@millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 1w ago

Replying to

in case you didn't already think this guy was a complete scumbag "[he] donated £1mn to the Conservative Party in 2019 — something he said was now a “regret” — and £3.2mn to the Leave campaign in 2016." (full article here: https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/f5178677-7928-4f21-9327-fd0d617f9425)

giftarticle.ft.com

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 2mo ago

There are plans to close the mathematics programme at University of Dundee. The Edinburgh Mathematical Society has an open letter that you can sign to support keeping the programme. https://www.ems.ac.uk/open-letter-dundee/

ems.ac.uk

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 6mo ago

SOME PERSONAL/PROFESSIONAL NEWS:

I've accepted the position of "Principal Researcher in Statistical Methodology" at Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (where I currently work).

This means I'll be leading the statistical methodology theme within BioSS, taking over from Ken Newman.

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 2mo ago

"You can tell whether the author of a paper is a mathematician or a computer scientist by looking at the direction their trees grow. A computer scientist’s trees will grow downward while a mathematician’s tree will grow upward. Naturally, the correct way is the mathematician’s way..." https://tikz.dev/tikz-trees

tikz.dev

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 5mo ago

new metric: Dave-o-meter

What is the ratio of non-men to people called "Dave" in the meeting?

Brought to you by a Dave who recently was in a meeting with more Daves than non-men 😕

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 3mo ago

"must be willing to relocate to the (St Andrews) Bay Area"

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 2mo ago

started my morning by reading this by Kevin Buzzard: https://xenaproject.wordpress.com/2026/07/20/human-mathematicians-are-being-outcounterexampled/

On using GPT/Fable/etc to construct mathematics, then translate into systems like Lean. This is clearly working in some areas of maths, and that is huge.

(I'm a AI skeptic. That someone well-respected is showing actual results over just pontificating is giving me pause for where this technology might actually be useful.)

Human mathematicians are being outcounterexampled

Xena

Human mathematicians are being outcounterexampled

It’s been an interesting few weeks for counterexamples. This post is basically my perspective of what has been going on in the world of formalization, AI tools and, in particular, counterexam…

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@zkamvar@hachyderm.io nature finds a way :)

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 4mo ago

went to the Arts Tower. Went on the paternoster. Pilgrimage complete.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_Tower

en.wikipedia.org

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 6mo ago

"""
We are happy to inform you that your research article, especially titled, "Bayesian views of generalized additive modelling", which is mostly aligns with our conference theme got the attention to brings our invitation. We are inviting global professionals in the field of Recycling and Waste Management, we sincerely hope you will be the part of this event.
"""

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 3mo ago

Replying to

@futurebird@sauropods.win yup same here. Beyond the engines themselves, for any technical search I get a series of AI slop websites with Google, DDG and others. DDG allows you to "blacklist" up to 10 (I think) sites, which is like <1% of the number I want to block!

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 2mo ago

I love working with other mathematicians...

"research collaboration conversations are neither 1-1 or onto!"

(for non-mathematicians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijection and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surjective_function will help ;))

en.wikipedia.org

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 2mo ago

very sad to hear about the passing of Adrian Bowman, emeritus professor in statistics at the University of Glasgow

https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/mathematicsstatistics/eventsandseminars/distinguished-lecture-series/thebowmanlectures/

gla.ac.uk

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 6mo ago

Thanks Outlook, that's very very clear:

"Occurs every other second Thursday from 13:00 to 14:00"

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@leouieda@bertha.social ❤️ 100% there has also been a shift to using fixed-term contract lecturing staff ("teaching fellows") to avoid employing more permanent staff across UK HE. The whole thing is a disaster at the moment! ✊

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 6mo ago

RE: @oblique_strategies@mas.to

I think we know which one 👀

mas.to

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 6mo ago

Replying to

worth saying I only have "visitor" status at the UoE but BioSS has their offices colocated at the Kings Buildings campus and I work with many UoE staff.

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David Lawrence Miller @millerdl@mathstodon.xyz

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@Photo55@mastodon.social Sorry I don't buy this in this case. If you're earning at that level you need to provide a full tax return to HMRC, you probably have an accountant, you are on a personal contract with the University and therefore make a case for your pay increase each year outwith collective bargaining. Not knowing your salary to within 10k is preposterous. Whether or not you know on a day-to-day basis, if you're going to a parliamentary inquiry about the finances of your institution, you should be prepared to answer that kind of question. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/t1pGy52JPoo