Recently, my blog was featured on Coil's list of monetised content. I'd like to take a little time to explain what Web Monetisation is, how to get set up with it, and what my thoughts are. Quickstart Stick this line in the <head> of your HTML page. <meta name="monetization" content="$ilp.uphold.com/ieELEKD7epqw"> That's it. You should replace my uphold address with your own. Unless you want me to get paid for your work. What is web monetisation This is a draft …
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I'm an ambivalent convert to FIRE - Financial Independence Retire Early. The basic gist is: Minimise your expenditure, Save 20x your annual expenditure, Retire early while maintaining the same lifestyle. That's it. There are a lot of crappy books about FIRE, but the concept is simple. So I try to spend a little less, and I try to save a little more, and I dream about stopping work while I'm still young enough to enjoy it. Of course, human psychology and habits are less simple. It is so…
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I have a weakness. I love listening in to other people's conversations on the bus! I was sat behind a gaggle pride squad of teenage girls on the bus. They were variously complaining about their schoolwork, parents, and love-lives. I'm not going to attempt to recreate their vernacular, but the conversation went something like this: "Why won't Daren answer my WhatsApps?!" "Is he leaving you on read?" "Yeah, but he gets loads of messages. I just want him to call me!" "Send him some cash, …
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Look - I get why your app or service wants me to pay a subscription. Recurring revenue is useful for a business. Your ARPU KPI is OMG to your VC. And, no doubt, there's research showing how people are more likely to eat a kitten than cancel a subscription. But I hate it. I resent having to expend mental energy to keep track of my subscriptions. Making sure they're still good value for money. That you haven't sneakily upped the price. I detest your constant, pathetic whines to "TRY ONE MONTH…
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One of those things that organisations love to do is issue identifiers. My credit card provider issues me with a Customer ID, a Billing ID, a Reference Number, and an online login ID. All of which are different. And none of which match the embossed plastic card they sent me. The state also issues identifiers. I know, I know, I am not a number, I am a free man. But I have a passport number which is different from my National Insurance Number which is different from my NHS number which is…
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In the UK, most professional jobs pay monthly. In the USA, it seems most professional jobs get paid every two weeks. This usually comes as a great shock when someone from one side of the pond finds out how poorly employment conditions are on the other side. Naturally, everyone believes their own way of doing it is superior. Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentI find it strange that Americans are generally paid fortnightly / biweekly. In the UK salaries and bills are usually monthly.So, my…
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I set myself a resolution last year - go 12 months without using physical cash. No coins, no notes, no gold bullion, no cheques. I attempted to do all my spending on credit card, Direct Debit, and bank transfer (BACS). It worked! Mostly... Here's where it didn't work, and what I learned from it. Foreign Cash Went to Hong Kong and withdrew £100 in local currency. Was completely unnecessary. Everywhere took card / contactless. We didn't stray away from the tourist trail, which may have …
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We're delighted to announce that our OpenBenches.org project has been awarded a $250 microgrant from Icculus! Ryan C. Gordon@icculusGoogle gave me an award for my contributions to Linux gaming and open source, and while I’m honored to be acknowledged, I can’t accept money from a company that is actively engaging in union busting.❤️ 2,934💬 0🔁 48402:20 - Wed 25 December 2019Ryan C. Gordon@icculusReplying to @icculusWhen I agreed to the award, I hadn’t heard about @eiais’s firing, or any of the ot…
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I have a limited amount of time on this planet. I also have a limited amount of money to spend. Therefore, like any Homo Economicus, I have a rational desire to get the most value for money for my time-wasting distractions. So, after months of memes, I bought Untitled Goose Game on the Nintendo Switch to play over the Xmas break. I baulked at the price - £18 - but figured since everyone else on Twitter enjoyed it, I would as well. I settled down to play it one afternoon, picked it up the …
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I've just seen that I can now add sponsorship to my GitHub projects. Here's a quick guide to how it works: Repo settings There's now a new option in your repository settings. Tick the box and click the button. Easy! WTF is YAML? This is a bit of a weird one. To set up sponsorship, you have to hand-edit a YAML text file. I would have expected this to be a easy to use GUI. Or something to OAuth with payment providers. Oh well, it does the job. You can add up to four GitHub contributors. …
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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. (I'm currently a Civil Servant, but I don't work on LISA. These are my personal opinions.) Now, …
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Quick review of https://www.moneydashboard.com/ - sorry for the lack of screenshots, but I don't need you seeing the state of my bank balance! Open Banking is here! For the technical among you, it means I can use OAuth to give a read-only token to an authorised financial institution. Updates are streamed in real-time. They can then do "stuff" with my financial details. For the non-technical, Open Banking lets me automatically send my bank statements to an aggregator. They then analyse them. …
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