James O'Malley

Let's *actually build* the future, together! takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/lets-actuall…

Is Openreach inadvertently helping Reform? <— Fantatic new guest post from @dlandoncole ! takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/is-openreach…

Mapping Labour's tribes (Odds and Ends #97) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/mapping-labo…

New YIMBY Pod! - We, er, explore the reasons for the nuclear energy gender gap. - And we check in with @Tymtweet on how the UK self-driving car rollout is going. abundancepod.com/p/the-nuclear-…

The stars are aligning for proportional representation (Now FREE TO READ!) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-stars-ar…

ICYMI:

Excellent piece by @Psythor (O’Malley)-to fulfill the purpose of #HS2, extra capacity between London, Birmingham AND Manchester (& other places in the North-West), a pragmatic decision on rolling stock is needed soon, & a recent sacking is a worrying sign! takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/hs2s-next-di…

HS2 to Manchester might have fewer seats available than there are now on the old West Coast Mainline. There's an opportunity to fix this, but the window is rapidly closing. And DfT has just sacked the guy who came up with the plan for how to do it. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/hs2s-next-di…

HS2's next disaster might be the trains (FREE TO READ!) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/hs2s-next-di…

Green councillors hate private enterprise so much that they would rather we continued using fossil fuels and block renewable energy projects if they are operated by a private company. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-green-pa…

New YIMBY Pod! - We reflect on Britain's AI strategy, following Liz Kendall's speech last week. - And I speak to Hannah Keenan from @instituteforgov, who patiently explains why I was talking absolute total nonsense on the pod a few weeks ago. abundancepod.com/p/an-expert-de…

Repellent and, for good measure, lunatic.

I don't know how to feel about Palantir takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/i-dont-know-…

Solar panels occupy ~0.1% of U.K land while currently generating 16% of U.K electricity. Solar panels are also helping family farms to stay in business after the Brexit Kate Hoey helped deliver sold them down the river.

How can stuff like this get written? Imagine it for any other good! “Affordability is driving the chocolate price spike, not a cocoa bean shortage. We just need to designate some beans as special cheap beans to bring prices down” bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

People keep sending me this clip of @iamjohnoliver using my tweet as evidence that AI models don’t work well. Just to clear up any confusion, with respect, the tweet was a) taken way out of context and b) extremely outdated. The model in question (4o) is multiple generations old, and was shut down for being too sycophantic. Current models would not have behaved this way. It’s sort of like looking at a Nokia flip phone and saying “this isn’t useful”, when an iPhone exists. John, I’m a fan, and welcome any discussion here. Just want things to be accurate and not misleading!

Here's your lunchtime listening:

New YIMBY Pod! – Why we need 'industrial-scale' solar farms - @mjrobbins visits the actual Bat Tunnel (!) - And we speak to @dsquareddigest about why the planning system is too adversarial (and how to fix it). Listen/subscribe here: abundancepod.com/p/martin-visit…

@Bob24810186 Ha, cheers. I suspect the reason is a lot of my ideas are catastrophically unpopular, alas!

@Psythor Everytime I read one of your articles I think: "Why don't the politicians just say that?" Loudly and often.

NEW: The Green Party is STILL bad at being green (FREE TO READ) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-green-pa…