Rachel Coldicutt
@rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social
Internet person. Community tech, careful innovation, socially progressive tech policy.
https://www.careful.industries
https://buttondown.email/justenoughinternet
DMs don't work but hello [at] careful.industries will find me eventually
https://www.careful.industries
https://buttondown.email/justenoughinternet
DMs don't work but hello [at] careful.industries will find me eventually
how so? I am fascinated to understand how you might extrapolate that from such a short post. What power dynamics have you inferred to be present?
November 22, 2025 at 4:24 PM
how so? I am fascinated to understand how you might extrapolate that from such a short post. What power dynamics have you inferred to be present?
So much this. Need someone to come round once a week and tick some things off a list and give us a gold star
November 22, 2025 at 1:55 PM
So much this. Need someone to come round once a week and tick some things off a list and give us a gold star
Yes, so interesting
November 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Yes, so interesting
Almost certainly. God, what I would give to do a PhD on this
November 22, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Almost certainly. God, what I would give to do a PhD on this
(Which reminds me that this will be a really interesting watch for someone like me, who is primed to notice the downsides of things www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...)
BBC Two - Chris McCausland: Seeing into the Future
Chris McCausland explores the future of technology and what it holds for him personally.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:46 AM
(Which reminds me that this will be a really interesting watch for someone like me, who is primed to notice the downsides of things www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...)
That is a nice positive!
November 22, 2025 at 9:37 AM
That is a nice positive!
Yes I have experienced that - feels very extractive, but I think it sometimes happens automatically if a person with Otter enabled accepts a meeting request - it may not even be something people do on purpose. I think there is a case to be made for having a policy for public and semi-public events?
November 22, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Yes I have experienced that - feels very extractive, but I think it sometimes happens automatically if a person with Otter enabled accepts a meeting request - it may not even be something people do on purpose. I think there is a case to be made for having a policy for public and semi-public events?
It's more the idea that is now a direct comms channel and/or perceived to be a useful way of doing business!
November 22, 2025 at 9:28 AM
It's more the idea that is now a direct comms channel and/or perceived to be a useful way of doing business!
(I say this as someone with a speech and language disability whose requirements are rarely asked for - I have actively to assert the need for them, and sometimes what works for me to be a good participant might not support or in fact be directly in contrast to someone else's)
November 22, 2025 at 9:27 AM
(I say this as someone with a speech and language disability whose requirements are rarely asked for - I have actively to assert the need for them, and sometimes what works for me to be a good participant might not support or in fact be directly in contrast to someone else's)
I think it would be really positive to see bespoke assistive tech: transcription tools that work for folks with dyslexia might be diff to ones that work for ppl with ADHD. Different D/deaf people may have different requirements, depending on many factors. Think that is prob specialist research.
November 22, 2025 at 9:24 AM
I think it would be really positive to see bespoke assistive tech: transcription tools that work for folks with dyslexia might be diff to ones that work for ppl with ADHD. Different D/deaf people may have different requirements, depending on many factors. Think that is prob specialist research.
We didn't do enough depth work to understand specific reasonable adjustments in detail and I would really hesitate to make generalisations about that, as those adjustments should be specific to the individual and work in the ways they need them to. There is also an interesting clash of adjustments
November 22, 2025 at 9:21 AM
We didn't do enough depth work to understand specific reasonable adjustments in detail and I would really hesitate to make generalisations about that, as those adjustments should be specific to the individual and work in the ways they need them to. There is also an interesting clash of adjustments
A culture in which individuals rely on automated meeting summaries (that could be incorrect, and how could you ever check if you didn't go to the meeting?) is not going to be improved by adding more generative AI into the mix.
November 22, 2025 at 9:17 AM
A culture in which individuals rely on automated meeting summaries (that could be incorrect, and how could you ever check if you didn't go to the meeting?) is not going to be improved by adding more generative AI into the mix.
I v much doubt this is a testament to the technology, but a product of a culture in which you miss out on important information if you don't go to meetings. Sending a notetaker isn't another way of participating - you don't get to contribute - it's just a way of knowing what was said, and by whom
November 22, 2025 at 9:15 AM
I v much doubt this is a testament to the technology, but a product of a culture in which you miss out on important information if you don't go to meetings. Sending a notetaker isn't another way of participating - you don't get to contribute - it's just a way of knowing what was said, and by whom
The results of this govt Copilot "experiment" show that meeting transcriptions and summaries saved "an average of 26 minutes a day" across GDS. www.gov.uk/government/p... So, roughly 5 x 30
min meetings or 2.5 hour-long ones. Some people are presumably recouping whole days
min meetings or 2.5 hour-long ones. Some people are presumably recouping whole days
Microsoft 365 Copilot Experiment: Cross-Government Findings Report (HTML)
www.gov.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:13 AM
The results of this govt Copilot "experiment" show that meeting transcriptions and summaries saved "an average of 26 minutes a day" across GDS. www.gov.uk/government/p... So, roughly 5 x 30
min meetings or 2.5 hour-long ones. Some people are presumably recouping whole days
min meetings or 2.5 hour-long ones. Some people are presumably recouping whole days
It makes a lot of sense I guess that there is a deeply conservative attitude that agrees everything has been worse since men looked like boys
November 22, 2025 at 8:43 AM
It makes a lot of sense I guess that there is a deeply conservative attitude that agrees everything has been worse since men looked like boys
I mean, Kruger's actual peers will be asking for Definitely Maybe.
November 22, 2025 at 8:39 AM
I mean, Kruger's actual peers will be asking for Definitely Maybe.
Anyway, I think it's interesting to think about how men like Kruger and Farage and Johnson are allowed to say increasingly outlandish and bizarre things but are taken seriously because of their overall appearance and demeanour, which draws on a pre-Blair/90s/Cool Britannia aesthetic
November 22, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Anyway, I think it's interesting to think about how men like Kruger and Farage and Johnson are allowed to say increasingly outlandish and bizarre things but are taken seriously because of their overall appearance and demeanour, which draws on a pre-Blair/90s/Cool Britannia aesthetic
Ed Milliband and Andy Burnham are both four years older than Kruger. Whereas Burnham is still rocking the Adidas Sambas (like many other Oasis fans his age) Kruger seems to have always looked a like a slightly crumpled, bookish grandad. Consciously not like his peers, not one of "us".
November 22, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Ed Milliband and Andy Burnham are both four years older than Kruger. Whereas Burnham is still rocking the Adidas Sambas (like many other Oasis fans his age) Kruger seems to have always looked a like a slightly crumpled, bookish grandad. Consciously not like his peers, not one of "us".
Farage (although also a posh boy) has much more of an 80s/Del Boy Made Good retro aesthetic but is also surprisingly young for someone who's spent the last 20 years looking like he's 60. It's like both Kruger and Farage chose to stop time in the opposite way to the zeitgeist.
November 22, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Farage (although also a posh boy) has much more of an 80s/Del Boy Made Good retro aesthetic but is also surprisingly young for someone who's spent the last 20 years looking like he's 60. It's like both Kruger and Farage chose to stop time in the opposite way to the zeitgeist.
I have had some dealings with Kruger over the years and, in
person, he is an interesting prospect: someone who aesthetically embraced middle-age at a young age (perhaps to look authoritative) and he leans slightly towards Boris Johnson's shambling aristocrat mode of presentation
person, he is an interesting prospect: someone who aesthetically embraced middle-age at a young age (perhaps to look authoritative) and he leans slightly towards Boris Johnson's shambling aristocrat mode of presentation
November 22, 2025 at 8:20 AM
I have had some dealings with Kruger over the years and, in
person, he is an interesting prospect: someone who aesthetically embraced middle-age at a young age (perhaps to look authoritative) and he leans slightly towards Boris Johnson's shambling aristocrat mode of presentation
person, he is an interesting prospect: someone who aesthetically embraced middle-age at a young age (perhaps to look authoritative) and he leans slightly towards Boris Johnson's shambling aristocrat mode of presentation