Andrew West
@awest.uk
IT guy. Photographer. Works for that charity, you know the one.
Opus 4.5 dropped while I was in the middle of something I’ve been working on for a couple of days with Sonnet. Placebos are hard, but it definitely felt like I was suddenly spending much less explaining and guiding. It just understood and got on with it.
November 24, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Opus 4.5 dropped while I was in the middle of something I’ve been working on for a couple of days with Sonnet. Placebos are hard, but it definitely felt like I was suddenly spending much less explaining and guiding. It just understood and got on with it.
Yes, this is just outright incorrect
November 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Yes, this is just outright incorrect
It’s perfectly reasonable to apply appropriate skepticism to any claim, based on assessment of past history etc. But that only gets you as far as a hypothesis, not a conclusion.
November 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
It’s perfectly reasonable to apply appropriate skepticism to any claim, based on assessment of past history etc. But that only gets you as far as a hypothesis, not a conclusion.
No problem! I really dislike seeing people get anxious and stressed over these kind of tech chain letters. As you say, there are plenty of genuine things to discuss and work through, and this kind of unhelpful claim makes that harder by taking up all the oxygen in the room
November 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM
No problem! I really dislike seeing people get anxious and stressed over these kind of tech chain letters. As you say, there are plenty of genuine things to discuss and work through, and this kind of unhelpful claim makes that harder by taking up all the oxygen in the room
They do claim not to use emails for ads: support.google.com/mail/answer/.... I believe they *used to* though - this changed 2017ish?
How Gmail ads work - Gmail Help
When you open Gmail, you'll see ads that are the most useful and relevant to you. The process of selecting and showing personalised ads in Gmail is fully automated. These ads are shown to you based on
support.google.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
They do claim not to use emails for ads: support.google.com/mail/answer/.... I believe they *used to* though - this changed 2017ish?
I mean, anything’s possible. If Google say no then it’s it’s always possible they’re lying. But assuming that without direct evidence does mean one risks falling for any old nonsense claim
November 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I mean, anything’s possible. If Google say no then it’s it’s always possible they’re lying. But assuming that without direct evidence does mean one risks falling for any old nonsense claim
If they actually do, when they say they don’t, then they can and should get lawsuit-ed out of existence. But there are subtle biases that can make it seem like this is happening when it isn’t. See the ‘my phone is listening to everything’ conspiracy theory that causes people needless anxiety.
November 22, 2025 at 3:32 PM
If they actually do, when they say they don’t, then they can and should get lawsuit-ed out of existence. But there are subtle biases that can make it seem like this is happening when it isn’t. See the ‘my phone is listening to everything’ conspiracy theory that causes people needless anxiety.
The claim of the malwarebytes post is incorrect. If you have other supposition then that can be argued and substantiated too - but it’s not a reason to say that false statements are ok.
November 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The claim of the malwarebytes post is incorrect. If you have other supposition then that can be argued and substantiated too - but it’s not a reason to say that false statements are ok.
The malwarebytes Google opting-your-emails-into-ai-training thing is not true. The post is based on one bad tweet.
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
Google denies ‘misleading’ reports of Gmail using your emails to train AI
Google says “we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”
www.theverge.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:58 AM
The malwarebytes Google opting-your-emails-into-ai-training thing is not true. The post is based on one bad tweet.
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
Google are very firmly denying this: www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
Google denies ‘misleading’ reports of Gmail using your emails to train AI
Google says “we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”
www.theverge.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Google are very firmly denying this: www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
Reposted by Andrew West
I wrote a long feature for @prospectmagazine.co.uk earlier this autumn about how the stats we rely on for our national debate are falling apart, and that basically no-one is doing anything much to address it.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/busine...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/busine...
November 18, 2025 at 11:53 AM
I wrote a long feature for @prospectmagazine.co.uk earlier this autumn about how the stats we rely on for our national debate are falling apart, and that basically no-one is doing anything much to address it.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/busine...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/busine...
Reposted by Andrew West
ONS is so bad. (This is about specifically British nationals.) www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
November 18, 2025 at 11:26 AM
ONS is so bad. (This is about specifically British nationals.) www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
Reposted by Andrew West
I had high hopes for this lot, I really did. But this is nasty and vicious and cruel, and has no place in any nation that calls itself civilised.
November 17, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I had high hopes for this lot, I really did. But this is nasty and vicious and cruel, and has no place in any nation that calls itself civilised.
If you spend a lot of time thinking about class, you’re probably middle-class.
(The inverse is not true)
(The inverse is not true)
November 11, 2025 at 12:30 AM
If you spend a lot of time thinking about class, you’re probably middle-class.
(The inverse is not true)
(The inverse is not true)
Maybe also why ‘I don’t watch mainstream media’ is so reliably correlated with going off the deep end
A single shared source of truth is essential for a functioning democracy.
Without it you’re left with fragmentation, polarisation and a perpetual culture war where the discourse focuses on what divides us rather than what we have in common.
My column from last week: www.ft.com/content/5060...
Without it you’re left with fragmentation, polarisation and a perpetual culture war where the discourse focuses on what divides us rather than what we have in common.
My column from last week: www.ft.com/content/5060...
Why American-style polarisation is spreading across the west
New research shows how incentives in the modern media ecosystem help explain rising division and negativity
www.ft.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Maybe also why ‘I don’t watch mainstream media’ is so reliably correlated with going off the deep end
It is genuinely nice that someone has turned those misanthropically unpleasant books into a source of joy for millions
November 7, 2025 at 9:41 AM
It is genuinely nice that someone has turned those misanthropically unpleasant books into a source of joy for millions
Most predictions don’t come true. So you can have a perfectly viable career writing articles about why x won’t happen. Don’t, though.
November 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Most predictions don’t come true. So you can have a perfectly viable career writing articles about why x won’t happen. Don’t, though.
Reposted by Andrew West
The golden birches of Glen Feshie, wider view of the previous post of the same scene. Loved the way the tilted tree was seemingly basking in the sunlight, the breeze shimmering the leaves like golden coins #Scotland #GlenFeshie #Cairngorms #Rothiemurchus www.damianshields.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:50 AM
The golden birches of Glen Feshie, wider view of the previous post of the same scene. Loved the way the tilted tree was seemingly basking in the sunlight, the breeze shimmering the leaves like golden coins #Scotland #GlenFeshie #Cairngorms #Rothiemurchus www.damianshields.com
Nobody wants to admit that Swatch Internet Time would fix all their problems
November 3, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Nobody wants to admit that Swatch Internet Time would fix all their problems
I am absolutely determined not to become a language peever as I age. I feel the pull, but I will not, I will not
October 31, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I am absolutely determined not to become a language peever as I age. I feel the pull, but I will not, I will not
Reposted by Andrew West
Now this is a story all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the king of kings; look on my works, ye mighty, and despair
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the king of kings; look on my works, ye mighty, and despair
OK, it's time to bring Duran Duran to bear on this
October 30, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Now this is a story all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the king of kings; look on my works, ye mighty, and despair
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the king of kings; look on my works, ye mighty, and despair
Re AWS, just goes to show why you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. Everyone knows the ideal situation is multiple baskets of eggs.
October 20, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Re AWS, just goes to show why you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. Everyone knows the ideal situation is multiple baskets of eggs.
Reposted by Andrew West
The penalties for dangerous driving should be largely unrelated to whether you got unlucky while doing so, which means we should have many many many more driving bans and slightly fewer jail sentences
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 18, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The penalties for dangerous driving should be largely unrelated to whether you got unlucky while doing so, which means we should have many many many more driving bans and slightly fewer jail sentences
Reposted by Andrew West
I hope as we move past the first wave of AI criticism ("it doesn't work, all hype") we get a new wave of AI criticism rooted in the acknowledgement that, yes, these systems are very powerful & quite useful and focusing a deep exploration of when AI uses are uplifting and when they are detrimental.
October 16, 2025 at 11:39 PM
I hope as we move past the first wave of AI criticism ("it doesn't work, all hype") we get a new wave of AI criticism rooted in the acknowledgement that, yes, these systems are very powerful & quite useful and focusing a deep exploration of when AI uses are uplifting and when they are detrimental.
Reposted by Andrew West
This is wonderful
Ever wondered where all the Cheers title photos are from? I did. And I've gathered everything I can find into this post. That was fun.
joelmorris.substack.com/p/where-nobo...
joelmorris.substack.com/p/where-nobo...
Where nobody knows your name...
Tracing the anonymous faces at the start of Cheers.
joelmorris.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:18 AM
This is wonderful