Thoughts & Reflections
On technology, sustainability, data encoding, and building things that matter.
2026
Feb 28Architecture, Not Stupidity: Why Language Models Sometimes Appear to Lack Common Sense
Why viral examples like letter counting and the car wash question reveal architecture, not stupidity. A layered explanation with sources for deeper exploration.
AI First, Resilience First: Don’t Rent Your Business Brain
AI is a leverage machine, but “AI first” needs constraints: own the pipe, govern the risk, plan for cost, and put agents on an accountability ladder.
Are LLMs Ready to Facilitate Meetings?
A practical walkthrough of an LLM facilitated meeting: prompt setup, agenda coverage, decision capture, owners, actions, and an accuracy review step.
2025
Oct 2Colour Glyphs — When a Picture Paints a Thousand Words (Literally)
What if a picture could literally contain those words and more? Wrapping up the Colour Glyphs experiment.
From Green IT to Sustainable Cloud: Lessons from 2007
Back in 2007 I was writing about the energy impact of office IT equipment. The context has shifted but the fundamentals remain.
ColGlyphCode: Progress on a New Approach to Offline Data Encoding
What if the content wasn't somewhere else, but right there in the image itself? Building on QR codes with colour and glyphs.
AI and the Rise of the Digital Cottage Industry
We may be witnessing a reversal of the Industrial Revolution. We're not watching the end of work — we're witnessing the birth of the digital cottage industry.
2024
Aug 21GOMP: Why I Am Cancelling Any Service That Makes Me Talk to a Chatbot
A personal line in the sand: if your customer support forces a weak chatbot loop, I will take my money elsewhere.
Exploring the Impact of Social Media Algorithms
A simple experiment with two identical Facebook profiles to see how quickly algorithms shape a feed, and how easily views can drift apart.
Geo Storage in Linux
A thought experiment on geo aware storage: using a virtual file system and metadata to keep data in region and stay compliant with GDPR.
Springing into a Better Me
A small family reset for 2024: exercise, team sports, boundaries, and making balance a practice rather than a slogan.
Embracing Progress in 2024
One word for the year, progress. A simple way to stay steady, learn monthly, and keep moving forward without chasing perfection.
2023
Sep 18The Four Day Workweek and Continuous Learning
A take on shorter weeks, not as a perk, but as a forcing function for focus, learning, and smarter work.
Niche Trends in Technology
Mainstream tech gets the headlines. Niche tech often creates the next wave. A quick tour of areas worth learning.
Staying Ahead of the Curve: Dynamic Contacts
Why static contact lists fail, and why the future looks more like living profiles than saved phone numbers.
Casting a Better Shadow
A short reflection on leadership, pressure, and the impact your behaviour has on the people around you.
Certifying the Web: An Age Appropriate Internet Experience
A proposal for voluntary, transparent age ratings for websites, designed to empower families rather than police the internet.
Age Certification for Websites: Responsibility, Not Censorship
A companion piece on why a voluntary approach is different from censorship, and why user control matters.
Behind the Scenes: How the Internet Actually Works
A simple walkthrough of what happens when you type a website address, and why the basics still matter.
Rediscovering Street Fighter 2 on the Mega Drive
A small nostalgia win, and a reminder that joy is part of the system too.
Avoiding Burnout on Tight Deadlines
High workload does not have to mean burnout. Principles that protect teams when delivery pressure rises.
Growing Older in a Digital World
Digital presence is now part of life admin. A look at access, security, and delegation as we age.
Getting Value from Recurring Meetings
How to stop recurring meetings becoming routine, and turn them into a deliberate cadence for progress.
ChatGPT Made My Life Easier: Practical Uses that Actually Stick
A grounded look at where generative AI helps day to day, and where it does not.
Email is a Legacy Protocol. What Replaces It?
Email still exists, but its job has changed. A look at identity, security, and what comes next.
Meetings That Work: Better Hosting and Better Participation
A practical playbook for running meetings that create decisions, clarity, and momentum.
Truth Decay in the Age of Algorithms
Why signal is getting harder to find online, and the small habits I use to stay grounded in facts.