If you've spent any time with graphic designers, you'll know that they love spending your money on imperceptible tweaks to your image files. "It must be pixel-perfect!" they cry. When you query why they've generated the same icon in multiple sizes, each with subtle variations, they cryptically mention how everything must align with "the grid." This is hokum. First Principles When we first…
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Scratching my own itch here... GitHub users have a username (mine is @edent) and have a user ID number (mine is #837136). If you want to redirect a user ID to a username, you can use the little service I've cobbled together: https://edent.github.io/github_id/#837136 That will take your browser to my GitHub page, using nothing but my ID. Why? Some login services only give you the GitHub…
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Some casual thoughts about language. I recently received an invitation to a tech talk where all the speakers were blokes. As is normal for these sorts of things, I dropped the organisers an email saying I wouldn't be attending because of the lack of diversity. I received a very polite email back protesting that the speakers were diverse. There were speakers from India, Africa, and South America …
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CloudFlare claim they want to secure the web - but they seem more interested in tracking their customers than giving them decent security. Upon registering with the Internet giant, users are encouraged to confirm their email addresses. So far, so standard. This is the confirmation message CloudFlare sends out: Looks good! Hey! I wonder where that garish orange button goes? WHAT!?! An http…
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I could hear the act before me getting uproarious laughs. I was stuck on the toilet panicking my guts out. Why was this happening? My job involves lots of public speaking - to strangers, colleagues, senior leaders, peers, and random people on the Internet. To small BarCamps and to thousands of people in a conference centre. And yet I was shaking with fear at the thought of 10 minutes in front…
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It's my birthday! As is customary, here's my year in review. See 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010. It has felt like a bit of a "holding pattern" year. When I started writing this post, I really didn't feel like I'd accomplished much. Turns out, I'm an idiot and have been franticly busy! Domestic Life Huge thanks to The Hodge for turning me on to this great way to track to-dos and…
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Pop quiz! Which is bigger - 25% or 20%? That's a pretty simple question, isn't it? If your boss asked if you wanted a 25% bonus, or a 20% bonus, you know which one you'd pick. The UK Government has a savings product called a LISA - Lifetime Individual Savings Account. The premise is pretty simple. You pay in up to £4,000 per year and the government will give you a 25% bonus on your payments. …
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I've been a long time user of LastPass - but over the last year, they've abandoned their Linux customers and insisted that users pay to access enhanced security. Forget that noise! I started looking for a new password manager and, on the recommendation of several friends, started using BitWarden. Pros Open Source! Works in the browser - tried in Firefox and Chrome. Fast, and easy to use.…
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I have friends. More than one! I also have a home full of smart-gadgets which are controlled by apps. The two don't mix. This is yet another complaint about solipsistic app design. Let's take my Lifx bulbs. I have a friend staying for a few days, and he needs to be able to turn lights on and off. Lifx make this functionally impossible. The available options are... Give my full email…
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This isn't a new speaking tip - and it is one I've stolen from several other speakers on the conference circuit - but I want to explain how it made me feel to use it. I started my talk at Hackference Birmingham with an impassioned plea to the audience. If you don't understand something I've said - please don't wait for the end of my talk. Stick your hand up and ask. Because I guarantee you,…
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One of Android's mottos is "Be Together; Not The Same". What does that mean to you? To me, it means that you don't need to conform to a single way of doing things. Sadly, Google seems to be moving far away from that ideal. The latest change - adaptive icons. All "adaptive icons" means is that every unique icon has to be constrained in a circle. It makes every icon look monotonous and, in some…
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Last week I took an all-too-short visit to Aberdeen for Open Data Camp 6. A two-day unconference looking at Open Data from an international perspective. What works, what doesn't, how we can do better, and what exciting things are coming up. I was mostly there for work - but managed to spend some time talking about our personal project OpenBenches. Here's a brief run down of what I loved, and…
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