peterkwells
@peterkwells.com
BlackpoolFC, books, tech, people, policy & delivery, realist. Hopes to make stuff work for everyone.
https://peterkwells.com
https://peterkwells.com
OH on way into central Manchester:
The Xmas markets are everywhere. I wish my phone would tell me how to avoid them.
The Xmas markets are everywhere. I wish my phone would tell me how to avoid them.
November 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
OH on way into central Manchester:
The Xmas markets are everywhere. I wish my phone would tell me how to avoid them.
The Xmas markets are everywhere. I wish my phone would tell me how to avoid them.
Vital instructions for care home staff
November 29, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Vital instructions for care home staff
"disabled groups say there was no consultation with them from the government"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
How Motability cuts went from a rightwing online campaign to Rachel Reeves’s budget
Car lease scheme for people with mobility problems portrayed as ‘free’ but is funded by benefits and their own contributions
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
"disabled groups say there was no consultation with them from the government"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by peterkwells
This blog post by Helen Toner (well-known by some for a stint on the OpenAI board) is *really really* interesting because it is the first thing I've read by someone in Frontier AI that starts to get to grips with sociotechnical concerns open.substack.com/pub/helenton...
Taking Jaggedness Seriously
Why we should expect AI capabilities to keep being extremely uneven, and why that matters
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:32 AM
This blog post by Helen Toner (well-known by some for a stint on the OpenAI board) is *really really* interesting because it is the first thing I've read by someone in Frontier AI that starts to get to grips with sociotechnical concerns open.substack.com/pub/helenton...
"They are not hot because they use AI for mindless slop that could easily be done by hand with Photoshop."
By hand...
with Photoshop...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
By hand...
with Photoshop...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No, your favourite influencer hasn't got a dozen Dachshund dogs. It's just AI
There’s a new social media trend taking over - influencers are using AI to add animals to their photos.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 9:51 AM
"They are not hot because they use AI for mindless slop that could easily be done by hand with Photoshop."
By hand...
with Photoshop...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
By hand...
with Photoshop...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by peterkwells
“Devastating” and “punitive” tax changes to the #Motability scheme that will add hundreds of pounds to upfront payments to lease cars are “baffling” and “unjust” and threaten to “lock disabled people out of daily life”, say campaigners.
#Budget2025
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/budgets-mota...
#Budget2025
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/budgets-mota...
November 29, 2025 at 7:30 AM
“Devastating” and “punitive” tax changes to the #Motability scheme that will add hundreds of pounds to upfront payments to lease cars are “baffling” and “unjust” and threaten to “lock disabled people out of daily life”, say campaigners.
#Budget2025
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/budgets-mota...
#Budget2025
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/budgets-mota...
Reposted by peterkwells
There’s a big sale on for a week @rosenfeldmedia.com, including on my book “Surveys That Work”
If you’ve wondered about buying it, here you go
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/survey...
If you’ve wondered about buying it, here you go
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/survey...
Surveys That Work By Caroline Jarrett
Design better surveys with Surveys That Work. A practical guide to reducing errors and getting accurate results through a seven-step process.
rosenfeldmedia.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
There’s a big sale on for a week @rosenfeldmedia.com, including on my book “Surveys That Work”
If you’ve wondered about buying it, here you go
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/survey...
If you’ve wondered about buying it, here you go
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/survey...
The Guardian's increasingly annoying self-ads can't even get the day right - it's already Friday - which makes them even more annoying
November 28, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The Guardian's increasingly annoying self-ads can't even get the day right - it's already Friday - which makes them even more annoying
Reposted by peterkwells
First sentence: "Millions of men are set to be denied routine prostate screening"
How about: "Millions of men are set to avoid harm and NHS to avoid wasted money through poorly evidenced screening programme"?
How about: "Millions of men are set to avoid harm and NHS to avoid wasted money through poorly evidenced screening programme"?
This is what happens when as a single condition health charity you’re overly focused on those who die of your condition and you don’t consider outcomes for those who don’t, or the opportunity costs involved for NHS. PCUK are particularly guilty but they’re not alone.
www.thetimes.com/article/4487...
www.thetimes.com/article/4487...
Start prostate cancer testing regardless of advice, Wes Streeting told
NHS advisers are expected to rule against a mass programme for the disease, which causes more than 12,000 deaths a year
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:56 PM
First sentence: "Millions of men are set to be denied routine prostate screening"
How about: "Millions of men are set to avoid harm and NHS to avoid wasted money through poorly evidenced screening programme"?
How about: "Millions of men are set to avoid harm and NHS to avoid wasted money through poorly evidenced screening programme"?
Reposted by peterkwells
This OBR stuff is giving me flashbacks to my ONS days a decade ago when we were redesigning the publishing system to prevent leaks while still hitting the magic 9.30 publish time for market sensitive stats - soooo many conversations about cacheing, encryption and more.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
OBR calls in cyber expert over botched release of Budget analysis
Rachel Reeves's statement was thrown into chaos after journalists were able to access the document early.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 10:19 AM
This OBR stuff is giving me flashbacks to my ONS days a decade ago when we were redesigning the publishing system to prevent leaks while still hitting the magic 9.30 publish time for market sensitive stats - soooo many conversations about cacheing, encryption and more.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Automating work is often fine (should we expect delivery drivers to walk everywhere? and ask people for directions rather than look at a map?), but delivery companies rolling out lots of robots that use pavements and don't obey basic pavement etiquette is just asking for trouble/pushback
Just as you thought food delivery companies couldn't inflict any more misery on society:
Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.
Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.
November 28, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Automating work is often fine (should we expect delivery drivers to walk everywhere? and ask people for directions rather than look at a map?), but delivery companies rolling out lots of robots that use pavements and don't obey basic pavement etiquette is just asking for trouble/pushback
Reposted by peterkwells
There was no state. Who does she think crucified him, an anarchist collective?
November 28, 2025 at 11:22 AM
There was no state. Who does she think crucified him, an anarchist collective?
Reposted by peterkwells
At the risk of starting the flame war to end all flame wars...
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
November 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM
At the risk of starting the flame war to end all flame wars...
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Reposted by peterkwells
🚨 Tickets ARE LIVE for After Section 28: LGBTQIA+ Rights in an Age of Censorship and Backlash (link in comments) 🚨
Please share, feel like this is vital now to understand the rise of anti-rights movement against LGBTQIA+ community and wider human rights
www.tickettailor.com/events/after...
Please share, feel like this is vital now to understand the rise of anti-rights movement against LGBTQIA+ community and wider human rights
www.tickettailor.com/events/after...
November 27, 2025 at 2:52 PM
🚨 Tickets ARE LIVE for After Section 28: LGBTQIA+ Rights in an Age of Censorship and Backlash (link in comments) 🚨
Please share, feel like this is vital now to understand the rise of anti-rights movement against LGBTQIA+ community and wider human rights
www.tickettailor.com/events/after...
Please share, feel like this is vital now to understand the rise of anti-rights movement against LGBTQIA+ community and wider human rights
www.tickettailor.com/events/after...
I hope it's a fully stocked Blockbuster...
November 27, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I hope it's a fully stocked Blockbuster...
"systems of generalized commodification of data, despite their coherence from the point of view of economic theory, could not be imposed on all individuals without generating a decrease in collective well-being"
www.cnil.fr/fr/monetisat...
www.cnil.fr/fr/monetisat...
Monétisation des données personnelles : combien valent nos données ?
Ces dernières années, des initiatives ont émergé autour de la « monétisation » des données personnelles, c’est-à-dire l’activité de « vendre » ses données comme une marchandise. Certaines proviennent ...
www.cnil.fr
November 27, 2025 at 9:41 AM
"systems of generalized commodification of data, despite their coherence from the point of view of economic theory, could not be imposed on all individuals without generating a decrease in collective well-being"
www.cnil.fr/fr/monetisat...
www.cnil.fr/fr/monetisat...
“when it comes to launching projects, it’s always the same few things: artificial intelligence, computing power, new energy vehicles. Should every province in the country really be developing in these directions?”
jamestown.org/prc-elites-v...
jamestown.org/prc-elites-v...
PRC Elites Voice AI-Skepticism - Jamestown
Executive Summary: Rapid advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) has become a point of national pride in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), driven in part by a cohort of accelerationist advisor...
jamestown.org
November 27, 2025 at 8:43 AM
“when it comes to launching projects, it’s always the same few things: artificial intelligence, computing power, new energy vehicles. Should every province in the country really be developing in these directions?”
jamestown.org/prc-elites-v...
jamestown.org/prc-elites-v...
Reposted by peterkwells
Standing offer: if you maintain the LLPG at a UK council and think the address records are Authority Owned Data rather than Supplied Data (iykyk), email me at [email protected]. I will try to unlock the address data legally using FOI + RPSI regs, and forget your name.
#opendata #openaddresses
#opendata #openaddresses
November 26, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Standing offer: if you maintain the LLPG at a UK council and think the address records are Authority Owned Data rather than Supplied Data (iykyk), email me at [email protected]. I will try to unlock the address data legally using FOI + RPSI regs, and forget your name.
#opendata #openaddresses
#opendata #openaddresses
Reposted by peterkwells
Hearing Rachel Reeves explain why it is so important to lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty is a reminder of what a Labour government can do. It is also a reminder of how little of this sort of thing they have done and how much more needs to be done.
November 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Hearing Rachel Reeves explain why it is so important to lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty is a reminder of what a Labour government can do. It is also a reminder of how little of this sort of thing they have done and how much more needs to be done.
Reposted by peterkwells
Scrapping the two-child limit in full is a monumental decision. Well done to all involved in the Child Poverty Strategy, and everyone who has made the case against the policy.
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
November 26, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Scrapping the two-child limit in full is a monumental decision. Well done to all involved in the Child Poverty Strategy, and everyone who has made the case against the policy.
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
Solidarity with and empathy for junior people on the frontline who press the right buttons in the wrong order
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
November 26, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Solidarity with and empathy for junior people on the frontline who press the right buttons in the wrong order
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
Yrs from someone who has been that junior person, done that pressing, looked in horror at what they'd done, & got picked up by senior ppl who looked for where the problem really was...
If you're seeing bananas appearing in yr google workspace docs....
workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/11/work...
workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/11/work...
Google Workspace Updates: Introducing Nano Banana Pro in Slides, Vids, Gemini app, and NotebookLM
workspaceupdates.googleblog.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:42 PM
If you're seeing bananas appearing in yr google workspace docs....
workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/11/work...
workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/11/work...
Reposted by peterkwells
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Reposted by peterkwells
This is *amazing*. This goes straight to Deceptive Design Hall of Shame.
They made a "take a break" nudge that has no obvious "ok, I'll take a break" affordance. Its three affordances are:
1) Keep chatting (default, highlighted)
2) x out — keeps chatting
3) "This was helpful" — what is this?
🧵
They made a "take a break" nudge that has no obvious "ok, I'll take a break" affordance. Its three affordances are:
1) Keep chatting (default, highlighted)
2) x out — keeps chatting
3) "This was helpful" — what is this?
🧵
One of the changes that OpenAI has made to make ChatGPT safer is a "take a break" nudge. There's something quite interesting about the design here. Which thing does it make you want to click?
November 24, 2025 at 2:17 PM
This is *amazing*. This goes straight to Deceptive Design Hall of Shame.
They made a "take a break" nudge that has no obvious "ok, I'll take a break" affordance. Its three affordances are:
1) Keep chatting (default, highlighted)
2) x out — keeps chatting
3) "This was helpful" — what is this?
🧵
They made a "take a break" nudge that has no obvious "ok, I'll take a break" affordance. Its three affordances are:
1) Keep chatting (default, highlighted)
2) x out — keeps chatting
3) "This was helpful" — what is this?
🧵