Finished reading: The Hong Kong Diaries by Chris Patten 📚

Audio version. Skipped from about 60% through to the final handover. Fascinating detail but sometimes tedious when you know what happens in the years that followed. Chris Patten did his best in very difficult circumstances.

What You Can Learn from Just Seven Pages by Hannah Arendt

Today I turn my attention to an extraordinary analysis from Hannah Arendt’s book The Human Condition (1958). It’s so accurate, it’s almost scary

Coimisiún na Meán adopts final Online Safety Code - Coimisiún na Meán

The Code sets binding rules applying to video-sharing platforms who have their EU headquarters in Ireland. The general obligations contained in the Code will apply from next month and platforms will have an implementation period for certain detailed provisions, which require IT build, to come into compliance

The Path to a Realistic Paris Agreement Plan

I recently came across one such plan - Le Plan de transformation de l’économie Française (The French Economy Transformation Plan) authored by The Shift Project, an influential energy and climate think tank in France led by the engineer and system-thinker Jean-Marc Jancovici.

Oxfam condemns killing of water engineers in Gaza | Oxfam International

The four men were killed on their way to conduct repairs to water infrastructure in Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis. Despite prior coordination with Israeli authorities their clearly-marked vehicle was bombed. Oxfam stands in solidarity with the CMWU, their partners and the families of the victims

Unfettered data centre growth works against Ireland’s climate obligations

Digitalist Papers

Inspired by the Federalist Papers, the series bridges domains and disciplines by assembling experts from multiple fields—including economics, law, technology, management, and political science—alongside industry and civil society leaders

Why is Britain poor? - by Ed West - Wrong Side of History

This is very good. Lots here for Irish policy makers to consider as well.

European Commission, why should anyone be led by you? You’re not really leaders if you’re still on Twitter/X - Jon Worth Euroblog

I’ve been saying the same for quite a while now.

On Writing Better: Getting Started – Jason Zweig

I also know why I write: to learn.  For me, writing is like peeling the onion of my own ignorance.  The clearer and simpler I try to make my thoughts as I set them down, the more I realize how little I know and  how much more I need to read, how much longer I need to study, how many more people I need to talk with, before I can finally write without feeling like a complete imposter or intellectual fraud

Continuations by Albert Wenger : We Need Actually Open AI Now More than Ever (Or:…

Zero ASIs are unachievable. One ASI is extremely dangerous. We must let many ASIs bloom. And the best way to do so is to let everyone contribute, fork, etc

Thirteen billion euro.

Leaving aside the pros and cons of this judgement.

If the Government ring fenced this to build publicly owned housing, how many new homes could we build?

Finished reading: The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman 📚

Very thought provoking. Felt a range of emotions from hope to pure fear for the future. Lots to think about. Recommended.

What we know about Google’s upcoming adtech antitrust trial – and how it might play out | The Drum

The notion that meaningful change could stem from this case is echoed by Garcia. “This trial has the opportunity to catalyze a much-needed reset to the market norms that Google broke, and to foster a healthy digital ecosystem where transparency, choice are no longer elusive, and quality is the driver of value, benefitting publishers, marketers, the industry and society.”

US v Google

A resource to keep an eye on next week when the trial begins.

Ten reasons why Apple’s App Store terms are still not compliant with the DMA - The Platform Law Blog

Brazil, Bluesky & the Fediverse

Does the fact that circa 2m new accounts were opened on Bluesky as a result of X being banned in Brazil provide a more accurate guideline of the real active users remaining on X?

Fediverse for Freedom – The lost outpost

If governments are concerned about the dominance of privately-owned online platforms, they have a responsibility to run and own their own. At FOSDEM in Brussels this February, we noticed growing interest in Fediverse platforms and technologies like Mastodon from several national governments and the EU itself

5 insights during the intermission between US v Google I and II  - Digital Content Next

The process has been far too slow, but on both sides of the Atlantic, the law is finally being applied to platforms.

Are social media firms facing a day of reckoning?

Yes.

Some thoughts for politicians and political parties.

Stop communicating via platforms that amplify violence, hate and lies and that do not properly engage with your concerns.

Delete your accounts.

If you are a political party, create a fediverse/mastodon instance under your own domain and give access to it to both your elected politicians and party members. Communicate via your platform before any other.

If you do this, the media will follow.

If you are a publicly funded body or news organisation. The same applies.

Consider applying the know your customer financial regulation rules to social media companies that deliver content via an algorithm or Ai driven systems. Seeing as most people have bank accounts, this doesn’t seem too difficult an ask.

At the very least, restrict the ability of accounts whose owner has not been verified to amplify or interact with others and do not allow messages from these accounts to be amplified, interacted with or shared.

Just like financial and tax audits, consider algorithm/Ai audits to properly understand these systems and to hold the individuals who design and authorise them to account.

‘Ultra-cheap energy for every household’: could a different kind of tariff change everything? | Energy | The Guardian

In this scenario cheap wind and solar power would determine the size of the lowest tariff, which would then be split between all consumers, giving the public a direct stake in the transition to a low-carbon energy system

Fascinating idea worth exploring.

Comments - On speaking to AI - by Ethan Mollick Listen to the ChatGPT exchange. 🤯