found infants as young as four months old are more drawn to visually complex buildings than their simpler counterparts: baroque facades, for example, fared better than brutalist ones."
October 12, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Interesting article on beauty in architeture
"This February for example, a University of Sussex study found infants as young as four months old are more drawn to visually complex buildings than their simpler counterparts: baroque facades, for example, fared better than brutalist ones."
"This February for example, a University of Sussex study found infants as young as four months old are more drawn to visually complex buildings than their simpler counterparts: baroque facades, for example, fared better than brutalist ones."
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
A disruptive transport technology is rapidly changing cities across the rich world: the humble bicycle. There are three factors behind this two-wheeled renaissance econ.st/48WxlpC
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
October 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
A disruptive transport technology is rapidly changing cities across the rich world: the humble bicycle. There are three factors behind this two-wheeled renaissance econ.st/48WxlpC
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
"A man warmly concerned with any large theories has always a relish for applying them to any triviality."
October 11, 2025 at 8:40 AM
"A man warmly concerned with any large theories has always a relish for applying them to any triviality."
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Chancellor’s are advertising the Shark House to rent (furnished) from next year as “a unique opportunity to reside in a living piece of art history”. Rent: £4,000 per month: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...
Check out this 4 bedroom terraced house for rent on Rightmove
4 bedroom terraced house for rent in Headington, Headington, OX3 for £4,000 pcm. Marketed by Chancellors, Headington
www.rightmove.co.uk
October 11, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Chancellor’s are advertising the Shark House to rent (furnished) from next year as “a unique opportunity to reside in a living piece of art history”. Rent: £4,000 per month: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
AI’s future might look less like sci-fi — and more like self-checkout. One Nobel Prize-winning economist warns that “so-so automation” could cut jobs without boosting productivity.
The Real AI Risk is ‘Meh’ Technology That Takes Jobs and Annoys Us All
While AI doomsday scenarios dwell on the risks posed by superintelligent robot overlords, one Nobel-Prize winning economist fears a more mundane possibility.
bloom.bg
October 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM
AI’s future might look less like sci-fi — and more like self-checkout. One Nobel Prize-winning economist warns that “so-so automation” could cut jobs without boosting productivity.
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
when you put off everything til tomorrow it really frees up your day nicely.
October 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
when you put off everything til tomorrow it really frees up your day nicely.
11: Thou shalt not wait until thy referee assignment task is overdue, then take a closer look at the paper thou wast assigned, and discover that thou hast a conflict of interest.
October 6, 2025 at 9:01 PM
11: Thou shalt not wait until thy referee assignment task is overdue, then take a closer look at the paper thou wast assigned, and discover that thou hast a conflict of interest.
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Last week on Wonkhe: Students are reaching out to AI tools and chatbots for support. For Kieran Phelan, it’s time to start thinking about the risks
Higher education needs a plan in place for student “pastoral” use of AI
Students are reaching out to AI tools and chatbots for support. For Kieran Phelan, it’s time to start thinking about the risks Students are reaching out to AI tools and chatbots for support. For Kieran...
buff.ly
October 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Last week on Wonkhe: Students are reaching out to AI tools and chatbots for support. For Kieran Phelan, it’s time to start thinking about the risks
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
![[Scene is ANCIENT GREECE - where SOCRATES and PLATO and others are sitting round, thinking]
1
SOCRATES:
Plato..
PLATO:
Yes Socrates?
2
SOCRATES:
Can you tell me, are you human?
PLATO:
Why… yes, Socrates
3
SOCRATES:
And would you agree, Plato, that a human knows what a chariot is?
PLATO:
Um, yep
4
SOCRATES:
So you can tell me, then
5
[Socrates produces a papyrus, showing a drawing of the corner of a chariot wheel]
SOCRATES:
*Is that a chariot*?
6
PLATO:
Well
that’s more just a bit of wheel
7
SOCRATES:
So not a *chariot*.
PLATO:
No.
8
SOCRATES:
[Producing another papyrus with the full drawing of the chariot, chopped into boxes]
So if a man were challenged to “tap the boxes containing chariots to prove you’re human” when he was just trying to check his ClubCard points... *where could he tap*?
9
PLATO:
Well you can’t tap any of them really
10
SOCRATES:
So are we not human?
PLATO:
‘Spose not.
11
[Bleak pause]
12
PLATO:
I’ll get the hemlock
SOCRATES:
Yeah
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiazbuxbxnuyt5etli2cjseaychvbuym6n6z33nwx2mutlvoqjdhge@jpeg)
I can confirm this, in the context of recruiting postdoctoral researchers. Partly a brexit "benefit" but not exclusively that. And as for NHS fees, some people would probably be better-off getting private health insurance instead, but they're made to pay NHS fees.
Rocketing visa costs have forced UK research-intensive universities to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds extra to recruit international staff over the last two years—with costs at individual institutions reaching as high as £2 million a year.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
October 3, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I can confirm this, in the context of recruiting postdoctoral researchers. Partly a brexit "benefit" but not exclusively that. And as for NHS fees, some people would probably be better-off getting private health insurance instead, but they're made to pay NHS fees.
Reposted by Paul Goldberg
Free to read: EU funding for basic research ‘heading for disaster’ warns Leru secretary-general
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...
September 29, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Free to read: EU funding for basic research ‘heading for disaster’ warns Leru secretary-general
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...
An interesting article, especially for those of us who work in economic theory! Includes a reminder that there are many fields of maths, and someone can be good at some and bad at others.
Does economics use too much maths - or the wrong kind of maths? on.ft.com/3IqOgGb
The wrong kind of maths
[FREE TO READ] Why the mathematics used in economics for decades needs a rethink
on.ft.com
September 25, 2025 at 5:07 PM
An interesting article, especially for those of us who work in economic theory! Includes a reminder that there are many fields of maths, and someone can be good at some and bad at others.