Mike O'Neill

Software developer. Co founder NDL, founder KNX & founder with @minabird Baycloud Systems. Labour. 🇺🇦🇪🇺🏴

[Mike O'Neill @incloud]

The European Commission's "GDPR simplification" package proposal mandates a browser level signal to allow data subjects’ to refuse a request for consent, and exercise the right to object and potentially to give their consent, see Article 88b, page 57.

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

Applebaum: Trump is using a specific language from the 1930s: “enemies within,” “enemies of the people,” migrants and political opponents as “vermin,” migrants “poisoning the blood” of Americans.

That language comes from Hitler, Stalin and the Stasi. 1/

[Paul Mason @paulmasonnews]

We need the toughest possible laws to protect us from foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). The UK is under cognitive attack from MAGA and Putin - 👏👏👏 @LucyMPowell

[Chris Alexander 🇨🇦🌻 @calxandr]

There is a widespread misconception, actively promoted by the Kremlin & its proxies, that a ceasefire between Russia & Ukraine will lead to a so-called ‘return to normal’ — a resumption of Eurasian energy trade, a return of Russia to capital markets & an end to Moscow’s political isolation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even if Russia stops shooting prisoners on the frontlines or bombing Ukrainian civilians in their beds, it will still be illegally occupying 20% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. It will still be holding tens of thiusands of kidnapped children hostage, as it seeks to brainwash & militarize them. It will still be engaged in hostile corruption, influence & sabotage operations against democracies. Its leadership will still be liable to face accountability for the crime of aggression & genocide, as well as many other war crimes & atrocities. Russia has no intention of giving up on this national programme of unmitigated genocidal savagery.

Instead of clinging to impossible dreams, our free societies should continue to re-evaluate what Moscow was doing before 2022, before 2014 & even before 2008, when it invaded Georgia. The Kremlin was never interested in having ‘normal commercial relations’ with anyone. They wanted cash in order to rebuild their economy so they could start invading neighbours again. Even after 1991, post-Soviet Russia never stopped occupying parts of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova & Ukraine. After their many defeats & failures in Chechnya, they knew they needed larger armed forces & more sophisticated active measures fully to subjugate any of these neighbouring countries. By its valour & military prowess, Ukraine has almost shattered this agenda of neo-colonial fascist military expansion. As a result, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova & Syria have moved steadily away from Moscow’s orbit. Mali may do the same. Iran is also weaker. The upshot is clear: Russia now has fewer vassals in Europe, the Middle East & North Africa, although Belarus & Georgia remain under Russian control & occupation, & Russian mercenaries & spies retain influence in Burkina Faso, Burma, CAR, Venezuela & elsewhere.

The fact that so many democratic leaders were deceived with regard to Moscow’s intentions in 1991-93 & again in 2000-02 need not blind people today to the reality of Russian treachery, manipulation & hostile intent. Even if the guns fall silent in Donbas & elsewhere, as still remains most unlikely, Russia will not be a normal country. It will remain a neo-imperialist genocidal occupier with an unbroken history of aggression over centuries against neighbours & states further afield. Even if one theatre of operations becomes less active, democracies will still need to deter & defeat this Kremlin war machine. We will need a workable strategy for victory to liberate occupied areas of Ukraine, as well as Belarus, Georgia & occupied Moldovan Transnistria. Russian coercive control must end in the Caucasus & Central Asia, as well in remaining parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, where it lingers. The new normal should be a world free of Russian aggression, invasion, occupation & repression. That remains a goal well worth fighting for.

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

Just spoke to a business event in the Midlands. Show of hands on whether Starmer should stay or go — 80-20 stay. Has been similar at several recent events. Really interesting to see such a chasm between political/media bubble view, and out and about. Main reasons given “stability …. May not like some of the decisions but we are used to them now … fear of similar chaos as under the Tories … feeling that any PM with a decent majority has “the right and the duty” to serve a full term … May not be the most charismatic but “can the others really do much better in the circs?” … sense that media make everything seem worse than it is … worry that “country first, party second” exposed as hollow.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Irish politicians are avoiding questions about Aughinish. Patrick O’Donovan refuses to answer my calls. The refinery is in his constituency

He says the Russian owned plant is not connected to Russia’s war machine, without showing evidence. They want this to blow over. It won’t

[Bushra Shaikh @Bushra1Shaikh]

Henry Nowak's mother has said:

"We are a family who have friends across faith and race, and so did Henry. We want his memory to help bring our society together."

And there you have it.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Lots of pro russian Irish people telling me to ‘go to the front lines & leave Ireland’

I’ve just come here from Nikopol. The press armour is still in my bag. I watched Russian drones hunt civilians with my own eyes. That’s why the indifference here is so despicable, especially while Ireland still supplies alumina to Russias war machine.

I’m not going anywhere. This investigation continues

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

I’ve been investigating the russian refinery for days now and the story gets darker and darker. The shipments are sent to Siberia, smelted, and sold to the russian company ‘ASK’. This company distributes aluminium directly to Russia’s missile & drone manufacturers.

[David Yelland @davidyelland]

Elon Musk has clearly been a threat to democracy in the UK for some time, his algorithm is like a virus at the heart of our body politik, so the PM’s criticism of him is well merited.

[David Yelland @davidyelland]

"We've made ourselves irrelevent..." the now late Alex Younger on the effect of Brexit. We are living through a time when the smart people are away from public space. He was an exception.

[Hedgie @HedgieMarkets]

🦔UC Berkeley's computer science department just posted its worst failure rates in years. 35.3% of CS 10 students got F's in spring 2026, up from under 10% in prior semesters. Professor Dan Garcia says the primary driver is a "vast increase in academic dishonesty" through LLMs. Students use AI to complete assignments, never learn the material, then fail exams. His office hours, once full, are now empty.

My Take
Companies are firing experienced engineers while the pipeline that produces new ones is being gutted by the same technology. Students use AI to bypass the hard part of learning, show up to exams without the understanding, and fail. One professor discovered a student's linear algebra class had an "open AI" policy for homework and exams. That student then couldn't do basic linear algebra in the next course.

Both ends of the workforce are eroding at the same time. Senior engineers are getting cut to fund AI spending. Junior engineers are graduating without the skills because AI did their coursework. And the companies spending trillions on these tools haven't connected those two facts yet.

Hedgie🤗

[Ted Smith 🇪🇺 @TedUrchin]

It never fails to amaze me that so many ordinary people, those working, others not, continue to think that Nigel Farage is their saviour and the answer to all their problems.
It’s not a unique phenomenon as we see in Trump’s America with his ‘blind faith’ MAGA supporters.
It has been the tactics of the far right over the years - blame another ethnic group, be they black, Jewish or Muslim and the hard-of- thinking lap it up without any thought whatsoever.
Stupidity is the real Achilles Heel of a successful and equitable democracy, is it not? Stupidity.

[William Dalrymple @DalrympleWill]

Alex Younger, with whom used to play toy soldiers with as a boy growing up in the Borders half a century ago, was an intensely moral man, perhaps unusually for a successful intelligence officer. Privately he was forthright in his criticism of those, such as Netanyahu, who were happy to slaughter the innocents among their enemies. This line in his obituary rang very true to the man I knew: "He was acutely aware of the corrupting powers of espionage and of the compromises it requires, but decried the “pernicious myth that, somehow, intelligence services are moral equivalents; that the end justifies the means, whatever the cost”. MI6 was not the same as the services of authoritarian states. “If we undermine the values we defend, even in the name of defending them, then we have lost.”"

[Gary Marcus @GaryMarcus]

⚠️Why didn’t the hyperscalers wait until after the IPO in switching to pay-by-usage-charging? My guess is that *they literally could not afford to* —because it would bankrupt them.

My reasoning: in “all you can eat” agent era they were hemorrhaging money.

So the hyperscalers probably had to choose between hemorrhaging insane amounts of money (with tokenmaxxing) and reducing usage and potentially burning customer enthusiasm (via increasing rates).

They would eat another 6 months of all you can eat if they possibly could– to establish market appetite—so I conclude that they just can’t.

Conclusion: They just don’t have enough cash. Despite the possibility of giant IPOs, their financial situation is shaky.

[Gracie Samuels @GracieSamuels]

I’m a pensioner and I’m also disabled and Starmer has not punished me. Get your facts straight James and also he is not the most unpopular prime minister, Thatcher was.
Since Labour were elected people like you have attacked Starmer 24/7. From day one the far right press cabal have been attacking him 24/7 over the most absurd things, Specsavers gave him some glasses and we didn’t stop hearing about it for months, Nigel Farage accepts £5 million quid bung into his bank account and it’s hardly mentioned. The day before yesterday Farage came out of hiding to incite a 'cold rage' riot and he succeeded and 11 police officers were injured in Southampton, despite the family pleading for no more division and hatred.
Deservedly Farage is being shown for what he is a nasty despicable tiny man who will use anyone and anything to get what he wants. If he ever gets elected our NHS is gone.
Meanwhile since he was elected Starmer has had to deal with #FaragesRiots (number 1) and insane man in the White House slapping tariffs on us, the threat of WW3 coming closer because of Farage’s mate Trump, and him destabilising world peace, then he has had to deal with Trump's illegal war in Iran as well as all the dreadful domestic issues left by 14 years of Tories. The economy is losing £90 billion per year because of Farage’s #Brexit and all the rest of it. Starmer has handled this with calm dignity, if Farage was PM we would be involved in an illegal war costing our service men and women in injuries and maybe their lives and we would be spending millions on Trump's war. I for one am glad we have a PM who is keeping this country on an even keel. Who do you actually want as PM — Farage? If you do you’re going the right way about it!

[David Aaronovitch @DAaronovitch]

Barely a month ago this man was imprisoned for the violent rape of a Sikh woman believing that she was a Muslim. No Douglas Murray articles in the Spectator, no Baroness Fox speech in the Lords. No riots. Two tier? Too right https://t.co/8wABWe3bww

[Paul Mason @paulmasonnews]

Quietly seething anger shared by all decent people in UK politics at @elonmusk interference promoting far right narratives 👇🏽✊🚩🇬🇧💥

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

This is the latest Trump corruption to push back on.

He's gotten the attorney general to exempt him from the tax laws that govern everyone else—including other presidents.

Bill and I released 30+ years of tax returns and were audited a few times! https://t.co/6JiiVjIv3F

[Rupert Myers @RupertMyers]

The late, great former head of MI6 Sir Alex Younger in his own words on Brexit

[Hedgie @HedgieMarkets]

🦔Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told Computex this week that AI agents will replace your phone as the center of your digital life. The agent follows you across every device, earbuds, glasses, phone, laptop, and never turns off. 6G networks will "make all of us into walking cameras," and by tracking millions of radio connections, network operators will build a digital twin of every road, car, bicycle, and pedestrian in your city. "Resistance is futile," Amon said.

My Take
A CEO just stood on stage and told investors his company's vision is an AI agent that follows you everywhere, sees what you see, hears what you hear, and feeds it all into a digital replica of your city where every person and vehicle is tracked. He said "resistance is futile" like that was a selling point and not a threat.

This week Ring got sued for labeling people's faces without consent. Microsoft put "make people addicted" in a strategy doc. MicroAGI sent cameras into apartments. And now Qualcomm is pitching the hardware layer that ties all of it together into one continuous feed from your earbuds to a datacenter, running around the clock. Each company sells its piece as a standalone product, but they all benefit from the same outcome: you generate data constantly and it flows through their compute. Amon says economics will drive adoption and he's probably right. But I haven't heard a single person on any of these stages this week ask whether the people generating all that data actually want this future. The pitch is always to investors, never to the public. I feel like that should bother more people than it does.

Hedgie🤗