BlogFlock

Every open source maintainer I've talked to in the last six months has the same complaint: the absolute flood of mass-produced, AI-generated, mass-submitted slop requests have turned their repositories into a slush pile. The contributions look like contributions, they have commit messages, they reference issues and they follow templates etc.

This is a test post.

I’ve got a pretty bleak, albeit reductive, theory of global politics that I’m working from right now.

The key driver is climate change. We’re living in a world that will have fewer livable places and fewer resources. This will happen quickly.

Rather than co-operate to slow climate change and distribute…

The good folks at Epomaker know that I love an ergonomic keyboard, so they've sent me their new "Split 70" model to review.

This isn't your traditional ergonomic keyboard. Essentially, this is two separate halves joined by a USB-C cable; so you can position it however you like.

Here's a…

Earlier this month I had the privilege of being the MC for the second Protocols for Publishers event, which took place at Newspeak House, an independent college for political technology at the top of London’s Brick Lane.

London itself has been under attack in some circles. Ruby…

When was the last time you walked quietly while kicking a pebble on the ground over and over again? Just letting the time pass by for a little while, without picking up the phone from a pocket, without checking the time on my wrist watch. Just walking back and forth,…

This cybersecurity book is badly written, contains multiple offensive stereotypes, is technically inaccurate, and spends more time focussing on the author's love affair with the New York Times than almost anything else. Seriously, if you take a drink every time the book mentions the NYT, you'll spend most of the…

This short position statement was prepared for the FediForum Growing the Open Social Web Un-Workshop, which is held online on March 2, 2026.

The question is: why do we want to grow the open social web, and for whom? Presumably we don't want to become just another in…

What’s going on, Internet? Ferry ride over, no kids. Bus to Onetangi.

Alibi for a late lunch. Picanha steak with seasonal vegetables. Unfortunately, they had some type of beer shortage, so their usual selection was limited to four tap beers. I enjoyed the Ruru Hazy, even though it was a…

OK, so here we are at the end of the first week of Step Aside, Phone. Quick re-cap from last week - my average phone and tablet usage combined was approximately 4 hours per day (2.5hrs on phone, and 1.5hr on tablet).

That's high! Hopefully this week was better?