Article archive

I rewatched an old Ted Talk that made a great impression on me when they first started publishing. I couldn't believe this one was from 2006, nearly 20 years ago. Sadly, Ken Robinson, passed away on 2020. I've resolved to watch it at least once a year and I hope you will too. It's one of the funniest and most poignant Ted Talks. Rewatching it today gave rise to a wonderful coincidence.

Silicon Valley's belief in free speech doesn't stand one simple test. You cannot comment on ads on their platforms.

Enlightened companies since the 90s (as far as I know) had given some of their employees 1 day per week to work on side projects. Their motivation was to incubate new ideas that they legally owned. It's apparently how GMail and Google Maps were born.

12 years ago I wrote in my usual ranty way that I'd be curtailing my attendance of startup events. Why bother? I asked. Your customers aren't there and neither should you be, probably. But now I kinda miss them, and today I'll be attending and investment event.

A "friend" recently dropped all the tables in a database. All data is restored. Here's how.

Generative coding tools can deliver £8,000 - £12,000 of value each month for the cost of an £18/month subscription.

I came across an e-Bike yesterday that sells a charger as an optional extra. That might sound like aftermarket shenanigans, but it's not, because you probably already have a suitable charger at home; a USB C charger for your laptop.

I recently worked on a project where the requirements changed a few times. One change necessitated having to split the public facing website, and the admin panel and API across different IP addresses. The website was going to be managed on a SaaS service like SquareSpace, so that IP address was fixed and non-negotiable.

Caching resources that make up an online maps is usually a good idea. Unless you're editing features on that map and expect real-time changes to be reflected if you leave the editing page and return shortly after.

'We need more young people', and 'We need to keep our young people here' is a refrain I often hear in meetings. No we don't.

My 5 year plan to read more books than I bring into the house

I watch YouTube content almost every day. Here are a few tips on how to enjoy YouTube without falling down the rabbit hole and reemerging as a fascist :-)

I was tripped up by a pretty basic error in Laravel yesterday that I was very surprised I'd never encountered in 12 years of using Laravel. It all began when I finally got some time to launch a mapping feature on one of my side projects ...

This week marks the end of a two year experiment to do something different. That was the only criterion. To do something different I had to look at what I was currently doing. That was easy. I spent all my days working on a computer, meetings were on a screen and my role was morphing from programmer to looking at a screen on a computer talking with other people about other peoples computers.

I encountered a rather bamboozling error today that took me about 10 minutes to figure out and had me really perplexed. I’ve been using Laravel since 2012 and this was the first time I’d encountered this particular error.

I’ve written about coworking on this blog for over a decade. Here’s my final opinion on it. I promise.

In my last article about coworking I said that coworking spaces enable freelancers to work together based around projects rather than combining into one company which is continually under pressure to find projects to "feed the machine".

So it finally happened. Like the baddy’s car tumbling interminably down a cliff in a crime drama, WeWork finally hit the bottom of the ravine and exploded.

It’s the 4th o July an it’s dinging doon ootside. Ootside being New York. It’s their big day, but it looks like the traditional barbecues will be a wash out.

I first started podcasting in 2010 with my partner in crime, Andrew Matheson. We both lived in Brussels at the time and kept a close eye on the Belgian tech startup scene.

'Better'. It's such a subjective term. Let me define the term as I see it. To me, 'better', in modern parlance means impactful. Someone who scores a point or two for humanity before slipping off this mortal coil.

Well, 5 spaces actually, but why ruin a good title.

Tech startups have often been accused of creating products that nobody wants or needs. It’s a consequence of product focussed teams in love with their technology and product.

I don’t really go to startup events any more and neither should you, probably.

As startup founders you’re always reminded that the road to success is to solve a real problem.

I’ve wanted to write an article about the “magic of coworking” for a while now. I feel it every day, I really do, but whenever I go to write something about coworking it just sounds like I’ve joined a cult.

Web design can be a complex business that requires a team of skilled designers, engineers and content creators at the helm if it’s going to be done well. You need to assemble at team that can cover what I call the five dimensions. Budgets don’t always allow for that, so if you have to cut corners, at least make sure your thinking like a five dimensional designer.

Yesterday I picked up a book I hadn’t read for a while called, Making The Invisible Visible, by Hillman Curtis.

Your website isn’t a book. It’s not linear like a book. People don’t necessarily start at the beginning and take a series of predictable paths through your website.