[Video] What Should William Do? [RSS Exclusive!]
I'm just doing my annual Preventing Workplace Harassment training at work, and one clip in particular stood out as... especially half-hearted.
TechCulture
Dan Q.
Programming, digital privacy, indie web advocacy, and internet culture.
Recent essays
30 of 181[Note] F-Day plus 214
It’s been 214 days since I had to evacuate my house following a flood, and repair work is (intermittently) underway. And there are so-many moving pieces to this dance that… it’s little wonder that people are getting confused. Like: Our insurance company appoin…
[Article] A Postcard from a Labyrinth Artist
Another Postcard From The Internet landed on my doormat this week... and it's from a real-life labyrinth designer and artist based in Canada. So cool!
[Repost] On Publishing Your Salary
Kev Quirk observes that of folks who (like me) choose to share their salary online, there's likely to be a skew towards higher salaries. What can we do to better-contextualise that, I wonder?
[Reply] Re: How I made…
Noah S shared how he used some PHP code to block specific badly-behaved bots from his website. I've got a few suggestions to help him make his block faster, easier-to-maintain, and more-thorough, either using PHP code or webserver configuration.
[Checkin] Dan Q did not find GC3C7FT Woodies
This checkin to GC3C7FT Woodies reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. After seeking (and finding, surprisingly) the 2026-09-13 51 -1 geohashpoint down in the Brook Hill nature reserve, the geohound and I came to try to find this ca…
[Checkin] Geohashing expedition 2026-09-13 51 -1
A successful geohashing expedition to a swampy area near Woodstock, despite an incident during which I was attacked by a wasp whom I'd attempted to squash using my genitals. (Yes, really.)
[Repost] Opusfived
Miloš Novović's experimental interactive fiction is a silly (but with a grain of truth!) simulation of what it feels like to attempt to use vibe-coding to make small, simple, isolated changes to an established codebase. Go play it!
[Repost] Hot new laptop features
Earlier this summer Chad Comello's 7-year-old son built a laptop from paint and cardboard and it's got some kickass features that you can't get from anywhere else. Wishlisted.
[Repost] Automattic Minus Matt
There's a lot of tech press this morning about the involuntary ousting of my former boss Matt Mullenweg from his CEO position at Automattic. Ernie Smith from Tedium's article is my favourite. Here's my take on why this is good for Automattic (and everybody els…
[Note] Pixel Area
Pixel Area (@pxlarea@mastodon.social) launched a couple of weeks ago, and DanQ.me was selected to be one of the initial “seed” blogs that were there at the outset (I’m at https://pxlarea.com/x38y34). I’m… honestly not sure what to make of it. Organising person…
[Note] Sundog
That moment when you realise that you forgot your sunglasses but figure you'll just squint.
[Repost] Use Firefox
Ramkumar Shankar says you should use Firefox, and they're right: you should. Not just because it's a great browser, and it is, but because doing so helps protect the freedom and openness of the Web. Use Firefox.
[Note]
Needed to renew my driving license. My new one doesn't have an EU flag on it. The sad reminders of Brexit just keep coming. 🇪🇺💔
[Article] Hot take: AI peaked with Taco Bot 3000
AI peaked in 2014 with the invention of the Taco Bot 3000. With artificial (taco) intelligence and the latest cheese dispensing technology, it truly represented the summit of human technological achievement the likes of which we might not see again.
[Repost] Why Are We Taught to Memorise and Not Learn?
Çaki puts forward a political but fair look at the mass-production standardisation of English-language education in British schools. In an effort to make work measurable and objectively assessable, it argues, we're stripping the joy out of the art of writing.
[Article] The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
One of the best books I've read so far this year (although my review is about three months late!) was Holly Gramazio's debut novel, The Husbands. A proper page-turner that keeps you engaged through all of its twists and turns, I can't recommend it strongly eno…
[Repost] Chrome again exempts Google from user site data settings
Jeff Johnson observes that Google Chrome has AGAIN started ignoring user privacy settings specifically for .google.com domains. This leads me to ask, not for the first time, why are there still so many people using Chrome as their daily driver, when there are…
[Article] F-Day plus 204 (no content??)
HTTP status code 204 means "no content". No update. Nothing to tell you. F-Day plus 204 brings the same meaning: a disappointing lack of updates to the efforts to repair our house following getting flooded-out in February.
[Repost] Why I Stopped “Creating Content”
Michael Lynch uses a tongue-in-cheek metaphor as a vehicle through which to argue against the ubiquity of the term 'content', and I agree: we can do better with a richer and more-specific definition of our arts.
[Article] It took 13 years to notice my invalid vehicle registration certificate!
Thirteen years ago, it seems, a DVLA form processor decided that my name must have been a company name, and incorrectly registered my car's keeper as being a non-existent company imagined to share my name. And I only just found out.
[Checkin] Dan Q wrote note for GC9EXXC Shady Seat on The Green
Quick check while I was passing, as nobody's logged this cache during our stupidly-hot July or August (and I don't blame them: it's been horrible outdoors!). Anyway: the cache is fine and healthy and looking forward to its next visitor!
[Note] Descaled
I descaled the coffee machine yesterday. We live in an exceptionally hard-water area and this maintenance was long overdue. This morning I turned the machine on and something felt unfamiliar and wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on what, until I realised… …I’d g…
[Repost] How do people blog for thirty years without running out of things to say?
My fellow volunteer Oliver Earl has been picking up on his blogging and asks, with reference to my archives... how do people blog for thirty years without running out of things to say? And then he comes to the correct conclusion:
[Repost] The modern app
The other month, David Bushell made a tongue-in-cheek interactive simulation of the state of modern desktop applications. It's pretty fun, and I see what he means.
[Repost] we don’t shame smart glasses wearers enough
Ava's take on techbro ideas of "privacy", and in particular the situation with "smart glasses", is especially well-written and worth a look.
[Checkin] Dan Q found GC9BHWG Watercress beds
This checkin to GC9BHWG Watercress beds reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. Despite immediately honing in on exactly the right host, it still took me an embarrassingly long time to find this cache. This, despite having found – an…
[Checkin] Dan Q found GC8ZWZ3 Letcombe Bridges 1
This checkin to GC8ZWZ3 Letcombe Bridges 1 reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. QEF while passing through the village on a circular walk. TFTC!
[Checkin] Dan Q wrote note for GC4H2MB Church Micro 4008…Letcombe Regis
This checkin to GC4H2MB Church Micro 4008…Letcombe Regis reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. Found the grave, but this is now the second offset I’ve found here that’s asked me to double-back on my walk. Nope! I’m just going to sa…
[Checkin] Dan Q wrote note for GC9F5YC GIs in Letcombe
This checkin to GC9F5YC GIs in Letcombe reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. Found the clues and solved the coordinates, but I’ve JUST walked past the final location a while ago and don’t feel like doubling back today! A=How many…