Mark Dalgarno

How long does it take to upgrade an eBook? The older I get, the more comfortable I become with complaining. Not merely moaning on social media, but writing a direct email to the perpetrator of some annoyance. I'd purchased an eBook and was appalled by how crappy the accessibility was. If you don't know, modern ePub books are just HTML wrapped in a zip file. They have all of the accessibility advantages of the web and should be easy to…

New blog post: How long does it take to upgrade an eBook?

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/how-long-does-it-take-to-upgrade-an-ebook/

The older I get, the more comfortable I become with complaining. Not merely moaning on social media, but writing a direct email to the perpetrator of some …

I’ve shared with the team…

Road trip!!!!

99% Done

Check out this session I'm hosting in September 🥰

It'll be an interactive & safe space for techy folks from all sectors to share the glimmers of hope, the blockers, and dream up concrete actions we can take individually and collectively to make the world a better place 🌍

I'd love to see you there!

Auditors?

If you work with patient survey design and have any good examples for symptom inventories that accurately capture highly variable histories by the way.... The existing survey designs here are SO. BAD. Undergrad level. I am in a full body cringe with every survey I read from a study on this topic :(

Ripples: Bristol (*) keynotes announced - Linda Rising and Jim Benson - what a pairing...

bristol.ripple.events/keynotes

Call for Sessions has now closed and the programme team are working up the full event programme.

1&2 day tickets now available...

(*) formerly Agile in the City: Bristol

Miro

I've seen this film...

Crime and the perception of crime: @jburnmurdoch.ft.com via @stephenkb.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/9623...

I need a few volunteers. People who have been through an assessment for ADHD. It is to complete a google form about your experience and give feedback. Any takers? TIA

Why we need a new approach to governance in public sector delivery - Softwire Discover how to transform government digital delivery governance into a lean, agile, and empowering process that accelerates outcomes and builds trust.

One of the biggest hurdles for delivering at pace in gov is Governance.

Digital delivery is inherently agile and iterative but our governance models still think in milestones, stage gates, and business cases.

I’ve written about how we can shift our approach:

www.softwire.com/insights/why...

Don’t just keep the lights on, shine bright How teams working on public sector platforms can move beyond maintenance, outshine private alternatives, and adjust their mindset to drive value for users.

This is a superb little write up by @visitmy.website on the importance for any platform team to earn their users by continually competing on the value they offer.

Forced mandates might secure you adoption but it doesn't guarantee success in the long run.

Bluesky help:

I'm pulling together a reading list around digital transformation. I've got all the usual recommendations: Lou Downe, Kate Tarling, Giles, Richard Pope, the PD book and other publications etc etc.

What else is essential reading? Books, reports, blog posts etc

Magnumificent

UK Government friends...

Do Government Departments publish their workforce plans (which roles they plan to hire for)?

Possibly as part of their spending review responses?

Not sure I ever made it down there. In my Easter Road days I tended to meet friends over at Robbie's as it was half-way between them and me or The Windsor as it was closer for folks coming from the old town.

Team fundraising for PROSTATE CANCER UK Help Helen Scott raise money to support PROSTATE CANCER UK

So close! @helenjoscott.com and I are £37 away from making our target for @prostatecanceruk.bsky.social UK! We'll be running the London Landmarks Half Marathon in April. Please donate!

www.justgiving.com/team/trisha-...

I am so excited for today’s Money Box Live because the amazing @deborahmeaden.bsky.social is joining me! The topic is ‘what I wish I’d known about money sooner’ and you can send your comments and questions to moneybox@bbc.co.uk - plus listen live at 3!

A screengrab of the job ad with a salary range of £31,997 to £43,552 and the option to work in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool or London.

A rare junior content designer vacancy, at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA):

www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...

This is really very good.

One of the clearest expositions of generational inequality and what drives it (largely housing costs ofc) - also helped challenge some of my assumptions and see things from the perspective of my parents' generation.

Reddit post on r/technology about young people and AI: "I recently heard about a teacher who instead of trying to circumvent students using AI, which is impossible, she made assignments by going "ask ChatGPT to write a report on this subject, and then research how and why it's wrong". Not only did the students discover that ChatGPT is extremely wrong a lot of the time, it also lead them to realise that they should not use it as a primary source".

This is one of the best ideas I've heard in ages.

UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years Prof Michele Dougherty is the first woman to be appointed to the influential post.

Big day for the matriarchy! 🥳 Huge congrats to the awesome Prof. Doughtery, lead on the Jupiter-bound ESA JUICE mission & STFC Exec Chair.

If anyone's confused on the astro royal hierarchy: Michele and I are the astro equivalents of 🇬🇧Westminster and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Holyrood 🤗

ℹ️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 👩‍🔬🔭🧪

Chart from Aspen Digital has basic divide between machine learning (or ML) and automated reasoning (like Big Blue) and then within ML of labelled and unlabelled datasets. Generative is in a mix of both types of datasets

Saw this and found it helpful for ‘What do you mean by Artificial Intelligence?’ chats. Generative AI is one approach, there are many

Well worth a read.

"Our problems are nowhere near as bad as previous moments in our history, and there are solutions if we’re willing to pursue them..."

We need to talk.

What's the thinking around the timeline shift?

Reconsidering human control in AI enabled healthcare There's a lot that could go wrong with AI tool so it's essential they have suitable controls in place but that doesn't mean people checking everything. We need to move to systems of reassurance.

It’s time to reframe our perspectives on human control of AI in healthcare.

The assumption is people will be in direct control of AI.But this doesn’t acknowledge the trade offs.

So we need options for different contexts & AI tools.I explore this in my article
priteshmistry.ghost.io/reconsider-h...

How is it on rewatch?

Been thinking about revisiting it myself.

Lovely couple of days in Leeds meeting colleagues from createchange.io, attending the opening for our partner Netcompany’s new Leeds office, and meeting an NHSE contact for the first time. Enjoyed a Makisushi last night too. Trip could have only been improved with added @officeofwilson.com