## Targetting specific characters with CSS rules https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/targetting-specific-characters-with-css-rules/ You can't. There is no way to use CSS to apply a style to every letter "E". It simply can't be done. At least, that's what _they_ […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## LLMs are still surprisingly bad at some simple tasks https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/llms-are-still-surprisingly-bad-at-simple-tasks/ I asked three different commercially available LLMs the same question: > Which TLDs have the same name as valid HTML5 […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Class Warfare! Can I eliminate CSS classes from my HTML? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/class-warfare-can-i-eliminate-css-classes-from-my-html/ I recently read a brilliantly provocative blog post called "This website has no class". In it, Adam Stoddard […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Theatre Review: Interview (Understudy Performance) https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/theatre-review-interview-understudy-performance/ One of the best things about London theatre is that once in a while a show will give its understudies a chance to break out […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## How big a solar battery do I need to store *all* my home's electricity? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/how-big-a-solar-battery-do-i-need-to-store-all-my-homes-electricity/ I have a modest set of solar panels on an entirely ordinary house in suburban London […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Book Review: All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/book-review-all-that-we-see-or-seem-by-ken-liu/ This book is _ridiculously_ zeitgeisty. It's all brain-rotting AI, social-media meltdowns, mixed with some cracking technobabble […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Reasonably accurate, privacy conscious, cookieless, visitor tracking for WordPress https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/reasonably-accurate-privacy-conscious-cookieless-visitor-tracking-for-wordpress/ I am vain. I like to know which of my blog posts have "done […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Event Review: Doin' the Lambeth Walk (Oi!) https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/event-review-doin-the-lambeth-walk-oi/ > ​Historical entities have been sighted in the old village of Lambeth. Are they ghosts? Visions? Or intruders through a crack in time? Join […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Some thoughts on personal git hosting https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/some-thoughts-on-personal-git-hosting/ As part of my ongoing (and somewhat futile) efforts to ReDeCentralise, I'm looking at moving my personal projects away from GitHub. I already have […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Book Review: Star Trek: Lower Decks, Vol. 1: Second Contact by Ryan North https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/book-review-star-trek-lower-decks-vol-1-second-contact-by-ryan-north/ I can confidentially declare that Lower Decks is the second best Star Trek series […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## 40 years later, are Bentley's "Programming Pearls" still relevant? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/40-years-later-are-bentleys-programming-pearls-still-relevant/ In September 1985, Jon Bentley published Programming Pearls. A collection of aphorisms designed […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## A little oddity in the way curl deals with old dates https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/09/a-little-oddity-in-the-way-curl-deals-with-old-dates/ For boring technical reasons, computers think the world began on 1st of January 19700. To keep track of the future […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Some minor bugs in Proton's new Authenticator app https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/some-minor-bugs-in-protons-new-authenticator-app/ I maintain a a test-suite for TOTP codes. It contains a bunch of codes which adhere to the specification, some of which […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Is it possible to allow sideloading *and* keep users safe? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/is-it-possible-to-allow-sideloading-and-keep-users-safe/ In which I _attempt_ to be pragmatic. Are you allowed to run whatever computer program you want on the […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Book Review: What Sheep Think about the Weather - Amelia Thomas https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/book-review-what-sheep-think-about-the-weather-amelia-thomas/ > It started with a hummingbird dive-bombing Amelia Thomas over her morning coffee, and a pair of […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Security Flaws in the WebMonetization Site https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/security-flaws-in-the-webmonetization-site/ I've written before about the nascent WebMonetization Standard. It is a proposal which allows websites to ask users for passive payments […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Book Review: The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi (Old Man's War Book 7) https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/book-review-the-shattering-peace-by-john-scalzi-old-mans-war-book-7/ I'm _reasonably_ sure I've read all the "Old Man's War" books. As the last one was […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Gig Review: Rainbow Girls at LVLS London https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/gig-review-rainbow-girls-at-lvls-london/ At some point around the start of the pandemic, The Algorithm instructed me to listen to music by Rainbow Girls. Who am I to question the […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## What about using rel="share-url" to expose sharing intents? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/what-about-using-relshare-url-to-expose-sharing-intents/ Let's say that you've visited a website and want to share it with your friends. At the bottom of the article […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Theatre Review - Show:Girls https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/theatre-review-showgirls/ Is it offensive to call a burlesque show "charming"? Sure, it is a funny and mildly titillating evening, but Show:Girls is suffused with such good natured charm that it is […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Theatre Review: Sluts With Consoles https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/theatre-review-sluts-with-consoles/ Let's see if this post makes it through the spam filters! Sluts With Consoles is a brilliant two-hander. Girly-twirly pick-me Player One and Gothy […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Preventing NAPTR Spam https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/preventing-naptr-spam/ You're the sort of cool nerd who knows all the weird esoterica which makes up DNS, right? In amongst your A, AAAA, SOA, and MX records, there's a little used NAPTR. Yes, you can […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Books will soon be obsolete in school https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/books-will-soon-be-obsolete-in-school/ I recently had a chance to ask a question to one of the **top** AI people. At a Q&A session, I raised my hand and asked simply "What is your […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Theatre Review: Being Mr Wickham https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/theatre-review-being-mr-wickham/ > Mr Wickham is ready to set the record straight. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, Adrian Lukis, who starred in the renowned BBC TV […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Would a Blockchain have prevented LIBOR fraud? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/would-a-blockchain-have-prevented-libor-fraud/ I am massively sceptical of any claims that Blockchain can be useful. I even took the Certified Blockchain Professional course so I […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## Theatre Review: Storehouse - Truth Lies Here https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/theatre-review-storehouse-truth-lies-here/ An abandoned warehouse in Deptford hosts one of the most audacious, ostentatious, and sumptuous shows I've ever attended. An immersive […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]

## How long does it take to upgrade an eBook? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/how-long-does-it-take-to-upgrade-an-ebook/ The older I get, the more comfortable I become with complaining. Not merely moaning on social media, but writing a direct email to the […] [Original post on shkspr.mobi]