Got to see my eldest give his first ever conference talk at Pycon UK yesterday. They grow-up so fast :o). youtu.be/4rrsG-luNTk?...

Based on last year I set my swimming distance goal for 2025 to 100 miles, but it seems I’ve already reached that. Looks like it’s not just my ability to estimate software delivery that is impaired :o).

You can always tell when a telecoms engineer is running a marathon because they really struggle with the last mile…

If you're looking for a career where self improvement is taken seriously, you should get into typography, it's character building…

I always thought JetBrains missed a trick not stylising their C++ IDE as "CLi-ion” because then they could say it comes with battteries included…

I decided it was time to start using a password management system so I’m now using yellow Post-its for personal accounts, orange Post-its for on-prem work accounts, pink for cloud provider accounts, and blue for my social media accounts.

I took a trip to the tip today and had a rummage through the crate of books, on the off chance, and found a load of newish programming books. Okay, so a few are clearly outdated / of dubious value but some were on my wish-list 🙌.

Google Maps seems to have started using AI as it hallucinated a road which meant my road ride turned to a gravel ride and then a trail ride 😡.

At what point did neologism stop being a neologism?

Currently designing a protocol to encapsulate internet packets over a serial line, whilst also subtly changing their meaning. Working title is Freudian SLIP…

Can I use my St Christopher pendant as a bearer token?

You can tell Google is a monopoly because they get £200 every time a cloud provider decides to PaaS Go...

Waiting for that 2FA code to arrive…

I remember once speaking to a despondent Guido back in the late 90’s about the lack of an enhancement process for Python. I guess he just needed a pep talk...

Phones all around me making a horrible screeching noise at 3pm while mine remains silent. Ten minutes later I wander out into the garden and it finally goes off. At least I won’t have to worry about the four-minute warning as I won’t even know we only have four minutes left 😁.

Currently writing an AI powered text editor that writes all my Python code for me automatically. Working title is Bone IDLE… (Back in 2018 that was just a joke)

Python 2.4 always looked so much nicer than the earlier versions; you can tell that’s when they brought the decorators in...

🎭✨ Something special is coming to #PyConUK2025! 🎭✨ On Friday 19th Sept, attendees are invited to a world premiere: a staged reading by @chronicinsanity.bsky.social of Ada, a play inspired by #AdaLovelace 💜🐍 Playwright Emily Holyoake has kindly written a guest blog all about it! 👉 buff.ly/5SdWTx2

I’ve spent all day trying different fixes to get a VPN working over our fibre optic network, but at the moment there is no light at the end of the tunnel…

From Andy Balaam's blog: Why I don't use AI artificialworlds.net/blog/2025/09... (A good collection of links pointing out the various issues with the technology to date.)

1 month to go until this year's Agile Cambridge. Join us for two days of thought-provoking keynotes, hands-on workshops and practical case studies. Oh, and fun! agilecambridge.net/programme-2025 1 and 2 day tickets still available. (Public Sector and Freelancer discounts available)

TFW you realise all those little blobs that used to appear on your GitHub profile haven’t disappeared, they just moved to Strava instead :o).

// The smart-pointer sisters. std::shared_ptr<singer> anita; std::shared_ptr<singer> ruth; std::shared_ptr<singer> sadako;

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't." — Shakespeare "Though this be a method, yet there is madness in 't." — Reviewer of AI code

Teams that don't play planning poker have really gone up in my estimation…

From the beginning, many of us were apprehensive about allowing LLMs to actually execute code. Asking it for answers is one thing. Allowing it to take actions in privileged environments is entirely another. pivot-to-ai.com/2025/08/29/v...

I watched this live and really enjoyed it. Even though I’ve been out the C++ scene for years it was still totally accessible and fun.

Mark Twain on university courses in computing: "Don't let schooling interfere with your education."

We’ve borrowed my daughter’s AeroPress for our latest camping trip after I managed to break our aging moka pot on our last outing and it’s making a fine brew 👏.

Slightly confused by Spotify’s recent announcement as they already have support for a DM… :o)

Mark Twain on cloud computing: "Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today."

I think I discovered what happened to TARS’s mate from Interstellar…

(comic) Dream job? I only dream of vacations.

Mark Twain on unit testing: "A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval."

Given AI tools are built using copyright theft I’m thinking of adding a sibling page for vibe coded MVPs called Steal Thread… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_t...

Mark Twain on garbage collection: "It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected."

TIL: The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever This is bonkers. We’re definitely joining in next year! 😁 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mos...

Foolishly tried to use the voice recognition to set a series record for the Vuelta a España… 😂

Auntiffical Intelligence: when your mum or dad’s sister tells you that something is true becaue they read it on the internet.

My wife and I have swapped the role of breadwinner vs childcare / homemaker a few times and so I often say I go to work for an easy life 😁.

TIL you can get back access to your BlueSky DMs in the UK* using a *credit* card for age verification instead of biometric data. At least you can rotate your credit card, unlike your biometric data. *I wanted it for job hunting reasons.

Team Oldwood are spending the afternoon and evening in the presence of Christopher Nolan for an IMAX double bill - Inception and Interstellar 😅.

Here's a very short blog about the chapters in my new #Cpp book buontempoconsulting.blogspot.com/2025/08/intr...

Got a thread hash collision between “Object Oriented Programming” and “Out of Print”, but luckily the outcome was still highly beneficial :o).

My DMs are open…

Code comments:

It's time I found a new contract, so... If you’re looking for a backend dev (C#/C++), need a hand with build/test/deployment automation, or getting to grips with TDD/agile ways of working, etc. then I might be of use. London, Cambridgeshire, or remote. www.linkedin.com/in/chrisoldw...

Tesla Diner Philosophers Problem: Five philosophers are trying to find somewhere to eat but none of them likes Musk and they each want a different meal but there is only 4 things on the menu. futurism.com/tesla-diner-...

I thought Copilot was hallucinating, but no, it turns out parsing HTML* in modern PowerShell versions really does require some weird third-party library / external PowerShell module 🤷‍♂️. *Old, non-XML compliant HTML.

This can only lead to positive outcomes…