Following on from my post about where we are with digital and technology in local government, I have been trying to put some thought into an idea around how to make this a bit easier for everyone involved. As is often the case, I am struggling with getting something small and quick done, against the knowledge that it might not be enough. As always I ought to be quaffing some of my agile mindset kool-aid, but it’s hard.
A thought is also very much in my mind: why is it me doing this? It really ought to be somebody’s job, rather than the hobby of a bloke in Spalding.
I have loved the album ‘original’ of this song since I first heard it, but when I came across this version, quite recently, I was absolutely blown away:
Does the browser need reimagining? These folk seem to think so: https://arc.net/ – I don’t like the insistence on opening an account before you can do anything else.
Am consistently impressed with dxw’s blogging. Always authentic, always helpful. Very rarely sales-y.
Last weekend we started watching the Mission:Impossible films in order. Fair to say they are of variable quality. However, my favourite moment BY FAR is in the first one. Tom Cruise’s character needs to track down the identity of someone codenamed ‘Max’. He knows they sometimes use the internet. He opens his laptop, and with a sense of expectation searches Usenet for the URL ‘max.com’ and hits enter. The sense of disappointment on his face when this brilliant scheme doesn’t produce results is heartbreaking.
My piece about single customer accounts seems to have gone down quite well in most parts. My focus in the last year has mostly been on people and capability stuff, and before that on some of the trickier IT problems facing councils. It’s great that my current work in Lambeth is giving me the chance to revisit the ‘digital experience’ and challenge my thinking a bit: https://sensibletech.co.uk/should-you-develop-a-single-customer-account/
There’s lots of very good stuff in here from Coté: “Waiting for the close of open – how long can the 2000s spirit of open source and open APIs last?” https://cote.io/2023/07/21/waiting-for-the.html
Elon Musk has already had a company called X. It merged with PayPay in 2000, and then within months the PayPal people got sick of what a terrible guy he was to work with, and sidelined him. I dare say rebranding Twitter is the first step in what Musk hopes will be his great ‘I told you I was right’ project. He’s re-opening a 23 year old wound. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66284304
