Tom Steel
@tomsteel.co.uk
Doing digital things for the public sector https://iam.tomsteel.co.uk
All careers lead to tech.
(If you want them to)
(If you want them to)
Not everyone chooses to go into tech from a young age, with some people ending up in tech entirely by accident – here we follow people with “unusual” paths into tech...
👉 [read]
👉 [read]
October 25, 2025 at 8:37 AM
All careers lead to tech.
(If you want them to)
(If you want them to)
Reposted by Tom Steel
"Fail fast" is not a viable approach to software construction. There's no benefit in constant failure. What we want to do is succeed fast. Do that with small batches and frequent corrections based on feedback. That's not "failure," it's just part of the process.
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October 22, 2025 at 7:06 PM
"Fail fast" is not a viable approach to software construction. There's no benefit in constant failure. What we want to do is succeed fast. Do that with small batches and frequent corrections based on feedback. That's not "failure," it's just part of the process.
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Reposted by Tom Steel
“There are few things more dehumanizing than being told by a machine that you’re not real because of your face"
For the last month, I've been speaking to people living with facial differences and disfigurements about how face verification tech is failing them. Spoiler: things aren't going well
For the last month, I've been speaking to people living with facial differences and disfigurements about how face verification tech is failing them. Spoiler: things aren't going well
When Face Recognition Doesn’t Know Your Face Is a Face
An estimated 100 million people live with facial differences. As face recognition tech becomes widespread, some say they’re getting blocked from accessing essential systems and services.
www.wired.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:23 AM
“There are few things more dehumanizing than being told by a machine that you’re not real because of your face"
For the last month, I've been speaking to people living with facial differences and disfigurements about how face verification tech is failing them. Spoiler: things aren't going well
For the last month, I've been speaking to people living with facial differences and disfigurements about how face verification tech is failing them. Spoiler: things aren't going well
Reposted by Tom Steel
Europe's largest city council delays fix to disastrous Oracle system once more
Europe's largest city council delays fix to disastrous Oracle system once more
System meant to go live in 2021 costing £20M awaits reimplementation with new £170M price tag
Europe's largest local authority has delayed the introduction of a vital income management system (IMS) amid confirmation that total spending on a disastrous Oracle implementation could hit £170 million (c $230 million).…
dlvr.it
September 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Europe's largest city council delays fix to disastrous Oracle system once more
Reposted by Tom Steel
The air is hissing out of the overinflated AI balloon
The air is hissing out of the overinflated AI balloon
Are tech giants getting nervous? They should be
Opinion There tend to be three AI camps. 1) AI is the greatest thing since sliced bread and will transform the world. 2) AI is the spawn of the Devil and will destroy civilization as we know it. And 3) "Write an A-Level paper on the themes in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."…
dlvr.it
August 25, 2025 at 1:25 PM
The air is hissing out of the overinflated AI balloon
Reposted by Tom Steel
Trust
Day 1/30 sharing my favorite doodles and drawings.
Day 1/30 sharing my favorite doodles and drawings.
August 17, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Trust
Day 1/30 sharing my favorite doodles and drawings.
Day 1/30 sharing my favorite doodles and drawings.
Reposted by Tom Steel
GREATNESS IS SERVING
Read the full story of a very special evening at Leyton's Coach & Horses, where some very special guests helped us tell the full story behind the fantastic new #LOFC mural - and all in a very deserving cause...
Read the full story of a very special evening at Leyton's Coach & Horses, where some very special guests helped us tell the full story behind the fantastic new #LOFC mural - and all in a very deserving cause...
Greatness Is Serving
the real story behind Orient's newest mural: a picture of compassion, loyalty and gratitude
theleytonorientear.substack.com
July 28, 2025 at 5:12 PM
GREATNESS IS SERVING
Read the full story of a very special evening at Leyton's Coach & Horses, where some very special guests helped us tell the full story behind the fantastic new #LOFC mural - and all in a very deserving cause...
Read the full story of a very special evening at Leyton's Coach & Horses, where some very special guests helped us tell the full story behind the fantastic new #LOFC mural - and all in a very deserving cause...
Reposted by Tom Steel
Microsoft admits it 'cannot guarantee' data sovereignty
Microsoft admits it 'cannot guarantee' data sovereignty
Under oath in French Senate, exec says it would be compelled – however unlikely – to pass local customer info to US admin
Microsoft says it "cannot guarantee" data sovereignty to customers in France – and by implication the wider European Union – should the Trump administration demand access to customer information held on its servers.…
dlvr.it
July 25, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Microsoft admits it 'cannot guarantee' data sovereignty
Reposted by Tom Steel
Conspiracy theorists should be required to do work experience in government departments so they can see firsthand the impossibility of any vast secret government conspiracies.
July 1, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Conspiracy theorists should be required to do work experience in government departments so they can see firsthand the impossibility of any vast secret government conspiracies.
Reposted by Tom Steel
David R. Hagen just solved a small mystery that I mentioned 13 years ago in the mouseover text of a comic drhagen.com/blog/the-mis...
The Missing 11th of the Month - David R Hagen
Personal website of David R Hagen, scientific software engineer
drhagen.com
June 19, 2025 at 11:40 AM
David R. Hagen just solved a small mystery that I mentioned 13 years ago in the mouseover text of a comic drhagen.com/blog/the-mis...
Reposted by Tom Steel
Here’s some of the background on Extract, which the Prime Minister announced on Monday, plus the detail on how we incubated the proof-of-concept.
There’s boatloads more discovery and alpha work to do. Went full techno-realist with the open para. mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/12/e...
There’s boatloads more discovery and alpha work to do. Went full techno-realist with the open para. mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/12/e...
Extract: Using AI to unlock historic planning data
This week, the Prime Minister officially launched Extract, the AI tool which the Digital Planning programme in MHCLG and the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence are developing to transform decades o...
mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk
June 12, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Here’s some of the background on Extract, which the Prime Minister announced on Monday, plus the detail on how we incubated the proof-of-concept.
There’s boatloads more discovery and alpha work to do. Went full techno-realist with the open para. mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/12/e...
There’s boatloads more discovery and alpha work to do. Went full techno-realist with the open para. mhclgdigital.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/12/e...
How the OS is bringing Slopey Roofs to homes near you
“… and combines it with findings from the Met Office, including information on the sun’s position at specific times and dates, to provide users with the Slopey Roofs tool for assessing the efficiency of roofs for solar panel installation.”
“… and combines it with findings from the Met Office, including information on the sun’s position at specific times and dates, to provide users with the Slopey Roofs tool for assessing the efficiency of roofs for solar panel installation.”
How the OS is bringing slopey roofs to homes near you
The UK’s emissions targets are ambitious. The Ordnance Survey's new Slopey Roofs project may see them being met faster than suspected.
www.techmonitor.ai
May 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
How the OS is bringing Slopey Roofs to homes near you
“… and combines it with findings from the Met Office, including information on the sun’s position at specific times and dates, to provide users with the Slopey Roofs tool for assessing the efficiency of roofs for solar panel installation.”
“… and combines it with findings from the Met Office, including information on the sun’s position at specific times and dates, to provide users with the Slopey Roofs tool for assessing the efficiency of roofs for solar panel installation.”
Reposted by Tom Steel
The 99p offer is also available via Kobo, for people looking for a different ebook supplier: www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/...
The Secret Barrister ebook by The Secret Barrister - Rakuten Kobo
Read "The Secret Barrister Stories of the Law and How It's Broken" by The Secret Barrister available from Rakuten Kobo. **Writing as S. J. Fleet, The Secret Barrister's first novel, The Cut Throat Tri...
www.kobo.com
May 1, 2025 at 8:11 AM
The 99p offer is also available via Kobo, for people looking for a different ebook supplier: www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/...
Reposted by Tom Steel
Would you like to use our new-look weather app? 📲
We’re doing a major upgrade of our Met Office weather app. And we’d love you to try it out, and tell us what you think.
Sign-up to get the test version ⤵️
response.questback.com/isa/qbv.dll/...
We’re doing a major upgrade of our Met Office weather app. And we’d love you to try it out, and tell us what you think.
Sign-up to get the test version ⤵️
response.questback.com/isa/qbv.dll/...
April 28, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Would you like to use our new-look weather app? 📲
We’re doing a major upgrade of our Met Office weather app. And we’d love you to try it out, and tell us what you think.
Sign-up to get the test version ⤵️
response.questback.com/isa/qbv.dll/...
We’re doing a major upgrade of our Met Office weather app. And we’d love you to try it out, and tell us what you think.
Sign-up to get the test version ⤵️
response.questback.com/isa/qbv.dll/...
Reposted by Tom Steel
Reposted by Tom Steel
There’s a great interview with Nick Park about Wallace And Gromit in last month’s Empire, and this bit in particular stood out. It sums up what artists have been trying to say about AI. The mistakes and the learning aren’t things to be bypassed, but a vital part of the process 🤟
March 18, 2025 at 9:07 AM
There’s a great interview with Nick Park about Wallace And Gromit in last month’s Empire, and this bit in particular stood out. It sums up what artists have been trying to say about AI. The mistakes and the learning aren’t things to be bypassed, but a vital part of the process 🤟
Reposted by Tom Steel
I think that one of the best clubs in the country to support at the moment might be...Leyton Orient.
It's not just the redemption and the potential, but the human story here. For that, you need to speak to Martin Ling.
inews.co.uk/sport/footba...
It's not just the redemption and the potential, but the human story here. For that, you need to speak to Martin Ling.
inews.co.uk/sport/footba...
The hidden recovery story at the heart of Leyton Orient's own resurgence
Director of football Martin Ling took over a 'football bomb site' and it turned it into one of the EFL's best clubs to support - he speaks to Daniel Storey
inews.co.uk
March 6, 2025 at 7:39 AM
I think that one of the best clubs in the country to support at the moment might be...Leyton Orient.
It's not just the redemption and the potential, but the human story here. For that, you need to speak to Martin Ling.
inews.co.uk/sport/footba...
It's not just the redemption and the potential, but the human story here. For that, you need to speak to Martin Ling.
inews.co.uk/sport/footba...
Reposted by Tom Steel
On this day 12 years ago, @kcg.bsky.social posted the “This is Fine” comic.
January 9, 2025 at 4:32 PM
On this day 12 years ago, @kcg.bsky.social posted the “This is Fine” comic.
@da.vebrig.gs your LinkedIn post about a standards regime; how do you score LAs in meeting users needs, when they’re the only people who have the info to know what their needs are?
Generic testing (like SOCITM or GDS Accessibility) will have limited value, but some ranking is better than nothing?
Generic testing (like SOCITM or GDS Accessibility) will have limited value, but some ranking is better than nothing?
Accessibility monitoring of public sector websites and mobile apps from 2022 to 2024
www.gov.uk
January 8, 2025 at 9:49 AM
@da.vebrig.gs your LinkedIn post about a standards regime; how do you score LAs in meeting users needs, when they’re the only people who have the info to know what their needs are?
Generic testing (like SOCITM or GDS Accessibility) will have limited value, but some ranking is better than nothing?
Generic testing (like SOCITM or GDS Accessibility) will have limited value, but some ranking is better than nothing?
“You know, while you’re out on your walk, go some place where you might feel a little child-like wonder and look around — look at the small things and look at the big things and just follow that sense of mystery and wonder.’
That’s all we asked them to do.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/awe-wo...
That’s all we asked them to do.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/awe-wo...
Scientists Asked People To Do 1 Thing Differently While Taking A Walk. The Results Were Astounding.
“It [creates] an amazing cascade of physiology that we can find almost any day and is very good for you,”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
December 29, 2024 at 9:37 AM
“You know, while you’re out on your walk, go some place where you might feel a little child-like wonder and look around — look at the small things and look at the big things and just follow that sense of mystery and wonder.’
That’s all we asked them to do.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/awe-wo...
That’s all we asked them to do.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/awe-wo...
A new Local Gov weeknote for you to follow; Angie Forson, new at Southwark, is sharing her experience as web and digital programme lead. Hear about Ping Pong, the Open Digital Cooperative and what’s on her reading list. One to watch!
angieforson.medium.com
angieforson.medium.com
Angie Forson – Medium
Read writing from Angie Forson on Medium. I love to travel, learn new things, and ensure that products and content I create, focuses on the needs of the end user.
angieforson.medium.com
December 6, 2024 at 10:53 AM
A new Local Gov weeknote for you to follow; Angie Forson, new at Southwark, is sharing her experience as web and digital programme lead. Hear about Ping Pong, the Open Digital Cooperative and what’s on her reading list. One to watch!
angieforson.medium.com
angieforson.medium.com
Wow. Bluesky has properly arrived.
Ed Balls
November 18, 2024 at 6:09 PM
Wow. Bluesky has properly arrived.
Reposted by Tom Steel
Based on your headline I'm hoping the bot was trained on Scarf Lady from Sarah and Duck sarah-and-duck.fandom.com/wiki/Scarf_L...
Scarf Lady
Scarf Lady is a secondary character in Sarah & Duck. Scarf Lady is an elderly lady. She is quite forgetful, often mixing up words or misinterpreting things. She loves knitting, and shows masterful ski...
sarah-and-duck.fandom.com
November 15, 2024 at 11:10 AM
Based on your headline I'm hoping the bot was trained on Scarf Lady from Sarah and Duck sarah-and-duck.fandom.com/wiki/Scarf_L...
This is one of the best uses of AI i've seen so far: uk.pcmag.com/security/155...
A bot which keeps scammers busy in conversational loops of confusion.
A bot which keeps scammers busy in conversational loops of confusion.
This 'AI Granny' Bores Scammers to Tears
After a survey found that 71% of Brits want revenge on scammers, mobile operator O2 deploys Daisy, an AI tool that keeps fraudsters on the line to waste their time.
uk.pcmag.com
November 15, 2024 at 9:07 AM
This is one of the best uses of AI i've seen so far: uk.pcmag.com/security/155...
A bot which keeps scammers busy in conversational loops of confusion.
A bot which keeps scammers busy in conversational loops of confusion.