Alan Hicks
@alanhickslondon.bsky.social
ICE is using the latest tech the same as IBM in the last century
youtube.com/shorts/lsSzw...
www.amazon.co.uk/IBM-Holocaus...
youtube.com/shorts/lsSzw...
www.amazon.co.uk/IBM-Holocaus...
The technology behind ICE raids | FT #shorts
YouTube video by Financial Times
youtube.com
December 10, 2025 at 10:52 AM
ICE is using the latest tech the same as IBM in the last century
youtube.com/shorts/lsSzw...
www.amazon.co.uk/IBM-Holocaus...
youtube.com/shorts/lsSzw...
www.amazon.co.uk/IBM-Holocaus...
Life expectancy in the United States is, on average, 78.6 years versus 81.3 years in England and Wales
publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/new-rep...
Maybe it's the food
publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/new-rep...
Maybe it's the food
December 9, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Life expectancy in the United States is, on average, 78.6 years versus 81.3 years in England and Wales
publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/new-rep...
Maybe it's the food
publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/new-rep...
Maybe it's the food
How to turn: “Better to let the poor starve naturally and decrease the surplus population.” into something positive for Christmas 🎁
davetrott.co.uk/2025/12/chri...
davetrott.co.uk/2025/12/chri...
CHRISTMAS CREATIVITY - Dave Trott's Blog
In 1842, the Report of the Children’s Employment Commission was released. Young girls were spending 16 hours a day, six days a week, sewing garments. Boys as young as eight were pulling coal carts in ...
davetrott.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
How to turn: “Better to let the poor starve naturally and decrease the surplus population.” into something positive for Christmas 🎁
davetrott.co.uk/2025/12/chri...
davetrott.co.uk/2025/12/chri...
True for all edge cases 😭
![Comic. Doing a task using a company or organization’s website: [flowchart] Go to website, try to log in → Did it work? → Yes → Try to do your task. → Did it work? Yes → Nice! Done! If logging in did not work → Spend hours troubleshooting account / login. If that works, go to Try to do your task. If no → Give up and call customer service. If spending hours troubleshooting doesn’t work, also give up and call customer service. After calling customer service: Hold message: “Did you know you could do all this more quickly and easily on our website? Just go to w-w-w dot…” → Throw phone and laptop into the sea.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiewqnkcrrc4tgla7j5skyz2djf3mrrvre3577c4xcgzurvq33bw4y@jpeg)
December 5, 2025 at 12:27 AM
True for all edge cases 😭
Not only did I grow up in a world where science was amazing and seeing James Burke on TV, this is how I remember him:
youtu.be/cCJh5D0FCZk?...
youtu.be/cCJh5D0FCZk?...
December 4, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Not only did I grow up in a world where science was amazing and seeing James Burke on TV, this is how I remember him:
youtu.be/cCJh5D0FCZk?...
youtu.be/cCJh5D0FCZk?...
Reposted by Alan Hicks
WOW!
@biggive.bsky.social's Christmas Challenge has raised £10m in less than 4 hours today.
Soho Comms is thrilled to be part of this amazing campaign - now the UK's biggest public fundraiser.
Donate by Dec 9 to any of 1,589 charities taking part and have your money doubled.
www.biggive.org
@biggive.bsky.social's Christmas Challenge has raised £10m in less than 4 hours today.
Soho Comms is thrilled to be part of this amazing campaign - now the UK's biggest public fundraiser.
Donate by Dec 9 to any of 1,589 charities taking part and have your money doubled.
www.biggive.org
Big Give
Big Give – discover campaigns and donate
www.biggive.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
WOW!
@biggive.bsky.social's Christmas Challenge has raised £10m in less than 4 hours today.
Soho Comms is thrilled to be part of this amazing campaign - now the UK's biggest public fundraiser.
Donate by Dec 9 to any of 1,589 charities taking part and have your money doubled.
www.biggive.org
@biggive.bsky.social's Christmas Challenge has raised £10m in less than 4 hours today.
Soho Comms is thrilled to be part of this amazing campaign - now the UK's biggest public fundraiser.
Donate by Dec 9 to any of 1,589 charities taking part and have your money doubled.
www.biggive.org
Understanding journalists 101
Should be required reading
Should be required reading
I wrote something about deciphering clues about sources in news stories a couple of years ago simonwillison.net/2023/Nov/22/...
December 1, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Understanding journalists 101
Should be required reading
Should be required reading
I've started thinking about it.
And that's enough for today 1️⃣🎄
And that's enough for today 1️⃣🎄
🎄🧵/ With 1 December having finally arrived, YouGov's Big Survey on Christmas shows that most Britons now say it is acceptable for people to put up their Christmas decorations
% say it's earliest acceptable time to put decorations up
Pre-1 Dec: 14%
1-7 Dec: 42%
8-14 Dec: 20%
15-24 Dec: 15%
% say it's earliest acceptable time to put decorations up
Pre-1 Dec: 14%
1-7 Dec: 42%
8-14 Dec: 20%
15-24 Dec: 15%
December 1, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I've started thinking about it.
And that's enough for today 1️⃣🎄
And that's enough for today 1️⃣🎄
Another Titan has fallen 😢
November 29, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Another Titan has fallen 😢
Reposted by Alan Hicks
At the risk of starting the flame war to end all flame wars...
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
November 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM
At the risk of starting the flame war to end all flame wars...
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Poor Nessie,
she will be disappointed.
she will be disappointed.
New polling on aliens
% of U.S. adult citizens who believe the following definitely or probably exist:
Aliens 56%
Bigfoot 28%
The Yeti 23%
The Loch Ness Monster 22%
Chupacabra 16%
today.yougov.com/health/artic...
% of U.S. adult citizens who believe the following definitely or probably exist:
Aliens 56%
Bigfoot 28%
The Yeti 23%
The Loch Ness Monster 22%
Chupacabra 16%
today.yougov.com/health/artic...
November 25, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Poor Nessie,
she will be disappointed.
she will be disappointed.
Best independent insightful prep for The Budget to date
My preface to the UK budget in The Conversation about three things no one is talking about: the Covid debt, the energy support scheme, and Brexit. Three political choices that we treat as shocks and refuse to discuss to avoid sounding awkward.
theconversation.com/the-three-sp...
theconversation.com/the-three-sp...
The three spectres hanging over Rachel Reeves’ make-or-break budget
These are the conversations the UK still refuses to have.
theconversation.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Best independent insightful prep for The Budget to date
This is why we can't have nice things 😭
Vindictive or Jealous, losing money through spite is self defeating.
Vindictive or Jealous, losing money through spite is self defeating.
Are you having a Laffer curve? Most Britons think you would raise more money by increasing taxes on the super-rich (55%) than by cutting them (17%)
Even if raising taxes on the super-rich LOST revenue, by 44% to 34% Britons would still support doing it
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
Even if raising taxes on the super-rich LOST revenue, by 44% to 34% Britons would still support doing it
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
This is why we can't have nice things 😭
Vindictive or Jealous, losing money through spite is self defeating.
Vindictive or Jealous, losing money through spite is self defeating.
I would like to refute talk of 1970s language being "of their time". I was there, cringing at comedies of that period.
My schoolmates were hurt by language of the day and so I never used it. I've not used those words to this day and was saddened when they resurfaced during Brexit. 1/2
My schoolmates were hurt by language of the day and so I never used it. I've not used those words to this day and was saddened when they resurfaced during Brexit. 1/2
November 25, 2025 at 8:53 AM
I would like to refute talk of 1970s language being "of their time". I was there, cringing at comedies of that period.
My schoolmates were hurt by language of the day and so I never used it. I've not used those words to this day and was saddened when they resurfaced during Brexit. 1/2
My schoolmates were hurt by language of the day and so I never used it. I've not used those words to this day and was saddened when they resurfaced during Brexit. 1/2
Jimmy Cliff: The man who tried and got what he Really Wanted
youtube.com/watch?v=U7dB...
youtube.com/watch?v=U7dB...
Jimmy Cliff You Can Get It If You Really Want
YouTube video by Rocksteady Freddie
youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Jimmy Cliff: The man who tried and got what he Really Wanted
youtube.com/watch?v=U7dB...
youtube.com/watch?v=U7dB...
One thing often forgotten during a bubble is musical chairs. As no one can predict with accuracy is when, there is the fear of missing out. IMHO there's always more to get until there isn't. Correction or not.
Plus there's actual value here, it's real and will outlast any bumps along the journey.
Plus there's actual value here, it's real and will outlast any bumps along the journey.
November 23, 2025 at 12:16 PM
One thing often forgotten during a bubble is musical chairs. As no one can predict with accuracy is when, there is the fear of missing out. IMHO there's always more to get until there isn't. Correction or not.
Plus there's actual value here, it's real and will outlast any bumps along the journey.
Plus there's actual value here, it's real and will outlast any bumps along the journey.
An evergreen warning:
Also an interesting tale of 1630s, Adriaen Pauw and Tulips
Also an interesting tale of 1630s, Adriaen Pauw and Tulips
The hall-of-mirrors economy: don't trade where you tweet!
on.ft.com/48mNofD
on.ft.com/48mNofD
Don’t trade where you tweet
[FREE TO READ] Online conversations about hot meme stocks or cryptocurrencies are the source of some very bad decisions
on.ft.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:57 AM
An evergreen warning:
Also an interesting tale of 1630s, Adriaen Pauw and Tulips
Also an interesting tale of 1630s, Adriaen Pauw and Tulips
How to inflate a bubble:
Bill Black used to call this sort of transaction "my dead horse for your dead cow"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bill Black used to call this sort of transaction "my dead horse for your dead cow"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The Silicon Valley 'AI factory' at the heart of the tech race
The confusing question lingering over the AI hype is whether it could be a bubble at risk of bursting
www.bbc.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 7:41 AM
How to inflate a bubble:
Bill Black used to call this sort of transaction "my dead horse for your dead cow"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bill Black used to call this sort of transaction "my dead horse for your dead cow"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The future is self learning "World Models"
youtube.com/watch?v=a4Iz...
youtube.com/watch?v=a4Iz...
Yann Le Cun leaves Meta, striking out his own future for AI • FRANCE 24 English
YouTube video by FRANCE 24 English
youtube.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The future is self learning "World Models"
youtube.com/watch?v=a4Iz...
youtube.com/watch?v=a4Iz...
IMHO $225k divide between the have yachts and the have nots is unsustainable:
"households with more than $225,000 in annual income are still spending freely. Those below have cut back dramatically on travel"
"households with more than $225,000 in annual income are still spending freely. Those below have cut back dramatically on travel"
Companies are working overtime to stratify consumers, separating the haves from both the have nots and the have yachts
on.ft.com/4p6brF8 How the American dream turned out to be pay to play
on.ft.com/4p6brF8 How the American dream turned out to be pay to play
How the American dream turned out to be pay to play
[FREE TO READ] Big brands from Disney to American Express are profiting from economic divisions and making them wider
on.ft.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:31 AM
IMHO $225k divide between the have yachts and the have nots is unsustainable:
"households with more than $225,000 in annual income are still spending freely. Those below have cut back dramatically on travel"
"households with more than $225,000 in annual income are still spending freely. Those below have cut back dramatically on travel"
Reposted by Alan Hicks
This December, I'll be posting an article & video each day until Christmas in the Advent of Compiler Optimisations! #AoCO2025
Each day we'll explore a fun optimisation in C or C++; some low-level, x86 or ARM-specific, some high-level. Hope you'll join me!
YT: youtube.com/mattgodbolt
Blog: xania.org
Each day we'll explore a fun optimisation in C or C++; some low-level, x86 or ARM-specific, some high-level. Hope you'll join me!
YT: youtube.com/mattgodbolt
Blog: xania.org
Matt Godbolt’s blog
xania.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:51 PM
This December, I'll be posting an article & video each day until Christmas in the Advent of Compiler Optimisations! #AoCO2025
Each day we'll explore a fun optimisation in C or C++; some low-level, x86 or ARM-specific, some high-level. Hope you'll join me!
YT: youtube.com/mattgodbolt
Blog: xania.org
Each day we'll explore a fun optimisation in C or C++; some low-level, x86 or ARM-specific, some high-level. Hope you'll join me!
YT: youtube.com/mattgodbolt
Blog: xania.org
Odlyzko may not be impressed by analogies between the railways and AI, but the latest generation are using AI in novel ways that will no doubt live on long after any bubble has burst.
Plus AI will likely evolve the way trains enabled local trams and high speed inter city travel.
Plus AI will likely evolve the way trains enabled local trams and high speed inter city travel.
November 6, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Odlyzko may not be impressed by analogies between the railways and AI, but the latest generation are using AI in novel ways that will no doubt live on long after any bubble has burst.
Plus AI will likely evolve the way trains enabled local trams and high speed inter city travel.
Plus AI will likely evolve the way trains enabled local trams and high speed inter city travel.
Congratulations Zohran Mamdani
New York appreciates clear messages about the cost of living and quality of life
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
New York appreciates clear messages about the cost of living and quality of life
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
Zohran Mamdani wins the New York mayoral race
Mamdani will be the youngest New York mayor in a century, NBC News projects, after a rapid rise past Andrew Cuomo and other opponents.
www.nbcnews.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Congratulations Zohran Mamdani
New York appreciates clear messages about the cost of living and quality of life
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
New York appreciates clear messages about the cost of living and quality of life
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
What makes Tax Tick
Great series with insights from those who make the decisions and those affected by them.
Highly recommend 👍
Great series with insights from those who make the decisions and those affected by them.
Highly recommend 👍
Why do we seem to find it so hard to have a rational conversation about how MUCH we pay in tax and HOW we pay it?
I'm exploring that in a new 3 part series for BBC Radio 4.
Episode 1 of The Tax Conundrum available here 🎧👇...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
I'm exploring that in a new 3 part series for BBC Radio 4.
Episode 1 of The Tax Conundrum available here 🎧👇...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Tax Conundrum - Episode 1: The Problem - BBC Sounds
What's wrong with our tax system?
www.bbc.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 12:20 PM
What makes Tax Tick
Great series with insights from those who make the decisions and those affected by them.
Highly recommend 👍
Great series with insights from those who make the decisions and those affected by them.
Highly recommend 👍
"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit." – Greek Proverb
Thank you Anne Hidalgo for making Paris a great green and pleasant city to live, work and play 💚
Thank you Anne Hidalgo for making Paris a great green and pleasant city to live, work and play 💚
Avec 470 arbres plantés et 4 000m2 de nature en plein cœur du 14e arrondissement, la place de Catalogne s'est radicalement transformée en 2024 !
November 2, 2025 at 7:26 AM
"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit." – Greek Proverb
Thank you Anne Hidalgo for making Paris a great green and pleasant city to live, work and play 💚
Thank you Anne Hidalgo for making Paris a great green and pleasant city to live, work and play 💚