markfoden

markfoden, 3 months ago to random

"What I am concerned about is that [solutions] seem not to go far enough [eg] the UK's #OnlineSafetyAct ... was catalysed through very real concerns but [doesn’t] look at the [big tech] business model. They take as a given these mass social platforms. And the solutions often look like extending surveillance and control to government ... not looking at how we attack the surveillance business model that is at the heart of [big tech]" - @Mer__edith

Yes, exactly

#BigTech https://youtu.be/iLzQXWq_Sp0?t=34m50s

ChrisMayLA6, 3 months ago to random

Andrew Dilnot is angry (rightly) about the inability of our leaders to address the massive & ongoing problem of how to organise & pay for #socialcare.

'There’s no discussion of the overall level of funding that is needed for social care, no serious addressing of the desperate state that the existing means-testing system is in. To go forward to a general election without that being a significant part of our national discussion just seems irresponsible on all sides'!

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/18/grow-up-and-talk-about-social-care-andrew-dilnot-tells-labour-and-tories

antlerboy, 3 months ago to random

IESTurningTheTide – An introduction to systems thinking for tackling wicked problems, Gerald Midgley, 14 February 2024 – 2:00pm UK time online https://stream.syscoi.com/2024/02/12/iesturningthetide-an-introduction-to-systems-thinking-for-tackling-wicked-problems-gerald-midgley-14-february-2024-200pm-uk-time-online/

markfoden, 3 months ago to random

“We just let them explore. And they started to ask questions and we answered the questions. They asked for suggestions, so we gave them pieces of clothing and equipment and positional advice. And they watched the data change and they chose what they wanted to do. And within the space of about three weeks, the whole team had moved over to doing things differently. But the point was now it was their choice” - Chris Boardman

Via @antlerboy
https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2023/04/03/news-report-chris-boardman-active-travel-wind-tunnel-and-fear-change

davew, 3 months ago to random

I went skiing yesterday for the first time in five years even though I live a half hour drive from a good ski area (Belleayre). The snow was great, as was the weather, and no lift lines. I should probably go again today. I've been getting in shape for skiing. I had to stop at 1PM, legs too tired, but then again I'm 68, so I'm okay with that. Life is good. ;-)

markfoden, 4 months ago to random

A very good piece about how NASA avoids forgetting the preventable mistakes stemming from groupthink and not speaking up that led to the deaths of astronauts.

There's a lesson to be learned here about learning lessons (which most organisations are hopelessly crap at)

By @heatherburns https://webdevlaw.uk/2024/01/25/those-who-choose-not-to-heal/

antlerboy, 4 months ago to random

I never actually understand these things.
Like when they renamed Facebook Meta, but I could never actually find a way to test out any Facebook 'metaverse' product...

markfoden, 4 months ago to random

Channel 4 piece on what the Post Office board knew

Via @substandardnerd #PostOfficeScandal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubKn3zmYxEk

markfoden, 4 months ago to random

“Computer says guilty”

An absolutely excellent analysis of the Post Office’s Horizon prosecutions by @davidallengreen

#PostOfficeScandal https://emptycity.substack.com/p/how-the-legal-system-made-it-so-easy

antlerboy, 6 months ago to random

Reforming adult social care in England - NAO report https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/reforming-adult-social-care-in-england/

markfoden, 6 months ago to random

I was tickled by this idea. Maybe government procurement could work this way: to promote fairness and encourage diversity?

Use criteria to choose the top (say) three bidders for a project and then select the winner randomly.

Would exclude procurements written specifically for a particular supplier and repeated selection of incumbents. Maybe encourage SMEs?

@TimHarford #PublicProcurement https://timharford.com/2023/10/sometimes-a-random-solution-is-best/

markfoden, 7 months ago to random

"Governments should require that every tech company that sells them a product or a service … promise not to interfere with interoperability ... the bedrock of good public procurement for centuries - we just forgot it"

Cory Doctorow on law and other stuff needed to build a better Internet

@pluralistic #Enshittification #PublicProcurement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q118B_QdP2k

markfoden, 7 months ago to random

“‘You may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’”

Essay by Katie Mack, discovered through her new newsletter @AstroKatie

https://aeon.co/essays/our-cosmic-horizon-is-both-unreachable-and-closer-than-ever

markfoden, 8 months ago to random

"...now that the United Kingdom has departed from the European Union the question becomes who will enforce the “public” part of public procurement law?

The courts have become wary of campaign groups saying they have “standing” to bring any challenge.

But if not such groups, then who?

If standing is limited to disappointed tenderers then there will be few challenges" - @davidallengreen

That's a good question

#PublicProcurement #Procurement
https://emptycity.substack.com/p/why-the-public-in-public-procurement

markfoden, 8 months ago to random

“Scanning every user’s privately stored iCloud data would create new threat vectors for data thieves to find and exploit [with] potential for a slippery slope of unintended consequences. Scanning for one type of content, for instance, opens the door for bulk surveillance … We concluded it was not practically possible to implement without ultimately imperiling the security and privacy of our users”

Erik Neuenschwander - Apple's Director of User Privacy

#OnlineSafetyBill
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-csam-scanning-heat-initiative-letter/

markfoden, 9 months ago to random

"Consider how we make laws. It’s bizarre. Most government policies remain based on hunches, what lawmakers say will work, rather than by testing various options to verify what works best. No experiments done, no evidence required" @brianklaas

This.

https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/experiment-with-everything

markfoden, 9 months ago to random

"The next government needs to obligate big companies to open up: we need public data trusts to harness the patterns and insights they hold for public innovation" - Advice for a new government from Mike Bracken

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/new-data-institutions-are-the-key-to-london-s-growth-b1097350.html via @antlerboy

liztai, 10 months ago to Evernote

Hello #PKM people, what do you do to ensure that your notes will be properly processed and isn't just stuff to occupy your folders? Meaning, how do you ensure that you extract value from them?

A question I am pondering as I have hundreds of notes now, and while I have made sure to turn some of them into articles, am not sure about everything else. Am curious to know how you extract value from your notes.

#Notes #NoteTaking #Obsidian #Evernote #Notion #Studying

drewharwell, 10 months ago to random

Who's excited for Threads

davidallengreen, 10 months ago to random

I love being here on Mastodon - full of geeks and nerds - and I will keep a presence here

But I developing my (renamed) Empty City substack, where I will be posting topical stuff on law and policy

Please consider subscribing for free content

https://emptycity.substack.com/

matthewskelton, 11 months ago to random

Observation about organizational agility: the video call and chat tools used by an organization correlate strongly with organizational agility.

• Slack + Google Meet or Zoom: good agility and nimble processes 🕺
• Microsoft Teams: limited agilty and sluggish processes 🐌
• Webex or BlueJeans: ... 😶

This holds for maybe 9 in 10 cases in my experience since 2019. 🤷

#FastFlow #Agility