Kev Mears

National Conversations Help put digital technology at the heart of political life in Scotland and Wales.

I've just supported 'National Conversations' from @transform.wales & @foundationsofthedigitalstate.com, a project to deliver a bookshelf of essential reads on digital government to every newly elected members of the Scottish Parliament and Senedd

Join me here: nationalconversations.org

Can relate. Usually a list. And by ‘work’ you mean almost any area of your life? 😬

So back on the weeknote horse with a rambling one where I try to work something out. That's what it's for isn't it?

www.mearso.co.uk/weeknotes/s0...

Bummer. I never used to get em, but have that joy now.

Festina lente - Wikipedia

Thanks to your messy notes I was prompted to disappear down a great mascot lined rabbit hole. Cheers.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festina...

This Jane Eyre book - it’s pretty good isn’t it? 😀

The Fall - Bremen Nacht (German TV, 1989) YouTube video by IAmUter

Not helping but was compelled to post, youtu.be/g7P9MPx2nME

One of my earliest memories of The Fall.

I hope so too. Thinking of you buddy.

Flipping heck. Hope you’re doing better now. All the best from a fellow IWMW Alumni.

Open air lido with an underground data centre. Would be lovely and warm. 😬😀

National Illustration Day 2025 On National Illustration Day, what illustration does for me

It's #NationalIllustrationDay2025 and I've written a blog post about what drawing means to me: myfanwytristram.com/2025/11/28/n... And tell me, what does it mean for you?

I guess it’s be optimal if the team getting the grief were able to fix the Service. Case for getting the boss to do a turn in the complaints department?

Was willing to read the manual for QuarkXpress. Then knew how to use a Mac. Did drawings for website. Made websites. Wondered why making stuff was/is hard. Still wondering.

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…..”

Vibe

Listening to some music, and critics dragging on Crazy Horse for their musicianship (or lack of) makes me love them more.

[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.] JANET: Ugh... LIZ: What's up? JANET: I am so bored of cooking peas! LIZ: Have you tried... AI peas? JANET: AI peas? LIZ: They're peas with AI! [Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI]. LIZ: Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas JANET: What LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines] Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas? [Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it] LIZ: Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine [Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas] LIZ: With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas! JANET: What LIZ: Shut up LIZ: Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow From opening the bag of peas to boiling the peas to eating the peas To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means. JANET: Is it really necessary to- LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]: THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET [Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan: AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas. [Ends]

Every ad now

Happy Halloween everyone.
#WorldBollardAssociation 👻

Join Cymru Ddigidol on Slack Slack is a new way to communicate with your team. It’s faster, better organized, and more secure than email.

Did you know that there's a Slack community for digital folks in Wales?

It's called Cymru Ddigidol and you can join us here: join.slack.com/t/cymruddigi...

Ymunwch a ni! Join us!

Enjoying public speaking advice from Christine Cagney.

“Tell em what you’re gonna tell them, tell them and tell em what you told em “

I wish!

I was thinking ‘Business Glitter’ 😀

Wondering if there’s a generic name for all those crappy ‘life cycle’ diagrams you see endlessly in strategies?

Usually circles with arrows. The illusion of clarity, illustrating bugger all.

Help your local LOSER | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine We interrupt this sketch to bring you a charity appeal on behalf of the League Of Special Elected RepresentativeS. To many people, politics looks like a game of rough and tumble…

thecritic.co.uk/help-your-lo...

Super proud that our report is now out! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Massive shout out to @annkempster.com, @daivaughan.uk and @jocarter.bsky.social 🎉

We'd love to hear what you think!

LIVE SCENES FROM WALES
#WorldBollardAssociation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[Scene is ANCIENT GREECE - where SOCRATES and PLATO and others are sitting round, thinking] 1 SOCRATES: Plato.. PLATO: Yes Socrates? 2 SOCRATES: Can you tell me, are you human? PLATO: Why… yes, Socrates 3 SOCRATES: And would you agree, Plato, that a human knows what a chariot is? PLATO: Um, yep 4 SOCRATES: So you can tell me, then 5 [Socrates produces a papyrus, showing a drawing of the corner of a chariot wheel] SOCRATES: *Is that a chariot*? 6 PLATO: Well that’s more just a bit of wheel 7 SOCRATES: So not a *chariot*. PLATO: No. 8 SOCRATES: [Producing another papyrus with the full drawing of the chariot, chopped into boxes] So if a man were challenged to “tap the boxes containing chariots to prove you’re human” when he was just trying to check his ClubCard points... *where could he tap*? 9 PLATO: Well you can’t tap any of them really 10 SOCRATES: So are we not human? PLATO: ‘Spose not. 11 [Bleak pause] 12 PLATO: I’ll get the hemlock SOCRATES: Yeah [ends]

Lovely to be interviewed for this!

[Scene is a 19th century drawing room with a sign outside saying TRANSPORT INVENTORS CLUB. Inside, the German Engineer KARL BENZ is addressing a meeting of gentlemen about his new transport idea] 1 KARL BENZ: OK guys - you’re gonna love this 2 KARL BENZ: So it’s like, a box made of metal that goes at up to 120 miles an hour, yeah? [Karl shows them a diagram of a car] 3 KARL BENZ: And your drive it down one side of the road, and the boxes going the other way go on the opposite side, so we don’t need to build two roads! 4 OTHER GUY: What’s down the middle? KARL BENZ: A white line. 5 OTHER GUY: So like, a white barrier… KARL BENZ: No a white line. Drawn on the floor.  6 OTHER GUY: And who’s piloting these machines? KARL BENZ: I was thinking: random members of the public. 7 [Pause, the other guys all look with concern at Karl] 8 OTHER GUY: Karl are you OK KARL BENZ: No listen it’s fine  9  OTHER GUY: You know we’re worried about you, don’t you?  KARL BENZ: No really it’ll work - 10 KARL BENZ: Once hundreds of millions of people have died and the world’s started ending because of the fumes it’ll all be normal. 11 OTHER GUY: Is that normal like the ‘commuter travel device’ you brought in last week which was just… 12 OTHER GUY:  …an iron maiden fired from a catapult? [The other guy displays a diagram of an iron maiden being fired from a catapult] KARL BENZ: THAT WOULD’VE WORKED! [ends]

Carl Benz has an idea

A rising bollard is covered in car oil after winning its latest battle.

You should see the other guy…
#WorldBollardAssociation 😏

The evidence in favour of 20 mph speed limits is overwhelming, cheaper insurance, less emissions, less car crashes, it saves the NHS, Police and councils money. But Gary from Port Talbot's commute now takes 42 minutes instead of 40 so it simply must go.