Clik here to view.
Liverpool Makefest 2023
Last weekend, we visited Liverpool for a few days. I had an ulterior motive for the trip – my friend Caroline Keep and team were running the Makefest at the Central Library. [aside: does anyone know...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A 3D print, 8 years in the making
Back in July 2015, I was in Portland, Oregon, for the O’Reilly Open Source conference, otherwise known as OSCON. It was my third or fourth OSCON, and sadly it turned out to be my last one (and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Goodbye to my life on Twitter, 2007-2023
In November last year, I abandoned my Twitter account – I set it to private, did not visit, did not interact, ignored any direct messages, etc. It was simply too painful to watch friends and coworkers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Experiments in digital making
I’ve been learning about 3D printing for around 9 months now, and while I’ve printed a fair variety of objects, I still struggle to sit down and properly learn to design my own items[1]. A week ago I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Still messing with Helperbot
This little model has been fun to play with! Trying out some plotter work. We have an AxiDraw in the studio and we’ll be using it in an upcoming art show in the winter. There’s a nice STL-to-SVG...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bookmarks in the Fediverse
Last week, there was a flurry of interest in a new addition to the #Fediverse: Postmarks. It’s social bookmarking (like Digg, del.icio.us, or more recently, Pinboard), now with ActivityPub support....
View ArticleWhen social networks are like Pokémon
… Gotta Catch ‘Em All! I’ve been trying out as many shiny new things as I can. There are a couple of reasons: I find that folks often ask me for opinions on new technologies; and, I have a view that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tech in the tent
We’re just back from a week or so camping, in the wilds of mid-Hampshire. It’s more-or-less the end of the season – the youngsters are back to school, the summer has wound down, so the sites are nice...
View ArticleDevRel in the era of “Community Everywhere”
Last week, I had the pleasure of talking to the Dublin #DevRel Meetup, organised by my friends at Voxgig – all about Developer Relations in the era of “Community Everywhere”. I covered a range of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A peek into the studio
In my most recent newsletter, I wrote a bit about our maker studio space, Forge & Craft. There’s a lot more to say about the reasons for starting the space, how I’ve approached getting myself...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Half-frame photography
I backed the Alfie TYCH half-frame film camera on Kickstarter, and have finally gotten around to trying it out. Here are a few of the shots I'm happiest with, from a recent trip to Glasgow. Ilford 400...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Six (and a bit) months on Team Mastodon
Back in May, Eugen announced that I’d joined the team at Mastodon gGmbH, to look after Developer Relations. I was helping out in different ways, and getting to know the community across different...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Personal cards
I’ve been getting to more events lately (casual meetups, small conferences, academic workshops, etc); but, I’ve been dissatisfied with my answer when I was asked the question “what do you do right...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Energized Mood Flux
A few weeks ago, we had our second experience of the wonderful community that is the Electromagnetic Field festival. The EMF24 sign: solar panel, water installations, and recycled circuitboards....
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the value added decay of daily life
Readers, I return to my writings today after far too long away, in the time honoured tradition of using my blog for an old-fashioned online grumble. I’m on a couple of long-term medications. Sometime...
View ArticleWhat happened to blogs, again?
… or, perhaps the question should be: what happened to my blog? A couple of days ago I read a post (WTF happened to blogs, found via The Changelog news which I’ve followed for a very long time)....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Activities with Forge & Craft
This year, we’ve been working on improving the profile of our small maker studio – in particular, through getting out to different kinds of events. For those not aware, for about 18 months now we’ve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hacking with plotters
I spent part of Saturday working on my latest plotter project. We spend a lot of our time making art with pen plotters, and I’ve become really interested in all aspects of the machines – from the...
View ArticleIt’s alive…
Today, I think I managed to mostly dial in the various settings for my plotter. Up until now, although the carriage moved fairly cleanly, there was a discrepancy in the dimensions that it was moving...
View ArticlePodcast adventures
I’ve been a regular podcaster for, wow, around 15 (!) years now. More or less…[1] After some occasional guest appearances early in the run of on a show called “Dogear Nation”, back in 2009 I moved up...
View Article