Simon Willison's Weblog: uk

Quoting Peter Bhat Harkins

2025-03-20T16:26:35+00:00

I’ve disabled the pending geoblock of the UK because I now think the risks of the Online Safety Act to this site are low enough to change strategies to only geoblock if directly threatened by the regulator. [...]

It is not possible for a hobby site to comply with the Online Safety Act. The OSA is written to censor huge commercial sites with professional legal teams, and even understanding one's obligations under the regulations is an enormous project requiring expensive legal advice.

The law is 250 pages and the mandatory "guidance" from Ofcom is more than 3,000 pages of dense, cross-referenced UK-flavoured legalese. To find all the guidance you'll have to start here, click through to each of the 36 pages listed, and expand each page's collapsible sections that might have links to other pages and documents. (Though I can't be sure that leads to all their guidance, and note you'll have to check back regularly for planned updates.)

— Peter Bhat Harkins, site administrator, lobste.rs

Tags: politics, uk, moderation, law

Quoting Question for Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

2024-11-01T15:14:53+00:00

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cybersecurity risks posed by prompt injection attacks to the processing by generative artificial intelligence of material provided from outside government, and whether any such attacks have been detected thus far.

Lord Vallance of Balham: Security is central to HMG's Generative AI Framework, which was published in January this year and sets out principles for using generative AI safely and responsibly. The risks posed by prompt injection attacks, including from material provided outside of government, have been assessed as part of this framework and are continually reviewed. The published Generative AI Framework for HMG specifically includes Prompt Injection attacks, alongside other AI specific cyber risks.

— Question for Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UIN HL1541, tabled on 14 Oct 2024

Tags: politics, prompt-injection, security, generative-ai, ai, uk, llms

Quoting John Gruber

2023-08-24T06:16:18+00:00

And the notion that security updates, for every user in the world, would need the approval of the U.K. Home Office just to make sure the patches weren’t closing vulnerabilities that the government itself is exploiting — it boggles the mind. Even if the U.K. were the only country in the world to pass such a law, it would be madness, but what happens when other countries follow?

— John Gruber

Tags: uklaw, cryptography, uk, john-gruber, law

Online Ticketing: Is Biletto a good way to find music / entertainment events in London, or are there any other alternatives? What are some problems you see with the site?

2013-11-24T17:19:00+00:00

My answer to Online Ticketing: Is Biletto a good way to find music / entertainment events in London, or are there any other alternatives? What are some problems you see with the site? on Quora

It looks like a clone of http://www.yplanapp.com/ to me, but without the exclusive inventory.

Tags: uk, quora, ticketing

What is the best food in London for under £20?

2013-01-06T13:35:00+00:00

My answer to What is the best food in London for under £20? on Quora

In terms of chain burger restaurants, Byron is excellent - much better than GBK.

Soho has had an explosion of excellent Ramen joints recently, including Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu (I've tried both, they're amazing). Chris Heathcote's review of them makes great reading: http://anti-mega.com/antimega/20...

Tags: food, london, pubs, uk, quora

What should I do with a week in Brighton, UK?

2012-06-24T11:34:00+00:00

My answer to What should I do with a week in Brighton, UK? on Quora

Make sure you go inside the Pavilion - it's marvellous. The outside imitates an Indian temple, but the inside (for some reason) is entirely inspired by China. Both aspects were constructed by British workmen who had never been to either, so it's a fabulous over-the-top representation of 18th century stereotypes of those countries.

It's also full of dragons, including an 8ft high one holding up a chandelier.

Tags: brighton, uk, quora, europe

GeoDjango and the UK postcode database

2009-09-30T14:25:19+00:00

GeoDjango and the UK postcode database

Excellent introduction to GeoDjango using the recently leaked UK postcode database. Obviously, you should only follow the steps in this tutorial using the officially licensed database, available for a mere £1,700.

Tags: chris-lamb, django, geodjango, geospatial, postcodes, uk

The Royal Mint: The New Designs Revealed

2008-04-04T07:42:05+00:00

The Royal Mint: The New Designs Revealed

Matthew Dent’s design for the new UK coinage is inspired—absolutely beautiful. Can’t wait to get my hands on some of these.

Tags: coins, design, matthew-dent, mint, royalmint, uk

Quoting Becta

2008-01-12T10:35:43+00:00

Schools and colleges should make pupils, teachers and parents aware of the range of free-to-use products (such as office productivity suites) that are available, and how to use them.

— Becta

Tags: education, becta, schools, uk, it, openoffice, microsoft, open-source, freesoftware

Quoting Bruce Schneier

2007-10-24T20:36:39+00:00

A school in the UK is using RFID chips in school uniforms to track attendance. So now it's easy to cut class; just ask someone to carry your shirt around the building while you're elsewhere.

— Bruce Schneier

Tags: security, uk, rfid, schools, bruce-schneier

OPSI asks users to contribute to new web channel

2007-10-20T13:18:33+00:00

OPSI asks users to contribute to new web channel

The Office of Public Sector Information now has an online forum for people interested in reusing UK government information for commercial benefit, based on a recommendation in the “Power of Information” report by Tom Steinberg and Ed Mayo.

Tags: edmayo, government, opsi, powerofinformation, tom-steinberg, uk

Quoting John Powell

2007-10-16T17:33:28+00:00

Yet when you look at the projects in the UK, these projects are failing. The more they fail, the more it drives [the UK government] down this weird behaviour of only selecting the biggest people - even though they've failed two or three times before.

— John Powell

Tags: alfresco, open-source, bigit, uk, ukgovernment

Professional Contractors Group

2007-08-02T23:27:29+00:00

Professional Contractors Group

“PCG is the only cross-sector, not-for-profit trade association for freelance consultants and contractors.”—based in the UK.

Tags: consulting, freelancing, pcg, uk

d.Construct 2007 is go!

2007-05-21T12:15:20+00:00

d.Construct 2007 is go!

One of my favourite UK events. This year’s theme is “Designing the User Experience”.

Tags: andy-budd, conferences, dconstruct, events, uk

MoneySavingExpert

2007-01-07T22:32:45+00:00

MoneySavingExpert

Don’t let the cheesy design fool you; this site actually has some really useful (apparently trustworthy) UK personal finance advice.

Tags: personal-finance, uk

Sending a postal letter via the internets?

2006-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

My answer to Sending a postal letter via the internets? on Ask MetaFilter

Thanks mycapaciousbottega. It looks like there's still a business opportunity here because emailbypost.com doesn't work! I got through the create-your-letter step, but when I hit the "pay" button I got an error from the payment service stating that their user account didn't exist.

Anyone know of any services like this that actually work?

Tags: ask-metafilter, post, uk, letters

'National interest' halts arms corruption inquiry

2006-12-15T14:09:57+00:00

'National interest' halts arms corruption inquiry

“It has been necessary to balance the need to maintain the rule of law against the wider public interest.”

Tags: law, politics, scandal, uk