Recently updated blogs

(Skippable Backstory) A few months ago, Tammy Winter published a thread of advice for precocious young people. My addendum to it was the following: Build a technical foundation. Opinions differ, but I’ve found it very hard to develop deep technical skills later in life: responsibilities eat into the necessary huge...

I’ve got plenty of fishy plans for the coming weeks but on Saturday afternoon I found myself home alone so figured I might as well go fishing, the question was where? I hadn’t fished in the sea for a month and hadn’t planned to head east again this autumn but with high tide due around 1900 if fit the time slot perfectly. So I put some gear together, rummaged in …

An old countess has a secret: she knows the three cards to play in order to win every time she gambles. When a military officer learns of this, he becomes obsessed with gaining the knowledge and will stop at nothing. Home Media Availability: Official DVD release is out of print but there are unofficial versions […]

September was fairly action-packed. I enjoyed getting out on a friend’s boat around Poole and the Solent. The Isle of Wight’s needles Old Harry’s Rocks I made it to the Labour party conference in Liverpool, which was fascinating albeit wet. I am apparently firmly in the tax-raising sights of the Government, but I wasn’t the only potential target at the conference. I enjoyed some work drinks with an elevated view …

“If I could wave a magic wand, and change one thing about your life, what would it be?”These are the types of questions uncles ask, I suppose. At least curious uncles like me.The younger nephew’s response was to be allowed more time for video games, and to not have to go to school (because he would learn everything “directly”).His older brother’s response eventually settled on having the ability to teleport …

Although I’ve been working alongside the team at Humane for over a year, this week I made the leap to join full-time with the generous support and encouragement of the founders. Imran also caught this photo of me using my SX-70 which for me, makes the moment all the more special. I was lucky when GK3 first brought me in to meet the design team and it’s been a great …

I thought it would be fun to revisit Known, the open source publishing platform that powers my site.How it worksKnown allows a team or community to publish news on any topic to a single, searchable stream of content that’s easily accessible from any device. It is not a full CMS, and nor is it designed for independent publishers to sell subscriptions; instead, it’s optimized for publishing to a single feed.Every …

Midweek at GDS I attended the London office to see a selection of Matt Lamont's graphic design collection followed by a talk he gave about his work and inspirations including Design Reviewed. Making the most of the dwindling daylight afterwork, I joined Luis for cycling round a very dark but empty Richmond Park. By the end of the ride my new powerful Canyon front light was proving its costly price …

I’ve been growing my own veg for 30 years and most years I grow the same things because I know they work, or usually work, or I like them: runner beans, broad beans, tomatoes, lots of peas, marrows, courgettes, cucumbers, potatoes. Soft fruit and apples just keep coming back every year, with not very much effort. Other things are a constant battle or there are difficult years when even the …

Admission is free - Bob Hicok

A couple players in my ongoing Friday night Krevborna game gave me "nights off" by running something in usual campaign's stead. One of those games was Deadlands. My character was Frances D., aka Frances Donner, who survived the Donner Party ordeal but came away from the experience haunted by the ghosts of the eaten and charged with fighting supernatural evil by way of survivor's guilt.Ironically, when the game started she …

Various campaigns have asked 2024 council candidates to commit to advocating for better public and active transport. Here's a quick summary of known campaigns, what they want and areas they're active in: Melbourne FOE Better Buses campaign Campaign seeks a radically reformed direct and frequent bus network across Melbourne's western suburbs. Also advocates for new bus routes in growth areas. Most active in Wyndham, Melton, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong with …

The first thing you should know is that this biopic is not a hatchet job on the former President. It’s a smart, but not smart-alecky, dramatization of his evolution as an entrepreneur and public figure, under the tutelage of the notorious New York lawyer Roy Cohn. That relationship is at the core of this film, and its impact may be muted somewhat if you’ve seen Matt Tyrnauer’s excellent 2019 documentary …

Fun long weekend in Berlin. No photos. Productive week at work. FF published a case study on what we’re doing. They’re good at writing words. Binged Nobody Wants This in a single week. The first 20 minutes will make you very confused how such a standard rom-com could have a 94% rotten tomatoes score, but I fell in love quickly. I think the main thing is that yes, the characters …

Short week this week: In part because of last week it started on Tuesday morning, and in another part because my weekend got capped. :( This week in numbers: 🌿 Plant-based dinners: 3/6 🎚️ Missed buttdials from DJs: 2 💉 Cannulas worn: 2 Last week’s terrible eating and drinking led me this week to notch up my New Health Century. I ate mostly vegetables this week. Tim Spector would be …