I've enjoyed King's Day by assidiously avoiding people and doing this, and now I'm watching the snooker. The buurman has been doing something similar but is avoiding the snooker I'm guessing. #koningsdag

Small stuff is the stuff I’m good at. But when does small become big?

"Past the Saturday morning cinema, lies crumbling to the ground, and the piss-stinking shopping centre in the new side of town" www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/n...

In the past, I've definitely been guilty of thinking that software development is some kind of divine activity. But there's a certain class of people, gentlemen, of my era who still seem to think they have a right to enjoy their work, which basically means having it all their own way.

www.bbc.com/sport/athlet... incredible. I’ve run a few half marathons in that time. A few wise heads said never in our lifetime..

Film you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Wars/Trek, HP, LOTR, Marvel.

Well, that's my writing music for the first draft sorted. Absolutely BRILLIANT news.

The Prince4ever thing on 6 music today is just 👌

The system doesn't care. The people running it do. Human Software - new cover, out now. Link in bio. #booksky #writingcommunity #datacenters #ai #devops #fightback

Had a fun night out with ex-colleagues, but suddenly reminded that I'm going back to work soon as an IT folk, and now I'm panicking about all the things I want to do before that happens... the work is sometimes a necessary wall.

I'm happy with my 2001 volvo thanks. Not because I'm a drunk driver, but because I don't want to be observed by the state while I'm driving.

A busy day so far, and now settling down to a little more writing accompanied by the gem. I only discovered it yesterday, thanks to Stuart Maconie on 6 Music. What an opener...

Val Kilmer must be rotating at high speed now. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oem1...

“Take a moment to think before you dive in. That’s the best advice for Google Photos users, as the company confirms its latest update can scan all your photos to “use actual images of you and your loved ones” in AI image generation.” www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...

Why I wrote a novel instead of another business book... richardwbown.com/why-i-wrote-...

The real joy of writing fiction is that it's not non-fiction, amiright? #writingcommunity

Frank Herbert I apologize for ever doubting you

Texel. It has changed a bit since the last time I was there, and in some ways not

In the UK we call them lifts but in the US they call them elevators, because we’re raised differently.

Just spent three hours printing out forms, writing and signing them, scanning and uploading plus sorting out insurances and references. So, this is what 2026 looks like eh? A bright new future!

New cover for Human Software. It finally looks like the book it actually is. #booksky #writingcommunity humansoftwarebook.com

Just because someone doesn't ever ask for help, it doesn't mean that they are not currently struggling.

VERY MUCH THIS

‘Lee says, he is “a cooperative, functional human being”, while he presents himself in his act “as an obstructive, obstreperous, arrogant, self-loathing man”. But in a world led by social media, “I don’t know whether it’s possible to maintain them both any more”.’

RIP Moya Brennan. This theme tune presaged many a happy Saturday afternoon spent painting lead miniatures. A happy place m.youtube.com/watch?v=tP0r...

"Expecting disaster. Like a hubcap flying off a car on the overpass and slicing through my head. I can see it coming, but I can't do anything about it, frozen in that moment before a gruesome ending."

Sitting down to read this one

😂This is closer to the truth than we would like to think - lol

Whoo you looking at?

One of the best things you can do is listen to good feedback. Unfortunately, one of the hardest things you can do is to recognise good feedback.

A review of Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night". Next on my to-be-read list. #booksky

My next newsletter "The Human Engineer 290 - Conferences can be Confronting" is coming today. Subscribe here. humansoftware.dev

I did the Rotterdam marathon once many years ago. I finished in just over four hours, went down to the local Irish pub and had about five pints of Guinness and a massive fry-up. Them were the days!

Working on something exciting...

Amy and Isabelle is such a beautiful book. The simplicity of its structure belies the incredible touch of its author in its characterisation. I aspire to doing so much with so little... food for thought as my writing for book #2 continues... #writingcommunity #booksky

Marathons and organised running events are out of control. I've stopped running as much as I used to, mainly because of the popularity (either at races or in training) and the cost of events. Even park run is annoying. Leave me to run in peace. nos.nl/artikel/2609...

Tell you one thing about AI. I know now how to design a book properly for marketing, how to submit my taxes, and how to fix my car when it has a problem. Of course, I had many resources before, but never in such a handy concentration. The next question is, do I choose to do any of these things?

It's interesting how many times the word "interesting" is used in this; other than that, I quite enjoyed this light approach to genius. Though it might have been called "Are all our Leaders complete Arseholes or What?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKe4...

Erp, my Kindle might be EOL. I love my Kindle, but I have also been thinking about an upgrade. It might be ok though, because I might have been a late adopter and only bought it in 2013. Oh, the tension.

Finally caught up with the review of Human Software from @kncbooks.bsky.social. I found it totally fair and very useful. In hindsight, I think I fluffed the title, the blurb and the opening. I still love the book, but I'm wondering if I should go for a second edition aimed more squarely at techies?

Programming serves a purpose. My advice to programmers everywhere is to get over yourself and just do what I've always done: build stuff that works. AI can be useful for tidying it all up and writing tests.

Spring is springing on the polder

Cricket! That’s it.

The heron struck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the movement so swift, and the neck upturned as it swallowed the wriggling fish. Still struggling all the way down to the stomach. Red in tooth and claw.

Self-proclaimed experts in the age of AI who still think they are experts in something valuable will have to start trying hard or find another career. LinkedIn is like a graveyard of baleful ghosts.

"A dreary year teeming with unfulfilled plans" just about sums it up for me. Spoilers here, obvs. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...

Fun and frolics on the spring tides of Zeeland

Astounding - not only that they use Outlook in all its bloat, but how are they going to remote in? RDP and its many bags of holes? What a security nightmare..

"The man’s face, naked in its hunger for a smile of approbation, hung in Dr. Burrows’s mind long after the man had left and closed the door. It bothered him to think how he, too, plaintively wanted more." from 'Amy and Isabelle' by Elizabeth Strout

Typed the right prompt into the wrong ChatGPT window