2017

Asked to pick a favourite memory from 2017, my trip to Galway and Connemara in May stands out. So glad I took the time to write about this experience, in what was an otherwise barren year for blogging.

The new icon for micro.blog makes a world of difference. With this change, I can finally move the app to my home screen!

When I was in Berlin last month, @sonniesedge pointed out that we were in the neighbourhood where Victoria was filmed. Tonight I finally got to see it. 2 hours and 18 minutes of drama in one single take. Just incredible.

Note to self.

Love that I can walk to the end of my street, and pop into the Duke of York’s to watch a film. I should do it more often!

Just seen Ink – a play about Rupert Murdoch and his purchase of ‘The Sun’ – with his current wife sat just a few rows behind me. She’ll have approved, as Bertie Cavel depicts him in a remarkably good light. Less so the monsters he created.

A weird and unnerving aura, with ochre-tinged, dust-filled skies brought to us by Ophelia.

A Summer in Le Havre

Finding the unexpected in Le Havre, the French seaside city that’s full of surprises.

Fantasies of the Future

Slides and referenced transcript from my presentation at Patterns Day

Away to Galway

In need of a break, I headed to Galway and the far western reaches of the British Isles.

When it comes to generating the white heat demanded by modern industry, there are few good options but to burn stuff.

– Lewis Dartnell, Out of the ashes

This is Britain in 2017. A Britain that increasingly looks like a ‘managed’ democracy. Paid for a US billionaire. Using military-style technology. Delivered by Facebook. And enabled by us.

– The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked

Poor @aajhiggs. Thought he could enjoy a quiet pint, instead got me ranting about the performance of his website—and more besides! 😆‬

This bank holiday I have mostly been… pointing my camera at bluebells, on the Arlington Bluebell Walk.

Posting to my new microblog from the Micro.blog iOS app. If everything’s setup correctly, this will cross-post to Twitter, also. 🤞🏻

Getting started with Micro.blog. First decision, to import tweets or not to import tweets? I suspect that by hosting content on my own site – and given the slightly longer format also – the content (and possibly tone) of my micro posts will be different to that of any previous tweets. For that reason, think I’ll avoid importing my Twitter archive, at least for now.

Using Your Blog to Attract New Clients

Blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise and raise your profile. But can you achieve this without drawing on manipulative methods of generating traffic?

Questioning Container Queries

Container queries are always a popular topic when discussing the future of responsive design. But do we actually need them anymore?

Designing Systems, Part 3: Components and Composition

In the final part of my three-part essay based on the talk I gave at Smashing Conference, I look at how we might build components and consider their wider composition.

What should you think about when using Facebook?

Vicki Boykis:

Facebook started as a way for college students to connect with each other, and has eventually gotten to the point where it’s changing people’s behavior, tracking their usage, and possibly aggregating information for the government.

The problem is that each person, whether he or she uses Facebook or not, is implicated in its system of tracking, relationship tagging, and shadow profiling. But this is particularly true if you are an active Facebook user.

So the most important thing to is to be aware that this is going on and give Facebook as little data as possible.

An alarming – but unsurprising – analysis of the data Facebook collects and who has access to it.

Paradise Lost

I had braced myself for its eventual fate, but seeing footage of Birmingham Central Library being demolished still brought a tear to my eye.

Designing Systems, Part 2: Layers of Longevity

In the second part of my three-part essay based on the talk I gave at Smashing Conference, I propose a model for thinking about design systems.

Here’s to the Doctor

Dr. James Paul Dicks, 1980-2017

Designing Systems, Part 1: Theory, Practice, and the Unfortunate In-between

Part one of a three-part essay based on the talk I gave at Smashing Conference. Before thinking about how we might approach the creation of a design system, I review two approaches to the design of something equally as complex: a city.

Sharing is Caring

I’m attempting to deal with the string of unfortunate events in current affairs by being more generous.