Recently updated blogs

10th February 2024 This week Prospect posted something by me on the issue of a potential border poll in Northern Ireland. Please click (and read!) here. This post unpacks that Prospect post – a sort of “behind the scenes” perambulation of how that post came together – and a further discussion of the issues. * The starting point is that a potential referendum in Northern Ireland has been in the …

The brutalist former Bank of England headquarters on my walk to the Leeds office What did you enjoy? A workshop in London to look together at the shared roadmaps for work on the NHS App and other national digital channels in the NHS. We’re getting better at this quarterly planning rhythm and it really helps to keep product teams aligned and decision-makers on board. The Transformation Directorate’s leadership forum. We’re …

One of several highlights for me in January was visiting Salisbury cathedral, which I did on an impulse while travelling back from the Coastal Folly. My main frame of reference to the cathedral being those notorious Russian nerve agent assassins citing it as their reason for visiting England, something which to a Londoner had as much plausibility as as Putin’s claims that Ukraine’s Nazis started the war. I hadn’t taken …

My pal Zach has this ritual when we play D&D - before we start, he rolls the D20. Over and over and over again.

This is the 2024 edition of the Battery and Charger Buying Guide. This article is now in its 8th year. Previous versions of this article were written primarily for light painting, night, and astro photographers, looking at flashlight/torch and flash unit batteries. This article has been expanded to include NP-F, and camera batteries. The 2024 article will be useful for anyone using flashlights or photography lighting equipment, from enthusiasts to …

Martha Stewart in a January 2024 Instagram post on her second account. In 1994, Martha Stewart tiled the bottom of a swimming pool with cut-up credit cards in a mosaic of Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.” Not her most practical nor accessible home improvement project, Stewart did so for an advertisement for the American Express Optima True Grace credit card. Bizarre, comical, and self-deprecating, the advertisement evokes an upper-class sensibility through …

Introduction A kerfing plane is a specialised woodworking tool that has gained popularity among woodworkers for its unique functionality and precision. This tool was first introduced by Tom Fidgen in his book “Unplugged Workshop.” Purpose of a Kerfing Plane The primary purpose of a kerfing plane is to cut a kerf, or groove, around the perimeter of a board before re-sawing. This kerf serves as a guide for the saw …

The recent Beeper controversy briefly brought the “blue bubbles vs. green bubbles” topic back into the mainstream. Here’s a brief review for those of you who are (blessedly) unaware of this issue. Messages sent using the iMessage service appear in blue text bubbles within the Messages app. Messages sent using something other than the iMessage service (e.g., SMS, or (soon) RCS) appear in green text bubbles. The iMessage service and …

Here's something fun. If you sign up for my free mailing list, not only will you get updates when I post new comics (Issue #2 of Incredible Doom - Eternal September is about to drop!) but I'll send you a copy of a strange experiment I did a while back and didn't show anyone: A revised edition of my first graphic novel The Charis' Hiatus.This new edition, although mostly the …

Harajuku Street Style Interview: Taiwanese Punk x Japanese KawaiiNew interview with Yen, a Taiwanese punk singer/guitarist who lives in Japan and has become a well known personality in Harajuku’s kawaii fashion scene. She works at the famous Harajuku kawaii boutique 6%DOKIDOKI and will start Bunka Fashion College later this year.Yen on Instagram

Trying to keep on the reading, writing, and painting focus for the year. I have a hard time right now doing extra hobbies during the week. I have been mentally drained from work to do much of anything afterwards. But I’ve gotten a tiny bit of painting done lately. An orange/citrus/yuzu looking fruit. A strawberry. It's so wild how your mind sees the painting differently as you're doing it. I …

I’m writing this on a 30-foot screen on top of a 10,000-foot mountain in Hawaii, at a table in an Austin coffee shop where I’m pretty sure other people are taking photos of me to send to their friends so they can all call me a piece of shit. In the last week, life has gotten weird. My journey to the Haleakalā shield volcano Austin coffee shop began more than …

I'm in Politico today, musing about why British internet regulation keeps hopping in circles on one leg.

A little oddity for you today from 1968, and Radio One DJ Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart, accompanied by a 40-strong choir of pre-pubescent boys and girls. Edward Stewart Mainwaring (23 April 1941 – 9 January 2016) was a British radio broadcaster and TV presenter, principally known for his work as a DJ, initially (in the UK at least) at Radio London before joining BBC Radio 1 as one of their first …

Getting a grip on some fundamental survival techniques is a must for outdoor enthusiasts. We will scare you with stastics later but the fact is that everything we do has risks and it’s our responsibility to learn to handle them as best as we can. We owe it to ourselves, our loved ones, and to the random stranger we encounter who is in trouble. This blog post is your starting …