Struan Donald
@struan.exo.org.uk
7% less grumpy than I appear to be.
lots of confidence all the way down
February 9, 2026 at 4:05 PM
lots of confidence all the way down
Books I have enjoyed this year, an ongoing thread for my own amusement. Will be sci-fi/fantasy forward.
Good bit of magical realism in inquisition era Spain. More magical than real tbf, doesn’t quote stick the landing for me and her YA origins are visible in the cracks. Enjoyable and immersive
Good bit of magical realism in inquisition era Spain. More magical than real tbf, doesn’t quote stick the landing for me and her YA origins are visible in the cracks. Enjoyable and immersive
February 7, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Books I have enjoyed this year, an ongoing thread for my own amusement. Will be sci-fi/fantasy forward.
Good bit of magical realism in inquisition era Spain. More magical than real tbf, doesn’t quote stick the landing for me and her YA origins are visible in the cracks. Enjoyable and immersive
Good bit of magical realism in inquisition era Spain. More magical than real tbf, doesn’t quote stick the landing for me and her YA origins are visible in the cracks. Enjoyable and immersive
This is good on how moltbook looking like a social network is causing some wild takes about What It Means. The where we are going bit of this feels very grim meathook future to me rather than exciting though thejaymo.net/2026/02/02/4...
Prompted to Panic | Weeknotes #424 - thejaymo
Moltbook is a Reddit-shaped doll’s house for language machines. A wearied note on why the discourse has been so strange.
thejaymo.net
February 7, 2026 at 12:37 PM
This is good on how moltbook looking like a social network is causing some wild takes about What It Means. The where we are going bit of this feels very grim meathook future to me rather than exciting though thejaymo.net/2026/02/02/4...
Trip to the big city and for the first time I have seen a starlink advert, someone using a folding phone and a tube escalator entirely lined in ads for a crypto platform featuring premiership footballers. Truly we live in times
February 3, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Trip to the big city and for the first time I have seen a starlink advert, someone using a folding phone and a tube escalator entirely lined in ads for a crypto platform featuring premiership footballers. Truly we live in times
So often I read things saying using AI will be more efficient but all they mean is it will be quicker
January 30, 2026 at 11:11 AM
So often I read things saying using AI will be more efficient but all they mean is it will be quicker
The only consistent thing in web development is that browsers are inconsistent
On iPhone, <input type="file"> shows you nice Photo Library / Take Photo options – but if you Take Photo, EXIF data is stripped, but isn’t with a photo from the Library 😕
On Android, the image picker strips EXIF data, but the file picker does not, and using the camera does keeps EXIF data
On Android, the image picker strips EXIF data, but the file picker does not, and using the camera does keeps EXIF data
January 22, 2026 at 1:18 PM
The only consistent thing in web development is that browsers are inconsistent
The value of a library is its ability to expand the knowledge you currently have, not in the distillation of the knowledge in it. The reductive view much of the tech industry takes to learning and knowledge is just depressing
www.theverge.com/tech/862531/...
www.theverge.com/tech/862531/...
Microsoft is closing its employee library and cutting back on subscriptions
Employees are expected to use new AI tools instead
www.theverge.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:24 AM
The value of a library is its ability to expand the knowledge you currently have, not in the distillation of the knowledge in it. The reductive view much of the tech industry takes to learning and knowledge is just depressing
www.theverge.com/tech/862531/...
www.theverge.com/tech/862531/...
A lovely man who was one of the most continually surprising people I’ve met. We had a work thing at a venue with a DDR arcade machine. Mark walked over to it, stepped on and, as far as I was concerned, out of nowhere turned out to be very good at it. Absolutely delightful.
January 15, 2026 at 5:15 PM
A lovely man who was one of the most continually surprising people I’ve met. We had a work thing at a venue with a DDR arcade machine. Mark walked over to it, stepped on and, as far as I was concerned, out of nowhere turned out to be very good at it. Absolutely delightful.
It is January 2026 and you are tired of people writing about AI so why not read one more thing by me to really tip you over the edge – exo.org.uk/blah/on-bicy... – in which a metaphor is examined and noticing is discussed
exo : on bicycles and ai
exo.org.uk
January 14, 2026 at 1:10 PM
It is January 2026 and you are tired of people writing about AI so why not read one more thing by me to really tip you over the edge – exo.org.uk/blah/on-bicy... – in which a metaphor is examined and noticing is discussed
@rodm.bsky.social assuming you have not already seen it this is probably of interest to you. I did not know there was an alternate ending www.ianbetteridge.com/of-ants-saul...
Of ants, Saul Bass, and lost dreams of a cybernetic ecology
When Saul Bass released Phase IV in 1974, audiences expected a standard ecological horror film about mutant ants overrunning humanity. What they got instead was something stranger: a slow, geometric m...
www.ianbetteridge.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:38 AM
@rodm.bsky.social assuming you have not already seen it this is probably of interest to you. I did not know there was an alternate ending www.ianbetteridge.com/of-ants-saul...
A smouldering thunderclap of a man brooded into the room, taut and sinewy as a stag. Jesamine could barely take her eyes off his stalking progress to ask “Who is that?”.
“That is the warband leader, Storm Goretti”.
“That is the warband leader, Storm Goretti”.
January 8, 2026 at 10:16 AM
A smouldering thunderclap of a man brooded into the room, taut and sinewy as a stag. Jesamine could barely take her eyes off his stalking progress to ask “Who is that?”.
“That is the warband leader, Storm Goretti”.
“That is the warband leader, Storm Goretti”.
I was hoping 2026 would be the year we ran out of everything and it would stop happening but alas, still so much
January 7, 2026 at 2:11 PM
I was hoping 2026 would be the year we ran out of everything and it would stop happening but alas, still so much
If this is not available in the gift shop then someone should fix that immediately www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
Prosciutto di Portici: A ham-shaped portable sundial likely owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law — before it was buried by Mount Vesuvius
This small bronze sundial was a portable way of telling time, but it may have made you hungry.
www.livescience.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:21 PM
If this is not available in the gift shop then someone should fix that immediately www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
what I did on my 2025 - exo.org.uk/blah/2025-ye... (which once again did not involve adding opengraph tags for better previews)
exo : 2025
exo.org.uk
January 1, 2026 at 5:15 PM
what I did on my 2025 - exo.org.uk/blah/2025-ye... (which once again did not involve adding opengraph tags for better previews)
I, like I imagine a lot of people, have a party playlist that I add stuff I think is party suitable to, for quite a loose definition of suitable, which gets put on shuffle and it is a really delightful way to be reminded of bangers.
December 31, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I, like I imagine a lot of people, have a party playlist that I add stuff I think is party suitable to, for quite a loose definition of suitable, which gets put on shuffle and it is a really delightful way to be reminded of bangers.
I’d not really considered this but of course the machine is always recording what you do. Everything tending towards surveillance capitalism is among the most depressing trends of modern living
www.robinsloan.com/lab/claude-i...
www.robinsloan.com/lab/claude-i...
Claude is listening
I don't love it.
www.robinsloan.com
December 29, 2025 at 10:39 AM
I’d not really considered this but of course the machine is always recording what you do. Everything tending towards surveillance capitalism is among the most depressing trends of modern living
www.robinsloan.com/lab/claude-i...
www.robinsloan.com/lab/claude-i...
In which I did some easy things and then Alex did some clever things and we got some answers.
Morning! Here's something exciting we've been working on: WriteToThem Insights www.mysociety.org/2025/12/11/n...
New report: WriteToThem Insights
What people are writhing to their representatives about? Insights from a new survey.
www.mysociety.org
December 11, 2025 at 9:44 AM
In which I did some easy things and then Alex did some clever things and we got some answers.
Reposted by Struan Donald
The text generator generates text. If you ask it for persuasive text, it generates text that is more persuasive. The text generator cannot lie, or tell the truth—it just generates text. Every time we say “the bot lied” we are misleading ourselves.
Two independent studies found that AI chatbots were better at persuading voters than political ads. The most persuasive bots also lied the most. This is something that humans working in psyops have known for decades. AI is psyops at scale. www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/04/1...
December 5, 2025 at 9:42 PM
The text generator generates text. If you ask it for persuasive text, it generates text that is more persuasive. The text generator cannot lie, or tell the truth—it just generates text. Every time we say “the bot lied” we are misleading ourselves.
It is, apparently, giving Tuesday so here in decreasing order of self serving are some suggestions. Firstly @mysociety.org, the people that pay me. While that's surely reason enough, we also make websites, data and reports that make it easier to be civic minded in the uk - www.mysociety.org/donate/
Support mySociety
A small charity making a big difference. Donate today!
www.mysociety.org
December 2, 2025 at 11:58 AM
It is, apparently, giving Tuesday so here in decreasing order of self serving are some suggestions. Firstly @mysociety.org, the people that pay me. While that's surely reason enough, we also make websites, data and reports that make it easier to be civic minded in the uk - www.mysociety.org/donate/
Ask Alex and Julia things about our democracy sites, or about how democracy works in the UK. They love answering questions and have opinions.
Ever wondered about TheyWorkForYou? Whether you have a burning question or a minor query, we'll be answering the whos, whys, whens, wheres & whats in a Reddit AMA ('ask me anything') session. Kicks off on Mon 8th Dec at 1pm - www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics... Click 'remind me' and it'll do just that!
From the ukpolitics community on Reddit: AMA: mySociety (TheyWorkForYou, WriteToThem, WhatDoTheyKnow, etc.) - Monday 8th December 2025 @ 13:00
Explore this post and more from the ukpolitics community
www.reddit.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Ask Alex and Julia things about our democracy sites, or about how democracy works in the UK. They love answering questions and have opinions.
Reposted by Struan Donald
This is lovely. I gave a talk about maintenance from a civic tech point of view some years ago that might be of interest: dracos.co.uk/said/tictec-... (and I do make sure maintenance is included in the org strategy goals, I think it’s vital)
November 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
This is lovely. I gave a talk about maintenance from a civic tech point of view some years ago that might be of interest: dracos.co.uk/said/tictec-... (and I do make sure maintenance is included in the org strategy goals, I think it’s vital)
This is something I absolutely believe in and try follow with my shopping choices. Shops where they recognise you are a delight.
www.are.na/editorial/pe...
www.are.na/editorial/pe...
Personal Business | Are.na Editorial
“Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.”
www.are.na
November 17, 2025 at 1:41 PM
This is something I absolutely believe in and try follow with my shopping choices. Shops where they recognise you are a delight.
www.are.na/editorial/pe...
www.are.na/editorial/pe...
Second work post in a row but as a summary of how a vote in parliament went the previews from TheyWorkForYou votes really are delightful - votes.theyworkforyou.com/decisions/di...
2025-11-05 - Employment Rights Bill: Government amendment (a) in lieu of LA62
Analysis and data on voting in the UK’s Parliaments
votes.theyworkforyou.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Second work post in a row but as a summary of how a vote in parliament went the previews from TheyWorkForYou votes really are delightful - votes.theyworkforyou.com/decisions/di...