Mark Foden

"it seems that many platforms are using the Online Safety Act as an excuse to conduct a data grab on a massive scale"

I’d say that relations being reality applies down to Planck scales but at this level quantum mechanics breaks down (or at least is incomplete) because it doesn’t account for gravity… so who knows I guess

Am thinking Rovelli means interaction between two systems: like the spin of an electron is fundamentally a relation between the particle and a measuring apparatus. But, in turn, the electron is a system comprising interactions between (say) loops of quantum gravity at the Planck scale. Or such…

In his book Helgoland, Carlo Rovelli advocates that reality is fundamentally about relations, rather than substances. The universe being made not of “things”, but of happenings in systems. I suspect he'd say information was the same. Does that fit with your thinking here?

Absolutely mind-boggling that the UK Govt has *still* not reviewed its use of X

47% of people think immigration is primarily illegal. There were 4% irregular arrivals in March

New YouGov polling. A monumental failure of our political class to educate, a monumental failure of our media to report fairly, for a generation

'One-in, one-out' small boats pilot plan comes into force The "one-in, one-out" deal will see some of those arriving in the UK returned to France.

Starmer says that this pilot will “deliver real results”

It may, but how can he possibly know? In complexity it’s critical to proceed through a collection of small safe-to-fail experiments to learn what might work

#complexity www.bbc.com/news/article...

Using (and if able paying for) services that protect our privacy - even if they are not quite as good - is important

DuckDuckGo - Protection. Privacy. Peace of mind. The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.

Time to move to duckduckgo.com

VPNs top App Store charts as UK age verification kicks in Experts say free versions of such apps or services may carry potential security and privacy risks.

"experts say free versions of VPN apps or services may carry security and privacy risks"

Well fuck my old boots... as we used to say in the Army

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As of July 2025, Joe Biden is the current and sitting President of the United States. He began his term on January 20, 2021, after defeating Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. There has not been another presidential election since then, so Trump is not currently president.

ChatGPT thinks that Biden is president

I love that you tried, at least. Spent 10 years banging my head against a PDF wall until we learned to 'live with the enemy' and have both flavours; HTML for accessibility and PDF to keep managers (and some users) happy. Example below www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/safeguardi...

Document standards and the rankling print presumption — Mark Foden My heart sinks when I get a document by email. My work being mostly with government, this happens quite a lot. It takes time to load the document software, time to orient myself to the layout and time...

Doin’ my ‘ed in. This from more than a decade ago:

markfoden.com/blog/2014/01...

Independent Water Commission: review of the water sector The Independent Water Commission’s final report sets out recommendations for reform to improve the water sector regulatory system in England and Wales.

Can somebody also please commission a five year, 1,000 page review into why we’re still publishing public documents as PDF in 2025?

www.gov.uk/government/p...

I’ve been tracking authoritarian-like actions of the Trump administration since Jan 2025.

In Feb, I introduced 5 broad domains of authoritarianism for the logged actions - then only 79.

As the number of actions has grown, I wanted to create a website that lets people explore them easily. 2/14

‘Just Asking Questions’ Got No Answers About Epstein Right-wing internet personalities have a lot to learn from the mainstream media that they decry.

“If the Epstein scandal teaches us anything, it is that America needs a dedicated and decently funded group of people whose job is not just to ask questions, but to find answers,” @helenlewis.bsky.social writes. “Let’s call them journalists.”

"Mr. Jones does not even pretend to know what's happening in America right now, and neither does anyone else ... the only ones left with any confidence at all are the New Dumb. It is the beginning of the end of our world as we knew it. Doom is the operative ethic" -- Hunter S Thompson (again) - 2003

Picture of a paragraph of these words: "In any case, we soon learned that "the new plan, Just in from Washington" is to keep weirdos, foreigners, and other dangerous bad apples out of all National Forests in the nation, lest they set fires and spread anthrax or anything else that swarthy terrorists are wont to do. ... They are Evil, they are savage, and they must be arrested before they set fire to the whole goddamn country"

“the new plan, Just in from Washington is to keep weirdos, foreigners, and other dangerous bad apples out of all National Forests in the nation” — Hunter S Thompson’s autobiography - Kingdom of Fear - 2003

There is nothing new under the sun

text "if you see a country w/o editorial cartoonists or one where they are not creating tough pointed satire agains politicians and policies be aware" a silenced cartoonist is an indicator of an unhealthy environment for freedom of expression" editorial cartoonists are democracy's canary in a coal mine. cartoon by Ann telnaes journalist in a cage in a coal mine image.

Your actions to support a free press that acts in support of reality and democracy:
-follow @adamzyglis.bsky.social + share his work (w/credit)
-send a message to the @buffalonews.com in support of Adam and their joint free press editorial freedoms

#PressFreedom
h/t👇
@anntelnaes.bsky.social
4/4

Digital Government at the Crossroads Introduction Governments have launched a series of ambitious digital strategies over recent decades to improve how they operate and interact with citizens. However, many of their anticipated benefits ...

“Digital Government at the Crossroads”—in this article for the Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics, and Art I explore why ‘digital government’ needs a rethink and reset to help democracies learn smarter, react faster, and adapt better to the growing challenges they face

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning” — Mark Twain

How the Binding of Two Brain Molecules Creates Memories That Last a Lifetime An interaction between two proteins points to a molecular basis for memory. But how do memories last when the molecules that form them turn over within days, weeks, or months?

An interaction between two proteins points to a molecular basis for memory. But how do memories last when the molecules that form them turn over within days, weeks, or months? www.wired.com/story/the-mo...

This puts me in mind of Carlo Rovelli’s idea in his book Helgoland that reality is fundamentally about relations, rather than substances. The universe being made not of “things”, but of happenings in systems. Was about quantum mechanics but applies generally.

I like this book, and I especially like the title, which pretty well sums up the foul nature of life in the U.S.A. in these first few bloody years of the post-American century. Only a fool or a whore would call it anything else. It would be easy to say that we owe it all to the Bush family from Texas, but that would be too simplistic. They are only errand boys for the vengeful, bloodthirsty cartel of raving Jesus-freaks and super-rich money mongers who have ruled this country for at least the last 20 years, and arguably for the past 200. They take orders well, and they don't ask too many questions. The real power in America is held by a fast-emerging new Oligarchy of pimps and preachers who see no need for Democracy or fairness or even trees, except maybe the ones in their own yards, and they don't mind admitting it. They worship money and power and death. Their ideal solution to all the nation's problems would be another 100 Year War. Kingdom of Fear Hunter S Thompson 2003

“The real power in America is held by a fast-emerging new Oligarchy of pimps and preachers who see no need for Democracy or fairness or even trees, except maybe the ones in their own yard”

Hunter S Thompson - 2003

Prescient chap that Hunter S Thompson

Sir Andy Murray: British Wimbledon tennis legend says social media is damaging as he backs Katie Boulter Sir Andy Murray says he is trying to protect his children from

There is relentless emphasis on shielding youngsters from the consequences of big tech social media rather than the central problems…
- the business model/algorithms of the companies that run it
- well-known people complaining about it rather than abandoning it

www.bbc.com/sport/tennis...

Articulate and awful

“Even after NPfIT, we do not believe the lessons of adaptive change have been fully learnt, and this may well be the greatest threat to the current efforts to digitise the NHS” @bobwachter.bsky.social in his wise 2016 report www.gov.uk/government/p...

UK govt approach has changed little in a decade

Ann Telnaes resigned from The Washington Post after they refused to publish one of her cartoons depicting some tech bros kneeling before Trump. She now works on her own…

YouTube video by California Governor Gavin Newsom Governor Newsom Delivers Major Address to Californians

Good summary

youtu.be/pXQQNUeb4Sw

One stop shop for tech could save taxpayers £1.2 billion and overhaul how government buys digital tools A first-of-its-kind digital marketplace is being built to help shake up how the UK public sector buys technology - hoping to unlock £1.2 billion in annual savings, save time and give public servants t...

This, I guess? www.gov.uk/government/n...