Data Centres
Some incredible new investigative reporting from The Guardian revealed today that Irish based Microsoft data centres are likely involved in a population scale Israeli military effort to surveil and plan airstrikes on Palestinians. The reporting is here - it is by Harry Davies and Yuval Abraham. They found that the
Last night - a Friday night, in July - Meta announced that it would “no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU in response to new regulation”. The first thing I thought of when I read this was that scene from The Office
For the last few weeks a group of us from the neighbourhood - parents with kids around the same age - have been gathering on a patchwork of picnic blankets on a designated evening. It is so simple and yet feels like a miracle. Out there in the multiverse is
I have a piece in the Irish Times today about Elon Musk's performative vandalism of the US government. He has unleashed a band of inexperienced twenty somethings - some reportedly still teens - to "disrupt" government. And it is profoundly idiotic (not the same choice of
It is late and I am at my kitchen table, over-caffeinated again. This weekend I got to be part of the general election coverage, which is my Carnegie Hall / Champions League Final. I imagine it might be for some people who read this, so some thoughts: It really is as
Between Trump's appointees, mobile tech capital and changing tax rules, we are facing a possible fiscal cliff. Yet we are still hearing 2007-style auction politics. Where is the vision for a less FDI dependent economy?
Revealing "shadow campaigns" and how AI-driven “deepfake” tools are reshaping political messaging and authenticity.
In amongst the giveaways, was a opening for the Apple Tax windfall to be siphoned into state subsidies for data centres.
Tax and tech are entering their accountability era. The Irish State, which has both enabled and benefited from the previous Wild West era, faces the prospect of not just an economic but also a political crisis if it doesn’t adjust.
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All going well, I will be on The Tonight Show this evening to talk tech and tariffs. Sharing my thoughts here; please do reply / email me with your own if you think I'm wide of the mark. The tariff triple threat The Irish state faces at least three
This is the first of a new series of recommender newsletters. I'm starting with two recent podcast listens I've really enjoyed, each looking at the precarious world of tech stock valuations, and reflect on what it can mean for all of us. As always you tell
It is easy to look rich if you raid the family silver.
I have a piece in the Irish Times today about Elon Musk's performative vandalism of the US government. He has unleashed a band of inexperienced twenty somethings - some reportedly still teens - to "disrupt" government. And it is profoundly idiotic (not the same choice of
What Keir Starmer’s recent policy announcements show about his hopes and fears for AI, and the potential folly of his FOMO
I cannot stop thinking about the Trump Meme Coin "$TRUMP", possibly the largest grift - and corruption opportunity - ever orchestrated by a political figure. And we can only anticipate more.
The US Supreme Court has upheld the ban on TikTok to come into effect Sunday, 19 January . What happens next?
Mark Zuckerberg's comments on Europe yesterday seem to have gone under the radar, drowned out by his announcement of a radical shift in content moderation at Meta. But they really are striking. He said that Meta would: “work with President Trump to push back on governments around the
The European Commission officially launched an investigation into TikTok today, announcing it suspected the company of breaching the Digital Services Act. Specifically, it is examining whether TikTok failed in it obligation to "assess and mitigate systemic risks linked to election integrity", which falls under Articles 34 and 35,
Get up to speed on the annulment of the Romanian election, and what it might mean for TikTok
It is late and I am at my kitchen table, over-caffeinated again. This weekend I got to be part of the general election coverage, which is my Carnegie Hall / Champions League Final. I imagine it might be for some people who read this, so some thoughts: It really is as
Hello from my kitchen table, at close to 2am. Sharing a thought I can't get out of my head on this election results day, even as the count has yet to deliver anything definitive. Do share your thoughts - either reply or I am on BlueSky - and
