A troublesome plugin recently corrupted some of the avatars on my blog's comments. This is a quick HOWTO for regenerating them. Gravatars are based on the MD5 hash of a user's email. For some reason, the plugin had overwritten the avatar field with the text http://identicon This MySQL query finds all the comment IDs which have that dodgy text: SELECT comment_id FROM `wp_commentmeta` …
Continue reading →Book Review discworld · 1 comment · 200 words
Paul Kidby has collected the very best of his Discworld illustrations in this definitive volume, including 40 pieces never before seen, 30 pieces that have only appeared in foreign editions, limited editions and BCA editions, and 17 book cover illustrations that have never been seen without cover text. If Pratchett's pen gave his characters life, Paul Kidby's brush allowed them to live it, and…
Continue reading →Apps mobile ux · 300 words · Viewed ~305 times
I have a lot of smarthome gadgets - but my favourite is the Tado° Thermostat. I think it might be the most boring gadget I've ever used - and that's why I love it! We spend far too much time staring at our screens. We obsessively tend to our digital gardens and rarely spend the time to enjoy them. Our smart watches constantly buzz with news from the social media service du jour. Where are …
Continue reading →govcamp nhsx ukgc20 ukgovcamp · 500 words
I've been to a fair few GovCamps - the (mostly) annual gathering of Civil Servants who want to explore new ways of working. For a flavour of what they're like, see scripti electronici passim: GovCamp 2012 (Video of my talk) GovCamp 2015 Tweets only GovCamp 2016 GovCamp 2018 GovCamp 2019 It was great to see old friends (and how old we've become) but even greater to hear so many pitches start…
Continue reading →internet · 3 comments · 350 words
I rediscovered an curious Tweet from 2012: adam kinsley@adamkinsleyInteresting that Arqiva point out that fastest legal use of Internet probably only requires 2.5MBPs. Reliability key #commsreview❤️ 2💬 3🔁 009:34 - Wed 04 July 2012 That was a reasonable - if incorrect - assumption at the start of the decade. Streaming TV was in its infancy, and it was ridiculous to suggest that people might want …
Continue reading →meta open openuk · 2 comments · 350 words
As you know, I'm a supporter of open technology. I write open source, I work on open standards, I care about open data. So I am delighted to have joined the board of OpenUK. Our purpose? To develop and sustain UK leadership in Open technology. I want to make the UK the best place to be for open source developers, users, and buyers. I believe that code written by the public sector should be…
Continue reading →barcamp govcamp ukgc20 ukgovcamp · 6 comments · 750 words · Viewed ~254 times
How do you archive a conference? A decade ago, I blogged about how to archive a BarCamp - I don't think anyone took up my suggestions. I tried to put it into practice, but in this post about 2009's BarCampBrighton4, half the links have rotted away, cool media-hosting startups have gone bust and eaten the video. Websites die, tweets get deleted, media codecs become obsolete. BarCamps, GovCamps,…
Continue reading →internet ReDeCentralize users · 6 comments · 350 words · Viewed ~374 times
I, unironically, love Reddit. But it's just USENET with a better UI, and a few moderation improvements. Most days I use DropBox. But it's just FTP, but a bit easier to use and automate. I waste a lot of time on Slack. When I explain it to old-school nerds, I say it's IRC - but developed by someone who gives a damn about user experience. Most people in the world don't have access to WWW.…
Continue reading →api cryptography · 35 comments · 1,250 words · Viewed ~5,550 times
I'm going to start this discussion with the why and then move on to the how. Let's begin with a couple of user stories. As the recipient of some data, I want to verify that it hasn't been tampered with. and As the recipient of some data, I want to verify who originally published it. Here's why I think this is important. We are in an era of fake news. A screenshot can be easily altered. A…
Continue reading →equality politics 🏳️🌈 · 5 comments · 700 words · Viewed ~248 times
I am a civil servant in the UK - this is my personal blog. As part of my job, I have to follow the Civil Service Code which, among other things, says I'm not allowed to be political at work. Political Impartiality You must:serve the government ... no matter what your own political beliefs arecomply with any restrictions that have been laid down on your political activities You must not: act in…
Continue reading →blockchain culture · 10 comments · 900 words · Viewed ~861 times
In the early days of the web, I used to go hunting for Beatles Bootlegs. I scoured forums, emailed dodgy geezers, and swapped poorly encoded RealAudio™ files on USENET. The Beatles had recently released their Anthology series, and us nerds were desperate to hear more unreleased goodies. Sure, there were rarities and out-takes, but we wanted more. We wanted Ultra Rare tracks. That one song no o…
Continue reading →Bug Bounty dns google Responsible Disclosure security · 13 comments · 500 words · Viewed ~33,139 times
tl;dr Google forgot to renew a domain used in their documentation. It was mildly embarrassing for them. And possibly a minor security concern for some new G-Suite domain administrators Background Choosing a good example domain, to use in documentation, is hard. You want something which is obviously an example, so that users understand they have to substitute it for their own details. But…
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