Theatre Review: Pippin - 50th Anniversary Concert


The cast of Pippin.

This has to be the campest, most ludicrously sequinned, joyous shows I've seen in quite some time. I knew nothing about Pippin, but my dad saw it back in the 1970s and loved it - so I snagged us a couple of tickets. The story itself is fun enough; an over-privileged princeling goes off to […]

Continue reading →

Bank scammers using genuine push notifications to trick their victims


`In app popup. "Are you on the phone with Chase? We need to check it's you on the phone to us. Let us know it's you and enter your passcode on the next screen. @ Not you? Your details are safe. Just tap 'No, it's not me' and we'll end the call."`

You receive a call on your phone. The polite call centre worker on the line asks for you by name, and gives the name of your bank. They say they're calling from your bank's fraud department. "Yeah, right!" You think. Obvious scam, isn't it? You tell the caller to do unmentionable things to a goat. […]

Continue reading →


While attending IndieWebCamp in Brighton a few weeks ago, a bunch of us were talking about blogging. What is post? What should it contain? What's optional? Someone (probably Jeremy Keith said: A blog post doesn't need a title. In a literal sense, he was wrong. The HTML specification makes it clear that the <title> element […]

Continue reading →

WordPress GeSHi Highlighting for Markdown


The PHP logo.

I've launched a WordPress Plugin for an extremely niche use-case. WP GeSHi Highlight Redux works with WordPress's Classic Editor to convert Markdown to syntax highlighted code. That allows me to write: ```php $a = "Hello"; $b = 5 * 2; echo $a . str($b); ``` And have it displayed as: $a = "Hello"; $b = […]

Continue reading →

Theatre Review: Opening Night


Poster for Opening Night.

Opening Night is complex, fascinating, and flawed. It is baffling that this is somehow less than the sum of its parts. The acting and singing are incredible - Nicola Hughes in particular has a magnificent stage presence. The directing and staging is wonderfully innovative - giving even the most distant seat a close-up view. The […]

Continue reading →

Do That After This


A pet cat typing on a computer keyboard.

I was building some flatpack furniture the other day (my life is so glamorous) when I came across an interesting example of how not to write technical documentation. Drill a hole in part A and insert part B once you have ensured part C has been aligned after its connection to A. Most people can […]

Continue reading →

Book Review - Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy


Book cover for Star Wars Propaganda.

This is a weird book. The politics of the Star Wars universe are rarely deeply examined. The various tax-related shenanigans of The Phantom Menace were derided by geeks but here become a potent source for art as a dozen artists reimagine classic propaganda posters from Earth and remix them with pop-culture. There are some stunning […]

Continue reading →

Universal Basic Website


Glowing computer text showing dot com dot info etc.

Many years ago - when I was very young and you were even younger - it was standard for an ISP to provide all their users with a small amount of webspace. Both Pipex and Demon offered webspace back in 1996. If my hazy memory is correct, they offered a few megabytes - more than […]

Continue reading →

Theatre Review: The Mind Mangler


Photo of a man standing on a stage with an illuminated sign reading "Mind Mangler".

This is a blast from start to finish. I haven't heard such screams of laughter since, well, the last Mischief production I saw! The Mind Manger is a crap magician dealing with his shitty home life, a tosspot stooge, and an audience full of idiots. Naturally, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Imagine […]

Continue reading →

Gadget Review: KAIWEETS KTI-W01 Thermal Imaging Camera


A thermal selfie.

The good folks at Kaiweets have sent me their KTI-W01 Thermal Camera to review. You can use coupon code TEB15 for an exclusive 15% discount. Let's get this unboxed and working! Demo Photos The photos are stored as JPGs which can be read by any normal graphics program. They also contain the thermal metadata which […]

Continue reading →