These are delicious. And I just realised they taste like Crack Jacks. That’s some proper childhood (American) nostalgia.
Ann Kempster
@annkempster.com
Public sector agitator for good. Co-author @transform.wales Feminist. Cheese. Dachshunds. Digital. 🏴 She/her.
This isn't actually a bad thing. Social value, as implemented, never really worked. It was a tick box. And yes it IS hard to do as a very small company. There has been an accretion of a lot of STUFF that you have to comply with, write policies for, figure out how you afford accreditations for.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 22h agoGovernment contracts to require job creation instead of green targets under new rules
I get through every day now without it. I just have not found a use for it that *increases* my productivity. Spending time trying to find a use for it is a distraction from actually getting shit done
Ayo@darrylayo.bsky.social · 21h agoGuys like this don’t realize that they are the freak
This is the literal definition of terrorism.
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · yesterdayLeaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
Clean sheets after a shower. Sleeping in my own proper bed in my own proper room for the first time since October.
Aloka Aloka Meme
ALT: Aloka Aloka Meme
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Got the downstairs bathroom painted. That was my stretch goal. More doors next…
Ann Kempster@annkempster.com · 3d agoDay 3 of painting marathon. My hands hurt, my get up and go got up and gone. Send motivation. And new hands.
100% this! Ditto specific training to use your website means the design of your website is crap.
Steve Chambers@planningtransport.co.uk · 3d agoIf it is frequently asked, why didn't you redesign your website to remove the need to ask?
WTF happened to Lewis Goodall?!
Tom Delonge Blink182 Wtf Meme
ALT: Tom Delonge Blink182 Wtf Meme
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Day 3 of painting marathon. My hands hurt, my get up and go got up and gone. Send motivation. And new hands.
Man Crawling on Ground
ALT: Man Crawling on Ground
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Digital marketplace - gone in all but name Performance data - gone Service register - nothing official (but some great community resources) Working in the open - rare Open source/Open code - under significant challenge Stopping IT travesties - still folks holding the line but.. Empowered teams - 😬
I wonder how much the AI cult dynamics described in Cory Doctorow's thread, and Nikhil Suresh's post that he quotes, are also playing out in govt departments. When it's public money, we really need meaningful outcome-focused metrics and thoughtful evaluations of public sector AI adoption.
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 4d agoSuresh reports on his experience talking with hundreds of executives (and, more importantly, their subordinates) about what (if anything) AI is doing for business in an essay entitled "AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decisionmaking": hermit-tech.com/blog/ai-mani... 11/
2 days into our marathon 4 day painting marathon. Our bedroom is done. And the only thing left to paint in the living Ngggg room is a bit of woodwork. Tomorrow: We finish the downstairs hall Move into our bedroom. Monday we empty the storage unit for good.
Unexpected Finish Line Fall
ALT: Unexpected Finish Line Fall
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Exactly this. Data centres do not create long term jobs, once construction is over. But they do provide long term profits that are essentially extracted from the communities where they are sited. The only growth they bring is in corporate profit.
AgentJoeMcJoe 🇺🇸@joemcjoe11.bsky.social · 5d agoFYI. I've been in data centers. The ONLY people that work those buildings are the security people. 1st class!! The techs come in, replaces servers that fail and leave. They work for the companies. They drive in, find the broken server pull it out of the rack, put a new one in. And drive away.
‘MPs have had their stomachs pumped’: concerns over ‘alcohol-soaked’ culture in Westminster
‘MPs have had their stomachs pumped’: concerns over ‘alcohol-soaked’ culture in Westminster
Alcohol is embedded in profession where long hours, loneliness and lobbying are the norm, report finds Parliament is “Britain’s last alcohol-soaked workplace” where MPs are offered free drinks as early as midday despite alcohol-related scandals, a report has revealed. Drinking is commonplace and some MPs have had their stomachs pumped after consuming so much alcohol that they ended up in hospital, one disclosed. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
I’d love to know what people outside the industry think “data centre” actually means, because no one I know expects them to contain any jobs at all. As someone who has built several: any employee is a design flaw.
Someone had just emailed me on a Friday night to ask if I have any thoughts to share on AI in digital govt and I think my answer is that we should focus on making basic services work for everyone and stop worrying about AI
Jeanne Gibson, known worldwide as Rosie the Riveter, passed away on 29th July 2026 at the remarkable age of 100. Thank you Jeanne for giving women a symbol of strength when we were told we had none. 💋💪🏻💘
Drought has now been declared across the whole of Wales after an exceptionally dry July left rivers at critically low levels
Drought declared across all of Wales as record-dry July takes toll
Mark Mansfield Drought has now been declared across the whole of Wales after an exceptionally dry July left rivers at critically low levels and increased pressure on wildlife, farming and the natural…
wp.me
UK on track for record heat-related deaths this year, UKHSA estimates
UK on track for record heat-related deaths this year, UKHSA estimates
In a preliminary assessment, the agency said there were an estimated 2,877 heat-related deaths during the May and June heatwaves, almost double the figure for last year.
bbc.co.uk
This. Run them side by side with images of the the wildfires across the UK. The dead fields. Farmers having to dip into their winter feeds in the middle of summer. A running tally of excess deaths due to heat.
Alex Andreou@sturdyalex.bsky.social · 6d agoWhile fires rage in large parts of Europe incl UK, farmers face crop failure and livestock loss, every RefUK or Tory politician on the news must be challenged on their "let's do away with costly net zero nonsense" stance, side-by-side with live images of the cost of inaction. Expose the charlatans.
AND THAT ISN'T A GOOD THING YOU PLANK. The catastrophic thing is here. Now. Impacting things now. Wildfires across the UK. Drought. This is impacting food production, livestock NOW. Harvest cycles are off already. Farmers are feeling the impact NOW. There is no silver lining to this.
The role of gambling in all this is not being talked about nearly enough.
Peter Jukes@peterjukes.bsky.social · 6d agoJust so you know how key Cottrell was to the formation of Reform UK
really galling to get emails from Welsh Water urging you to use water carefully when we've had at least 1 outage a month this year because of endless leaks on the main line that they take forever to fix.
People talking about 1976: "we weren't dramatic like these days, we just got on with it" Also, 1976: "we have appointed a Minister for Drought and are forcing him to dance for rain"
Neon Genesis Ewangelion@ewacat.bsky.social · last wk.oh my god
I'd be much more interested in understanding WHY. What are the costs or challenges impacting food production that is causing this. [don't come at me with price gouging supermarkets etc, there's another cause here....] My money is on climate change being a hidden reason here....
Mark Chadbourn@chadbourn.bsky.social · last wk.This is quite the chart from the Associated Press.
Really important fund for VCSE orgs in Wales to support gambling harm reduction. Please share widely!
NationCymru@nation.cymru · last wk.Community groups across Wales will be able to bid for a share of £1.4 million to help prevent gambling-related harm under a new Public Health Wales grants programme
Probably the most momentous day in the renovation: The ladder is gone. I can walk up and down a set of stairs again.
Cartoon Character Sliding Down Stairs
ALT: Cartoon Character Sliding Down Stairs
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In my experience, "you cannot technology your way out of a management problem" is one of those lessons that some people and organizations seem to need to learn over and over and over again, no matter how many times it gets taught.