OK another offended actuary here.

Tbf at a party I usually explain the job myself as like an accountant but more boring. But it is very different when someone else does it!!

I also love being an actuary - I should now say something witty about only boring people get bored...

Eh, no thanks.

I've signed the petition.

#NoCompulsoryDigitalID
#DitchTheBritCard

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Very much agree. I don't think you can understand the implications of it until you have done it. Opinions on AI are too often proffered by people who don't actually know what it is.

Also need to distinguish between eg machine learning and Gen AI whenever discussing it. Totally different things.

Punch cards!

Plus as a teenager was in tears (good ones) after getting a BBC computer for Christmas (I was expecting a ZX Spectrum)

Now have that screechy modem noise in my head. Ah memories...

As a parent I would be much more swayed by seeing the evidence than the stick/fine approach. See Freakonomics where imposing fines in nurseries for late pick ups ended up with more parents being late as they saw it as a late pick up fee they were happy to pay for rather than as a disinsentive.

UK government has been coming down hard on this for years. Eg giving prizes in primary school for kids who have not missed any days. I’ve always felt bad for those that have been absent due to illness or other things out of their control.

Would love to see more on what evidence this is based on.

UK private schools have 4 weeks+ extra holiday to comp schools. Has that effect been looked at? Or is it more about what is missed compared to other pupils in the same setting?

My kids had lots of changes of teachers so missed/repeated bits of the curriculum - surely that has a bigger effect?

Love this!
10 fave novels. No repeat authors

If This Is a Man
A Gentleman in Moscow
This Enchanted April
Pride and Prejudice (I know!)
Times Arrow
The Good Terrorist
The Man Who Saw Everything
The Lonesome Dove Chronicles
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
The Outsiders