Gosh it looks just like every other fucking formula 1 car how exciting

Two six pointers I have hanging in my office. From @joannechocolat.bsky.social and John Steinbeck (pretty sure the latter isn’t on bsky)

So choices are: study for an AWS exam, do a Kubernetes qualification or watch Breaking Bad again and write another novel and/or short story? BB pilot won today. I think I'll postpone decision for a week or so.

Joyous. "You're living you're whole life as a private joke at the public's expense." www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhJx...

I'm looking for comfort *sniff* My comfort movies are the ones I want to share. humansoftwarebook.com/2026/01/19/w...

I went to see "Dead of Winter" at the pictures the other day. I loved it. I also loved the fact that my chair had a footrest and the film wasn't long enough for me to feel like I needed to get up and walk around a bit. That is my story and I'm sticking to it.

What a year, huh?

Human Software is where Gene Kim's "The Phoenix Project" meets Bill Forsyth's "Local Hero" and Mike Judge's "Office Space" in Erskine Childers' "Riddle of the Sands" humansoftwarebook.com #booksky #writingcommunity

'Stephen King arguing in On Writing that if you “wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn’t bounce and if you then paid the light bill with the money” then you are a genuine writer.' lithub.com/the-work-beh...

It was a stunning weekend. This came out really well and I would like to paint it.

Some reading just arrived. According to “sources” these could be comparable books to mine. I’m interested to find out where the lines meet and where they diverge. Oh and LRB just arrived too

My favourite polder at my favourite time of year. Well probably should be March as the temp is above 10C today

If you need a timeline cleanse then go outside and leave your phone behind

I have of late, I know not why, lost all my mirth. But then it came to me, I do know why. I've been forcing myself to read books I don't enjoy. That always puts a crimp on my mood. Plus, I haven't written anything of substance or thought for a week due to administrative reasons. Wrong.

This was taken about ten years ago on Gran Canaria. It’s probably Roque Nublo or something on the way to it. It makes me think that I should use the camera more rather than relying on my phone!

A couple of good movie soundtracks for wintery writing. A couple of cracking films as well

“As David Noble, a historian of twentieth-century automation, wrote, "Managers feel they must automate because 'every-one's doing it, out of fear that they will be undone by more up-to-date competitors” #bloodinthemachine

One of the most important recurring technical themes I explore in Human Software is how chronic underinvestment in core legacy systems, in favour of either aggressive expansion or assumed obsolescence, leaves software engineers having a terrible time. richardwbown.com/legacy-syste... #booksky

"Murmuration over Lanhydrock Park", 2020 by Annie Ovenden, English painter #WomensArt

Save me from this cringe-core nonsense like The Chair Company, The Rehearsal and Black Mirror. Let's pick a trope and smoosh it to hell for 30-60 minutes. Great use of everyone's time. Gosh, my sides have split, or my gut is busted or my head has exploded. Gosh, how shocking.

Just ordered a massive pile of books

Did a bit of a bookshop visit/pitch today. It was a bit stressful, and I have now realised I can also EMAIL bookshops in advance of a visit to make it less stressful. Worth a go anyway. I have a growing list of NL bookshops to visit in the next few weeks..

I'm planning a road trip around the UK to deliver books and do Q&A/signings. Focusing on the South-East, London, East Anglia and might do Yorkshire and the North East too, depending on uptake. Recommendations for independent bookshops to get in touch with? Thank you! #writingcommunity #booksky

Monday is not being very productive. I blame the gym. Or something January something.

Monday

We don’t need more psychologists, we need more compassion.

Doctorow can turn a phrase and coin a term but he’s obviously a key part of the enshittification problem. It’s a problem that simply disappears if you don’t base your life around software products

Winter on the Middelpolder

UH OH time to upgrade, another thing I've been putting off...

Many thanks to @esilva.net for his generous and thoughtful review of Human Software esilva.net/articles/hum... #booksky

Human Software is now available in a professionally printed trade paperback format. This is a "book shop" ready version that is superior to the Amazon KDP-printed version. This can be ordered in the Netherlands and Belgium from bol.com and bruna.nl. DM for bulk orders #booksky

Browsing jobs in London and Amsterdam, I notice that advertised contract rates are probably lower than they've ever been in the almost 30 years I've been contracting. It doesn't mean you can't get good rates, and they were never easy to come by (inside help helps), but it's a data point.

My fav neighbourhood pic from the last week. Look closely and you'll see someone looking right at you from the middle of this photo.

Yay me! Sold my first copy of 2026! #writingcommunity #booksky

Congratulations to @helenwatsonwriter.bsky.social on pub day! So excited to see the print version of this amazing story.

I really didn't enjoy Red Rocket in almost exactly the same way I enjoyed The Florida Project, and I guess Anora kind of falls between those two worlds. The unlikeability of the protagonist in Red Rocket is my main problem. He's a fucking arsehole, he doesn't learn, he doesn't move on. So what?

UGH, why do normals have to do EVERYTHING TOGETHER. MAN UP, PEOPLE! All that extrovert energy is just compensation, y'know?

That prediction that everyone would be running on serverless by now... yeah, that right?

“New technologies will come along to save the environment.” What they said versus where we are: From the new Private Eye, in shops now.

"I don’t want to run a younger model. I want an old model that’s been taught properly. I want a model that has been tuned specifically. I want a model that has been trained to understand me. But I don’t want it." richardwbown.com/a-younger-mo...

I can't believe I've never been to the Republic of Ireland. This year. Also, I want to live somewhere else for a while. I think it's time.

"Fujitsu has sat in the background for over two decades as the Post Office wrecked the lives of subpostmasters. It only came forward when the Post Office needed support on its wrongful prosecutions of subpostmasters, which were based on unexplained account shortfalls appearing on Horizon."

Oh Birdman ❤️❤️

A curious game, the only way to win is not to take part. Conflating War Games and Kobayashi Maru

Canterbury’s cast-iron streetlights — many bearing the original Canterbury City Corporation crest — are being condemned and replaced with generic, mass-produced steel columns by Kent County Council. Sign the petition www.canterburysociety.org.uk/save-canterb...

Communities fighting back against AI datacentres? Did you know I wrote a whole book about that? Link in profile! #booksky apnews.com/article/data...

"One Battle After Another" looks and feels a little like a long, slow Breaking Bad episode (cars, deserts) with a fraction of emotional impact. Pynchon probably isn't to blame. I haven't read the book, but this feels like someone didn't quite know what to do with the source material.

Murakami’s chapter on “Originality” is excellent. Connect with the joy in your writing every day and do something technical (grunt work) when you’re not feeling it

Absolute lethal levels of body spray deployed in this shared kitchen of a Monday lunchtime

London in the good old days - before everyone's feet pointed forwards.