Harry's Home on the Web
This post has been a long time coming, mostly because I struggled to find the time to respond to the mySociety report in the depth that I’d have liked to. So, in lieu of something longer, I hope this will do. I think it is imperative that the spirit and the substance of mySociety’s recommendations are implemented in full. This is a huge opportunity to bring about lasting, meaningful change to the way that Parliament ...(Read More)
Inspired by a post on facebook, I thought I’d respond to this image, which is doing the rounds: There are lots of reasons why it might be safe to eat something, but not to breathe it. These are all conjecture, but not fanciful: Some things are safe to ingest, but not safe to inhale. Airborne mould spores might be a good example. (Edit: A better example, suggested by David Edwards, is flour, eg, Bakers’ Asthma) ...(Read More)
I've been wondering a lot recently about what one should tell children about the world.
I believe that governments should try to enact policies which will produce the greatest good for the greatest number.
This is admittedly a fairly minor example, but it genuinely irritates me. And it’s by no means the first letter from HMRC that’s done the same. Click for a bigger version. For the most part, I find that ensuring my business complies with all the Government’s requirements to file and pay things is a huge pain in the arse. I do most of it myself, I try to get it right and mostly succeed, and when ...(Read More)
It’s fantastic to see the gov.uk beta go live. Over the last few months we’ve been fortunate to be able to work with GDS on a different project, and I’ve been given the odd sneaky peak at the beta as it’s been developing. It has been very exciting to watch it grow — it’s come a long way very quickly, which is a real credit to the (awesome) team. I think the site is great, ...(Read More)
Photography, film and protest in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square Gardens
Since I started dxw a few years ago, surprisingly little has changed in the way that we contract with Government. Now that the Government Digital Service has thoroughly arrived on the scene, I thought it might be a good time to write something about how I think contracting for digital ought to work. Or perhaps more accurately, how it should smell. I’ve never worked as a civil servant, and I’m not a legal expert. The only ...(Read More)
Museums are the guardians of our cultural heritage, not the owners of it.
Ding, dong, the witch is dead?
Or: how lots of bits of our private lives are going to get sucked into the public domain whatever we might think about it, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em