Previously, I've written about using Footnotes in WordPress Markdown. A reader notified me that the footnotes weren't very accessible. This blog post describes the problem and proposes a solution. The Problem Using WordPress's JetPack, markdown footnotes are rendered as: Some text <sup id="fnref-1234-1"><a href="#fn-1234-1" class="jetpack-footnote">1</a></sup> ... <li id="fn-1234-1">The…
Continue reading →
One of the joys of working with a diverse set of people from all around the world, is that English idioms are a constant source of bemusements. "It's raining cats and dogs" is quickly mapped to the more poetic "Es gießt Schusterjungs". Recently, I mentioned how our team had a "get-out-of-jail-free card". Whereupon a person messaged me privately to ask what I meant, and if there was any real risk …
Continue reading →
(Written mostly for myself) Install DroidCam I use DroidCam - which converts your Android into a wired or wireless webcam. Set the resolution nano /etc/modprobe.d/droidcam.conf Add the following text: options v4l2loopback_dc width=1280 height=720 Most video call services are limited to 720p, and streaming 1080p and higher via USB isn't always possible. Interact with the Android My…
Continue reading →
Here's another idea which I tried to launch, back when I worked for a phone company. Disposable phone numbers. The pitch was simple. "As a woman on a dating site, I don't want to give my phone number out to strange blokes in case they don't like it when I eventually reject them." The idea was that we'd partner with a dating service and, for the low price of £X per month, give users a temporary …
Continue reading →
In his sharply crafted, unnerving first collection of speculative fiction shorts, Courttia Newland envisages an alternate future as lived by the African diaspora. Robots used as human proxies in a war become driven by all-too-human desires; Kill Parties roam the streets of a post-apocalyptic world; a matriarchal race of mer creatures depends on inter-breeding with mortals to survive; mysterious …
Continue reading →
There's been several long threads recently on Google's crappy info-box. Google doesn't want you to leave the Google page, so Google slurps information up and presents you an answer on the Google homepage. Here's what it typically looks like. OK, that's kinda useful. Search for a thing and get the info without clicking through. But there are times when it goes dreadfully wrong. Sometimes it…
Continue reading →
This is a story about how modern masculinity is killing the world, and how feminism can save it. It's a story about sex and power and trauma and resistance and persistence. It's a story about how you can track the crisis of democracy against the crisis of White masculinity, and how the far right is rising in response to both. It's a story about a social change. And at the centre of that story…
Continue reading →
When I was a kid, I had two of my adult teeth surgically removed. As such, I still have two of my baby teeth. And, as I get older, they're starting to wear down. At every dental check-up my dentist prods them, gives them a wiggle, and sometimes takes an x-ray. "Well," they say, "They're fine for now…" The "for now" is getting closer with every visit. At my last visit, the dentist started to t…
Continue reading →
When I first helped get the IEC Power Symbol into Unicode - I made a promise to myself that I'd get it as a tattoo. One day. Turns out, I'm a massive wuss. How will I cope with actual needles in my flesh? And what if I don't like the placement? Or change my mind? The solution is... semi-permanent tattoos. I found Canadian company InkBox do these amazing, realistic, tattoos which bond to your…
Continue reading →
lustrum lŭs′trəm A ceremonial purification of the entire ancient Roman population after the census every five years. A period of five years. Five long years ago I quit my job in the mobile industry and started working for the Civil Service. It has been an "interesting" period! On a personal level, I've gone from GDS, to NHSX, back to GDS, and transformed into CDDO. I've started an M…
Continue reading →
Computers would be so much better if they never had to deal with users, amirite?!!? I remember, years ago, working on a mobile web service which had a URl bar - so users could tap in bbc.co.uk on their T9 keypads - and a separate search bar. I thought that was pretty nifty. But it turns out, users tried searching for URls and they tried going to "http:// When is the Next Bus?". Bloody users!! …
Continue reading →
The BBC Shipping Forecast is one of those strange bits of national tradition which, somehow, bridges the gap between infrastructure and folklore. You can listen listen to the latest forecast on the BBC - read by professional newscasters. But what if we wanted a robot to read it? If our speaker is sick, bored, or too expensive - how would we automate the audio version of the Shipping Forecast? …
Continue reading →
