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Reposted by peterkwells

Indy @indy.bsky.social · 1h

I don't even know how to shout loud enough about what a bad sign this is.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 3h

‘Frightened to get out of their cars’: Britain’s toxic race debates threaten overseas care workers

Staff are being advised to travel in mixed groups and carry panic alarms as incidents of intimidation spread

www.theguardian.com

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1h

That would have been no fun!

(Honestly, mostly yes, but the tools kept trying to sync and I needed to check some links)

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1h

I mean all maps are social constructs, but this is clearly a particularly new one

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1h

Spending all day in workshops in Haggerston and I lived in London for 15 years and can swear blind that Haggerston did not exist back then

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Reposted by peterkwells

Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 3h

Excellent Guardian piece on Aadhar, India's digital ID system, that captures the dilemma extremely well. Digital-by-default methods create huge convenience for some, double-down on social exclusion for others, and it is easy for their scope to rapidly expand www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Your basis to live is checked at each and every step’: India’s ID system divides opinion

Keir Starmer is considering Aadhaar as model for UK, but detractors warn of ‘digital coercion’ and security breaches

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by peterkwells

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2h

98%! Only 2 in every 100 installations don’t need corrective action. Read it and weep

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 3h

98% of homes with external wall insulation installed under the government’s ECO scheme require work to correct major issues that will cause problems such as damp and mould - our new @nao.org.uk report www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... (full report www.nao.org.uk/reports/ener...)

Thousands of homes with botched eco insulation 'must be fixed'

Insulation programmes costing billions of pounds have led to widespread problems with damp and mould.

www.bbc.co.uk

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 13h

Yup, & one of reasons why the Thames Crossing took so long in planning was because one of the Conservative governments stuck a Freeport near it

That led to all the paperwork being redone/resubmitted, and the people who size planning submissions by "number of pages" double counting yet again

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 13h

I am merging comments in a Word doc that is a snapshot of a google doc from 3 days ago with a collaborative google doc that has moved on since 3 days ago

And I am on a UK train

a man is jumping over a waterfall while holding a frisbee .

Alt: a man on a tightrope walking over a waterfall

media.tenor.com

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 16h

"Yes, human. We solemnly promise not to fight each other or throw any parties while you're away."

The front of a house with two windows. One window has a dog looking at the photographer, the other has a cat looking at the pjotographer

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

Stopped at coffee shop on morning dog walk and a person near me in the crowded shop is providing fertility drug advice services via remote video consultation, without headphones, and I'd strongly doubt the patient is aware

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

I would visit the "the largest repository of open land data in the world" that was created by the Geospatial Commission as they successfully delivered the 2017 Conservative Manifesto commitment

(Oh, hang on, maybe the civil servants did something else instead 🤔)

Digital land
And we will use digital technology to release massive value from our land that currently
is simply not realised, introducing greater specialisation in the property development
industry and far greater transparency for buyers. To make this happen, we will combine
the relevant parts of HM Land Registry, Ordnance Survey, the Valuation Office Agency,
the Hydrographic Office and Geological Survey to create a comprehensive geospatial
data body within government, the largest repository of open land data in the world. This
new body will set the standards to digitise the planning process and help create the most
comprehensive digital map of Britain to date. In doing so, it will support a vibrant and
innovative digital economy, ranging from innovative tools to help people and developers
build to virtual mapping of Britain for use in video games and virtual reality.

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Reposted by peterkwells

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 1d

Only a couple more months for humans to invent the massive kaiju-fighting robots of Pacific Rim, which takes place in 2025. My optimism is waning.

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

For the sake of people who live in/deliver to flats & tower blocks I hope not! W3W isn't granular enough & doesn't do height.

(I think they're just trying to save costs by transferring effort from their sorting machinery to humans who'll have to write/print more easily machine-readable codes)

peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

And did RM just say that controlling the format of the current UK postal address isn't important to their business operations?

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

Did another UK postal address ID just drop?

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

Why Royal Mail could axe stamps and addresses on letters

Handwritten envelopes may become a thing of the past as the new boss moves to modernise the business

In a world of supercomputers, artificial intelligence and social media, writing a postal address feels something of an anachronism.
Martin Seidenberg says that technology is evolving and that could revolutionise the sending of letters and parcels. Customers are already able to buy postage online, but in future customers may be able to input a recipient’s address and then an alpha-numeric code could be spat out that can be popped on any given letter or parcel.
Will you need to write the address as well? “For now, yes,” responds the boss of Royal Mail’s parent company. He clams up when asked for further details, but it’s too late. Seidenberg has given the game away with the “for now” — but then this is all very early stage thinking.

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

"Most of What We Call a ‘Service’ Isn’t One"

productinservice.substack.com/p/most-of-wh...

Most of What We Call a ‘Service’ Isn’t One

Product in Service October 2025

productinservice.substack.com

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Reposted by peterkwells

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

Who had “self-swatting” on their dystopia bingo card.

Police are asking kids to stop pulling AI homeless man prank

The AI #homelessmanprank has gone viral, causing headaches for law enforcement.

www.theverge.com

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

“By playing players in their right positions and getting us to attack games, I think we can beat anyone in this league. So far it’s been pathetic to be honest. It hasn’t taken much to beat us.” < truth hurts

www.theguardian.com/football/202...

It can get worse: Blackpool’s latest defeat recalls Mick McCarthy meme

Blackpool had high hopes in August under Steve Bruce but, now managerless, are second bottom of League One after losing at Stockport

www.theguardian.com

peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

"DSIT: GOV.UK Chat

GOV.UK Chat is our AI-powered chatbot that allows users, for the first time, to get quick, personalised answers to their questions based on GOV.UK guidance"

< transparency record, published 7 Oct

www.gov.uk/algorithmic-...

DSIT: GOV.UK Chat

GOV.UK Chat is our AI-powered chatbot that allows users, for the first time, to get quick, personalised answers to their questions based on GOV.UK guidance

www.gov.uk

peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 1d

An irregular reminder that part of the UK government's digital ID plans is to put an "authoritative proof" of everyone's residency status in a smartphone IDwalletthingy by next election (so mid-2029...)

Complicated cases, like this, are gonna need a lot of care

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘Clear parallels’ with Windrush as UK-born toddler denied passport

Campaigners say lessons not being learned as three-year-old’s mother is asked to prove right to free NHS treatment

www.theguardian.com

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

(My dad struggled with apps & spent last driving yrs safely going v.short distances to get him & wheelchair bound mum some fresh air, well apart from when he temporarily lost licence as too embarrassed to tell ppl he couldn't use gov.uk & austerity/digital meant local post office wouldn't support)

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

@radiobeartime.com

From this evidence yes, they're not the same skills. Judging from a short news report is quite tricky tho.

Generally the driving test/checks quite sensibly measure driving, not having a smartphone or comfort in using apps

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 2d

*starts looking at complexity of selling elderly relatives house to a) reduce maintenance effort and b) pay care home bills, given c) another member of family helped buy house, but with no clear legal statement about that*

*wonders when the magic AI agents will arrive to sort it all out*

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Reposted by peterkwells

Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 3d

It will all be fine, I'm sure www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

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peterkwells @peterkwells.com · 3d

Quite

Rather than - or as well as, if they've got the capacity to do both - the National Parking Platform (which embeds apps in parking) UK govt really should have been looking at making it actually easier for everyone who drives to pay - via cash, contactless, &c

www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/m...

Parking fail: three-quarters of drivers have run into difficulties when paying to park by mobile app

Three-quarters of UK drivers (73%) who have used a mobile app to pay for parking in the last 12 months experienced difficulties doing so, with most preferring the reliability that comes from using ban...

www.rac.co.uk

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