Peter (sometimes P.J.) Moar

A guide to the development of technology and engineering strategies across all business and industrial sectors. Unlock the secrets to corporate success. Available now from major booksellers. Use DM to discuss the book's contents. #INCOSE #SystemsEngineering @incose_org @incoseuk @incosewma @incosepres

It’s a lovely morning in Ventnor, Isle of Wight.

@faisalislam There are an unquantifiable number of people making just a few thousand every year from home-based 'side hustles' (especially crafts-based) who feel obliged to take card payments from customers. They were previously cash-only businesses.

This is a very interesting observation on the UK from a significant Silicon Valley tech CEO… There’s the specific issue about the accuracy of stats… in this case potentially understating some better economic news There’s a more general separate issue in economics about the timeliness of official economic numbers compared with the real time mountain of rich data being processed by tech companies. Worth a read.

@ScottishJenbel @E8Emma @IsntWorkingPod If they spend it all wisely and in accordance with donors’ expectations, that’s fine.

@E8Emma @IsntWorkingPod @MoarPart The cancer charities are some of the richest charities.

Posted this 6 months ago... and standing by it!

There is an overdue national debate to be had about Britain’s bloated charity sector. The subject is a sacred cow, because any reform will create both winners and losers, and no reformer wants to be accused of denying support to babies, cute animals, or the disabled. But that’s what it will take to put the whole sector back on an even footing. The original topic of this thread is one symptom of a much wider malaise.

@MoarPart @IsntWorkingPod Look up how many charities are dormant (income of zero) The Charity Sector needs to be blitzed. Bring in £50 annual filing fees to properly fund the commission Strike off non compliant charities Force a LOT of mergers

@IsntWorkingPod Crikey! Apocalyptic. Fortunately, with 200,000 registered charities, a few ought to survive.

@MoarPart No expert on their finances but sending a 'the grown-ups have all left!' bat signal are: Women's Institute, Scope, Mind, Girlguiding, Volunteering Matters. Too big to fail for now but in dire shape: Oxfam, Macmillan, NSPCC, National Trust. Oh and all the LGBT+ ones, obvs.

@Bouje99 @MFordFuture @NewYorker @elonmusk @finkd The technology will be there, but the cost of each humanoid robot might prevent widespread adoption. What would be an attractive price? $10,000? It will be interesting to see what happens.

@MoarPart @MFordFuture @NewYorker @elonmusk @finkd In the next few years? Nope. In 10-15 years I’ll be somewhat surprised if humanoid robots aren’t in , say, 10-20% of homes doing laundry and dishes And maybe some other chores. It is bound to happen.

Terrific article by Stephen Witt in the @NewYorker about progress in humanoid robotics. I'd be happy to be wrong, but I fear the people making big investments in building humanoids (including @elonmusk) are making the same mistake that Zuckerberg (@finkd) made with his investments in VR and the metaverse: Someday it will be huge--but just not yet. However, non-humanoid robots in more controlled environments like warehouses and factories are continuing to become more capable and dexterous and will have a significant impact on jobs. Amazon, for example, has already declared its intention to scale the business via efficiency improvements (#AI and #robotics) rather than hiring large numbers of new workers. I cover all this in more depth in the new edition of my book "Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future." (Link to article in the reply) #RiseoftheRobots

@whippletom The engineering, particularly controlling the plasma (analogous to herding demented cats), is incredibly hard. AI may eventually solve this, but it’s a huge challenge for mere humans.

When I chat to people about fusion (the ones who don't say, "it's 30 years away and was 30 years away 30 years ago" then chortle), they say the science is done, it's just an engineering problem - and it'll be solved. If true, why aren't we brute forcing it? What am I missing?

@ron_eisele After WWII, Mantz reportedly paid scrap value for 400 surplus US military aircraft. In a smart move, he drained the unused fuel from their wings and sold it to achieve a net profit. At that moment, he still owned 400 airworthy machines: the largest private air force in the world.

8 July 1965. Death of Albert Paul Mantz (b.2 August 1903), American noted air racing pilot and movie stunt pilot, while flying the very unusual aircraft (Tallmantz Phoenix P-1) for the movie 'The Flight of the Phoenix'.

HS2 is being reset by @transportgovuk and @HS2ltd, but significant work remains before they can put the programme on a stronger footing. Read our latest report on HS2: nao.org.uk/reports/high-s…

A reminder that it's wise to invest in tunnels because they constitute a type of fixed, resilient infrastructure, enabling a lengthy return on investment (ROI). This partly explains the appeal of urban underground rail networks, which the UK refuses to construct in most of its major cities. Norway greenlights world’s first full-scale ship tunnel eandt.theiet.org/2026/06/18/nor…

I call it 'the price of free'. From the very outset, the email infrastructure was free to use. This created an overwhelming reliance upon email, including billions of junk messages. Sometimes it's better to pay for things. Just 10p per message would make everyone think twice before sending. It would also kill the junk mail industry. £1 per message is probably optimal. But it will never happen. That horse bolted decades ago.🐎

The entire tech world has sold people a plausible fiction: that digitising everything will inevitably make it better, and that money spent on tech magically does not incur an opportunity cost.

@rorysutherland It’s partly the cult of outsourcing, although the underlying reasons for this transport provision need to be fully understood, with the aim of finding alternatives.

But there is no money for the army? This is Kipling's City of Brass.

How the oil industry works The Bottom Line with @EvanHD @BBCSounds bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

@AndyBounds @FT Yes. It does seem inconceivable that the UK could rejoin the EU without a lot of pushback from some members. It would be at least a decade-long process. Britain needs to negotiate from a position of strength, whereas we currently resemble a wounded animal.

UK would be blocked from rejoining ‘wounded’ EU, says Jean-Claude Juncker . Former commission president says no U.K. PM would be brave enough to take on Euro sceptic media and MPs via @FT as.ft.com/r/d9087dd8-600…

📢 @ai_cam_mission's Local Gov #AI Accelerator pairs Cambridge researchers with local #councils to develop AI solutions that deliver tangible public value, from automating housing data collection to detecting fly-tipping using cameras on refuse vehicles eng.cam.ac.uk/news/universit…

@rorysutherland They also know which numbers are being used by scammers, yet they presumably earn too much money from them to bother intervening on behalf of their majority customer base.

One thing that confuses me here. Mobile phone networks presumably have tons of data on the precise locations where motorists and train passengers lose signal and are cut-off. Yet nothing ever improves.

@DamianPudner Yes. And sadly many of these great people choose not to enter politics or public service. Deterrents are likely to be low wages, media intrusion and insults. So why bother?

The last week has reminded me that Britain has outstanding people. Over lunches, pints & dinners I've had the privilege of spending time with editors, City economists, entrepreneurs & commentators. All serious about the UK's future. You know who you are, thank u for your insight.

Yes. There is a yawning gap between modelled human behaviour and real-world chaos. In addition to families with children, there are: -People sitting in the wrong seats (deliberately or in error); -People looking for overhead storage space; -Late arrivals at the gate; -Slow movers and fast movers. Humans are not machine components. Current practices cannot be significantly improved.

Someone needs to create a version of steffen that keeps groups together (especially folks traveling with kids) and see how it compares to random.