It’s unusual to come across a truly bad new digital service these days. People now praise the online passport service for speed and ease of use, the same for Jobseeker’s, voter registration. Most online public services delivered since the establishment of the Government Digital Service are at least functional and many are best of breed.Continue reading “Bad”
Author Archives: radiobeartime
they become again
My last piece was about the start of the testing and the unsayable mysteries of the decannulation room. Today we talk about the results. After a day of unexpected waits and delays I finally had a phone call at 18:00 from my excellent doctor at the Royal Marsden to tell me that the MRI, CTContinue reading “they become again”
The Decannulation Room
Today I had the start of my first six monthly review to see how my cancer treatment is progressing. I say start as I will not know the answer for another fortnight. Today was about tests I had three appointments booked in at the Royal Marsden today – the first at 10am was bloods, theContinue reading “The Decannulation Room”
Life’s a Gas
The saga of British Gas and smart meters continues. A chara This feels rather like going to confession, “Forgive me, British Gas, as it has been 3 months since my last complaint.” My issue is very simple, the smart meters you installed no longer work and you want to replace them. This is an excellentContinue reading “Life’s a Gas”
Narcolepsy for Bears
Paul Downey never deserved this!
February 2025 Ringtone
It’s been a heckin’ year but at last here’s a new ringtone. One for all you slug blasters out there 😉
We used to be people. We’re epochs.
A very quick update on the train journey. I am just back from my first three monthly check in following the months of chemotherapy. I am happy to say that for the first stop on my train journey I am clear. The next check will be in three months time. I still have the sideContinue reading “We used to be people. We’re epochs.”
Five quick things for the digital future
Ownership The core reason why programmes, projects and businesses fail is ownership. It’s unclear who owns delivery, the original “owner” left after 18 months, the “owner” has no control over staffing or budgets… So who owns a cross cutting programme in government? There is little point proposing new ways of delivering services if you haveContinue reading “Five quick things for the digital future”
The first thing that you learn…
This is a very quick update about the train ride. I am actually dictating this into my MacBook Air as I still have side-effects from chemotherapy which make typing tricky. Hence the attempt to try and talk to the machine. For a South London Irish ursine speech recognition is very much a roll of theContinue reading “The first thing that you learn…”
AI as a brainstorming tool
One of the “carrots” of the AI pushers is that it will make us more effective researchers and creators. Given that LLMs are literal fabulation engines I am dubious but Stanford University have just released a trial of their embryonic brainstorming AI called, er, STORM. So let’s give it a go with an input: “AreContinue reading “AI as a brainstorming tool”
Mark O'Neill 