By Tom Watson in weeknote —

Weeknote 31

Final weeknote of the year...ok a week and a half note. Thinking about the future, taking care of the past, and an absolute bumper load of interesting things. Signing off for the year.

Weeknote 31
Photo by Felix Rottmann / Unsplash

It's a note about a week...and a half.
I was planning to get this out last week, but as I'm only working half of this week I decided to bundle them up together.

What I did

  • Finally wrote the People Pillar section of the OR Workbook. I went through about 10 different versions trying to get it down to a length that isn't too overwhelming, and a layout and structure that feels right. Feel like I got there after much effort. Shared with Liz, which prompted her to rejig the other Pillars. Think it's getting somewhere now! Also spent time sketching out a Notion site for the programme with all the resources.
  • Spent a bit of time on Open Recs doing a few updates and a couple of fixes to improve 'memory'
  • Helped an organisation with their approach to impact. As ever I suggested starting with what you want to learn, not what you think others want. Others will change, they will change what they want, don't be a servant, focus on you, your work and your learning.
  • Spent some time in a microsoft environment. Still having flashbacks.
  • Got turned down for a grant from The Catalyst Kindling Fund. I'm not exactly surprised by this. I shared the short proposal we did for it anyway, which was entitled "Reclaim the Stack: Open, Community-Owned Tools for Justice and Sustainability" you can read it below.
Proton Drive
Securely store, share, and access your important files and photos. Anytime, anywhere.
Proton Drive
  • Side note - if you want to read about why some of this stuff is important then here's an interesting map on a different type of stack - The Authoritarian Stack
The Authoritarian Stack
How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next
  • Sidenote 2 - Proton just released their venison of sheets which was one of the things stopping me from fully switching as I outline in this
What stack do I use?
Prompted by a few other blogs I thought I’d outline “my stack”. I’ve done this a couple of times before but this time feels slightly different.
Tomcw.xyzTom Watson
  • Went for a walk with Doug up in Northumberland. We talked all sorts of things, sport, life and random ideas of what we might want to work on. It was chucking it down until we got to the hills, and then
Glorious sunshine in the Northumberland hills
  • Began doing some archiving of Data For Action work and resources including creating a github page for the Sheffield Boundaries. Time for a good ending and composting. More on this soon.
  • Began thinking about 2026. I've got some serious thoughts on what I think might be interesting and what I might be exploring. But before that I decided to do a bit of semi-serious/semi -shitchat predictions.
Predictions for 2026 (or: What I’m Actually Thinking About)
The Predictions for 2026 that no-one asked for. Some of them are real, some are more just hope, most of them are firmly tongue in cheek. Also I set out 8 ideas I’m thinking about when it comes to tech and AI infrastructure.
Tomcw.xyzTom Watson
  • I got round to actually writing up one of these ideas I outlined above. It feels like a starting sketch more than a fully formed thought, but I'll come back to it when i get back. It's called My Memory - A Personal Context Passport
My Memory - A startup idea for 2026
One of a number of ideas I’m thinking about ahead of 2026. The personal context passport lets people carry a portable, user-owned profile they can share on their terms - from low-stakes convenience (travel, fitness) and evolving into granular, time-limited permissions for high-stakes public services
Tomcw.xyzTom Watson

Closing out the year

And that is it for me for this year. I'm off to Norway, hope to see some Orcas and maybe even a humpback whale, throw myself in the Fjords for my December dip and switch off. When I get back things will be different work wise.

I've got some really interesting things already lined up, but I'm also looking for something a bit bigger, deeper. I'm not sure exactly what that is yet, but if you are doing interesting work and think maybe I could help, perhaps as a longer term advisor, collaborator or something else, then let me know!

Interesting things - A bit of a bumper last one

Honestly there are some brilliant things in here!