Ian Watt
@watty62.bsky.social
Open Data advocate. Wikimedia Board Member. Data scientist. Tinkerer with Python, LLMs etc. Enthusiastic reader. Wikimedia UK trainer. #Jazz lover. Drawer, painter, photographer. Whisky afficionado. #FRSA #FIoL Burgess of Guild of #Aberdeen, OSS Taisho.
Reposted by Ian Watt
Vetting: some actual facts. This is a genuinely cracking read about how we filter – and fail to filter – those with access to our state secrets. If you're new to this, prepare to be somewhat surprised
A fair amount of nonsense has been written and said about the "security vetting" process for Mandelson's appointment. I wrote about what "Developed Vetting" really involves and why it's perfectly possible that it found nothing useful about Mandelson.
arthursnell.substack.com/p/the-vettin...
arthursnell.substack.com/p/the-vettin...
The Vetting Myth
Understanding the realities of Mandelson's pre-appointment checks
arthursnell.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Vetting: some actual facts. This is a genuinely cracking read about how we filter – and fail to filter – those with access to our state secrets. If you're new to this, prepare to be somewhat surprised
No. But it reminds me of Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon. A great story.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microco...?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microco...?
Microcosmic God - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 10, 2026 at 12:38 PM
No. But it reminds me of Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon. A great story.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microco...?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microco...?
Reposted by Ian Watt
Something magnificent about Kemi Badenoch's self-confidence, and her claim that the Mandelson affair is entirely down to her asking questions at PMQs. Like a toddler who thinks their plastic steering wheel is controlling the car.
February 9, 2026 at 8:07 AM
Something magnificent about Kemi Badenoch's self-confidence, and her claim that the Mandelson affair is entirely down to her asking questions at PMQs. Like a toddler who thinks their plastic steering wheel is controlling the car.
Reposted by Ian Watt
Just beyond parody at this point
February 8, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Just beyond parody at this point
Reposted by Ian Watt
If you're a business owner who fires someone you have assigned to an overseas job and you don't buy them a plane ticket home you should actually go to prison
Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries.
One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home.
Abolish the billionaire class:
One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home.
Abolish the billionaire class:
Donate to Support for Washington Post international employees, organized by Michelle Lee
Among the hundreds of journalists laid off by The Washington Post on … Michelle Lee needs your support for Support for Washington Post international employees
www.gofundme.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:44 PM
If you're a business owner who fires someone you have assigned to an overseas job and you don't buy them a plane ticket home you should actually go to prison
Reposted by Ian Watt
ICYMI:
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
Google Workers Demand End to Cloud Services for Immigration Agencies
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:37 PM
ICYMI:
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
950+ Google workers signed a petition demanding that executives "disclose all contracts and collaboration with DHS, CBP, and ICE, and to divest from these partnerships."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
Reposted by Ian Watt
The shots from it are really cool!
February 7, 2026 at 6:19 PM
The shots from it are really cool!
Having been gifted a printing press for Christmas, and tried using it for intaglio prints, I'm back to #linocut printing to test it. This is Buddy our rescue with a wonky ear.
Just a quick bit of carving, but happy with the results.
#reliefprinting #reliefprints, #linocutprinting
Just a quick bit of carving, but happy with the results.
#reliefprinting #reliefprints, #linocutprinting
February 5, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Having been gifted a printing press for Christmas, and tried using it for intaglio prints, I'm back to #linocut printing to test it. This is Buddy our rescue with a wonky ear.
Just a quick bit of carving, but happy with the results.
#reliefprinting #reliefprints, #linocutprinting
Just a quick bit of carving, but happy with the results.
#reliefprinting #reliefprints, #linocutprinting
Reposted by Ian Watt
INBOX: Robert McCartney, who worked for 39 years at The Washington Post, including as a Metro columnist and editor, before retiring in 2021, claims on X that he has heard the Post has laid off *all* its photojournalists.
February 4, 2026 at 9:05 PM
INBOX: Robert McCartney, who worked for 39 years at The Washington Post, including as a Metro columnist and editor, before retiring in 2021, claims on X that he has heard the Post has laid off *all* its photojournalists.
Reposted by Ian Watt
Etta James, John Lee Hooker and Carlos Santana team up for a live version of the classic James tune "Tell Mama" live in San Francisco in 1986. The driving title tune of Etta's 1968 Chess album. m.youtube.com/watch?v=b34y...
John Lee Hooker, Carlos Santana and Etta James - Tell Mama | Live at Fillmore Auditorium 1986
YouTube video by Live Legends
m.youtube.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:15 AM
Etta James, John Lee Hooker and Carlos Santana team up for a live version of the classic James tune "Tell Mama" live in San Francisco in 1986. The driving title tune of Etta's 1968 Chess album. m.youtube.com/watch?v=b34y...
Reposted by Ian Watt
@developers.google.com @newsfromgoogle.bsky.social where has Google books gone?
I don't mean to seem alarmed, but it appears Google's book search function is, just...gone.
In a sane country it would be a huge deal, front page news, that a privately owned utility that millions researches, from journalists to scholars, rely on every day to advance knowledge can just disappear.
In a sane country it would be a huge deal, front page news, that a privately owned utility that millions researches, from journalists to scholars, rely on every day to advance knowledge can just disappear.
February 3, 2026 at 6:17 PM
@developers.google.com @newsfromgoogle.bsky.social where has Google books gone?
I just finished this new #Wikipedia article on Sir William Noble who discovered last week.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...?
Another remarkable native of #Fraserburgh, he was a key figure in the early history of the #BBC.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...?
Another remarkable native of #Fraserburgh, he was a key figure in the early history of the #BBC.
William Noble (BBC Founder) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 3, 2026 at 7:37 PM
I just finished this new #Wikipedia article on Sir William Noble who discovered last week.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...?
Another remarkable native of #Fraserburgh, he was a key figure in the early history of the #BBC.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...?
Another remarkable native of #Fraserburgh, he was a key figure in the early history of the #BBC.
Reposted by Ian Watt
WHAT THE F--K!!!
The DOJ has JUST DELETED these Epstein Files again, after a NYT's article from 2016 was shown to corroborate much of it!
Share Everywhere: We Screen-Grabbed what they just deleted:
krassencast.com/p/urgent-doj...
The DOJ has JUST DELETED these Epstein Files again, after a NYT's article from 2016 was shown to corroborate much of it!
Share Everywhere: We Screen-Grabbed what they just deleted:
krassencast.com/p/urgent-doj...
URGENT: DOJ Deletes Epstein Files Again — And They Directly Implicate Trump
For the second time in just three days, the U.S.
krassencast.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:35 PM
WHAT THE F--K!!!
The DOJ has JUST DELETED these Epstein Files again, after a NYT's article from 2016 was shown to corroborate much of it!
Share Everywhere: We Screen-Grabbed what they just deleted:
krassencast.com/p/urgent-doj...
The DOJ has JUST DELETED these Epstein Files again, after a NYT's article from 2016 was shown to corroborate much of it!
Share Everywhere: We Screen-Grabbed what they just deleted:
krassencast.com/p/urgent-doj...
Reposted by Ian Watt
Private equity owns lion’s share of children’s foster services in England, ‘bleeding the sector of money’.
Profits margins of 19%. Money extracted in interest payments, intragroup charges. Children suffer.
Ban profit-taking entities from foster services.
Profits margins of 19%. Money extracted in interest payments, intragroup charges. Children suffer.
Ban profit-taking entities from foster services.
Private equity owns lion’s share of children’s foster ser...
Three London firms are now the biggest players in the provision of foster carers in England
observer.co.uk
February 2, 2026 at 8:05 AM
Private equity owns lion’s share of children’s foster services in England, ‘bleeding the sector of money’.
Profits margins of 19%. Money extracted in interest payments, intragroup charges. Children suffer.
Ban profit-taking entities from foster services.
Profits margins of 19%. Money extracted in interest payments, intragroup charges. Children suffer.
Ban profit-taking entities from foster services.
Wouldn't work so well now with Thames Water etc....
February 2, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Wouldn't work so well now with Thames Water etc....
Reposted by Ian Watt
Translation I & II. Linocut print, 115cm-82cm, Diptych. 2024.
#linocutprint #print #adeadesina #linocut #printmaking
#linocutprint #print #adeadesina #linocut #printmaking
February 1, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Translation I & II. Linocut print, 115cm-82cm, Diptych. 2024.
#linocutprint #print #adeadesina #linocut #printmaking
#linocutprint #print #adeadesina #linocut #printmaking
This thread! 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
AI Skills Boost - AI Skills Hub
aiskillshub.org.uk
January 29, 2026 at 8:35 AM
This thread! 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Reposted by Ian Watt
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Reposted by Ian Watt
Just 45 more Tory MPs joining Reform and Ed Davey becomes leader of the opposition
January 26, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Just 45 more Tory MPs joining Reform and Ed Davey becomes leader of the opposition
Reposted by Ian Watt
In 2016 7% of biographies on #Wikipedia about classicists were about women. Now @richardnevell.bsky.social's wonderful analysis shows that 10 years later, that number is now almost 20%. That's a huge achievement! #WCCWiki
January 23, 2026 at 11:23 AM
In 2016 7% of biographies on #Wikipedia about classicists were about women. Now @richardnevell.bsky.social's wonderful analysis shows that 10 years later, that number is now almost 20%. That's a huge achievement! #WCCWiki
Reposted by Ian Watt
Yeah it’s 50k now. Have you signed yet? Even Nigel Farage agrees.
Petition: By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
t.co/GhzzDCOB3T
Petition: By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
t.co/GhzzDCOB3T
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737660
t.co
January 21, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Yeah it’s 50k now. Have you signed yet? Even Nigel Farage agrees.
Petition: By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
t.co/GhzzDCOB3T
Petition: By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party
t.co/GhzzDCOB3T
Reposted by Ian Watt
The government is living in an alternate reality. During WW2, Michael Foot and others wrote Guilty Men about the disastrous failure of the British elite’s appeasement policy: their inability to grasp the world they were living in. He’d have a field day with this lot.
January 21, 2026 at 11:51 AM
The government is living in an alternate reality. During WW2, Michael Foot and others wrote Guilty Men about the disastrous failure of the British elite’s appeasement policy: their inability to grasp the world they were living in. He’d have a field day with this lot.
Reposted by Ian Watt
Reposted by Ian Watt
NEW: NEW: Standards commissioner finds Nigel Farage committed seventeen breaches of MPs code of conduct.
He failed to declare £333,000 in outside interests (more than 3x MPs annual salary)…
He failed to declare £333,000 in outside interests (more than 3x MPs annual salary)…
January 21, 2026 at 8:48 AM
NEW: NEW: Standards commissioner finds Nigel Farage committed seventeen breaches of MPs code of conduct.
He failed to declare £333,000 in outside interests (more than 3x MPs annual salary)…
He failed to declare £333,000 in outside interests (more than 3x MPs annual salary)…