Richard Young
@richardyoung.bsky.social
Writer, editor, presenter (plus mid-life crisis PGCE). Ask me to write about business, finance, PM, AI, VC & PE, HR, IT... It's not the platform, it's us. Anger is a compass not a map. Hyperbole is destroying civilisation!! linkedin.com/in/businesswriter
Alan Moore knew what would happen in 1983...
November 6, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Alan Moore knew what would happen in 1983...
As in writing, today's AI highlights how much human work is crank-the-handle, good-enough junk food for the brain. RELATED: linked in today's Overspill email: many podcasts only exist to blot out our thoughts and do ad reads. tthe-handle, hebaffler.com/outbursts/the-hatred-of-podcasting-belden
October 30, 2025 at 8:45 AM
As in writing, today's AI highlights how much human work is crank-the-handle, good-enough junk food for the brain. RELATED: linked in today's Overspill email: many podcasts only exist to blot out our thoughts and do ad reads. tthe-handle, hebaffler.com/outbursts/the-hatred-of-podcasting-belden
I mean, yeah, global economic forces and all, but it's shocking to go from this: "In the immediate years following [the SWW], the UK was once again producing more ship tonnage than the rest of the world combined" to this...
October 29, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I mean, yeah, global economic forces and all, but it's shocking to go from this: "In the immediate years following [the SWW], the UK was once again producing more ship tonnage than the rest of the world combined" to this...
Lovely history of the decline in UK shipbuilding; like the car industry, it fell foul of chummy marketing, too-relaxed management, and over-zealous unions. TIL all those things had been *advantages* at one point. HT @charlesarthur.bsky.social's Overspill www.construction-physics.com/p/how-the-uk...
October 29, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Lovely history of the decline in UK shipbuilding; like the car industry, it fell foul of chummy marketing, too-relaxed management, and over-zealous unions. TIL all those things had been *advantages* at one point. HT @charlesarthur.bsky.social's Overspill www.construction-physics.com/p/how-the-uk...
I *am* properly happy at the improvement in the crime numbers. But "admitted to hospital" is quite a high bar - getting beaten up is a different thing from being stabbed. Though far fewer youth stabbings is brilliant, obvs!
(I was all set to be cynical about 18-30s, but they're down even more. 👍)
(I was all set to be cynical about 18-30s, but they're down even more. 👍)
October 27, 2025 at 8:38 AM
I *am* properly happy at the improvement in the crime numbers. But "admitted to hospital" is quite a high bar - getting beaten up is a different thing from being stabbed. Though far fewer youth stabbings is brilliant, obvs!
(I was all set to be cynical about 18-30s, but they're down even more. 👍)
(I was all set to be cynical about 18-30s, but they're down even more. 👍)
Genuinely feel for Wolves. This orange looks like our stats for many dropped points this season. And LUFC could have done with the draw...
October 26, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Genuinely feel for Wolves. This orange looks like our stats for many dropped points this season. And LUFC could have done with the draw...
The crest of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell features a dude (who I think is supposed to be Jesus?) who looks like he's getting really tired of running his paleo-lifestyle YouTube channel.
October 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
The crest of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell features a dude (who I think is supposed to be Jesus?) who looks like he's getting really tired of running his paleo-lifestyle YouTube channel.
A properly codified constitution relies on accepting legal interpretations made by unelected experts, and we have plenty of evidence on how that goes, even in this country...
October 23, 2025 at 8:50 AM
A properly codified constitution relies on accepting legal interpretations made by unelected experts, and we have plenty of evidence on how that goes, even in this country...
I wrote a piece on Quantum Computing 11 years ago and I'm struggling to see that it wouldn't work just as well today. (Time to dig up an 11yo piece on AI and see what I said about *that*!)
October 20, 2025 at 11:41 AM
I wrote a piece on Quantum Computing 11 years ago and I'm struggling to see that it wouldn't work just as well today. (Time to dig up an 11yo piece on AI and see what I said about *that*!)
JP Morgan (via @paulkedrosky.com newsletter). I'm sure this is fine.
October 20, 2025 at 10:01 AM
JP Morgan (via @paulkedrosky.com newsletter). I'm sure this is fine.
Google telling me my Nest thermostat - one of the more popular home automation products of the past 15 years - was going to turn into one of these shortly seems an even more compelling reminder.
October 20, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Google telling me my Nest thermostat - one of the more popular home automation products of the past 15 years - was going to turn into one of these shortly seems an even more compelling reminder.
I hate these echoes of early Facebook.
1991
1991
October 13, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I hate these echoes of early Facebook.
1991
1991
I've said it before and I'll say it again
October 10, 2025 at 11:18 AM
I've said it before and I'll say it again
Inbox zeroing and came across an excellent @matt-levine.bsky.social piece on hedge funds, gambling and prediction markets. Got me thinking: it's a bit like an LLM: gather a huge corpus of (human) data, aggregate, project forward probabilistically, evaluate the outcome, iterate. Hmmm...
October 10, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Inbox zeroing and came across an excellent @matt-levine.bsky.social piece on hedge funds, gambling and prediction markets. Got me thinking: it's a bit like an LLM: gather a huge corpus of (human) data, aggregate, project forward probabilistically, evaluate the outcome, iterate. Hmmm...
CNN, no I haven't wished those things. We should be re-learning the art of being present (ignore text messages for a couple of hours in a theatre!) and who needs coffee so bad in a place where coffee shops aren't obvious from looking? Smart glasses solve one problem: phones no longer evolving.
September 22, 2025 at 7:50 AM
CNN, no I haven't wished those things. We should be re-learning the art of being present (ignore text messages for a couple of hours in a theatre!) and who needs coffee so bad in a place where coffee shops aren't obvious from looking? Smart glasses solve one problem: phones no longer evolving.
Lessons in AI from a 60s classic.
September 20, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Lessons in AI from a 60s classic.
Newspaper whose topical weekend crossword wrong-footed by midweek reshuffle (3,8)
September 13, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Newspaper whose topical weekend crossword wrong-footed by midweek reshuffle (3,8)
Excellent piece about fitness trackers and what they do to us. (Basically: streaks and nudges generated by AI can be bad for you as well as promote progress towards goals). But struck by this passage, which drops immediately into my "reflections on education" folder...
September 12, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Excellent piece about fitness trackers and what they do to us. (Basically: streaks and nudges generated by AI can be bad for you as well as promote progress towards goals). But struck by this passage, which drops immediately into my "reflections on education" folder...
Watching the world right now.
September 5, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Watching the world right now.
First progs I remember were those with the early episodes of Judge Child Saga. But the landmark early prog for me, the one that totally hooked me, was prog 178. Massive reboot with a slew of amazing new stories. (Weirdly I did a Substack today about prog 189! open.substack.com/pub/contentm...)
September 2, 2025 at 6:19 PM
First progs I remember were those with the early episodes of Judge Child Saga. But the landmark early prog for me, the one that totally hooked me, was prog 178. Massive reboot with a slew of amazing new stories. (Weirdly I did a Substack today about prog 189! open.substack.com/pub/contentm...)
Been a while, but I done a new post. open.substack.com/pub/contentm...
September 2, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Been a while, but I done a new post. open.substack.com/pub/contentm...
Wow. Third century was a really bad time to get elected Pope. (This is just a fraction...)
September 2, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Wow. Third century was a really bad time to get elected Pope. (This is just a fraction...)
To labour the point... Why make Morcar the Mercian baddie when Leofric is sitting right there; and Edwin and Morcar are Harold's brothers-in-law? Maybe the whole thing is too confusing for TV...
August 27, 2025 at 2:28 PM
To labour the point... Why make Morcar the Mercian baddie when Leofric is sitting right there; and Edwin and Morcar are Harold's brothers-in-law? Maybe the whole thing is too confusing for TV...