peterkwells
@peterkwells.com
BlackpoolFC, books, tech, people, policy & delivery, realist. Hopes to make stuff work for everyone.
https://peterkwells.com
https://peterkwells.com
*adds to list of examples of the limits of 'transparency'*
I am introducing the Quick Recognition (QR) Act, which requires ICE and CBP officers to wear uniforms featuring QR codes. When scanned, the code would generate a digital ID displaying the officer’s name, badge number, and law enforcement agency.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
January 14, 2026 at 6:37 PM
*adds to list of examples of the limits of 'transparency'*
“We are saying that you will need mandatory digital ID to be able to work in the UK....whether that has to be one piece of ID, a digital ID card, or whether it could be an e-visa or an e-passport, and we’re pretty relaxed about what form that takes."
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Rachel Reeves ‘pretty relaxed’ about what form of digital ID workers use
Right to work can be proved using digital ID card, e-visa or e-passport, in change to policy government insists is not a U-turn
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:46 PM
“We are saying that you will need mandatory digital ID to be able to work in the UK....whether that has to be one piece of ID, a digital ID card, or whether it could be an e-visa or an e-passport, and we’re pretty relaxed about what form that takes."
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by peterkwells
Not every day that I say it but run don't walk to ... LinkedIn for this important statement and the clear, deeply informed, forceful but respectful discussion in comments below it on how to combine a realism (indeed captial R Realism) of network analysis with an optimism of engineering will.
Joint Statement: Internet Architects & Leaders Condemn the Iran Shutdown www.linkedin.com/pulse/joint-...
LinkedIn Pulse
www.linkedin.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Not every day that I say it but run don't walk to ... LinkedIn for this important statement and the clear, deeply informed, forceful but respectful discussion in comments below it on how to combine a realism (indeed captial R Realism) of network analysis with an optimism of engineering will.
"yeah mate, a ticket from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly via Manchester Airport and one of the Warringtons please"
Bloody hell. They are going to build two new Warringtons, a second Manchester Airport, a new Huddersfield and move the entire of Manchester!
As for Hull, well it’s not like either of them actually need to be on the coast
As for Hull, well it’s not like either of them actually need to be on the coast
January 14, 2026 at 12:12 PM
"yeah mate, a ticket from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly via Manchester Airport and one of the Warringtons please"
Reposted by peterkwells
Moving organisations along is hard. I did a talk on it last year and now it's here in blog form.
public.digital/pd-insights/...
public.digital/pd-insights/...
Six levers for creating change in the face of resistance — Public Digital
public.digital
January 14, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Moving organisations along is hard. I did a talk on it last year and now it's here in blog form.
public.digital/pd-insights/...
public.digital/pd-insights/...
Right-wing conspiracists: "local armed Islamists" forced West Midlands police to say Maccabi Tel Aviv fans couldn't attend match at Villa
Occam's razor: perhaps this just was another case of police leadership/decision-making being terrible in several ways, including not checking primary sources...
Occam's razor: perhaps this just was another case of police leadership/decision-making being terrible in several ways, including not checking primary sources...
January 14, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Right-wing conspiracists: "local armed Islamists" forced West Midlands police to say Maccabi Tel Aviv fans couldn't attend match at Villa
Occam's razor: perhaps this just was another case of police leadership/decision-making being terrible in several ways, including not checking primary sources...
Occam's razor: perhaps this just was another case of police leadership/decision-making being terrible in several ways, including not checking primary sources...
Reposted by peterkwells
You can set any AI system into a never-ending death loop by asking it to calculate when Preston North End* will reach the Premier League.
[*feel free rework this post changing it to the name of your rival football team]
[*feel free rework this post changing it to the name of your rival football team]
January 14, 2026 at 8:33 AM
You can set any AI system into a never-ending death loop by asking it to calculate when Preston North End* will reach the Premier League.
[*feel free rework this post changing it to the name of your rival football team]
[*feel free rework this post changing it to the name of your rival football team]
*listens to radio interview about UK digital ID policy changes*
*underlines "digital ID check...[produces data that...] that helps target enforcement of...[one or both parties being checked]" as a term that needs more unpicking/explanation*
*underlines "digital ID check...[produces data that...] that helps target enforcement of...[one or both parties being checked]" as a term that needs more unpicking/explanation*
January 14, 2026 at 8:29 AM
*listens to radio interview about UK digital ID policy changes*
*underlines "digital ID check...[produces data that...] that helps target enforcement of...[one or both parties being checked]" as a term that needs more unpicking/explanation*
*underlines "digital ID check...[produces data that...] that helps target enforcement of...[one or both parties being checked]" as a term that needs more unpicking/explanation*
Reposted by peterkwells
Friends, Claudette Colvin—the 15-year-old who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus in March 1955 & joined the federal case against bus segregation that went to the Supreme Court — died today at age 86. But there are lots of myths and mis-impressions about her. A short corrective thread:
January 14, 2026 at 1:27 AM
Friends, Claudette Colvin—the 15-year-old who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus in March 1955 & joined the federal case against bus segregation that went to the Supreme Court — died today at age 86. But there are lots of myths and mis-impressions about her. A short corrective thread:
Reposted by peterkwells
Incredible scenes as a Royal Mail signed for parcel was signed for by my doorstep! Move over AI sentience philosophers!
January 13, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Incredible scenes as a Royal Mail signed for parcel was signed for by my doorstep! Move over AI sentience philosophers!
*imagine if telecoms companies had decent customer service and, if a service was broken and would take a long time to fix, provided a working alternative in the interim even if it cost them money/shame to get that from a different supplier not affected by problem*
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Villagers in broadband 'abyss' without internet or TV for six weeks
Openreach blame the rural location of Llanelidan in Denbighshire and landowner permissions for the delay.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 13, 2026 at 1:07 PM
*imagine if telecoms companies had decent customer service and, if a service was broken and would take a long time to fix, provided a working alternative in the interim even if it cost them money/shame to get that from a different supplier not affected by problem*
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Listening to some TV channels discuss UK / X / Grok / 'nudification' stuff and oh my word that people can't yet distinguish between something happening on a high-use social media site, directed at an individual, or within the relative 'comfort' of someone's personal experience is ~fascinating~
January 13, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Listening to some TV channels discuss UK / X / Grok / 'nudification' stuff and oh my word that people can't yet distinguish between something happening on a high-use social media site, directed at an individual, or within the relative 'comfort' of someone's personal experience is ~fascinating~
You ain't a business, HMRC, people who receive child benefit aren't "customers"
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
January 12, 2026 at 6:29 PM
You ain't a business, HMRC, people who receive child benefit aren't "customers"
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
"Living on this planet for quite a few decades, I have learned that it rarely works to grab things if you don’t actually touch them"
noheger.at/blog/2026/01...
noheger.at/blog/2026/01...
The struggle of resizing windows on macOS Tahoe – no.heger
noheger.at
January 12, 2026 at 5:39 PM
"Living on this planet for quite a few decades, I have learned that it rarely works to grab things if you don’t actually touch them"
noheger.at/blog/2026/01...
noheger.at/blog/2026/01...
Reposted by peterkwells
Want to make a difference for the people of #NewcastleCentralandWest? Passionate about the power of innovation to make life better in the UK?
I'm hiring a new Parliamentary Assistant / Senior Parliamentary Assistant. Apply by 25th January 👇🏾
recruitment.hivesupport.co.uk/job/34526/pa...
I'm hiring a new Parliamentary Assistant / Senior Parliamentary Assistant. Apply by 25th January 👇🏾
recruitment.hivesupport.co.uk/job/34526/pa...
New Job Opening: Parliamentary Assistant/Senior Parliamentary Assistant to Dame Chi Onwurah MP in House of Commons
Apply Now!
recruitment.hivesupport.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Want to make a difference for the people of #NewcastleCentralandWest? Passionate about the power of innovation to make life better in the UK?
I'm hiring a new Parliamentary Assistant / Senior Parliamentary Assistant. Apply by 25th January 👇🏾
recruitment.hivesupport.co.uk/job/34526/pa...
I'm hiring a new Parliamentary Assistant / Senior Parliamentary Assistant. Apply by 25th January 👇🏾
recruitment.hivesupport.co.uk/job/34526/pa...
Out: ICO data police jackets, so late 2010s
In: Ofcom online safety police jackets
In: Ofcom online safety police jackets
January 12, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Out: ICO data police jackets, so late 2010s
In: Ofcom online safety police jackets
In: Ofcom online safety police jackets
Why am I hearing the phrase "tax dodger" a lot at the moment?
Oh...
Oh...
January 12, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Why am I hearing the phrase "tax dodger" a lot at the moment?
Oh...
Oh...
Colleagues: how was your weekend Peter?
Me: well I had the world's worst ever taco at a try-hard hipster-ish place in hipster-ish Stockport
A taco that had the consistency of a pancake and made me wonder whether the people who made/serve it had ever seen a picture of a taco, let alone eaten one
Me: well I had the world's worst ever taco at a try-hard hipster-ish place in hipster-ish Stockport
A taco that had the consistency of a pancake and made me wonder whether the people who made/serve it had ever seen a picture of a taco, let alone eaten one
January 12, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Colleagues: how was your weekend Peter?
Me: well I had the world's worst ever taco at a try-hard hipster-ish place in hipster-ish Stockport
A taco that had the consistency of a pancake and made me wonder whether the people who made/serve it had ever seen a picture of a taco, let alone eaten one
Me: well I had the world's worst ever taco at a try-hard hipster-ish place in hipster-ish Stockport
A taco that had the consistency of a pancake and made me wonder whether the people who made/serve it had ever seen a picture of a taco, let alone eaten one
*reads two open tabs about LLMs and "memory"*
*realises they're talking about different kinds of "memory" that differ both technically and in their broader effects as people use LLM-enabled products*
*waves another comedy-grumpy fist at human language and all of its wonderful ambiguities*
*realises they're talking about different kinds of "memory" that differ both technically and in their broader effects as people use LLM-enabled products*
*waves another comedy-grumpy fist at human language and all of its wonderful ambiguities*
January 12, 2026 at 9:34 AM
*reads two open tabs about LLMs and "memory"*
*realises they're talking about different kinds of "memory" that differ both technically and in their broader effects as people use LLM-enabled products*
*waves another comedy-grumpy fist at human language and all of its wonderful ambiguities*
*realises they're talking about different kinds of "memory" that differ both technically and in their broader effects as people use LLM-enabled products*
*waves another comedy-grumpy fist at human language and all of its wonderful ambiguities*
Reposted by peterkwells
The DAX did fine until Stalingrad.
January 12, 2026 at 8:52 AM
The DAX did fine until Stalingrad.
Life-size statues of Trump on buildings all across USA, not doing anything, just there
Like those Gormleys in London a few years back, but with tiny authoritarian hands...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_H...
Like those Gormleys in London a few years back, but with tiny authoritarian hands...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_H...
January 11, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Life-size statues of Trump on buildings all across USA, not doing anything, just there
Like those Gormleys in London a few years back, but with tiny authoritarian hands...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_H...
Like those Gormleys in London a few years back, but with tiny authoritarian hands...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_H...
Head of Product for data.gov.uk
Irregular reminder that while everyone will say they want a single, national, data portal that - outside of political need - most ppl want a single portal w/data relevant to them & that fits into their workflows
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
Irregular reminder that while everyone will say they want a single, national, data portal that - outside of political need - most ppl want a single portal w/data relevant to them & that fits into their workflows
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
January 11, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Head of Product for data.gov.uk
Irregular reminder that while everyone will say they want a single, national, data portal that - outside of political need - most ppl want a single portal w/data relevant to them & that fits into their workflows
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
Irregular reminder that while everyone will say they want a single, national, data portal that - outside of political need - most ppl want a single portal w/data relevant to them & that fits into their workflows
www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
Reposted by peterkwells
This interview of Fiona Hill by @meganjgibson.bsky.social is excellent and full of insight and zingers such as this on whether Trump is driven by his legacy
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
![So it's his legacy?
I don't think he's really interested in legacy. He wants the accolades in real time because he won't be around to enjoy them when he is dead. Putin and Xi are somewhat different because they see themselves as the inheritors of great history - millennia-long [history] in the case of China. For Trump, it is just Trump. He completely trashes every other American leader - he doesn't have a good word for any of them.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yhbp52uzo4vsn5hlkbrfvxoq/bafkreie7344y3koedblfiuhb5dfsh5455gnb3o3ciayv76gt6jhz2y6fo4@jpeg)
January 11, 2026 at 3:48 PM
This interview of Fiona Hill by @meganjgibson.bsky.social is excellent and full of insight and zingers such as this on whether Trump is driven by his legacy
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
And this pothole map connects to pothole reporting services where people can report potholes in England (or wider UK)?
Or understand who's responsible for a particular pothole?
Or even track progress (if there's enough need for that...)?
Yes?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Or understand who's responsible for a particular pothole?
Or even track progress (if there's enough need for that...)?
Yes?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Potholes map rates council road repair progress
Thirteen local authorities received a
www.bbc.co.uk
January 11, 2026 at 12:47 PM
And this pothole map connects to pothole reporting services where people can report potholes in England (or wider UK)?
Or understand who's responsible for a particular pothole?
Or even track progress (if there's enough need for that...)?
Yes?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Or understand who's responsible for a particular pothole?
Or even track progress (if there's enough need for that...)?
Yes?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...