GDS weighs in on the NHS's decision to retreat from Open Source

NHS Goes To War Against Open Source

The NHS is preparing to close nearly all of its Open Source repositories. Throughout my time working for the UK Government - in GDS, NHSX, i.AI, and others - I championed Open Source. I spoke to dozens of departments about it, wrote guidance still in use today, and briefed Ministers on why it was so important. That's why I'm beyond disappointed at recent moves from NHS England to backtrack on…

Find Unique Meetup Venues in London, UK | Peerspace

The easiest way to book event spaces in London, UK. Explore unique venues starting at £25/hour, view hundreds of photos, and read unbiased reviews.

Status meetings are the scourge

Status meetings are the worst kinds of meetings. Eliminate them and you’ll actually know more, save a pile of money, and regain dozens of hours a month. A status meeting — sometimes called a s…

You Are No Longer Invited to Dinner

We’re witnessing the death of hosting in America. The share of adults who say they regularly have friends over has declined 70 percent since 1975

You Are No Longer Invited to Dinner

We’re witnessing the death of hosting in America. The share of adults who say they regularly have friends over has declined 70 percent since 1975

Is group chat making you sweat?

Is this you? Are you making other feel like this? Group chat is like being in an all-day meeting with random participants and no agenda. In 2006 we launched Campfire, the first modern SAAS group ch…

Everything I Am Afraid Might Happen If I Ask New Acquaintances to Get Coffee

No. 1: they will say no.

meet.coop - The Online Meeting Cooperative

Online meeting and conferencing tools, powered by renewable energy running on cooperatively owned and managed infrastructure.

Is Using ChatGPT Now The Dating World’s Biggest Ick?

“If someone’s not able to even think for themselves, there’s no chance they’re going to be thoughtful when it comes to you.”

Misplaced Divides? Discussing Political Disagreement With Strangers Can Be Unexpectedly Positive

Differences of opinion between people are common in everyday life, but discussing those differences openly in conversation may be unnecessarily rare. We report three experiments ( N = 1,264 U.S.-based adults) demonstrating that people’s interest in discussing important but potentially divisive topics is guided by their expectations about how positively the conversation will unfold, leaving them more interested in having a conversation with someone who agrees versus disagrees with them. People’s expectations about their conversations, however, were systematically miscalibrated such that people underestimated how positive these conversations would be—especially in cases of disagreement. Miscalibrated expectations stemmed from underestimating the degree of common ground that would emerge in conversation and from failing to appreciate the power of social forces in conversation that create social connection. Misunderstanding the outcomes of conversation could lead people to avoid discussing disagreements more often, creating a misplaced barrier to learning, social connection, free inquiry, and free expression.

You Don't Owe Anyone An Interaction

Will some people have hurt feelings if you decline their invitations and delete their messages? Probably. That's tough to accept, but the alternative is worse. Trying to manage other people's emotions while tuning out your own is exhausting. It harms your health and your relationships.

Group chats rule the world

Most of the interesting conversations in tech now happen in private group chats: Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal, small invite-only Discord groups. Being part of the right group chat can feel like having a peek at the kitchen of a restaurant but instead of food, messy ideas and gossip fly about in real time, get mixed, remixed, discarded, polished before they show up in a prepared fashion in public.

Britain's scorched fields mean a food crisis – and the government is ignoring the one measure that would help | George Monbiot

This summer’s extreme weather and wars in Iran and Ukraine have made our need for food stockpiles more pressing than ever, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

‘Unbelievably dangerous’: experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies

Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases

Assumed Audiences

Naming your invisible audiences to free yourself from unspoken obligations