Paul Cowan

Melbourne⇒Sydney, HoE @ Big Picture Medical, ex-Google/Airtasker (though not speaking officially for ANY of them, duh, what is wrong with you?). He/him.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

I don't post much here, I know, and I never shill for people.

But Claire Stapleton is one of the most delightful people to have ever passed through Google employment, and commands the English language like no one else. This is going to be a TREAT, I'm certain of it.

[claire stapleton @clairewaves]

hello x--just dropping into the famously calm, nourishing discourse here to say my book is out this summer.

drama, death, executives, and mass revolt--with light romp energy--inside google.

info + preorders below. love and light to all :)

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@_thekennyshow @hasumpstuffedup @peteguley @philschultz11 @Upthemightypies How is this a bad take from @hasumpstuffedup ? He's explaining the rule and what the umpires are instructed. He didn't write the rule, and possibly doesn't even like it for all we know. If you think the rule sucks, that's the AFL's fault, it's not a "bad take" from him.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@Jeffersek6g @DomCometti So to be clear - if your daughter or sister or mum was (let's say) sexually assaulted in the coal mines, you'd believe that 'comradeship' should take precedence and no-one should say anything. Fascinating character you are.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@Jeffersek6g @DomCometti Did a lot of war crimes in the coal mines did we?

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@EsdaileTon53863 @TheHarrisSultan @DrewPavlou I would have gone with "Note to SAS troops don't commit war crimes" but you do you mate

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@JdubAndrew @Math_files The difficulty of proof isn't in proving that it will tend to TREND downwards. The difficulty is showing that there can never ever be a loop. One counterexample of a loop (A-B-C-...-A) would disprove, and your observation (though astute) does nothing to show that.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@aakashgupta "Google Assistant [was] trained on General American and Received Pronunciation English."

This is simply untrue. Assistant was absolutely trained on Australian English specifically. I know because I was part of the training data and spent many hours providing samples.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@HestonChurchill @SSharkansky @Math_files I just regret my chosen example, because the reverse (increasingly long sequences of 0s, separated by single 1s, is the much more elegant 0.101001000100001 which is the infinite sum of 1/(10^1) + 1/(10^3) + 1/(10^6) + 1/(10^10) + ... which I think we can ask agree is much nicer!

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@HestonChurchill @SSharkansky @Math_files Extremely silly but clear counterexample: 0.01011011101111011111... (that is, a number whose decimal representation is a sequence of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... ones each separated by a single zero) is an irrational number but won't contain any sequence of two zeroes!

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@timrud1 @matcoch I think YOU need to look up how sports tickets work, and how sporting attendances are reported, before being a smart-arse to someone when you're wrong.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@und675 @dollllfears @MrMediocrePass It literally says "use a registered psychologist, social worker or occupational therapist" in your screenshot.

You're giving someone advice about psychology and therapy, when they are referring to psychiatry. They're different things, which even your own screenshot makes clear.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@realRick_AUS @gaymilkisgay Under Keating as treasurer? They peaked at about 17.5%.

In that same time window, New Zealand's peaked at about 20.5%, and the UK's at over 16%.

Amazing, Keating's influence, to have caused such high interest rates across all those countries. Unbelievable.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

Denmark should simply delegate the power to Greenland to sign a mutual defence treaty with Afghanistan. We already know the US can't beat them. Problem solved.

[Orla Joelsen @OJoelsen]

Premier of Greenland 🇬🇱 statement this morning;

This morning, I am both saddened and grateful 🇬🇱

Saddened, because during a press conference last night, the President of the United States once again expressed a desire to take over Greenland. With such statements, our country is reduced to a question of security and power. That is not how we see ourselves, and it is not how Greenland can or should be spoken about.

We are a people with a long history, a strong culture, and a vibrant democracy. We are a country with responsibility for our own territory and for our own future. Our territorial integrity and our right to self-determination are firmly anchored in international law and cannot simply be ignored.

That is also why I am grateful.

Thank you to everyone here at home for the clear support and unity that has been shown. The calmness and dignity with which you have met this situation send a strong signal of a people who stand firm in their values and in their responsibility.

I would also like to thank heads of government and partners around the world who have clearly and unequivocally expressed their respect for Greenland, for our democratic institutions, and for the fundamental principles of international law. That support confirms that we here at home do not stand alone.

Once again: Greenland is our country. Decisions are made here. And I will at all times fight for our freedom and our right to decide for ourselves and to shape our own future.

For now, I hope that the peace of Christmas can settle over us all.
Merry Christmas 🇬🇱💙🇬🇱

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@McClarey2 @MFWitches It was almost exactly ten minutes from first shot fired to both perpetrators being dead or arrested.

You're making shit up.

You're right though, we should model our police response on the US, and aim for a clean crisp 77-minute takedown like Uvalde.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@flintaeroinc @MFWitches Oh yes, the inaction that resulted in one gunman dead and the other arrested in almost exactly ten minutes.

As opposed to the crack response we see from US police forces, like where the Uvalde shooting was quickly and decisively ended in *checks notes* seventy-seven minutes.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@Poka741997 @BarackObama You don't think that maybe, just maybe, the former President of the USA has access to better and more accurate sources of information than you, J. Random Dickhead?

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@Goosey30111568 If MY sister was either a liar or a fucking idiot, I would simply admit neither on public social media. But that's just me.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@CrimsonCrews @grok @aaronchaotic @AdameMedia Grok "losing credibility as a verifiable source" is like a sea lion "losing credibility as a possible principal dancer for the Bolshoi Ballet" or a handful of cold gravel "losing credibility as a source of protein". It's ludicrous that you think it ever had any.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

"I'll not allow German children into my house!" Tom said, unkindly.

[Paul Cowan @funkwit]

@vydamo_ Point of order, we don't hate NFTs.

We hate people who are into NFTs.