peterkwells.com - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Quite a vibe for UK DSIT secretary Peter Kyle to still be sharing interviews about working more closely with the current US on science and tech I wouldn't expect UK govt to change policy cos of one Trumpian event, but I suspect pausing and reflecting is only going to feel more appropriate

submitted 3 hours ago • 1 comment

The National Library of Scotland's national treasures exhibition has a nice collection of books on looks at current world growing and cooking food in wartime gulps

submitted 3 hours ago • 1 comment

I don't think most people realise how completely our military and intelligence services are entwined with the US. We may well need to become more independent, but it's not something that can happen overnight.

submitted 8 hours ago • 125 comments

Watching UK broadcast news in hotel room this morning: BBC journalists: "angry exchange between Zelensky and Trump" Sky News journalists: "attack on Zelensky by Trump & Vance"

submitted 8 hours ago • 21 comments

1. Prepare yourself for things like this extending beyond 'suspected undocumented immigrants', people in other groups are being targeted by other US govt actions 2. People in UK working on NDL strategies/visions/stuff need to address these risks, friction in data access/linking is important

submitted 8 hours ago • 0 comments

18F, a digital services unit inside the General Services Administration, has been completely laid off, according to an email I’ve seen. The email says that 18F was deemed “non-critical” and the decision was made with the “explicit” direction of the administration and GSA leadership.

submitted 9 hours ago • 30 comments

💔

submitted 23 hours ago • 0 comments

A fun article that thinks it's talking about games and lawsuits but is really about the difficulty of maintaining and archiving online stuff www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

"we'll end the 8am rush for GP appointments by making it possible to book online" ->> "we'll end the 8am rush for GP appointments _except for people who don't fit design of our online service, like digitally excluded and people who care for other adults_ by making it possible to book online"

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

a regular bugbear of mine - when something goes over budget on costs by 50% it's the end of the world, but you can underestimate the benefits massively and people treat it like a success story. Crossrail was arguably built 20 years too late because of these errors

submitted 1 day ago • 22 comments

Looking at the Trump-Starmer write ups and idly wondering how far the state of all that stuff in the US is from journalists asking Starmer whether he raised concerns about human rights and rule of law

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

"Fun" fact I was told in past Weather forecasting depends on quality of weather observation data collected in other countries. The climate don't care about yr geopolitical boundaries So, if US weather observation data gets worse, eg cos fewer staff, then forecasts can get worse in other countries

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

hi folks, can I get your help? Where I work, at the Green Web Foundation, we're looking for a #Django developer to join our small but ambitious team working towards a fossil free internet. Job ad below: www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/jobs/mid-sen...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

NEW: Elon Musk’s Starlink is being used at scam compounds that have fleeced billions from people around the world, a @WIRED investigation shows Between November 2024 and Feb, hundreds of phones at eight scam compounds in Myanmar logged 40,000 uses of Starlink, mobile data shows

submitted 2 days ago • 17 comments

puts on serious work voice This is a great example of changing societal norms around synthetic/AI-generated content, what's acceptable in what context, how transparent is usefully transparent & for who, and how debates are happening in multiple contexts (& sometimes in quite traumatic moments)

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

This is a new one: Victim about to deliver an impact statement in court, defence barrister raises a concern that it has been ‘generated by AI’ Victim says she put it through a computer system to check spelling, but denies the entire thing is AI generated.

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

The science fiction/horror of people calling a test dataset "humanity's last exam" is very science fiction/horror agi.safe.ai

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

"In a crowded control centre, surrounded by dozens of TV screens, the Taliban's police force proudly shows off its newly-acquired network of 90,000 CCTV cameras [equipped with facial recognition tech]- used to watch over the day-to-day lives of millions of people" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

The pup, bottom right, is now a teenager and goes to school to hang out with her mates

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

Sent a newsletter. Might regret it later buttondown.com/justenoughin...

submitted 2 days ago • 8 comments

"A Union for Hopeful Technologists What if progressive people who work in technology had an advocacy body?" buttondown.com/justenoughin...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

all of this, but there's also a particular software-industry thing here: haha, oops, we broke Production! it's a bit of a rite of passage - but in software you can usually restore Production. a great reason not to let people whose only experience is software run real things w/o oversight

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

Why is this article not illustrated with a picture of a giant AI-powered robot labelled "Big AI"? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

As Peter says, great to see a plan for tackling digital exclusion - it's long overdue. But IMO it could go a further to address root causes and go beyond industry CSR-type activities. Until there is more systemic change there will always be an element of patching up symptoms rather than causes

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

me: great news! been wanting to write more about free markets for ages! I've got a pitch about the cloud computing monopoly, comparing it to Bell Telecom ... Bezos: you have ten seconds before I release the hounds

submitted 3 days ago • 8 comments

Good to see a digital inclusion action plan from UK govt - first one since 2014! - but.... ... the continued emphasis from DSIT on "digital services" (where digital means online) & "assisted digital" feels off It doesn't empower people, & doesn't make best use of tech www.gov.uk/government/p...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

TIL: Google Gemini Advanced is pretty good at helping me find real-world examples/new stories of where particular kinds of AI risks have actually happened Better than the combo of [google/other provider's] search & my brain.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

New example of "feature not a bug" just dropped www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Today's earworm is "between the wars" www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjUA...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Look, I know this is a serious issue which, given my profession, I need to handle seriously but is there any way to make all Coldplay albums silent? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Recently chatted with someone dealing with the workers from external suppliers who are propping up Parliament while decisions aren't made Those peeps are also getting bored and some resigning/rolling off project as there's very little that can be done as decisions continue not to be made...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments