Harry Metcalfe
@harrym.com
Entrepreneur, problem solver, technical person. Believer that tech can and should make things better. Erstwhile prodder of government. PhD dropout. Founder of dxw, advisor to Tradecraft. Quietly poly 🐦 harry_m on Mastodon.social.
Published my first Substack post in six months - it's about losing and regaining momentum with your writing and, as the title suggests, telling people the difficult life shit that gets in the way #amwriting #writingcommunity #writerssky open.substack.com/pub/lanaharp...
On making the deeply personal public
Yep, I'm gonna do it here, strap in
open.substack.com
When will this totally mad nonsense end? I mean _really_. www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad...
Owen Boswarva's blog
This is Owen Boswarva's blog.
owenboswarva.com
Amusing Claude Code phrase number 761: "permissive footgun". Indeed Claude, indeed. Naughty robot.
[boomer-esque rant warning] There really is something about people outsourcing their responsibility to insurance companies "because of insurance reasons" that grinds my gears very loudly Don't blame the insurance monster, just own your decision
Just watched two founders on a panel, both who sell services to the NHS, both just answered a question about how to sell into the NHS by saying that it's too hard, and they shouldn't try. "Choose another vertical", one said. This makes me sad. If worked in the NHS it would be make me very sad.
New writing! On finding meaning in work, and the effect AI will have on that, and what to do about it. blog.harrym.com/p/the-specta...
The spectator at the desk
On the troubling emptiness of extraordinary productivity
blog.harrym.com
More pondering on AI as I wrangle with what it means for public servants... Here's where I've got to so far: There is a useful path to take between hype and doom. It's time to keep experimenting and learning as nobody knows what the future will bring. jasonkitcat.com/2026/03/02/s...
Some thoughts on AI
“Anyone who tries to tell us they know the future is simply trying to own it.” — Margaret Heffernan in her introduction to Uncharted Take a deep breath. Nobody knows what is going to happen with AI…
jasonkitcat.com
A new post on something I've been wanting to talk about for a longgg time #writing open.substack.com/pub/lanaharp...
Reason 4: Why haven’t you written that novel yet?
Virginia Woolf knew it: money, money, money
open.substack.com
Brilliant, geeky, healthy news... well done to @bengoldacre.bsky.social et al.
Ben Goldacre@bengoldacre.bsky.social · 6mo agoOpenSAFELY is open from today! Huge thanks to all who supported this vast collaboration: whole population GP data; in a productive platform; innovative privacy protections; unprecedented support from professions, privacy campaigners; &c Now it's over to users! www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/02...
How can it possibly be the case that a fresh Ubuntu install, in 2026, still doesn't understand what monitors I have and what resolutions they support? This was annoying and weird ten years ago
The lack of coverage on this story is surprising, but ho hum. TL;DR: the medics who broke windows at JP Morgan as part of a climate protest, and who suffered a mistrial two years ago, have just been retried and found unanimously not guilty. thedoctor.bma.org.uk/articles/hea...
Doctors cleared of criminal damage
Six healthcare workers, including four doctors, say their climate activism has been vindicated after being found not guilty of criminal damage for breaking glass windows at the offices of JP Morgan th...
thedoctor.bma.org.uk
"The Ministry of Justice will deploy machine learning to identify at-risk children for early intervention and to help prevent them falling into a life of crime" <- focus on structures and causes, not individuals, and look deeper than just "data" [repeat forever] www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
The machines that will predict the criminals of the future
The Ministry of Justice will deploy machine learning to identify at-risk children for early intervention and to help prevent them falling into a life of crime
thetimes.com
I’m pretty confident in calling this fake. The user who posted it seems to be part of a substantial network of accounts with similar usernames all posting and commenting on each other’s content. Ironically it’s a great example of an AI agent making stuff up to tell you what you want to hear
A certain campaign website launched last week was a bit security-broken, in a way that has wider lessons for AI-coded stuff. Writing 👇 blog.harrym.com/p/hold-the-s...
Hold the security: a vibe-coding story
Vibe-coded doesn't mean vibe-secure, so we should try and stop the internet being full of even more broken things
blog.harrym.com
NEW The High Court rules the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful. What did the judgment say and not say, and what has changed and not changed. And what happens next. Quick explainer by me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
The High Court rules the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful. What next?
This is a big judgment. But not everything has changed
prospectmagazine.co.uk
👇Just an hour left to go on this! Go on and pop a quick response in before bed. Every little helps.
Harry Metcalfe@harrym.com · 6mo agoI've just responded to the Earned Settlement consultation. It closes tonight. The whole idea is dreadful but what stuck with me most is the gross arrogance of the whole exercise. A (cross) thread 🧵
If you haven’t quite yet found the time to do this, please scrape together a few minutes this evening - the consultation closes just before midnight UK time. If time is tight, skip the 200-word open answers. Your votes on closed answers matter. www.gov.uk/government/c...
Earned settlement
The government is consulting on how the current settlement system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented.
gov.uk
Harry Metcalfe@harrym.com · 6mo agoI've just responded to the Earned Settlement consultation. It closes tonight. The whole idea is dreadful but what stuck with me most is the gross arrogance of the whole exercise. A (cross) thread 🧵
I've just responded to the Earned Settlement consultation. It closes tonight. The whole idea is dreadful but what stuck with me most is the gross arrogance of the whole exercise. A (cross) thread 🧵
gov.uk
NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months * Down in 2025 * Still below Mar 2024 * Clean energy wave a key factor If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far… www.carbonbrief.org/...
@garycp.bsky.social Hello, I notice that you were the first person to post about holdtheline.org.uk on here and Twitter, is it yours? If so please could you follow back for a DM?
Fun new problems for 2026: Claude Code puts API keys in its plan, and then puts its plan on Github/Gist
Rather gratifying, mid-debug on an annoying problem and having asked Claude Code "Is this just stupid Windows bollocks" when it replied "Yes, this is just stupid Windows bollocks" (I have learned my lesson and moved to Ubuntu)
I hope all the UKGC26 folks have a great time tomorrow! I'll be looking out for the highlights
Quietly amused that the Substack article reader pronounces Badenoch "Baddy-knock"
New writing! On realism and antirealism and their mutual unhelpfulness open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
Realism, antirealism and the middle way
I'm calling it Demirealism, but that's mostly an in-joke
open.substack.com
I don't think any TV people follow me except James, but if you're a TV person who isn't James, you should hire James and also watch his shows. He's rather good.
James Hamilton@jameshamiltonwriter.com · 7mo agoOne week into 2026, Murder for Dummies won "Best Series" at the Utah International Film Festival! You should watch and/or hire me to write for you! murderfordummies.com