John Sheridan

Pure bloodlines? Ancestral homelands? DNA science says no. — Harvard Gazette Geneticist explains recent analyses made possible by tech advances show human history to be one of mixing, movement, displacement.

“Harvard geneticist David Reich said … increasingly sophisticated analysis of genetic material made possible by technological advances shows that virtually everyone came from somewhere else, and everyone’s genetic background shows a mix from different waves of migration that washed over the globe.”

Tim Berners-Lee on stage with Tania Bryer seated opposite one another. Tim's face is expressive with his hands up in the air.

Tim Berners-Lee on stage with Tania Bryer seated opposite one another. You see Tania's face smiling at Tim who is holding one hand up.

On Tuesday I launched my memoir 'This Is for Everyone' at
@cadoganhall.bsky.social

Available now @ thisisforeveryone.timbl.com & bookshops everywhere.

Special thanks to
Tania Bryer
@panmacmillan.bsky.social
@intelligence2.bsky.social

Oxford Insights | We make technology work for the public good We help governments increase the impact of their public services through empowering teams and harnessing technology.

We’d like to thank our Silver sponsor, Oxford Insights @oxfordinsights.bsky.social, for helping to make Open Data Camp 10 possible.

oxfordinsights.com

We are looking forward to seeing everyone in Edinburgh.

We really appreciate the support from all our sponsors.

#odcamp #opendata

Excellent news for roundhead colleagues. If you're lucky enough to work for a minister who'd like to exercise a delegated power or two before a certain date, but you're never sure how long an instrument has to sit before Parliament, our beloved egg timer (TM) now comes with a start date calculator.

Forgot to include a robots.txt, didn’t I. Guess it’s interesting to see how the bots pick up a new site then what they do, so I had a quick look at my logs and it was all a bit strange: dracos.co.uk/wrote/adlege...

Second blog post of the year! How I made a website to make UK legislation readable on mobile: dracos.co.uk/wrote/adlege...

It’s also not much known, I suspect, that legislation.gov.uk is the direct heir to and modern day home for all the publications / sources in S.19 (1)(a)-(c) www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/3...

I’ve just read chapters 1 & 4 from @sarahlamdan.bsky.social’s book, @pentathlos.bsky.social. Of course lawyers use various information services here in the UK, but I think this para reflects where we are with sources: caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2...

Oh gosh Andy. That’s high praise. I’m touched. The hard yards have been put in by the team relentlessly improving how they identify, record, research and apply amendments. That, and importing, then updating the Acquis / REUL / assimilated law ;-)

I think it is hard to underestimate how important this website is for the Rule of Law in the UK. Before 2010, if you wanted to find out what statutes were actually in force you essentially needed a subscription to a very expensive commercial product like Halsbury's Statutes.

I should also post a link to this news story: webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/201010...

Turns out legislation.gov.uk is 15 years old today. How the time flies @jenitennison.com!

GovCamp is looking for suggestions of solicitors or equivalent organisations who can help put us on a more formal legal footing. We'd like an ideally free initial consultation followed by us paying them to do the paperwork for the new org.

If you have positive recommendations please RSVP.

Thanks!

We call it “legacy software” because “unmaintained software” is too close to home

Brilliant @dracos.co.uk! The desktop design is driving me nuts too ;-) I’ll share with the team. Also, please do pass on data and CSS suggestions, to legislation@nationalarchives.gov.uk We’ve been figuring out a technical infrastructure for a new front end, so the timing is perfect for improvements.

Have you seen any of Jacques Tati’s films? Especially the satires of modernism, Mon Oncle and Playtime. I find myself wondering what he’d make of contemporary AI.

Library Catalogues As Data book

Hurrah! My next book is instantiated, and in-the-world! Library Catalogues As Data: Research, Practice, Usage. Edited with Paul Gooding and @semames.bsky.social. Proud of this one! Official publication date soon… www.facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/...

Registration for #BIALL2025 is open from 10.30 this morning – see you soon! 🎉🎉🎉

That’s made me smile, Jeni. I enjoyed reading through this again :-) Article 1(4) especially, given what later happens to the UK Statute Book…

This is well worth reading if you have time. Great work by Ben and team.

My first blog post at the Landecker Digital Memory Lab.

Listening to old favourites, a selection of recordings of Movement III, the Adagio, from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. No HIP here, for me, I’m afraid.

it's #dpc #digitalpreservation #ff Follow Friday. This week I was delighted to discover the great @digivall.bsky.social on the blue sky. Valerie is co-Chair of iPRES this year and co-Convenor of NDF so has an eye for all the cool things in #digipres. Also a wonderful colleague! Highly recommend.

Enjoy your evening! :-)

What is the lifespan of software? What if you make software that's silly and full of whimsy? Will people remember it? Anyway, here's a video someone recently posted of “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan performed through the composer feature in Mario Paint, a game released on Super Nintendo in 1992

Last call. If you're looking for something to do over the weekend...

Start With Imagination, Not Code Lessons from Building a Shared Legislative Platform

This is a really good interview with the fabulous Matt Lynch on Lawmaker - start with imagination not code, he says. modparl.substack.com/p/lawmaker

Thank you for sharing your work with the DLM Forum members, Andy. Thoughtful and thought provoking. Brilliant stuff!

On the sofa with a cold instead of working at my desk, catching up with FT weekend. V.much enjoyed this column about the importance of archives and institutional memory.
The thing about experience and very specific knowledge is, you can‘t foresee when you will need them again.
So keep your records.

Ask courageous questions. Do not be satisfied with superficial answers. Be open to wonder and at the same time subject all claims to knowledge, without exception, to critical scrutiny. Be aware of human fallibility. Cherish your species and your planet.

~ Carl Sagan