😱
Six Colors, Dan Moren: UK orders Apple to implement secret global backdoor for end-to-end encryption
"the United Kingdom’s government has mandated Apple provide a backdoor for access to end-to-end encrypted data in every country, combined with a gag order preventing the company from disclosing this fact to its users"
The Washington Post broke the story. https://sixcolors.com/link/2025/02/uk-orders-apple-to-implement-secret-global-backdoor-for-end-to-end-encryption/
Charles Arthur:
"Maybe that’s the real threat of AI: not that it acquires superhuman intelligence, but that it acquires superhuman persuasiveness. Judging by the number of people I see posting screenshots of ChatGPT output as though it’s gospel, we may be heading that way." https://wordpress.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4c05517f80432a9d59ecf8013&id=635263def0&e=1af1753983
This is not an architectural movement that I’m rushing to embrace… BoND turns Fire Island house into a “machine for voyeurism”:
"“Calling it a machine for voyeurism, everything is on display,” said the team, which aimed to “execute the fine line of both sexual playfulness and desire.”" https://www.dezeen.com/2025/02/02/fire-island-pines-midcentury-house-renovation-bond/
No, spell checker, when I write “virality” I mean it. I do not mean “virility“. Giving students feedback on “virility“ would not be good for my career.
What a difference an hour makes.
7.30am:
8.30am: 
The university system in the UK is in trouble:
"Over the last two weeks, more than 1,000 redundancies have been announced by just four institutions, sparking concerns about the long-term health of the sector. With institutions cutting courses to make savings, questions are being raised over the ability of universities to train enough people with the research skills the country needs."
The new(ish) government needs to act, as every round of cuts threatens the UK’s long-term competitiveness. https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-universities-2025-1-calls-for-ministers-to-act-as-university-job-losses-accelerate/
Beautifully written and conducted interview with James May from Top Gear/The Grand Tour. Love the final line:
"James May is the eternal combustion engine that never combusts into anger, the Grand Tourist more likely to write a poem than raise a fist, a bloke, but one suited to the age of the electric car." https://apple.news/AFy6gbmtwTLS5KRgnV5UbUw
At the station a bit early for my train, so enjoying a quite moment before I head to the smoke. 
Bluesky’s passed the 30m user mark. 
Why Ewan is going back, as far as is practical, to the Web 2.0 era. https://ewanspence.co.uk/blog/2025/01/returning-to-a-web-20-way-of-social-networking/
A very graceful exit to @coreint, @danielpunkass and @manton. Thank you.
The nice thing about podcasting basically just being spicy RSS is that I can just leave that feed subscribed, just in case… https://micro.blog/coreint https://micro.blog/danielpunkass https://micro.blog/manton
At the theatre, daaaahling. 
Pub dinner with my daughters before a school performance.
Monday nightt really is a dead night for the hospitality business, 
Oh, look, it’s an “update all the Apple things” night.
Worth keeping an eye on: The LLM bubble might be about to burst (but not for the reason you think)
Good luck on writing that five year business plan, folks.
(Says the man deep in writing a feature about the office of 2030…) https://birchtree.me/blog/the-llm-bubble-might-be-about-to-burst-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think/
This week’s swimming lessons inspiration. 
Sunrise up on the Downs. 
Beach sunset. 
It’s normally late February or March before we dig the bikes out, but today was such a lovely, mild sunny day, we dragged them out of the garage, pumped the tyres and went for a cycle up and round the fort. 
"A winged maple seed fell from a tree, landing on the page of the book I was reading. The world was going about the work at hand. Survival and renewal were literally in the air."
From the introduction to Visualizing Nature edited by Stuart Kestenbaum 📚 https://micro.blog/books/9781648960376