@annadent.bsky.social
Research and policy adviser www.abdconsultancy.co.uk Futures of work, digital welfare state, tech ethics, public sector innovation Also cats, telly, general silliness Now with added newsletter! https://www.abdconsultancy.co.uk/digital-welfare-state
2026 is the year of the horse
The horse:
And the target of their weirdness is mainly women - what a surprise
24.02.2026 16:34 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Bright yellow narcissi flowers in bloom, bathed in sunshine
It's still February but things are looking up
24.02.2026 16:30 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Just took this while having a cuppa in the garden ☺️
24.02.2026 16:28 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
AI transcribing, public sector data sharing, chatbots x3 and more in the latest edition of my digital welfare state newsletter:
24.02.2026 13:45 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0*niche post for self-employed people in the UK*
Just had a wonderful realisation - because I was PAYE for a good chunk of 2024-25, I don't meet the earnings threshold for Making Tax Digital this year! I can wait and see how it pans out and hopefully choose good software next year! PHEW.
AI transcribing, public sector data sharing, chatbots x3 and more in the latest edition of my digital welfare state newsletter:
24.02.2026 13:45 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0Tried to remember the name of a cycling challenge my partner was doing
Ted Bloggins, I said
Hm, close, he said, Fred Whitton
Useful thread for people who keep hearing about data centres being built for cloud computing and ‘AI’, but who don’t really know what a data centre is.
23.02.2026 20:28 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0Btw a data centre “doesn’t create any jobs” apart from a few engineering jobs and “transient jobs” during the construction phase, said Hone. I’ve noted this before but perhaps we should all start saying it ritualistically, like a prayer to ward off the incessant PR
23.02.2026 19:01 — 👍 11 🔁 3 💬 3 📌 0If you think public spaces can be hostile for women now, wait until every man can use their Meta facial recognition glasses to identify any woman they see, slide instantly into their DMs, and then get mad when they don't instantly and positively respond.
Burn this company to the ground.
It's the last week of February
There is a whisper of spring in the air
It's the eighth edition of my newsletter
literally DOZENS of jobs!
23.02.2026 07:25 — 👍 94 🔁 35 💬 1 📌 1Beyond me how anyone wouldn't immediately assume this is how they would be used
22.02.2026 20:04 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Newsletter number 8 out tomorrow!
Sign up now for a dose of news about the digital welfare state in your inbox first thing
I think in many cases they aren't even aware that there might be a right thing and a wrong thing, just the thing they think will make them money
22.02.2026 18:22 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Emily you're a machine!
22.02.2026 18:18 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0More evidence for the 'money can't buy taste' files
22.02.2026 13:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0When you put it like this, a $75 million bribe to Melania and gutting the Washington Post seems like a small price to pay.
22.02.2026 02:10 — 👍 10711 🔁 3998 💬 255 📌 94
Oops. Turns out Persona, Discord’s age-verification service, was secretly screening selfies against government watchlists AND accessible by the feds. It's backed by Peter Thiel.
“The state wants to see everything. The corporations want to see everything. And they've learned to work together.”
Booooooooo
21.02.2026 20:50 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0This tale could perhaps be interpreted as a wider metaphor 🤔
21.02.2026 16:21 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Stop this now says Percy. The lap is not for the laptop.
21.02.2026 15:18 — 👍 7 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0If you want tiramisu, just get tiramisu. If you want triple chocolate cake, just get triple chocolate cake. All these other things exist, hot cross buns do not need to fill any gaps in the cake and pudding universe
21.02.2026 13:48 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Is anyone documenting the crimes against hot cross buns?
Lemon and white chocolate??
Triple chocolate??
🤢
Percy the white and black cat asleep on his back on a yellow and black Welsh blanket, his left paw is over his face like he's hiding from the light
Percy says stay in bed a bit longer
21.02.2026 09:22 — 👍 16 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Interesting how many of the Men Who Have Made Mistakes from the last few weeks are linked
Simons
Mcsweeny
Mandelson
Theil
Epstein
Andrew
Not saying it's a big conspiracy, or that all of them know each other, more like a closed ecosystem of powerful men that operate on their own rules
Maybe AI girlfriends aren't entirely a bad idea. I'd hate any actual woman to end up with this guy.
20.02.2026 17:57 — 👍 27 🔁 4 💬 4 📌 1
NEW
How Palantir captured the Ministry of Defence
How a close read of public domain documents show how MoD was commercially colonised by Palantir
By me, at FT
www.ft.com/content/5207...
Can't let that lovely logo go to waste!!
20.02.2026 14:57 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
