Please stop following this account. It is now archived to prevent squatting. I've swapped my handle to @edent.tel Follow that instead.

I think someone has erroneously added this account to a list / starter pack. This is a dead account. It has ceased to be. Bereft of life, it posts no more. Please unfollow this account. Use mastodon.social/@Edent/ for preference, or @edent.tel

@estebano.bsky.social Please can you remove me from the list "Gov Folk "? This account is now defunct. Thanks.

Please stop following this account. It is now archived to prevent squatting. I've swapped my handle to @edent.tel Follow that instead.

VR Game Review: Get The Heck Out ★★★★⯪ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/vr-game-review-get-the-heck-out/ You don't need to pay £££ and download GB of files in order to have a good VR game. It turns out that the Web is perfectly capable of serving a decent VR experience. You can open up your VR …

Movie Review: Oppenheimer ★★⯪☆☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/movie-review-oppenheimer/ Oppenheimer is... fine? I guess? For ever gorgeously composed shot, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For every heart-breaking moment of self-doubt, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For …

Movie Review: Oppenheimer ★★⯪☆☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/movie-review-oppenheimer/ Oppenheimer is... fine? I guess? For ever gorgeously composed shot, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For every heart-breaking moment of self-doubt, there's a minute of plodding exposition. For …

Safelinks are a fragile foundation for publishing https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/safelinks-are-a-fragile-foundation-for-publishing/ Microsoft loves you and wants to protect you. So every time you receive an email with a link in it, Microsoft Outlook helpfully rewrites it so that it goes …

Safelinks are a fragile foundation for publishing https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/safelinks-are-a-fragile-foundation-for-publishing/ Microsoft loves you and wants to protect you. So every time you receive an email with a link in it, Microsoft Outlook helpfully rewrites it so that it goes …

Book Review - How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex: An Unexpected History by Samantha Cole ★★★⯪☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/book-review-how-sex-changed-the-internet-and-the-internet-changed-sex-an-unexpected-history-by-samantha-cole/ This book is a rather pleasing …

Book Review: Babel - R. F. Kuang ★★★★★ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/book-review-babel-r-f-kuang/ This is an astonishing book. On the one hand, it's the basic "Harry Potter" trope - a young orphan is gifted, gets sent to school to learn magic, becomes pals with the other weird kids, has …

A (tiny, incomplete, single user, write-only) ActivityPub server in PHP. shkspr.mobi

A (tiny, incomplete, single user, write-only) ActivityPub server in PHP https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/a-tiny-incomplete-single-user-write-only-activitypub-server-in-php/ I've written an ActivityPub server which only allows you to post messages to your followers. That's all it does. It won't …

Book Review: The Constant Rabbit - Jasper Fforde ★★★★☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/book-review-the-constant-rabbit-jasper-fforde/ I love Fforde's provincial epics. They are dystopias set in the endless wastelands of suburban England. Whole new worlds brought to life in sleepy villages. The …

Book Review: The Constant Rabbit - Jasper Fforde ★★★★☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/book-review-the-constant-rabbit-jasper-fforde/ I love Fforde's provincial epics. They are dystopias set in the endless wastelands of suburban England. Whole new worlds brought to life in sleepy villages. The …

Your two-factor authentication code is: 9 DO NOT SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE.

Book Review: Terry Pratchett - A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins ★★★★★ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/book-review-terry-pratchett-a-life-with-footnotes-by-rob-wilkins/ Like a million fans, I have a precious memory of (briefly) meeting Terry Pratchett and getting him to sign something …

This is an excellent book and you should buy it. Yes! You! Buy it!

Book Review: Terry Pratchett - A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins ★★★★★ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/book-review-terry-pratchett-a-life-with-footnotes-by-rob-wilkins/ Like a million fans, I have a precious memory of (briefly) meeting Terry Pratchett and getting him to sign something …

“Has one simple trick made Betteridge’s Law obsolete?”

Book Review: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/book-review-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-gabrielle-zevin/ This deserves all the accolades going. A perfectly rendered tale of childhood best-friends-forever growing up and trying to make …

Book Review: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/book-review-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-gabrielle-zevin/ This deserves all the accolades going. A perfectly rendered tale of childhood best-friends-forever growing up and trying to make …

Dark Season - Russell T Davies' new show starring Kate Winslet ★★★⯪☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/dark-season-russell-t-davies-new-show-starring-kate-winslet/ A dark and shadowy figure is using laptops to terrorise a school and convert its pupils into mindless automata. Only one person can …

Dark Season - Russell T Davies' new show starring Kate Winslet ★★★⯪☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/dark-season-russell-t-davies-new-show-starring-kate-winslet/ A dark and shadowy figure is using laptops to terrorise a school and convert its pupils into mindless automata. Only one person can …

In case you're not aware, one of the primary issues with what3words is addresses containing words that are indistinguishable from others when spoken: w3w.me.ss

Envelopes and GDPR https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/envelopes-and-gdpr/ Privacy is a funny concept, isn't it? Very few people want the whole world to know what medical complaints they have. But most hospitals are open-access buildings, where the waiting rooms have large monitors to tell …

VR Game Review: Get The Heck Out ★★★★⯪ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/vr-game-review-get-the-heck-out/ You don't need to pay £££ and download GB of files in order to have a good VR game. It turns out that the Web is perfectly capable of serving a decent VR experience. You can open up your VR …

Rebuilding FourSquare for ActivityPub using OpenStreetMap https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/rebuilding-foursquare-for-activitypub-using-openstreetmap/ I used to like the original FourSquare. The "mayor" stuff was a bit silly, and my friends never left that many reviews, but I loved being able to …

Book Review: Babel - R. F. Kuang ★★★★★ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/book-review-babel-r-f-kuang/ This is an astonishing book. On the one hand, it's the basic "Harry Potter" trope - a young orphan is gifted, gets sent to school to learn magic, becomes pals with the other weird kids, has …

My first pet was "wn6GNvqT(kpzYr]&f2KAb". Generate a random password and save it in your password manager. Don't try to remember it and certainly don't use information that someone else could know.

Happy Burns Night!

What's the incentive to tell the truth on surveys? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/whats-the-incentive-to-tell-the-truth-on-surveys/ I recently received a survey from an event I'd attended. Look, I've read The Circle, so I know that I have to give individuals scores of 10 or they'll be fired. …

The Gender Politics of Conference T-Shirts shkspr.mobi/blog/2016/01...

Book Review: Refuse to Choose! A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love - Barbara Sher ★★☆☆☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/book-review-refuse-to-choose-a-revolutionary-program-for-doing-everything-that-you-love-barbara-sher/ I am decidedly unconvinced by this book. What do …

The Gender Politics of Conference T-Shirts shkspr.mobi/blog/2016/01...

I need to find more people to follow, preferable actors, film makers, casting directors and people who post funnies. I do like Dr Who but all I am getting here are posts about it! And a bit of Bilston poetry which is splendid.

Book Review: Refuse to Choose! A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love - Barbara Sher ★★☆☆☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/book-review-refuse-to-choose-a-revolutionary-program-for-doing-everything-that-you-love-barbara-sher/ I am decidedly unconvinced by this book. What do …

The (theoretical) risks of open sourcing (imaginary) Government LLMs https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/the-theoretical-risks-of-open-sourcing-imaginary-government-llms/ Last week I attended an unofficial discussion group about the future of AI in Government. As well as the crypto-bores who have …

I've arrived in Brussels for PrivacyCamp24 If you fancy a pre-conference drink, give me a shout 🍻

The (theoretical) risks of open sourcing (imaginary) Government LLMs https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/the-theoretical-risks-of-open-sourcing-imaginary-government-llms/ Last week I attended an unofficial discussion group about the future of AI in Government. As well as the crypto-bores who have …

In my latest newsletter, I take a look at the decades-long decline in newspapers in the US, which resulted in the last 30 years of job losses. Non-commercial models are needed to bring back journalism to small communities and rural areas, and I take a quick look at two.

It's a double standard. Your girlfriend's cute vibe is just a bit of fun but my lifesize skin-fell doll with body temp function, three realistic virgin orifices, multi speed vibration, HD moan FX and self-expunging smell-resistant drip tray is weird and creepy.

I feel compelled to tell you that Mrs. Davis is a *perfect* piece of television. Best watched with absolutely no knowledge of what's about to occur. I am *so* pleased it isn't being renewed for a 2nd season. More TV should be one-and-done.

A small text rendering bug in legal judgements https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/a-small-text-rendering-bug-in-bailii/ OK, first off, you have to read this amazing judgement about whether Walker's Sensations Poppadoms count as a potato-based snack for VAT purposes. Like most judgements, it is …

A small text rendering bug in legal judgements https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/a-small-text-rendering-bug-in-bailii/ OK, first off, you have to read this amazing judgement about whether Walker's Sensations Poppadoms count as a potato-based snack for VAT purposes. Like most judgements, it is …

My quick blog post about @ukgovcamp.bsky.social

I try to like BlueSky, but it has *so many* missing features compared to Mastdon: #️⃣ No hashtags 🔇 Can't turn off other's reposts 👀 Federation between servers is missing 🤖 API underpowered and poor library support ⚙️ No multi-column view You lot are lovely, but Mastodon is a much better experience.

Lessons learned from bringing promotional sweets to a conference https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/lessons-learned-from-bringing-promotional-sweets-to-a-conference/ I've recently set up my own consultancy company and decided to sponsor my local UKGovCamp conference. That entitled me to a logo on …