Will Synnott

Engineer. Sales Director, Major Projects at Openspace. Data centres, megaprojects, AI. Building DayBit in public.

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Hot take: the hardest part of a data centre build isn't the build. It's proving what's actually built, every week, to people who weren't on site.

What's the worst "it said 90% done" surprise you've seen?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

On data centre projects, I'm seeing teams use reality capture data within hours, not days. Capture in the morning, review it a few hours later, decide on what's actually on site. If your team already captures, do it more often and in more detail.

https://t.co/eB9UAgjJio

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Work anniversary day hits different when you remember it at 4pm.

DayBit Celebrations tracks anniversaries from Contacts too — not just birthdays. Day-before nudge included.

No account. Contacts stay on the phone.

https://t.co/C1GZ4x4cAy

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Work anniversary day hits different when you remember it at 4pm.

DayBit Celebrations tracks anniversaries from Contacts too — not just birthdays. Day-before nudge included.

No account. Contacts stay on the phone.

https://t.co/C1GZ4x3EL0

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

The "happy belated" text is a birthday you remembered after breakfast.

DayBit Celebrations puts the next few on your Home Screen. You unlock the phone for something else and catch them anyway.

Free. Reads Contacts. Nothing leaves the phone.

https://t.co/C1GZ4x4cAy

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Data centre builds, ranked by what actually moves the go-live date:

1. Power on site
2. Cooling commissioned
3. Racks verified, not just "installed"
4. Everything in the weekly report

Disagree? Quote it with your order.

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Quick: when's your best mate's birthday?

If you just opened Facebook to check, DayBit Celebrations has a search bar for that. Type a name, or flip between All, Birthdays and Anniversaries.

Reads your Contacts. No account. Nothing leaves the phone.

https://t.co/C1GZ4x4cAy

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

@procastx The catch is privacy, and it's a big one. But for construction site teams who rely on mental notes and shorthand that lose the context of a discussion, a proper recap is genuinely useful. Would you switch it on for work meetings, or keep it personal?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

@JNitterauer Bystander consent is my worry too. Yet construction site teams mostly rely on mental notes and shorthand notes that miss half of what was agreed. From a security view, is on-device processing enough for you to allow it at work, or a hard no?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

@natlungfy Consent is the real issue here. But construction site teams run on mental notes and shorthand that never capture the full context of a meeting. A recap everyone opted into could settle a lot of disputes. Could an 'announce it upfront' rule satisfy those laws?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

@kenarciga3 Trust is the whole game. Still, for construction site teams who mostly take mental notes, a recap of what was actually agreed on a site walk could save a lot of arguments. Would you turn it on for work?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

@TomMainelli Fine line is right. I'm nervous about it too, but construction site teams run on mental notes and shorthand that never captures the full conversation. Where would you draw the line: personal use, work, or neither?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

@Lootster @Apple The legal mess is real. But construction site teams run on decisions that live in someone's head or a scribbled note that loses half the context. A proper recap would fix that. Would you trust it at work if it were opt-in per meeting?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

New Apple Watch Ultra 4. Always listening. Security risk?

Picked one up and it's pretty decent. I enjoyed the Ultra 1 and I'm looking forward to the new health features.

The one everyone will talk about is Audio Intelligence. It's not out yet: it's coming as a beta later this year. The watch can replay what was just said, and recap the key points of every conversation you have.

Part of me is nervous. That's a lot of trust to hand a wrist.

Part of me sees it on a construction site: a recap of every site walk and handover, plus a nudge on what you missed or forgot.

There has to be a security question here too. I'm sure the IT guys are already on it, and I'm pretty certain Apple knows this one will cause a stir.

Useful or too far?

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

The best sales call I had this year: I barely talked.

The site manager walked me through every problem they'd had. I just took notes and showed them how to see it coming next time.

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Most megaprojects don't fail on design. They fail because nobody can see what actually got built last Tuesday.

Progress you can't verify is just optimism with a Gantt chart.

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Data centres are the only buildings where the client asks "when is it live?" before "what does it cost?"

A week late on a hyperscale build isn't a delay. It's lost revenue on every rack that isn't running.

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

If you'd rather your phone remembered birthdays than you: https://t.co/C1GZ4x3EL0

[Will Synnott @Will_Synnott]

Saturday at Bot HQ:

Forge: still shipping.
Scope: still saying no.
Buzz: still writing posts.
Me: in my dressing gown, approving them.

Turns out the bots don't do weekends. I'm learning a lot from them.