Mark Hopson aka the Procuremancer

Satellite images show where Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" is being built "Once you're there, there's nowhere to go, nowhere to hide," Florida's attorney general said of the new facility.

I have to see the acquisition package for this, the government cost estimate, the acquisition plan, solicitations, etc. This is phenomenal

www.newsweek.com/satellite-im...

As someone who used to equip field agents it also is very obvious none of their gear fits and all looks spanking new - it's almost as if they're finding mall cops and elevating them

The Agony and Ecstacy of the U.S. Government's Relationship with Apple's iPhone, Part 5 - the Conclusion "The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may li...

The thrilling conclusion of my iPhone story is now out for the dozens of you who read it:
plucking-the-eagle-my-misadventures-in-government.ghost.io/the-agony-an...

In the UK, you have to wear a powdered wig during the whole bidding process. It's so itchy and then you have to bring out the sow for their certifications, it's a whole thing. I honestly don't know how they buy anything from Fujitsu in time.

I just keep thinking about Margaret Hamilton essentially inventing software as a govie for the Apollo program in the 1960s versus this...

In a lot of ways yes, a form based exchange that should take minutes may take hours, days, or never now. But in some very sadly dangerous and impossible to ignore ways -- a lot of people are going to suffer loss of life, property, and more. It's going to be real bad...
bsky.app/profile/john...

Because it's the federal government there always seemed to be more money in the banana stand. What mattered was improving the lives and outcomes of fellow govies, the public at large, and the missions for each agency -- a lot of that is gone now and everyone is gonna find out the hard way

This was one of the points of @bluesky.sboots.ca original meeting cost calculator meetingcostcalculator.ca I stopped my personal tally at 18F after cross $5 billion because I can't celebrate or get an award for it (I have medals for saving $250+ million on the face of contract awards)

This is part of the challenge with this work, and why GAO has a hard time counting "actual savings," because it's not as easy as just terminating a contract -- that can cost more in the long run. Can we account for halving transaction costs with a more efficient solicitation process? etc.

Billions actually, on one of my last projects at 18F, our team helped a state achieve over $300 million in cost "avoidance" and that was just another Tuesday

Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew...I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell, but just coming to the end of his triumph.

Seeing this is what made me write up my encounter with these, I'd guess this cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 million.

I love it when the season-long plot lines finally converge

Industry Knows Best, Anecdote 1: Mobile Vehicle Units I recently told a small group of folks this story, quasi-publicly, for the first time. But I had to do it in 5 minutes. You lose a lot of the flair with that kind of time constraint. So here's the who...

Hopefully some light weekend reading, a break from my iPhone story. This is something I shared in a different forum recently but in a much truncated format.
plucking-the-eagle-my-misadventures-in-government.ghost.io/industry-kno...

Hey isn't it weird that every single AI lab is saying that their ultra-powerful flagship AI model is just around the corner, but it isn't ready yet and you can't see it and they don't know when it'll be done? Isn't it strange that everybody is having the same problems?

*NO AI WHEN WE'RE WORKING ON HUMAN THINKING*

YouTube video by Vikram Singh Lion in winter - Does it matter how a man falls?

Thank you friend.

youtu.be/lKGPiecEEbA?...

The Agony and the Ecstacy of the U.S. Government's Relationship with Apple's iPhone, Part 4 2013 was an amazing confluence of events that can best be described by a quote from Sebastian Junger's book A Perfect Storm: "Meteorologists see perfection in strange things, and the meshing of three...

A perfect storm starts forming...Governor Rick Perry shows up, someone tries to commit murder, typewriters, Nintendo cartridges, American Psycho, and more in just another day in the life of a government buyer...

plucking-the-eagle-my-misadventures-in-government.ghost.io/the-agony-an...

Besides the possible criming here, I don't understand the technical benefit. As @edzitron.com has been marvelously reporting on -- they would need training more data than has ever existed or basically could ever exist to advance the current crop of AI models. So what's the point of this?

a man with a beard says " save the dream " in a dark room ALT: a man with a beard says " save the dream " in a dark room

Thank you friend!

We'll never see "normal" again my friend

I signed the fork today, maybe saving myself or someone else from getting RIF'ed...and ServiceNow's electronic signature came out in Comic Sans.

I have been laughing at this fact for far longer than I should.

Allegedly

The Agony and Ecstacy of the U.S. Government's Relationship with Apple's iPhone, Part 3 The Search for Apple Sellers and Buyers Gets Weird... All thoughts, opinions, and other words here are exclusively the personal opinions of the author and do not express any official position, statem...

The saga continues...
plucking-the-eagle-my-misadventures-in-government.ghost.io/the-agony-an...

General Motors streetcar conspiracy - Wikipedia

We're surrounded by people who thought getting rid of streetcars to give Lewis Mumford nightmares was a good idea and should be replicated as much as possible: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General...

With #Andor ending soon I demand a nature mockumentary about a group of Ghorman refugees rescuing and re-habitating some of the spiders on a new planet.

3 season minimum named Star Webs.