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edent_'s reviews
96 reviews
Platformland: An Anatomy of Next-Generation Public Services by Richard Pope
All of the advice and lessons are sensible and pragmatic. It is an efficiently written book which avoids the temptation of too much name-dropping or mythologising mundane events. There is, perhaps, a tinge of bitterness that some projects got dropped or some ideas never quite made it. While the personal is political, he doesn't get into the Politics of the time - but does acknowledge that every decision has a political dimension.
Similarly, he is much more interested in what is proven to work and what helps users rather than getting caught up in the various ideologies which spring up around digital government:
Underpinning all of the advice is the realisation that it needs organisational will and political cover to instigate transformation. These things don't happen in isolation and techies need to confront the reality of the way the world is organised.
It is (delightfully) weird seeing friends quoted in this book - and from GovCamp no less! - and gratifying to see one of my posts cited. There's a section about the NHSX Covid tracing app (which I was intimately involved in) - I think it is a fair assessment of what happened and whether those choices were in the best interests of the country. But, again, it is weird seeing your personal history in a book!
Ultimately, it is the sort of book which should be mandatory reading for all Civil Servants and Politicians of every colour. We have to reconfigure the interface between the citizen and the state in order for them to have a more copacetic relationship. We have to redesign the state so that it is able to meet the challenges of today. We have to ensure that it is able to rapidly adapt to the challenges of tomorrow.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/12/book-review-platformland-by-richard-pope/
challenging
informative
5.0
This is an exquisitely detailed and righteously determined look about the how and why of Digital Government.
Richard Pope was there at the beginning of GOV.UK and helped steer it to the magnificent beast it is today. He reflects, clear eyed, on the various successes and failures of the geeky attempt to turn the state into something approaching modernity.
He's forthright on his views about the lack of vision in most projects:
The aim of most digitization programmes is the status quo, delivered more cheaply. This is not surprising. Government business cases are woven from such hopes. The resulting documents are catnip to treasury officials. But efficiency is a trap.
All of the advice and lessons are sensible and pragmatic. It is an efficiently written book which avoids the temptation of too much name-dropping or mythologising mundane events. There is, perhaps, a tinge of bitterness that some projects got dropped or some ideas never quite made it. While the personal is political, he doesn't get into the Politics of the time - but does acknowledge that every decision has a political dimension.
Where credentials will ‘live’ is both a technical question and a political question. Apple’s and Google’s digital wallets, and those of Samsung and others, are turning the storage of credentials into a zone of contest between the public and private sectors.
Similarly, he is much more interested in what is proven to work and what helps users rather than getting caught up in the various ideologies which spring up around digital government:
Privacy debates tend to attract absolutists on both sides, with sometimes-arbitrary arguments that everything must be put under user control in the name of privacy, or the counterargument: that it doesn’t matter what information is reused because people assume the government knows it anyway. Both are unhelpful.
Underpinning all of the advice is the realisation that it needs organisational will and political cover to instigate transformation. These things don't happen in isolation and techies need to confront the reality of the way the world is organised.
It is (delightfully) weird seeing friends quoted in this book - and from GovCamp no less! - and gratifying to see one of my posts cited. There's a section about the NHSX Covid tracing app (which I was intimately involved in) - I think it is a fair assessment of what happened and whether those choices were in the best interests of the country. But, again, it is weird seeing your personal history in a book!
Ultimately, it is the sort of book which should be mandatory reading for all Civil Servants and Politicians of every colour. We have to reconfigure the interface between the citizen and the state in order for them to have a more copacetic relationship. We have to redesign the state so that it is able to meet the challenges of today. We have to ensure that it is able to rapidly adapt to the challenges of tomorrow.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/12/book-review-platformland-by-richard-pope/
git commit murder by Michael Warren Lucas
The central schtick is great - can a hacker solve a murder at a tech conference? - but there's very little in the way of detective work. The central mystery is mostly solved by hacking the mainframe and a little social engineering. What it lacks in dramatic tension, it more than makes up for in an expert level of detail about tech conferences.
The main character does veer towards the stereotypical sometimes. A fat nerd with ADHD and social awkwardness isn't exactly a subtle rendition of your typical attendee. I found his hyper-fixation on the disgust he feels for his body to be both troubling and distracting.
If you've ever been to a tech conference, you'll recognise every character in the book. You'll probably recognise yourself in there as well. Hopefully you aren't driven into a homicidal rage by the bad coffee and even worse interpersonal-politics! It's a well observed critique of a culture that likes to think of itself above petty-human concerns but, frequently, eschews the technical for the personal.
Well written, expertly observed, but with a central character who is so unlikeable that it was hard for me to enjoy inhabiting his world. The whodunnit aspect is Sayre's Law write large - the stakes couldn't be lower, which makes for a slightly unsatisfying conclusion.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/12/book-review-git-commit-murder-michael-warren-lucas/
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a peculiar murder mystery novel. In truth, the murder mystery takes second-place to the internal monologue of a protagonist who is viscerally disgusted with his corporeal body. The majority of the book is about the protagonist's neuroses, self-loathing, and contempt for both himself and others.
The central schtick is great - can a hacker solve a murder at a tech conference? - but there's very little in the way of detective work. The central mystery is mostly solved by hacking the mainframe and a little social engineering. What it lacks in dramatic tension, it more than makes up for in an expert level of detail about tech conferences.
Everything is perfectly captured - including the way people mistype on the terminal and use arrow keys to correct themselves, the trouble exiting VI, and the crappy behaviour from some participants. At times it feels like fan-service for real life. There's the merest hint of technobabble, but it is hidden deep within disturbingly accurate observations of real-life.
The main character does veer towards the stereotypical sometimes. A fat nerd with ADHD and social awkwardness isn't exactly a subtle rendition of your typical attendee. I found his hyper-fixation on the disgust he feels for his body to be both troubling and distracting.
If you've ever been to a tech conference, you'll recognise every character in the book. You'll probably recognise yourself in there as well. Hopefully you aren't driven into a homicidal rage by the bad coffee and even worse interpersonal-politics! It's a well observed critique of a culture that likes to think of itself above petty-human concerns but, frequently, eschews the technical for the personal.
Well written, expertly observed, but with a central character who is so unlikeable that it was hard for me to enjoy inhabiting his world. The whodunnit aspect is Sayre's Law write large - the stakes couldn't be lower, which makes for a slightly unsatisfying conclusion.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/12/book-review-git-commit-murder-michael-warren-lucas/
Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design by Kat Holmes
4.0
Part manifesto, part manual. This is an excellent overview of inclusion and design. More than just about usability, it goes to the psychological heart of why we get upset when we can't use ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/12/book-review-mismatch-by-kat-holmes/
The Gendered Brain: The new neuroscience that shatters the myth of the female brain by Gina Rippon
4.0
I saw Professor Rippon give a talk about this book a few months ago, and have been itching to read it ever since.
It's a weighty tome - and deservedly so. It takes in the full history of ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/12/book-review-the-gendered-brain-by-gina-rippon/
It's a weighty tome - and deservedly so. It takes in the full history of ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/12/book-review-the-gendered-brain-by-gina-rippon/
The Chemical Detective by Fiona Erskine
2.0
I didn't get on with this book. It's clearly well researched - the author herself being an chemist - but the dialogue veers off into Belinda Blinked territory at times.
It's a Dan Brown-style ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/11/book-review-the-chemical-detective-by-fiona-erskine/
It's a Dan Brown-style ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/11/book-review-the-chemical-detective-by-fiona-erskine/
Queer Privacy: Essays From The Margins Of Society by Sarah Jamie Lewis
3.0
How do you design an app which protects privacy? Yes, yes, I know "your privacy is important to us" - but that has always been a lie. For most of us a privacy breach means changing your password ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/10/book-review-queer-privacy-sarah-jamie-lewis/
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
4.0
Most episodes of Black Mirror can be summarised as "What if X - but too much?" Max Berry's novel is basically "What if Capitalism - but too much?"
It's a quick and silly novel. Definitely ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/10/book-review-jennifer-government-max-berry/
It's a quick and silly novel. Definitely ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/10/book-review-jennifer-government-max-berry/
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
5.0
What can I say about this award winning book which hasn't already been said?
It has helped change the way I work. When given data or user research - I now always ask about the gender ratio. ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/10/book-review-invisible-women-caroline-criado-perez/
It has helped change the way I work. When given data or user research - I now always ask about the gender ratio. ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/10/book-review-invisible-women-caroline-criado-perez/
Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson
4.0
Zeitgeist the novel!
Trans issues combined with AI and politics. Interspersed with a fictionalised autobiography of Mary Shelley.
It's a mixed bag of great ideas, high comedy, and beautiful ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/09/book-review-frankissstein-by-jeanette-winterson/
Trans issues combined with AI and politics. Interspersed with a fictionalised autobiography of Mary Shelley.
It's a mixed bag of great ideas, high comedy, and beautiful ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/09/book-review-frankissstein-by-jeanette-winterson/
Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger by Lee Israel
3.0
Short stories make the best films. And this is a very short story of an utterly fascinating tale.
I've always wondered how autograph and memorabilia sellers verify their wares. Turns out - ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/09/book-review-can-you-ever-forgive-me-lee-israel/
I've always wondered how autograph and memorabilia sellers verify their wares. Turns out - ... https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/09/book-review-can-you-ever-forgive-me-lee-israel/