Isn't it funny that when nation states deploy a security management solution they call it a "sovereign defence capability" when the rest of us mere peasants call it an "information security management system"? CISOs of Britain, take note! You are underselling your capability.

When you build tools with abstract and rather arbitrary notions of “safety” baked into them – not addressing a specific threat model – they get considerably weaker https://alecmuffett.com/article/161817 #SafetyByDesign #censorship #llm #safety #trust

Very sorry to learn that the magnificent David Potter died on Sunday evening. A pioneering mathematical physicist, he founded Psion, created the first hand-held organizer and oversaw Symbian, the standard mobile operating system. He was a wonderful philanthropist and supporter of @opendemocracy.net

It’s not about the children, it’s about how monetize surveillance: demand the illiberal, stupid, self-defeating & impossible, & then criminalise the wrong people for circumvention https://alecmuffett.com/article/161699 #AgeVerification #australia

ok this one got me

Who here remembers what happened when that U2 album was spontaneously forced upon all iTunes users in the world? If the British government obligates the BBC to be at the top of all feeds then the BBC is going to start being blocked individually by random people… and then they will be gone.

Ok. I am gutted and really sorry to say that the servers are all gone. Over 1600 members on RHD and some lowlife deleted it forever with a click. Also stole a bunch of money from my account. I will make an update video and post that here when I get home. Whatever happens we are going to rebuild.

The problem with the internet - and with user empowerment - is nicely encapsulated in something Heather quoted a few days ago; the only way for the state to address it is to go "Full Orwell". bsky.app/profile/heat...

Keir Starmer’s under-16 social media ban can only work if everyone proves who they are, so it’s a natural move for a government selling surveillance as safety By tech policy expert and digital rights advocate @heatherburnstech.bsky.social www.thenerve.news/p/under-16-s...

In 1908 the Lancet called for an 18+ age limit on reading in bed for U.K. children.

A large proportion of people being driven mad by social media would've been driven equally mad in the 90s/00s by the News of the World, the Jeremy Kyle show, email chain letters about AIDS, local Conservative party meetings, Andrew Wakefield press conferences, and David Icke paperbacks.

Your periodic reminder that people are *more* abusive online when they're using their "real names" than when they're using a persistent pseudonym and this effect has been replicated in literally every study that has ever been done

You say "oh dear" as if anybody was actually thinking about this being applied to any other platforms than X or Meta. "Of course it will only be applied to the *bad* platforms, that's how it works!"

Also I had these exciting books from the 1940s - THE MODERN BOY'S BOOK OF HOBBIES - including: - HOW TO MAKE A LONGBOW - HOW TO MELT DOWN AND CAST YOUR OWN MODELS IN SCRAP LEAD …I'm sure with age verification we will see a return to safe healthy outdoors hobbies like these!

The C64U took existing commodore enthusiast products, packaged them together, provided QA and support, and offered it for less money than it would cost for an end use to assemble. This is just about the opposite. Taking a Chinese dumb phone, customising it a bit, and adding a markup.

“Soon it will be virtually impossible to be online in the UK without handing over identity documents or biometric data to unregulated companies.” The social media ban means EVERY user has to prove they're over 16. This puts millions at risk of their personal data being hacked. 🗣️ ORG's James Baker.

When I was maybe 13 years old (1981-ish) I got a box of Flowers of Sulphur BP from Boots and made allotropes of plastic sulphur. I then mixed some in proportion with ground charcoal & some pickling nitrate, packed it under a brick and blew the brick in half. Happy, safe days, before the internet!

Gov also commissioned Savanta to do surveying. Twice as many kids of all ages said social media helps them feel connected and included versus anxious or worried. Nationally representative panel was 4x more likely to say benefits outweighed risks than self-selecting consultation. Guess which one won?

Wild. Basically all the experts said that we need nuance, and the qualitative responses said "Hang on, don't do a blanket ban" but they went with those who wanted a black and white solution

Congratulations to the lobby group who swamped the consultation with 33,000 proforma responses in favour of a ban - it worked

As govt is going to ban social media for kids, then they should also: - invest in youth clubs and social spaces where young people are welcome - put some actual money into libraries - mandate that secondary schools supply offline learning resources - implement effective regulation

"nudity today, political speech tomorrow" In five words, @signal.org has given a more trenchant critique of government surveillance tech than 99% of UK legislators, pundits, and NGOs.

So...the originators of the nudity detection software which UK gov mandated today say this is all God's doing, so it's a good thing there isn't a Christofascist regime anywhere looking for technology partners or anything like that. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkPm... h/t @owenboswarva.bsky.social

We're very much experiencing the return of paternalistic notions of control over a population who are seen as unable to manage their base desires or behave rationally. Worse still, this is a bipartisan movement from groups who feel they are losing control and relevance. Mary Whitehouse returns!

Phew! That's Retrofest over for another year and, to a first approximation, stuff is back where it should be. OK, the stuff which needs to go into the loft is in the spare bedroom, but that's close enough for today.

Westminster Recycles Tobacco-Style Panic Campaign For Internet Crackdown https://alecmuffett.com/article/159491 #OnlineSafety #OnlineSafetyAct #SocialMediaBan

Quite so. The Academy report itself drew parallels with the regulatory history of smoking and said that we should invoke the precautionary principle rather than await proof of causation. www.aomrc.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Less than a week until #RefroFest2026 in Swindon. Saturday sold out but still spaces on Sunday. I'll be...

Very sad to hear Michael Keating, Blake's 7's Vila has died. He was so good and will be very much missed.

Two weeks to go until #Retrofest2026. Finalising floppy disk images for Gotek drives and re-testing set-ups. Oh, look, Ceefax tells me “Look Mum No Computer” didn’t win last night. What a pity. Nice chap.

So the group of people who lead this field (VC driven tech companies) have been handed a "legal" pump and dump scheme. IPO at a high enough level and you are handed enough money to pay yourself billions AND keep the company running long enough for the hype to appear legitimate.

The current AI bubble and impending SpaceX IPO are directly driven by the maths of the rise of Index Funds. If you make big enough claims, the stock market (which also means pension funds and government money) automatically "invests" in you. Which appears to validate your claims.

The feedback effect of Index Funds on the stock market sucks money out of the economy and into a handful of dominant tech stocks. Over the last decade, about a third of our 'growth' has been transferred into stocks and away from investment in wider business and research - trillions of dollars.

It never ceases to amaze me how many election pundits don’t understand the dynamics of First Past the Post, and how vote-splitting works under the UK’s electoral system. John Curtice does. Listen to John Curtice.

Britain's broadcast media boasts of its strict adherence to impartiality rules. Mentions per MP. LibDems: 645 Tories: 5,116 Greens: 7,763 Labour (the actual govt): 27,438 Reform: 70,732 Anyone surprised they're ahead? bebroadcast.co.uk/politics-who...

Do you have a plastic cased Microvitec CUB with a missing front flap? I've designed a 3D printable replacement and posted it on Thingiverse for your pleasure. Share and enjoy! www.thingiverse.com/thing:7348350

I can only think this is driven by a feeling that we won’t find any of this interesting unless it’s presented mysterious, a growing puzzle and the archaeologists are puzzled. But this isn’t just about nuance. This spin doctoring mischaracterises the scientific process and the scientists.

This is grotesque on multiple levels.

If you want to see the "fun" I had building the Camputers Lynx reproduction, you can watch a short video here: youtu.be/bN9rrMuRsYo

The Camputers Lynx reproduction build case has finally been finished. Once I get my act together I’ll upload the designs to Thingiverse for anyone to use.

Pretty much this.

It's that two steps forward, one step back type thing with the Lynx 128 reproduction build. The RAM refresh issue had been fixed by injecting the Z80 refresh signal directly into the main RAM, ORing it with the other /CAS signal using a bodge. The case is nearly there, other than printing problem.

Seeing as I’m awaiting the delivery of faster chips I thought i’d get on with designing and printing the case for the Lynx recreation. This is the test print of the top used to refine any issues. Printed in brown as it uses about a 1/4 of a reel of filament & not enough grey left. Needs tweaking.

Yet again, we see how YouTube enables theft and fraud to a massively audacious degree. YouTube is focused only on distancing itself from the predation riddling their platform but they *are* responsible for it. They allow it, they make it easy to do, they ensure it can be done with no repercussions.

You will own nothing and be happy.

You know, it's a great pity that Terry Pratchett is no-longer with us. No doubt by now we'd have had a cracking Discworld novel involving The Unseen University, Hex and the search for Artistic Imps.

Well, well... Lynx 128K "sit rep"... It's now working! It was very forgetful. Changed 4164 RAM (TI 150ns & 120ns): No change. Changed CPU: no change. Theory was that it was a refresh timing issue, being too slow. Tried 80ns (non-TI) 41256 chips to see if it made things worse... Fixed problem!

The last of the chips for the Camputers Lynx 128K reproduction build arrived today. The good news: It mostly works. The keyboard types and I can run BASIC programs. The bad news: It doesn't run for long. Seems to be a main RAM refresh issue as if active machine runs for longer before crashing.

A little progress on the Lynx 128K repro build. Discovered that the TEA1002 needs 12V so rejigged the power to take 12V in and use a buck regulator to generate 5V. The "3A" device gets very toasty at 1A. More sockets installed, but not the 7 pin DIN as it has wrong footprint. Oh, and sound works!

Australian eSafety: “It is a ‘dark pattern’ to permit people to 1/ amend mistakes 2/ be in control of information about themselves 3/ be obliged to validate abuse reports” https://alecmuffett.com/article/152831