Book Review: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio ★★★★★
Ooooh! This is a lovely treat of a book. Every time Lauren sends her husband into the loft, a different man comes down. Her past is rewritten and she has now been married to Dave/Gary/Bob/Whoever for
Terence Eden’s Blog
Regular nonsense about tech and its effects 🙃
How many consecutive hyphens can you have in a domain name?
A seemingly simple question which sent me down into the murky depths of standards. How many consecutive hyphens can you have in a domain name? It probably isn't sensible to name your online presence
There's still no point in gigabit broadband
Six years ago, I nearly got my ISP to upgrade our fibre connection to 1Gbps. As I said at the time: This is a curmudgeonly post which is going to look ridiculously outdated in a few years. What's
Book Review: Accessible Communications by Lisa Riemers and Matisse Hamel-Nelis ★★★★★
My mate Lisa has written a book! Along with her pal Matisse, she takes us through the practicalities of publishing communications which are accessible to all. This isn't just about the theory - it
London Data Store Relaunch
It has been sixteen years since the launch of data.london.gov.uk. Back then, it was a trailblazer as one of the first major cities to release Open Data in this way. Now, over a decade later, it is
Using FourSquare's API to post location checkins to social media
What is this, 2016? I like sharing my location with my pocket friends sometimes. If I'm in a cool bar that they know, perhaps they can recommend a drink. If they live nearby, maybe they want to come
Who are the actors in the UK's 2015 passport?
I got nerdsniped by a bloody Reddit post! In 2015, the UK Government launched a new passport design. It immediately attracted negative press for its designers' "sexist" decision to feature more men
The UK Government's Low Value Purchase System is a Waste of Time
It can be hard running a small business. If you want to sell to a large organisation like the UK Government, there are forms to fill in, checks to comply with, tenders to bid on, and a hundred other
Gadget Review: Chuwi Minibook X N150 + Linux ★★★★☆
I needed a small and light laptop to take travelling. Something with a larger screen than my phone so I can use the Big Internet™. Nothing too expensive and something that uses the same USB-C
PHP - simple way to send HTTP headers before a script ends
Suppose you want PHP to keep processing after it has sent back an HTTP response. Normally, this doesn't work: <?php header( "Location: https://example.com/" ); // Long operation.
Which age-gates should be skill-gates and vice-versa?
In the UK, it is illegal to buy alcohol if you are under 18. Similarly, in most countries, you cannot vote until you have reached a specific age. These are age-gates. You do not need to prove your
Whale Fall
Somewhere, in the endless blue ocean, a gigantic mammal shudders as it takes its last breath. Thanks to science, we know that all dogs go to heaven, but all whales descend through the murky depths
[RSS Club] Let's meet up AFK
Shhhh! This post is only available to RSS subscribers like you 😊 My wife and I are preparing for a big Interrail journey through Europe. Whenever we go on holiday, we like to meet up with
Book Review: Terrible Worlds: Destinations by Adrian Tchaikovsky ★★★★★
What's better than one Adrian Tchaikovsky novella? Three Adrian Tchaikovsky novellæ! Or is it "novellii"? Either way, a delightful triptych of stories on a common theme. On the surface, they're
GDS weighs in on the NHS's decision to retreat from Open Source
Within the UK's Civil Service you occasionally hear the expression "being invited to a meeting without biscuits". It implies a rather frosty discussion without any of the polite niceties of a normal
UK Government Kicks Out Palantir
The UK Government, for all its faults, is pretty good at publishing contracts it has awarded. That's why I get depressed when I see rage-bait nonsense about how companies have been award "Top Secret"
Stupidly Simple SVG Sparklines
A sparkline is a little line-graph with no axes or other unnecessary details. They're useful for getting quick understanding of what the data is showing. They're also really easy to create
Find blog posts with missing featured images - and missing alt text - without a plugin
WordPress has the concept of "Featured Images". They are the images which show up when you share a blog post on social media or, on some themes, as the "hero" image. How can you quickly and easily
[RSS Club] A Sneak Preview of Upcoming Posts
Psssst! This top secret post is only available to RSS subscribers! As a little thank-you for being a member of RSS Club I thought I'd show you some trailers for upcoming blog posts. I use the
Book Review: The Names by Florence Knapp ★★⯪☆☆
This has an excellent narrative structure, some beautiful prose, and I just didn't enjoy it. The story is Sliding Doors meets Same Time Next Year mixed with a distressing amount of domestic