Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 07/10/2026They're using ChatGPT for policy development. 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I'm starting to wonder if they have delegated new policy generation to ChatGPT... 020
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 07/10/2026There is an apparently sacrosanct view on the right that people need to be punished to make them work harder. There's little evidence to show that this approach works, but ideology trumps evidence-based policy making. 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 06/10/2026It was Tom Baker and this album which scared the bejaysus out of me... 010
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 05/10/2026More experiments at the random fringes of LLMs... mattballantine.substack.com/p/simh-exper...mattballantine.substack.comSIMH* experiments with LLMs Part 3Or, what would it be like to talk to a cat? 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 05/10/2026As a Watford fan there are parts of Luton where I won't go (wearing a Watford shirt). 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 05/10/2026More randomness - Celebrity Traitors-themed... youtube.com/shorts/sUWrw...youtube.com 020
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 02/10/2026And inspired by @betarish.bsky.social, I've also distilled 800 weeknotes into a Fruit Machine... experiments.mattballantine.com/weeknote800/experiments.mattballantine.comThe Weeknote Machine 121
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 02/10/2026In 2010, I started a habit. 800 weeknotes later, I'm still writing them every Friday. Here is my 800th set. I've maybe got another 800 in me. mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/10/02/w... @weeknotes-bot.bsky.socialmmitii.mattballantine.comWeeknote 800: EIGHT HUNDRED!This week I have learned: When push comes to shove, there are few better ways to solve a problem than to ask someone else. A problem shared, etc.It felt like my 800th weeknote should be somehow cel… 121
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I meant news not need, but probably about the same... 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Building little devices like this to allow me to have new types of interactivity at a big conference thing I'm doing next month.. 100
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Tomorrow will be my 800th set of #weeknotes I feel I should celebrate, but how? @weeknotes-bot.bsky.social 011
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Though to be serious for a moment, I've realised that I'd got increasingly ratty in the months since finishing our book. However I'm now back on a new project. 110
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I find it much easier when I've got a project on the go... 110
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 01/10/2026RNLI volunteers are shaking tins and card readers at Waterloo station, and there are people queuing up to give donations at before 7.30am. I mostly read this as a collective "fuck you, fascists". Well done. 040
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Another Something Interesting Might Happen experiment, this time creating a musical board game out of a piece of hotel art... mattballantine.substack.com/p/simh-exper...mattballantine.substack.comSIMH* experiments with LLMs Part 2Or Why do we always have to start with words or numbers? 010
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I'm sorry... experiments.mattballantine.com/lechatgpt/experiments.mattballantine.comLe Chat GPT 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I've been experimenting with this. Does it feel pain?... 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 28/09/2026That he was only 26 when he made it is a fact that regularly humbles me. 100
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 27/09/2026This weekend's experiments... mattballantine.substack.com/p/simh-exper...mattballantine.substack.comSIMH* experiments with LLMs Part 1Or how I learned to stop thinking of Claude as a spreadsheet 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Currently in a limbo state as I stare at the smoke alarm in our room as I'm sure it's just made the "my battery is dying" chirp. 110
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 26/09/2026In my experience, one can achieve a similar effect by sticking a pair of googly eyes on just about any object. 120
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I'll ask Claude. It will start by noting how 6 decades ago the same thing happened with ELIZA... 110
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I'm unreasonably excited that Watford might yet win the 2019 FA Cup. 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Wrapping up a long week with a set of #weeknotes. My 799th edition. mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/09/25/w... @weeknotes-bot.bsky.socialmmitii.mattballantine.comWeeknote 799: MCRThis week I have learned: the importance of play (part one): fascinated by the work Jude Pullen and Max Park’s latest experiment, the AI Divergence Engine. It’s made me realise that, un… 001
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 22/09/2026You make it sound like you'd only just started working in 1998... 110
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I fondly remember being introduced to the series as a sociology undergraduate in 1991. Quite how 35 years has passed should be the subject of another documentary series. 110
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Imagine being as rich as Jim Ratcliffe and still being that miserable. Although I just found out he was born in a place called Failsworth so maybe there's some sort of nominative determinism going on... share.google/eJWsiqBiopAu...share.googleBillionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UKIneos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea. 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 19/09/2026TBF we've been hearing "computer says no" for decades. 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 19/09/2026However, I dunno. A dog is sentient but is still the responsibility of its owner. 100
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 19/09/2026I'd not thought before that claims of AI having sentience might just be an elaborate way to avoid legal liability for the batshittery that seems pretty inevitable. But now you mention it... 120
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 18/09/2026A week in which I made a big announcement. More in the #weeknotes mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/09/18/w... @weeknotes-bot.bsky.socialmmitii.mattballantine.comWeeknote 798: marathon not a sprintThis week I have learned: the enjoyment to be had at a marathon. Assuming that you’re doing the baggage, rather than running 26.2 miles which, from the look of it, looks like a laudable aim b… 001
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 17/09/2026The world around us is a series of random events of varying predictability. You can either deny that or embrace it... youtube.com/shorts/8iVlP...youtube.comRandom Pics - Oblique StrategiesYouTube video by Matt Ballantine 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Because the public ends up paying for all massive new technology bubbles. Look at the railways, which, whilst of huge utility, are still publicly subsidised for nearly 2 centuries on... 020
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Your online safety depends on random numbers. Here's why... youtube.com/shorts/VgUs8...youtube.comRandom Pics - EncryptionYouTube video by Matt Ballantine 000
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 16/09/2026They'll need visas. Or run the risk of being identified as irregular migrants. I'm not sure they've thought this through. 070
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I hope they've sorted out Piddington passports to travel into Oxfordshire. 140
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Even when there's no one in the driver's seat, they have operators. On the principle that no CEO wants to have liability for anything their org does, I wonder if those underlings hold human liability? 280
Matt Ballantine @ballantine70.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Weeknotes 797 on the topic of procrastination... mmitii.mattballantine.com/2026/09/11/w... @weeknotes-bot.bsky.socialmmitii.mattballantine.comEmbracing Procrastination: A Creative Week in ReviewExplore insights on procrastination's role in creativity, the nature of value, and the importance of meaningful conversation in this week's reflections. 001