Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Is Palantir the new McKinsey? When McKinsey Comes to Town Contracts awarded without competition or even advertised! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Mc...en.wikipedia.orgWhen McKinsey Comes to Town - Wikipedia 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Real life Space 1999 Britain gears up for space war as RAF launches unit to disrupt enemy satellites www.lbc.co.uk/article/raf-...lbc.co.ukBritain gears up for space war as RAF launches unit to disrupt enemy satellites | LBCThe RAF has launched Britain’s first dedicated military squadron capable of actively fighting back against hostile threats in space, as ministers warn the country must prepare for a new era in which c... 001
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 19/09/2026I always thought an army marched on its feet! 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Inspiration: Noam Chomsky: Hopes and Prospects I'm under no illusion. Published in 2010, this work, over fifteen years old, today's challenges still rhyme with those under Barack Obama, fiascos of Iraq and Afghanistan, the US-Israeli assault on Gaza and financial bailouts. Ray of hope? Maybe not. 100
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 30/08/202652.8:47.2 is too close to that accursed ratio 52:48 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 28/08/2026TIL: Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”. 020
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 26/08/2026If only we could have cloned the original Dolly Parton, we have lost one of the greatest 😢 A great LGBTQ+ supporter, generous donor and all round good egg. A privilege to have lived during her six decades+ of sheer talent whilst she sang, acted, wrote and never found a closed door to her ambition. 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Standing with my Canadian 🇨🇦 brothers and sisters 💪 010
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Remind me what happens when you underpay and under train staff for decades? 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 10/08/2026The Joys of Revolving Doors 🤦♂️ www.ft.com/video/dcd7cd...ft.comPalantir: profits, procurement and power | FT FilmPalantir is one of the world's most controversial technology companies. Its extraordinary growth was steered by a revolving door of executives moving between Palantir and the corridors of power in Was... 010
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I'm grateful for European food standards and excellent British farming practice: Salmonella from jalapeño peppers www.cdc.gov/salmonella/o...cdc.govInvestigation Update: Salmonella Outbreak, August 2026Epidemiological data about a <em>Salmonella</em> outbreak linked to jalapenos. 100
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Sending emails is hard, but doable. Just navigated MS Smart Network Data Service. Not quite "Beware of the Tiger" though close. I can see why AI is increasingly helpful. 100
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 31/07/2026This year is the Year of Open Source licensing, as it has been for many decades. I guess corporations still prefer complexity and paying for software. 020
Reposted by Alan HicksMayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 25/07/2026To every trans Londoner: this city is yours too. Today we celebrate London Trans+ Pride and reaffirm a simple truth: you should be free to live as yourself, without fear or prejudice. You are loved. You are wanted. You belong here. 04447871
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 24/07/2026A Cautionary Tale, strangely prescient about a tragic event that happened in 1987 that IMHO reflects why AI and LLMs are so beloved by management. timharford.com/2026/07/10360/timharford.comCautionary Tales – The Doors of Death: The Herald of Free EnterpriseThe Herald of Free Enterprise is a new class of ferry that allows cars to drive directly into the ship. The doors protecting the ship must be closed before every departure, or the ship sails with a… 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Licencing says hello! No doubt our kids can share how VPNs can be used to circumvent any geo-restrictions... BBC ALBA to broadcast live action from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...bbc.co.uk 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 22/07/2026OpenAI HuggingFace incident: But like with people, AIs don't always solve things in the way you expect. Sometimes they solve a problem directly (hooray! You get an A). Sometimes via an unexpected path (woah! But still A). But sometimes they try and cheat 110
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Back in the day, you could work hard and get things like a home, a car and other essentials. Those opportunities are long gone so increasingly calls from the likes of Gary Stevenson's wealth tax are an inevitable result of diminishing choices. youtube.com/watch?v=EPeP...youtube.comGary Stevenson says Britain is FINISHED unless we fix this problemYouTube video by Channel 4 News 110
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 05/07/2026I wish them every success. Also can London become a Nation State and join them. 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Why Two Parties is actually Zero Choice - The Illusion of Choice youtu.be/b2W5tmHjH2I?... 🔍 THE PRINCETON STUDY Why does 80% public support mean nothing when political elites disagree?youtu.beWhy Two Parties Is Actually Zero Choice — The Illusion of Democracy ExplainedYouTube video by Philosophy Coded 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Significant and opaque costs. Plus we don't even get the final say where or when it gets deployed. 010
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 27/06/2026Copyright/Licencing sucks: Over 500 titles, paid for in good faith, gone! <https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/legal/psvideocontent/> 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Farewell 198khz, You've served us all well since September 1934, long before I was born. Listening to the Shipping Forecast, the “Sailing By” theme music and a reminder of home when working in Europe. rsgb.org/main/radio-s... 041
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Grateful for heavy rain and diffused lightening 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 22/06/2026The Age of Turbulence, The lasting legacy of Alan Greenspan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age...en.wikipedia.orgThe Age of Turbulence - Wikipedia 020
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 19/06/2026IMHO David Gaider, co-founder of Summerfall Studios, identifies the current key issue with AI/LLMs: "It's not ready for prime time. There's just a lot of executives who really, really want it to be." www.gamesradar.com/games/why-so...gamesradar.comWhy so many game developers don't want to use generative AIWith credits ranging from Dispatch and Marvel Rivals to Uncharted and Dragon Age, over 30 devs share their thoughts on gen AI 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 17/06/2026TIL: Lawyers have a sense of humour: Ofcom approached 4chan, Byrne responded by sending an image of AI-generated animated hamster. it is a joke among lawyers in the United States that papers that are not properly served are as “legally effective as hamster bedding”. www.lbc.co.uk/article/labo...lbc.co.ukLabour 'doesn't understand the internet', tech giant 4chan’s lawyer tells LBC | LBCOfcom has issued almost £5.5m of fines to companies that have failed to comply with the Online Safety Act. 100
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 13/06/2026As a corollary to only translating into our native tongue, an excellent treatise on Arabic and typography: lr0.org/blog/p/arabic/lr0.orgAn interactive introduction to the terrific experience of rendering Arabic typography and its technical debt | La Vita Nouva 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? GitHub nukes 70+ Microsoft repos amid suspected worm attack share.google/4BloXjugkDYr...share.googleGitHub nukes 70+ Microsoft repos, breaks CI/CD pipelines, following suspected worm infectionsMiasma worm shapeshifts, but cloud secret-scouting remains the goal 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Britain is full of generally honest people. By example, a bike has been left outside for a few weeks and no one has stolen it. It's taken a council notice for the owner to take it home. 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Are you on the Red team or Green? s/Management Consultants/AI/ about.iceland.co.uk/our-story/th...about.iceland.co.ukBeware management consultants – About Iceland 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 31/05/2026It seems Wikipedia is going all in on capturing attention 😢 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 30/05/2026Sad to lose a French philosopher, Edgar Morin, who is the originator of, and left us with, the concept of polycrisis: a situation where multiple crises—environmental, social, economic, and political—are interconnected and amplify one another's impacts. Nevertheless 104 is a good age to say farewell 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 29/05/2026There's a Goldilocks zone for luck: Negative and you'll avoid it 👎 Focus too hard, the invisible gorilla and Dennis the presenter, and you'll miss it 👎 Scatty brained needn't bother as they're too unfocused🤡 <https://youtube.com/watch?v=ITY8jRha0L4&si=bxYHUKOZLBIN_qtj> 1/2 100
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Where can workers get a $340,000 bonus? qz.com/samsung-chip...qz.comSamsung chip workers to get $340,000 average bonus in AI boomThe South Korean chipmaker struck a last-minute deal with its union to avert an 18-day strike, unlocking a $26.6 billion payout pool 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Insights into how The Establishment "Gets things done": eleven documents show a state that built something carefully and thoroughly. A role was constructed around a man, shaped to his preferences, coordinated with the palace, signed off at the highest levels of government x.com/i/status/205...x.comThe Receipts UK ♿ on X: "The Files They Finally Released - And What They Still Won't Show You" / XThe Files They Finally Released - And What They Still Won't Show You 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Might the end of subsidised AI bring a similar transformation as the end of ZIRP (Zero interest-rate policy)? LLMs clearly have their uses. An outstanding and now urgent question is can you quantify their value to your organisation and thus justify the price you're paying? Interesting times... 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 15/05/2026Who could have imagined a political speech by Xi Jinping would have used the philosopher Thucydides to guard against Trump 🤷🏻♂️ Wise council 👍 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydi... www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...en.wikipedia.orgThucydides - Wikipedia 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Also why Palantir running core parts of the NHS is so toxic. 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 04/05/2026When even the Barnet formula isn't enough to offset the chaos British politics has wrecked on the devolved nations🤦🏻♂️ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett...en.wikipedia.orgBarnett formula - Wikipedia 100
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 21/04/2026The Need To Know youtube.com/watch?v=NX45...youtube.comYes, Prime Minister - The need to knowYouTube video by 1w3rpass 000
Alan Hicks @alanhickslondon.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Due Process: It's not uncommon for senior staff appointments to confirm a preference rather than sift then review prior to choosing a candidate. There are always risks so judgement calls, track records and personal chemistry play their part. #UncomfortableTruth youtube.com/watch?v=6dmz...youtube.comMandelson appointed US ambassador despite failing security vettingYouTube video by Channel 4 News 100
