Matt Ballantine

Weeknote 767: leaning in This week I have learned: that I had hit a moment where I was feeling that things were happening to me, out of my control. Time to lean in, and take a role rather than wait to be given one. Hopeful…

My 767th set of #weeknotes after what has been quite a long week… mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/02/13/w...

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You might find this happy, @adamleventhal.bsky.social

isedstillwatfordcoach.com

Thought you mind find this useful @watfordpodcast.bsky.social

isedstillwatfordcoach.com

In case you need to keep up...

isedstillwatfordcoach.com

Also: wealth has no correlation to intelligence.

I vividly remember writing the words "individual's internal arbitration" in an essay at university and thinking "I've just used 3 long words to say 'thinking'".

I think the word you're looking for there John is "racist".

I miss when overseas sports' commentator audio was obviously supplied over a telephone.

The way this stuff in Nectar works can only be explained by some of their marketing folk getting pissed, using Temu and then deciding that what Sainsbury's was missing was batshit gamification.

Darn.

I hope you're not blaming Watford for this...

He's a very naughty boy?

To paraphrase the apocryphal Henry Ford quote, "nobody was asking for smarter horses"...

Weeknote 766: establishing This week I have learned: sometimes consulting feels a bit like being part of a David Attenborough production, watching things in their natural habitats. I’m increasingly of the view that tal…

Welcome to the 766th edition of my #weeknotes:

mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/02/06/w...

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Is the "retire online" option going to be generally available? I quite like the idea of being able to withdraw from digital life at some point...

Weeknote 765: directions This week I have learned: Getting people together to think and talk is of such value. I’m increasingly using audio recording and NotebookLM to analyse after the fact. It means everyone can fo…

A busy week. Here are the #weeknotes:

mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/01/30/w...

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Polygamous working: why are people secretly doing two or three full-time jobs at once? Holding multiple jobs without your employer’s knowledge has boomed in the age of hybrid working. Is it a canny response to job insecurity – or a fast track to getting fired?

Seeing all this stuff about polygamous working crack downs in the public sector and can't help thinking "how many jobs does Farage have?"

www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...

I remember getting hold of a history of beanie babies when that was happening. The parallels are very strong.

I also know an old book specialist who lost her job at one of the big auction houses because they bet the farm on nfts...

Weeknote 764: Apophenia This week I have learned: a series of events happening in quick succession can often become a pattern in our minds, even when they are merely a random coincidence. The Availability Heuristic can th…

Another Friday set of #weeknotes reflections: mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/01/23/w...

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Just imagine having a family that dislikes you so much that they'd allow you to have your mental decline happen in the full glare of the world's media. Tragic.

Or that he's in power for another three...

Weeknote 763: Hugh! This week I have learned: how to start building back ends as well as front ends. My LLM coding until now has focused on building simple (in structure) HTML apps. This week, I made my first foray in…

It's Friday, and so time for this week's #Weeknotes. This week containing Art, LLM coding and fluff.

mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/01/16/w...

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Estate agents board for "Miles and Bird".

Saw this and thought "wow, an estate agents inspired by jazz legends".

Turns out it's just the founders' names.

Why doesn't this surprise me?

Clip from the guardian... "His justification? "If we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor," Trump said."

A map of the Bering Strait, where the US and Russia are 56 miles away.

Here's a fucking idiot.

Weeknote 762: 2026 This week I have learned: how fusing metaphors can lead to fascinating outcomes (blog on this here). how being away from work for a while can give the brain space to make those sorts of connections…

Back into the swing of it - here are the first #weeknotes of 2026...

mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/01/09/w...

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Screen shot of The Guardian app with the words "Video Watch the moment woman fatally shot by ICE agent during Minnesota raid"

Actually, @theguardian.com, no thanks.

This is so grim. Snuff news.

I have no idea what you are talking about, Ebeneezer.

3 Es is an accurate summary of half of my A-level results.

I have a general rule that any presentation based on words starting with the same letter is bollocks.

I once asked a famous CEO who gave a presentation on the "10 Cs of business" what the chances were of the ten most important things all starting with a C. He wasn't pleased.