Socially distanced martial arts classes begin…

The co-founder of Instagram Kevin Systrom has re-emerged with a blog and It is all about coronavirus and maths.

Uh-oh.

Daily exercise.

Mum, Christmas day, 1983.

Time-lapsing again.

I’m gonna be really good at these motionlapses by the end of 🔒⬇️

Life blossoming in the espalier trees.

Nearly 14 years ago, then-French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy talked to the attendees at LeWeb 3, a digital conference.

It seems like yesterday, but the amount that has changed in the last 13 years is astonishing.

I’m really enjoying the process of pulling together my daily distractions newsletter. Finding three things to link is great fun. Today’s issue features @hollyhoneychurch, too…

And so it goes. Another morning in lockdown.

Somebody is being far too generous about my linguistic competence.

Shooting random time lapses, because why not?

April is here. Off I go on trying to post on One Man & His Blog at least once a day: Viruses, Lies and Spammers

Seven’s a good age for learning to code in Swift, right?

We need more than great coronavirus reporting right now. We also need distraction — and journalists could make that easier to find.

One for the Blake’s 7 fans…

Here I am in the Stockport Advertiser in July 8th 1976:

Oh my, oh my.

Oh, my.

Blossom in the garden. Nature’s beauty continues, oblivious to our anxiety. And it is a balm for it, too.

Clapping for the NHS in Shoreham-by-Sea.

A quick history of technology lesson - now the girls understand why the return key is called the return key.

Computing lessons with Mr Tinworth. The pupils are learning that there’s more to iPads than games.

Well played, Beach Deli. Well played.

Highly socially distanced beach walk. Hoping the idiots who are carrying on as normal don’t take that from us as well.

That’s one way of social distancing.

Doing Brownies at home.

Not one of my better timed recent purchases…

Looks like the whiteboard has arrived - ready to start delivering courses remotely.

Look, I know the world doesn’t need more “how to work from home” pieces. But I wrote mine anyway, because, unlike most people who have been writing them, I’ve actually being doing it for eight years…

And I mean it about the clothes and plants.

All respect to the Debenhams marketing team for giving it everything they’ve got in this moment…

Why Coronavirus social distancing is negatively impacting social media content moderation.

Facebook’s moderation problems last night - what you need to know.

Twitter’s role in a time of global pandemic,

Video from my wife of Victoria Station this morning at around 10am. She estimates it was 80% quieter than normal…

Social distancing at my local coffee shop.

Good day on the hagstone front.

Rustic.

My January in one second everyday. (I always seem to be playing catch-up with these.)

Pleased with this one. The print is long gone - it was in display in a photo cube and was bleached out years ago. The negative was loose in my parents’ junk drawer for decades, and was badly scratched up.

One scan, an hour’s work on retouching, and this is the result:

So. After supper Iris gets down, grumbling a bit. And then sits in the corner assiduously writing.

This is what she hands to me.

“I have just eetn (eaten) the yoyos and I am still hungree”.

4 years old and issuing her first letter of complaint.

I am so proud.

Reporting on COVID-19.

Trying to amplify signal, not noise.

A London hairdresser marketing its way through Coronavirus.

Cleaning up negative scans in Photoshop on my iPad is quite soothing.

Well, the course I was running today may have been cancelled (yes, Coronavirus-related), but the view early this morning on the way to the station was lovely…

Well, the panic buying is clearly still happening. This is Waitrose in Worthing a few hours ago - toilet paper and paracetamol sold out.

Post-Nature Tots babychino from the Woods Mill café.

Morning in the woods.

It’s fun looking back on my old “blogiversary” posts - like this one from 11 years ago, when my blog was 6.

Well, now. One Man & His Blog is 17 years old today.

That’s astonishing. It’s probably the most time I’ve committed to a single thing, bar the relationship with my wife (who was not yet my wife when the blog began…)

After school beach club.

Beach mental health break.

Spectacular sunset as storm clouds approached this evening.

This made me chuckle:

Sea still lively in the wake of the storm.

I was doing some site analysis for a client, when it occurred to me that I’d never registered my micro.blog account for search console, or anything like that. So I did. And then I ran it through Page Speed Insights.

Well played, @manton. Well played indeed.

A day of exploring with my girls. Making progress on a long walk.

Polarisation wears an unexpected face in today’s Engaged Reading Digest.

Iris is having an artistic moment.

Looks like Storm Dennis has abated enough that the kite surfers are heading out again.

The girls appear unimpressed by my efforts to get them to go for a walk in the face of Storm Dennis

Spotify is trying to become podcasting’s gatekeeper. We musn’t let them.

Riders on the shore.

Watching the boats on the Adur rise as high tide approaches.

Plain old driftwood.

The information ecosystem is badly polluted — and journalism is playing its part. We need to clean up our act, and depollute the information ecosystem.

Beach sign

Actually getting out of the house to work – it’s far too rare at the moment.

Gotta say, it’s a bit breezy out today…

Laterns above the Adur

Beach plant.

One of the nice things about Shoreham Beach is that, as a protected and rare habitat, we get a good range of plant life, even in winter.

Gnome Hide

A new report on UK news consumption during the general election shows that many of the things we think about the media and politics are false - and that people’s news consumption is less than 3 minutes a day.

Worrying stuff.

Spot the children’s beginning reading book.

Volunteers needed.

TikTok is the social media hype cycle on speed - and the challenges ahead are beginning to emerge.

Reflect.

Sight.

Open.

I’ve never come across any device that’s better for writing on than an iPad. There might be a big ass Mac behind it, but the wee iPad is perfect for squeezing words out of my brain.

Took a riverside walk today. It’s a good reminder that Shoreham-by-Sea is still very much a working port.

Sunset silhouettes.

Shell game.

Lovely hagstone find on the beach just now.

Hagstones - the sea’s beautiful gift for the mindful.

💕

Flickr’s goals for 2020.

Brighton, from Shoreham Beach.

Quite a day, down on the beach…

My old employer — RBI — has all but completed its exit from journalism. Its answer to the problem of making online journalism pay?

Get out of the business completely.

Guess how this ended…

The house in the woods.

I’m pleased with this for 49p.

Yes, please: A return to blogs (finally? sort of?)

I’m trying something new - triggered because I couldn’t get this stuff in my usual links digest if it was going to work in an email. But I think actually capturing and curating investing stuff from social media is worthwhile:

The Social Diary: reads from the feeds

There’s a slug on the kitchen window this morning. Our kitchen is in the first floor. I can’t decide if this slug is ambitious or has had a lucky escape from a bird…

Dry January? I’ll drink to that… 🥃

This week has given us a rather ominous look into the future of political #journalism: Dominic Cummings’ blogpost, direct dialogue and its threat to mainstream political journalism

Good morning waves.

It is quite remarkable that one of the biggest things to happen in UK politics so far this year… is a blog post.

Still, beats US politics and one man’s Twitter account, I suppose.

I’ve reached my daily reading goal on Apple Books. I’m using it to try to push myself to spend more time reading long-form, and not just articles on the web.

Currently reading: Why Willows Weep: Contemporary Tales from the Woods. Enjoyable short fables about trees. 📚

Found on the beach this morning. Someone’s feeling patriotic, clearly.

Bridge.

Sunset on the Adur.

I included this photo in my latest Engaged Reading Digest because I like it so much. It’s very calming.

Wow. The memory cheats sometimes. I tend to think of my early years in editorial development as largely positive, but back in 2008 I was clearly exhausted from fighting the fight for engaged journalism.

That fight is still on-going.

My December in one second every day.

Starting the year as I mean to go on: The first Engaged Reading Digest of 2020

Happy New Year, you.

Yes, you.

The year is done — so it’s time from my annual round-up of *One Man & His Blog*’s top 10 posts of 2019. And there are some genuine surprises in there.

I have reached the point in coffee fussiness where, after being disappointed with a coffee when brewed with Aeropress, I switched to a different brew method - and really enjoyed that coffee.

There’s no hope for me now.

Quite a sunset yesterday.

Interesting thoughts on flow in blogging apps (the same applies to all CMSes, I think):

Scripting News: Flow in WordPress for writers

Somebody’s turned down the contrast on Sussex.

Plenty of drama in the sky off Shoreham Beach today.

Perfect weather for trying out my Christmas coat…

Merry Christmas from one man (and his blog).

A very Victorian Christmas at Tyntsfield.

I think this bauble crop is nearly ready for harvesting.

Today’s Engaged Reading Digest: killing comments, surviving after redundancy, getting better at instagram - and the power of visual journalism. All this for the low, low price of a click…

I found my parents’ old tree angel, so she’s back in service after a decade off.

This is a useful read: What does the future hold for progressive politics after the Conservative victory?

Three questions about the UK’s journalism and social media landscape after the General Election result.

I think this is an interesting read. To hold the seats they took this election, the Tories will have to operate in a very different way: Boris Johnson’s spectacular win heralds a new form of Toryism

A round-up of some of the big misinformation stories surrounding the general election.

Lovely morning down by the Adur.

Winter beach.

Paint the whole world with a 🌈

Beach walk.

My November in one second everyday.

Today’s Engaged Reading Digest is all about the memes - but not in a fun way.

(Bonus Baby Yoda content, tho’)

A pretty brutal examination of cancel culture, the psychological motivators, and its inherently polarising nature. And it’s from Psychology Today.

After school beach trips - not just for the summer!

Yesterday, the Reuters Institute published some research into podcasting and journalism. Here’s my thoughts on it: News podcasts: profitable and engaging — but have we got the format right?

Frost hit last night. I think autumn is done and winter is here. ❄️

Festive holly.

My Podcast playlist for Sundays has the best episode names.

Finally, the coveted micro.blog 30 day pin is mine.

There’s nothing better than a nice, fussy way of making your coffee…

Shoreham’s looking festive tonight.

Spam of the Beast

Canary Wharf was starting to look festive earlier.

The mere existence of deepfakes is eroding our sense of shared reality - even if we’ve never encountered one in the wild.

(Country) walking to grow your subscriptions, radicalised on Reddit, and more good reads from the audience engagement mines.

Autumn mist.

Lovely Autumn day in Shoreham-by-Sea - between the rain, at least.

Toy justice is swift and brutal in these parts.

Wow.

Flashback five years to when Hazel and I appeared in a software advert.

I am happy to say I appear to have lost weight since then…

(This was all @tibz’s doing…)

This week I learnt that the Opera browser is now owned by a Chinese investor, that Opera News is huge - and might well be part of a Chinese propaganda campaign.

Yikes.

It’s probably a sign that I’m over-tired and need some sack time, but I’m bloody convinced that this is the most important post on my blog in ages - and that nearly nobody will read it…

This may be the most perfect Star Wars image ever.

Fingers crossed that I am on the final stage of a difficult evening, and will be home for a whisky and bed within the hour. Literally my entire evening wasted on queuing and travelling.

I was initially excited when I found this site for Sussex bloggers, because it felt very like the sort of thing we did in the early 2000s. And then I saw this:

“Join our directory of bloggers based in Sussex, through which we’ll connect bloggers with brands.”

Oh, dear. 🙄

Computational photography raises some serious questions about the nature of reality, and how we represent it.

Some links that are worth your time - from the psychology of social media outrage, to a celebration of RSS…

My top artists on Apple Music in 2019.

I’m not a raging brony. It’s my daughters.

Honest.

For those of you on devices that support it, and are in the right time zone, One Man & His Blog now supports dark mode…

Yo dawg we heard you like Moodle so we put some Moodle in your Moodle so you can Moodle while you Moodle.

How to fix your Twitter timeline using this one clever trick…

I’ve been fiddling around with my Ghost templates, and now fixed it so that comments only show on members-only and subscribers-only posts once you are logged in. For example this post.

I love the idea of having conversations that are at least partially protected.

Beautiful Remembrance service at Church of the Good Shepherd this morning. The two minutes’ silence with the waves crashing on the beach is always moving.

Naked trees.

Funghi at Woods Mill.

Today at Woods Mill. The dirty secret? This was four adults…

Before and after.

If you love coffee, this is an essential read on coffee prices - and the threat to producers it poses: Coffee Transaction Guide ☕️

Nice piece from the BBC breaking down how a fact became misinformation through omitted context, and how it then spread: How a misleading story about Jo Swinson went viral.

Well, hello Photoshop on iPad.

“Media style” 🤔

Such a beautiful crisp, autumn morning, with a lovely “after the storm” feel.

Beautifully peaceful with plenty of birdsong at the station this morning.

Spending the day liveblogging Open Data Camp 7 in London.

Stickered up for the day.

Early start to London. Not what you’d call busy at the station.

Pretty much her idea of heaven.

Happy Halloween!

Breakfast of champions

Lovely sight to start the morning.

Still a few traces of summer in an autumnal morning.

Through the library window.

Gotta say, my old school friend the artist is pretty fancy these days…

Nice to have company for my daughters’ martial arts class.

Ghost 3.0 has just launched - and it’s got built in tools for building a membership site for news.

This makes subscription businesses way more accessible to set up and run.

I apologise to the affront to your ears, but I’m on a podcast: Micro Monday - 70: Adam Tinworth aka @adders

Thanks @macgenie!

Well, now, what say you people of micro.blog? Scott asked:

Although, does anyone use feed readers anymore?!?!

Crikey. I wrote this 11 years ago - and it’s still as relevant now: “Interesting” is the basis of blogging

Not only is 8chan struggling to get back online — its co-founder is actively working to keep it that way.

Fascinating.

Either this gentleman doesn’t understand One Man & His Blog’s audience - or I don’t…

I think it’s fair to say that today’s weather has been changeable…

Take some time to listen to Birdsong Radio today - and consider how much poorer we’ll all be if we lose it. #LetNatureSing

Yahoo Groups is shutting down.

Wow. The history of a lot of great early online communities is about to be erased from the web.

New GoPro day…

This was a fantastic session by Eliza Filby from NEXT conference last month, looking at the characteristics of the generations, and how we should raise Generation Alpha.

Not something I’d considered before - but accurate: The Delicate Nature of Comparing Smartphone Cameras and a Dash of False Equivalence

Now, that’s a sunset.

Why blogging still matters, even after 25 years::

“The furore over social media and its impact on democracy has obscured the fact that the blogosphere not only continues to exist, but also to fulfil many of the functions of a functioning public sphere. And it’s massive.”

O RLY?

Finally caught up: August in one second everyday.

Do you think she’ll give me a lift home?

Woods Mill this morning. Although autumn was clearly in the air, you wouldn’t know it from this photo.

Oh, my…

Ah, the 70s.

Today, I am digitising my childhood records while I work.

Giving this a try - I still rely on Instapaper a lot for work:

Michael Tsai: Instapaper Safari App Extension

Last month in one second per day.

Not often I look back on conference food with affection - but the NEXT conference lunch bowls were epic:

Seriously high tides here yesterday. How much higher will they go today?

A tense moment at fairy hospital: will Vidia fly again?

Super high tide again today.

I think this is my favourite of the new watch faces in WatchOS 6.

Portrait mode on the iPhone X: still a winner.

Happy news for me and the other blog platform I routinely use: iPadOS and Ghost

Deep breath…

Normal for Next. :-)

Okay.

Current status: 🍷 🛋 🇩🇪

Today’s workspace at #next19

This end of Reeperbahn is a bit whiffy at 8am.

Current status:

The first 20 minutes of #NEXT19 in 20 seconds

What’s outside our universe? A thought-provoking talk to kick off #NEXT19

Lovely sunny day today - but Wednesday was a different story.

Such a fungi to spend the morning with. 🍄

Fabulous day for Nature Tots.

Fascinating. I didn’t realise Pinterest did monthly updates on trends across the platform.

What you need to know about yesterday’s Google algorithm news (if you’re a journalist).

This is quite a big point too many journalists miss: Media Literacy will not create trust in journalism

It just tends to reinforce those who already mistrust journalists.

Here’s one great reason to love the DJi Osmo Mobile 3 if you’re involved in social video production:

Scrummy blue skies today.

Living by the sea really bring it home to you how polluted our waters have become with waste.

Treating myself to a nice aeropress coffee after my wet and windy walk. ☕️

Oops.

Jane Manchum Wong

”It appears to me that Medium wants to double as a Reader app in an experiment. This unreleased feature is called “Save to Medium”, similar to how Instapaper works.”

Nope. Uh-uh. Not using that.

Having the sort of day where I write what I thought were two thoughtful and useful posts, and the world just shrugs its shoulders at me.

It’s the blogging equivalent of a null result in science.

But it’s that or clickbait…

Politicians love presenting us with apparently simple solutions to complex problems. It’s where the votes are.

But journalists need to stop aiding and abetting them in this.

Does journalism have an understanding problem?

(tl;dr - yes!)

Since the end of my days as RBI’s head of blogging, I don’t really get much change to spend time fiddling around with the technical stuff at the back end of blogs. Just done some of it today - and it’s quite fun! I missed it.

Now, off to fiddle with some DNS records…

Some stunning flowers at Nymans today.

I made this!

Messy drinker.

Wow. Fell behind on these. Here’s July - over a months ago - in 1 Second Everyday.

Look at this. A blog post with actual comments. That takes me back…

Today’s Engaged Reading Digest - chat apps in protests, how the internet is changing our language and influencer reverse psychology.

This is why I carry on blogging.

My lunch meeting has arrived.

It’s been a long time since these two shared a spot in my dock together.

Don’t look now folks, but I think autumn might be here…

A nice reminder that blogging was always a complicated and often unpleasant community. Shakesville’s unravelling and the not-so-golden age of blogging - The Outline.

On the other hand, it wasn’t a vast multinational company harnessing all the value, either…

Prorogue — or prorogation?

I’m taking a new approach to link posts on One Man & His Blog. What do you think?

Feedback gratefully received.

A wee update on life, work and blog.

Nothing alarming, just trying to figure out how to avoid burning out again.

Shades weather, innit.

A day when I find a new pretentious coffee shop is always a good day.

So, the reason for my silence here over the last couple of weeks was that I was holidaying in a nearly bandwidth-free place.

And it was lovely. Just taking a first pass through the photos now.

A fruitful garden

Possibly the most manly thing I’ve done all year…

Garden harvest.

A Circle of Words: emails to blogs to newsletters

It’s just been that kind of a day.

Pub sign angles are a surprisingly good guide as to how windy the day is…

The garden was in fine form today, in the few moments I could steal away from work.

Bit blowy today.

I hit my daily Move goal for the 1,000th time. Result.

Revised and expanded this to try and clarify some point: Zombie Tumblr and the twilight of the social web.

The latest Black Hat SEO technique: find articles from defunct sites linked to by major news operations, and grab the URLs.

This could impact the ranking of sites exploited by the technique.

Reasons I love blogging #3478: I spend several minutes Googling “Ted Danson flossing” for a blog post this morning.

Tumblr as we know it is dead, as a pile of corporate obfuscation makes clear. What’s left is a zombie-like shell - and a gap for places where young people can experiment with their identity.

This one still works.

Found some ancient history…

Sea kitty.

Beautiful sunny day in Shoreham by Sea.

Today’s status:

Fading into twilight

One thing I’ve learnt about myself in recent years is that things like Apple Watch straps and GoPro sleeves (like this one) make me disproportionately happy compared to their cost - as long as the material and colour are right.

Very happy with this one.

I think this photo pretty much sums up my life.

Practicing the art of productive procrastination, by tidying up my Ulysses app.

In other news, today I met a ferret.

Today has been rather posher than normal…

We be rollin’, they be hatin’

My eldest on holiday last year.

I think my authorised app connections to Flickr need some updating… (iPhoto 2??)

ln defence of selfies - an interesting take on the social context of photography and sharing.

More catching up - February in 1 second everyday

Catching up - this is January in 1 Second Everyday.

I do love the feel of the new “grove” style Apple Stores.

Listening to Andy’s 20 year journey at the Flock event in Shoreham-by-Sea.

My June in 1 second everyday.

So, when everybody’s in-boxes are cluttered with newsletters in about 18 months’ time - will we see the grand blog and RSS revival, as history cycles through technologies again?

Oh, DJI. I’m not sure encouraging non-consensual voyerism is the right way to sell your products…

Breaking: social media verification processes still suck.

How The Correspondent plans to handle audience engagement.

Teaching 4 year olds to use saws. 👌🏻

Yesterday’s view…

Pride-ful.

Many PostIts died to bring us this strategy…

It’s all glamour in the consultancy business, I can tell you…

Looking lovely in the evening sun… 🌻

Getting a bit dry round here…

Tide’s out…

This really was not the plan for this afternoon.

The street where I grew up.

Hello, Edinburgh.

I have a suspicion that a child may have used this seat before me…

Finished drafting tomorrow’s newsletter for my paying subscribers. Feeling good about it (although slightly guilty that this is not going on the open web. But then, this is a topic I’ll return to on my blog, I’m sure).

Morning office:

Warning for highly polarising politics…

I poked into why #notjewish was trending on Twitter, and why an account I had no awareness of had blocked me - and found some really simple answers - with complex consequences

Online community dynamics change as the membership grows. In particular, most networks require increasing attention-seeking behaviour in order to get any attention at all.

Busted the macro lens out, too…

Teeny, tiny frog.

Tree-mendous Fathers’ Day.

Crafting time chez Tinworth.

New toy…

Lovely morning down by the Adur as I walked home this morning.

Here’s one from the archives - that’s me on the left, taking a photo of the chief scout, during the 75th anniversary of scouting celebrations in 1982.

Seeing this magazine on sale in my local newsagent is odd. I associate it so strongly with my Mum and my childhood, it seems almost incomprehensible that it’s still going so long after she died. A silly reaction, I know.

Boats on the Adur

Bit more perhaps?

Here’s a soothing 20 seconds of beach life for you…

Got up at stupid o’clock this morning to catch a train and attend the launch of the Reuters Institute Digital News Report this morning. It was worth it.

Here are my liveblogged notes from the event.

Great Micro Monday @hollyhoneychurch and @macgenie (catching up on a commute). Thanks. Thinking a lot about the time period challenges.

Just preparing my notes from this morning’s Digital News Report 2019 launch event for publication - how refreshing to have an all-female panel at a journalism event:

I find upgrading firmware on devices a surprisingly satisfying process.

Weather could be better, though.

Nice to be heading up London late enough to drop a bag off at the charity shop and get a coffee from Tom Foolery.

Of all the things to find, a shopping list from my Mum, who has been gone over a decade:

Go on. Guess which option I picked.

It’s 2019, and, yes, you still need to own your content.

MailOnline’s traffic absolutely brutalised by Google algorithm update.

Let the jokes commence.

So, um, the answer to “Fake News” might have been available the whole time… in Finland?

Further evidence that I’m turning into a grumpy old man of the interwebs: Writing about the internet is no excuse for not doing your research

Working on a Friday, unusually, due to a day swap with my wife. Throughly dreich out there today, so working seems better…

What’s bringing you joy this morning, people of micro.blog?

Here’s what excited me about the WWDC keynote today. The iPad Pro lifestyle just got more feasible.

Thank you, micro.blog folks. I enjoyed sharing the keynote with you!

Those elongated ovals from the new version of the TV app seem to be a major design trend in iOS13.

Screen break beach walk.

This starts off as road crash viewing of a middle-aged meme warrior - but actually goes somewhere interesting.

My dad, the Facebook addict

Ugh. @danielpunkass can’t get his patch into WordPress. Open Source in theory rather than practice?

River life

The Trouble with AMP

Right. This is a good as my liveblogged notes from Hacks/Hackers London this evening at Twitter UK are getting. I’ll give them a good sub in the morning.

Nice view as I crossed the bridge this evening.

Current view.

Today, I have made all the fritters.

This is a sobering read by James Kirkup: The truth about David Cameron and the ‘mad, swivel-eyed loons’

“Under Cameron and the person who called at our table, Conservative membership numbers more than halved, handing ever more power to a smaller group of people whose interests and priorities are extremely hard to reconcile with those of the country as a whole.”

Shoreham Beach, two years ago.

Politics warning: right-wing comics activists are abusing Twitter’s policies on transphobia to silence their critics.

This behaviour pattern will spread quickly, as it exploits the automated nature of much social media blocking.

Today’s beach life:

Extinction Rebellion die in at the Shoreham by Sea farmers market.

Finally got around to adding another of my key services to my site: Live Event Capture - where I create rapid posts from event content, working in conjunction with the skilled editorial cartoonists at Drawnalism.

My notes from the RSA event Schools Without Walls might be of interest to the education-minded amongst you.

The rain, it raineth every day ☔️

Iris amongst the irises.

It was windy yesterday at Woods Mill, but the sound is just lovey.

I love this photo of Iris in the woods from yesterday.

Nesting…

Here’s something I don’t often do: a review. It’s of Freewell’s All Day Filters for the Osmo Pocket.

Shaping up to be a lovely day.

Today’s workplace.

Never bet against the phone…

Working on old negative scans does make me miss the grain and texture of film photography - but I really don’t have the time to indulge in it any more.

Sunday adulting. 🌷

Fascinating how much cars date photos, even after “just” 15 years.

Big fan of the Extinction Rebellion art style.

The guest WiFi at Twitter UK’s pretty good…

Thanks to my daughters, my iPad Smart Keyboard is looking particularly fabulous today…

Easter egg hunt 🐣

And here’s the final image of Adam, a sculpture at the Eden Project, shot back in Spring 2004.

Enjoying working in Pixelmator Photo to clean up some old negative scans:

There was a lot of construction work still happened at the Eden Project back in 2004. I loved these art plants that part screened the construction. Nice hard hat fruit.

Eden Project, 14th April 2004

Talented investigative journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead in Derry last night. I knew her, and was always in awe of her work. RIP, Lyra. And thank you.

Whatever you think about Assange and Wikileaks, his arrest this morning will do nothing to stop the repercussions his actions have had on journalism, politics and internet culture.

We’ve only scratched the surface of the impact so far.

I really need to stop letting my blogging slip as soon as my life gets busy. It’s such an intellectually rewarding exercise for me that my life is poorer when I don’t do it.

And no, social media does not scratch the same itch at all.

Making a (small) splash on Unsplash.

I’m really passionate about this: the journalism business should be unlocking the incredible value to be found in its archives.

There are so many benefits to this, for the costs involved.

Time to test micro.blog’s video hosting…

Ah, my weekend reading is here.

Woe betide any pony that fails to perform to the expectations of Iris.

Weird flex for a CMS company, but OK:

”Today Automattic is announcing Happy Tools, a suite of products for the future of work. Each product in Happy Tools has been used internally at Automattic to grow our company.”

Revenue play, at the expense of focus? Hmm.

May not have thought relative mug and scanner positioning through properly…

It looks like I last wrote about Google+ nearly five years ago — and only to declare it not dead.

Never a good sign.

So, here’s a video from a defunct satire site, about a defunct social network, found via a defunct VC-backed news site, which concludes with the fact that social networks lead inevitably to nazis.

This must be the most 2019 thing ever.

Wow. Early 2010s-era One Man & His Blog. In many ways, the “classic” era of the site…

Wow - Google+ integration in search. I had completely forgotten about that.

Something my daughters will never do…

Spring appears to have arrived in our garden.

10 Mothers’ Day without you, Mum. Still missing you.

Thought for the day:

Just spent 8 hours in this room with a great bunch of journalists and communication pros, talking editorial analytics. I really enjoyed it. I hope they did, too.

Hello.

Quick first thoughts on Apple News+. How do you feel about it?

Beachscape with fisherman and detectorist

Apple’s Final Cut Pro X upgraded to version 10.4.6 - and this is interesting:

“Detects media files that may be incompatible with future versions of macOS after Mojave and converts them to a compatible format”

My daughters have very carefully, precisely and secretively placed 10p coins under their chairs. I love them, but sometimes they are very sinister.

Oh, dear. When did I enter that demographic?

Thanks, Facebook.

The “Revoke Article 50” petition is closing in on ¾ of a million, and gaining about 3k signatures per minute.

Joining the rest of my family in marking World Down Syndrome day:

Yay. My micro.blog Kickstarter stickers are here!

This makes me very nostalgic for an earlier era of Apple.

The spread of footage from the Christchurch terrorists attack is clearly unacceptable. To curtail this we need three responses: technological, social and political. The problem is bigger than just the tech platforms.

I’ve come across a number of blogs in recent weeks that have “moved to Instagram”. One thing is for sure: they will eventually regret that decisions. Maybe not soon, but eventually.

Deconstructed.

I had awesome wallpaper as a child. (That’s not me - it’s a school friend).

Mum & I, outside Stirling Castle, in the early 80s.

You can catch up on all my posts from last week’s useful news:rewired conference here.

Lots to think about there.

Storm sisters

Fun down on the beach today…

New shoes!

Love the cover of the latest @standartmag by @grigorybabich. Stunning work.

Coffee with Eevee!

Journalism clearly needs new business models. Yesterday’s panel discussion at news:rewired had some interesting ideas.

The Adventures of Rapunzel and Mildred Hubble. #worldbookday #worldbookday2019

Utterly self-indulgent blog post of the day: What the heck is GoPro doing producing a limited edition colour of its flagship camera?

We really didn’t spend long on our customary Sunday beach walk today. Storm Freya is battering the UK and, while we’re on the edge of it, my three year old was still in danger of being blown away…

Bit of a token clean today as the girls were in danger of being blown off the beach by storm Freya. #2minutebeachclean

Iris made a nest at #naturetots #sussexwildlifetrust

My goodness, but these are appealing to me.

Today’s Iris obsession: liferings

Reporting on the Momo Challenge has not been journalism’s finest hour. It’s a failure of basic fact-checking.

I preserve the secrets of @nextconf by making my notes basically illegible to anyone but me.

Stunning evening down by the Adur.

Once again, Facebook is trying to avoid the costs of its scale - but the human cost of its content moderation is appalling.

Shoreham by Sea’s sign game is 💯 this morning:

Drinking today: Edgecumbe’s AA Kisii Peaberry ☕️

Some Ghostly resources for independent publishers.

Nice combination of a newsletter and a site full of resource links.

The fam at @nymansnt

Beware the beach #illuminati

Totemic discovery on today’s #2minutebeachclean

Sunday beach walk

Own up. Who left the window open last night?

Either it’s foggy - or I need new glasses.

Word of the day, courtesy of an @ernestjournal back issue… slubberdegullion is official part of my word hoard now.

Fog is making the Adur impressionistic today.

I have a Brydge keyboard for my trusty old 9.7 inch iPad Pro and I suddenly have my perfect on-the-go device.

Some useful thoughts on the appeal of newsletters — and the appropriate tone for writing them.

Why blogs still matter even in the resurgent newsletter age.

(h/t @cdevroe for the original link)

Lessons from 1000 editions of a links newsletter.

It’s all about the basics.

The rest of the “information wants to be free” quote (because I’m annoyed at how often people quote it in a way that makes it clear that they don’t know there’s more to it…)

I call this piece “the entitlement of SEO spammers”. 🖼

Winchester does ruins magnificently.

This is not at all disconcerting.

Beautiful sky over Winchester this evening.

I know all the hip joints!

Still can’t quite believe that I turned down the chance to work on this beauty - but it was the right decision at that time of my life.

An article designed for @ismh… The joy of collecting old tech

The Zuckerberg Obfuscation

Dangerous shop.

Wow, Blogger really is being neglected isn’t it? The last substantive update I can find is from nearly a year ago - and it’s mainly about removing features. Even Movable Type has had a major new version since then.

Productivity in the home office this morning: could be better.

First signs of spring. (Which means it’ll be snowing within the month…)

Fin.

Late night London.

Scenes from a beach walk.

And here’s your depressing reminder that Brits using .eu domain names will probably lose them.

For UK Residents Facing Brexit: Alternatives to the .EU Domain Name

A translation of Zuckerberg’s “15 years of #facebook” post from Zuck to English.

(Now with corrected link - thanks @smokey)

A translation of elements of Mark Zuckerberg’s 15th Facebook anniversary post from Zuck to English.

Never say I don’t try to be helpful. 😇

It’s stuff like this that makes me realise that I’ve been writing about digital media and audience development for 15 years now. I’m in danger of earning the tag “veteran commentator”…

Are we really going to do the news bundle conversation again?

OK. Let’s talk about that bloody egg — and why it does matter.

Yes, it’s come to that.

Now, that’s my kind of article.

Despite the cold, it’s a really lovely day here on the coast.

Even a little snow makes a three year old joyful.

The mighty thaw is well underway on the Sussex Coast.

That’s looking more like snow.

Apple kills Google’s internal apps as well.

Facebook has officially passed beyond parody.

I like the ceiling in here.

If you squint, you can see the snow. Just.

Apple News has more users than you might expect.

Crikey - my blog had more mobile and tablet viewers than desktop ones for the first time ever. I know I’m on the trailing edge of the switch, but interesting that it’s coming even to journalism-related sites.

I love the neologism “memeocracy” to describe the impact of influencer culture in the attention economy. I love the impact of it significantly less.

Apple’s mobile journalism porn - I love the way Apple keeps making the #mojo case for us.

A calmer moment in a stormy day by the sea:

Shoreham may be blessed with one of the best library views out there.

Just when you think Facebook can’t go lower — it manages it…

Well, that’s one way of stopping regulators from breaking up your company, I suppose.

Zuckerberg speeds up assimilation of Instagram and WhatsApp into Facebook

Daddy/daughter baking day.

The latest issue of @anxymag is here - all about masculinity. Time for a coffee and a read.

One that required a bit of focus, but not too much. Bring on next month’s #AppleWatch challenge.

No wonder my chair was uncomfortable - I’ve been sitting on this for the last hour:

January 2018 in photos - looking back at a year ago.

Why political posts on Facebook will always be polarising.

A cold and frosty morning on my way to London.

Gorgeous day on Shoreham Beach. The sun is counteracting the cold nicely.

Suffolk coast, January 2001

I wrote a very long thing about Facebook, WordPress, CMSes and local journalism. I cater to a very niche market…

It’s been a stressful week, but the view from my office window is incredibly calming today.

My hard working film scanner doing its thing.

I can also see a meaningful boat out of the window. There may be a meaningful oat on the floor, after my daughter dropped her porridge this morning.

Fresh out of the film scanner: my late father and I in the mid-90s. Still miss him.

Making your social media more sane - this is actually a great idea.

On the off chance you missed it - here’s my thoughts on the key findings of the Reuters Institute’s 2019 journalism trends and predictions report.

Guide’s badges in the 21st century: vlogging

Here’s my takeaways from the Journalism, Media and Technology Trends and Predictions 2019 report that launched this morning.

Media Trends 2019: an earthquake in audience engagement, and openness to new business models

This is my regular reminder to myself that actually posting to One Man & His Blog does wonders for my traffic…

Facebook is trying to achieve global scale without paying the local price - and that’s hindering its attempts to combat misinformation.

China is making podcasts pay - big time. And it’s not based on advertising.

Nice morning down by the river.

I have tidied up and modernised every post on my blog tagged Doctor Who in a burst of pointless busy work. :-)

The culture wars in one tweet.

Bedrock rock beds.

Moody day in the beach. (Can you spot the Iris?)

I have a nasty feeling Iris is pretending to be me…

Grabbed the opportunity for a quick beach walk this afternoon. The beach is very much in winter mode, biding its time before it bursts into spring colour in a few months.

Facebook wants us to know that it’s the real victim here.

Warrior robots in a coffee shop.

Grrrr.

Happy about this - I have at least one new Ghost-hosted project in the works, and I may well start with one of these. All New Free Ghost Themes

Watching.

Lovely day at Nymans.

😂

A pre-New Year party for the little ones with some wonderful neighbours. Perfect way to end the year.

Well, this year was all about the Shoreham-by-Sea landscapes… #topnine2018 #topnine #bestnine2018

Issue #25 of my curated reads newsletter goes out in about five minutes. Sign up while you can!

Here we go: the top 10 posts on the NEXT Conference blog in 2018. One of them was the very first post I wrote, back in 2012(!).

Digging through the top posts on the Next Conference blog, I found this 2017 piece from Martin Recke - What is Digital Humanism?. This feels like a discussion we should have had more deeply.

Shoreham Fort

More #beachlife

Vlogging?

Beach Life.

Beach life.

Facebook apologists are real – they really are.

Crime in progress, but the lookout is on watch…

On the Care and Feeding of Your Favorite Blogger

Here’s the thing - support comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn’t necessarily mean $$$$.

This is a good post, reminding us that blogging is an ecosystem, one that you can support in various ways.

Lady who lunches.

Beautiful moomin show. Iris loved it.

Current status:

Moomin magic is about to begin.

Moomin magic (and mischief) about to occur…

Iris at the Box Office.

Look, someone 😇 has made our local heros more festive.

Beach walk, ‘cos it’s Boxing Day innit?

Down by the Adur.

(Boxing Day walk)

The children are less enthused by this stage of the meal preparation…

Prepping Christmas Dinner while watching the Countryfile Christmas Special. Because, yes, I am middle aged and middle class.

Time to get the turkey in.

Today has challenged my understanding of the word “elf”.

Hello. @manton delivers Christmas three days early!

Honestly, what the hell is happening at Medium? Its latest moves seem to suggest it is becoming 2008-era Huffington Post - with a soft paywall.

Strong and stable. Spoiled for stabilised filming right now - working in some tests for my blog.

Five influencers influencing…

Oh, the irony.

I have a gimbal in my pocket. The miniaturisation of video continues, and the results are impressive.

Early Christmas present to myself. Uh, I mean to my work. Uh, yes, my work. That’s it. cough.

I am ridiculously happy to finally have the time to get a post up on One Man & His Blog - even if it’s only month notes for Nov/Dec. Back on the blogging wagon…

⚠️ Warning - photobomb in progress…

New green belt

Barbados, November 2011

My sister-in-law has a PacMan coat. 👌🏻

Morning coffee feels very festive today.

New coffee shop, new part of London. Oh, the consultancy life.

Five years ago today:

10 years ago today.

Not what you want to see outside your favourite coffee shop in the morning…

Open.

Peak hipster.

Time to choose a Christmas Tree 🎄

The angel of cheekiness descends…

This morning I am catching the OMGEarly train to London.

The new @blogosphere_magazine is here, so I’ve done a tasteful #influencer style shot to celebrate. 😇 #blogospheremagazine #bloggers

Morning view.

Ready to Webinar…

One of the interesting aspects of consultancy life is getting small spells in a whole range of offices. You assume that all offices are basically the same, but that really isn’t the case. And it’s fascinating.

My downtime on ghost(pro) last month… …didn’t exist. For the third month running.

Nice work, @tryghost team.

Night time.

This is how credit card details were harvested from BA. I bet you use one of the sites on the list. Oh, and The Guardian is one of them. Major sites running unauthenticated JavaScript on their payment pages

Looking good on the way back, too.

Different view for my “commute” this morning.

Beach life.

Hello.

Dr Pancakes is IN.

So, I’ve done the photos thing. Thanks @cleverdevil - looks good!

Success - new belt! #soobahkdo

Testing times for Iris… #soobahkdo

I feel this e-mail subject line is unlikely to be bettered today:

Iris wants you to know that she has pizza 🍕

While I do still love a good paper book, there are times that digital books are just so much more useful, especially in non-fiction.

Time to kill off follower counts on social networks:

As we increase the time we spend online, we also expose ourselves to the danger of measuring ourselves by the number of likes and follows we get. That sort of behavior is problematic in itself, but it gets worse when you consider the fact that you have little to no real control over those numbers.

Where micro.blog and @manton led the way…

There’s no place like gnome

5 degrees, rainy and grey. British autumn is here at last.

Build that web

I had my first proper (but quick) play with Adobe Premier Rush - and I’m tentatively impressed.

So, I wrote about the unintended consequences of partisan satire (based on the excellent WaPo story from yesterday) - and upset the partisan satirist. Surprise!

MediaGazer is really good at inflating my ego in a really unearned way, by putting me in some amazing company:

Here’s a horrible insight into how digital tools and age-old psychology can turn satire into conspiracy theories. This is why the “fake news” of misinformation and disinformation is going to be so very hard to combat.

Touching. I feel very special…

Coffee date.

Stunning autumn morning in #shorehambysea

I need to have words with my teenage self about keeping negatives clean.

Only seven months between episodes…

Here’s my incredibly sophisticated micro casting set-up, using Wavelength on my phone…

There’s some new research out on smart speakers and news - and it’s a mixed bag. Use is growing fast, but people are unenthused by the current news offerings. Is there an opportunity here?

Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting typos…

Really nice, measured take on the state of the iPad Pro from Charles Arthur.

Despite my previous post, I do enjoy binging on @Monday I find immersing myself in the community for a hour to be fun.

Over a decade since my first download from the App Store. Not much use now.

A caravan of bots and other updates from the misinformation wars.

Y’know. I just realised - reading blogs used to - and often still does - make me happy, curious and energised. Reading social media rarely does any of those three. You lose something when you erode complexity and replace it with low impact interaction.

11/11/18 - we shall remember them

Thou shalt not pass

Aberdeen, I am in you. #odcamp

Turns out friction might be good in social sharing.

Wikipedia has a paid editing problem — and it might be getting worse. I was approached by a paid editor a few weeks ago, offering to get me in…

Flickr makes some smart changes to its account structure while throwing some serious shade on Yahoo’s stewardship of the site.

Some good updates to Flickr.

Now there’s a phrase I didn’t expect to be writing.

Noting in recent times has made me as old as realising that The Guardian pioneered live-blogging 19 years ago.

Getting spooky around here.

Vogue says “bonjour” to Hong Kong and “au revoir” to Snapchat.

Y’know, if Twitter really does pull Likes from its platform, it really validates one of the design decisions @manton made for micro.blog.

Twitter to UnLike Likes?

It seems clear that Zuckerberg has a more total control over Facebook than, say, Jobs ever did over Apple: Facebook’s Flawed DNA Makes It Unable to Fight Misinformation

Now, this is an old pen. #sixapart #movabletype

Our back garden tree is handling the daily countdown to winter admirably.

Case in point: my two most used blog platforms - ghost and micro.blog - are both new(ish) and have very different ideas of what publishing could look like. Innovation in publishing tech should be interesting to those interested in publishing.

Hey, you, the library crew.

Epic skies!

My contribution to the digital fix debate is out in print… …in German.

Revisiting Next Conference, aurally. 🎧 Oh, to be in a Hamburg coffee shop now!

Many #interhacktives hands make…

It’s that time of the #interhacktives year…

The Final Days of Johnston Press - and the parlous state of local journalism in the UK.

Blogging is dead…

…unless you’re in fashion, where you’re influential enough to appear in marketing emails.

How people silence each other on social networks - some useful research.

Government needs to break the tech roach motels.

Data portability FTW.

Firing up Final Cut Pro, and seeing if my aging Mac can actually handle some 4k with decent proxy media settings.

Queen of the whole damn forest

Dusk feeders

Just a fungi to be with.

This is interesting - despite some of the recent backlash, podcasts are still big enough business that the iTunes rankings are worth manipulating: Chartbreakers: How spammers are gaming the podcast

Having a very Brighton morning.

Brighton, I am in you.

Autumn is well and truly here.

Now, that’s what I call release notes. 💯 👌🏻

Feeling guilty about accidentally leaving my reusable coffee cup behind.

The weekend finishing on a high note.

The new raincoat passes muster.

Friday’s End

Stunning weather up on the South Downs today.

What a stunning morning,

Hello, micro.blog. Show me nice things to remind me why I like social media…

The two basics of digital #journalism that too many people forget: Attention and Atomisation

Oh, hello.

My family is actively trying to reduce our use of Amazon. This talk from @t3killer at #NEXT18 was an inspiring look at a possible future for local digitally-driven retailing.

Andrew Keen’s five point plan for fixing digital, from #next18.

September in one second every day. #1seme

Current status:

Stunning day.

Why do I aim to be at the station soon after 7am, when I don’t start lecturing until 11am? This is why:

Interesting interview with Instagram co-founder Systrom in 2012:

Can Instagram live on if its founders leave? The best advice Systrom read was that you should build an organisation that can outlive its founders, as Steve Jobs tried to do with Apple.

Instagram’s founders are leaving, possibly because of increasing interference from Zuckerberg. Insta’s semi-autonomy from the rest of the Big Blue Beast was always an anomaly. That’s now being corrected…

Working in MacOS Mohave’s dark mode. Interesting - will take a while to get used to (if I stick with it).

Hamburg, this afternoon:

Current status:

My kind of place.

Rolled up foam for chairs. Interesting. (Haven’t dared try one yet.)

The #next18 live-blogging station set and ready.

Apparently hotel Wi-fi doesn’t always have to suck.

Badged. #next18

All wristbanded up for @nextconf and @reeperbahn_festival #next18

I have a desk mate for the afternoon…

Leaving behind a grey London for Hamburg and @nextconf and #next18

Tonight’s agenda:

Hard to disagree with this: Bring Back the Shadows: The Case Against HDR

Beach picnic

Beach Life, September 16th

The babychino basked in the afternoon sun, blissfully unaware that a predator was about to pounce…

I’m pleased to say that The Guardian are now acknowledging their earlier daily podcasts — but my point about lack of institutional knowledge retention remains.

This makes me sad. The Guardian was once a genuine innovator in the field of podcasts - and it both abandoned that and then forgot it ever happened.

We need to stop making this mistake.

Reading about the floods in Kerala and the clean up afterwards has been sobering. A year ago I visited the region to work with Malayala Manorama the leading newspaper in the region.

snigger ‘I Let Everyone Down’: A Blogger Apologizes For Not Posting In A While

“Spray and Pray” is not a viable social media strategy for newsrooms. It’s worrying how often it is the default, though.

Nice to see them cracking on with the flood defence work.

Prepping the latest issue of my sporadic interesting reading newsletter Commonplace Reading. Sign up for linky goodness in your inbox.

The internet is basically a stroppy teenager, getting in trouble with the authorities, and making us all wish it would just hurry up and grow up: Deleting the internet’s innocence

The Imperious Imposters of Journalism Innovation

I love blogging. I really do. But it does feel like getting traffic to OM&HB is harder then ever. I can’t recall a time in past 15 years that attracting readers was so very hard.

Part of that is my own fault - I’ve been very inconsistent as a blogger in recent years. And I’d hate to abandon it after all these years of labour.

But my goodness, does it feel like harder work getting the audience than it is getting the content written. And I’m sure that shouldn’t be the case.

Just for my microblog chums, this is the piece I was referring to: Don’t be an influencer, by a grumpy old blogger.

Just spent a couple of hours writing a blog post, which pretty much guarantees nobody will ever read it.

Why is traffic so often inversely proportional to effort?

A little thinking on the serious violence and murders in India that follow WhatsApp-spread misinformation. Is our knee-jerk reaction of blaming the technology the most useful approach?

Perfect day for a walk on Shoreham Beach

I spent ages earlier looking for my green screen cleaning cloth.

I just found it.

Gone to seed.

Testing a new mobile working set-up, with the iPad Pro 12.9 and the new Mark II Brydge keyboard…

Could the way we read online be contributing to the polarisation of politics? Quite possibly.

My goodness. An update to Flickr!: All new Flickr galleries

Homework time. #backtoschool

Pre-school shoe fitting. Hazel needs new school and casual shoes. 💰🙄 (grumpy Dad mode in full effect.) 😂

Dusk.

Deploying the @fabsilofficial to renovate an old #tent

Testing my original tent from 22 years ago! It’s not been used for 8 years, but is still in good nick. Need a little re-waterproofing of the fly, and then the girls can use it.

Testing the waterproofing on a 22 year old tent.

More of nature’s bounty

Fallen bounty.

Camp life. #camping #newforest #campingintheforest #ashurst #outwell

Apples.

(Doing a first pass on the photos from our camping holiday).

Cycle racks in place. #shorehambeach #shorehambysea

Perfect day for a beach walk!

Watching the babychinos being made in @tomfoolery.coffee

Wands: serious business.

Amazing weather for a day at @springbarnfarm - not too hot, not too cold and some dramatic skies!

One Man & His Blog is now running on Ghost 2.0

I’m cringing now to beat the rush. The BBC is doing a new drama about journalism.

I have earned this today.

I suspect that the context collapse created by retweeting may be the single biggest mistake Twitter has ever made.

Hacking your SIM card to hack your Instagram. There’s Bitcoin in them there account names.

Reasons I’m glad I cleared up my study before starting work: I was able to grab my macro lens for a blog post photo in seconds. This is… rare.

The new Doctor Who writing and directing team. It’s a lot more diverse than in the past.

@adders on Instagram

The web shouldn’t all be about recency - we stand to lose too much valuable information if we think that way.

This talk by @kevinmarks nearly five years ago is still painfully relevant now.

After the rain…

Thanks for that, Netflix.

Heavyweight reading.

Coffee and the latest issue of Standart. Perfect.

Enjoying my copy of @standartmag #nobodybuysbooks and my @aero.press winner collectors card

Exploring the babychino options in town. This one, from Ginger & Dobschütz, got full marks from Hazel.

Um, OK.

Maybe writing about CMSes isn’t a path to viral content success - but it matters to me. 😎 Content Management Systems: could Vox Media make build a software business alongside its content operation?

I love “less is more” journalism models. This one is from India: The Ken raises $1.5M in its Series A Round

Some rather curious - and possibly co-ordinated - Instagram hacking going on. Worth watching.

A basket full of soft toys

The mask slips, just a little: Facebook traffic to publishers is gone - and Campbell Brown just erected its tombstone

How Facebook distorted human interactions on the altar of engagement.

Really enjoyed editing and prepping for publication a guest post for the Next Conference blog. However, it did remind me yet again how often we ignored warnings in the past about the way we implemented digital technology.

Sunday afternoon crafting.

#huji #selfie

Once upon a time, I was generally excellent.

Not getting on the wrong side of Iris if I can help it…

Gotta say - I’m proud of my wee girl.

The time has come…

Bluetooth keyboard for an iPhone? Sure!

Happy post-holiday reading.

Interesting - Slack has shifted their blog off Medium to WordPress. Now at: slackhq.com

You have to wonder if anyone at Facebook has ever heard the phrase “when in a hole, stop digging”.

The worst typo when you meant “general”

I’ve been largely absent from Twitter for months. I’ve been giving a little thought as to why: Twitter’s “them and us” problem

It’s getting to the point when I find a corporate or organisation “blog” that actually has an RSS feed, I’m surprised. We’ve fallen a long way on direct engagement tech.

Sunday morning is coffee time!

Hazel’s getting really good now.

New belt for Iris.

My little ninja’s successful first test. New belt!

Is Apple doing away with its in-built book printing services? Did I miss an announcement?

Tactical approached to combatting misinformation only get us so far - and people are dying now. Time to start thinking about this strategically at a cultural level.

A place in the shade, an espresso, an iPad and my daughter’s Rainbows troop in the distance. Good living. 👌🏻

Busy pulling together my curated reads newsletter for the first time in over three months (!). If you want it hot and fresh in your in-box, you can sign up here.

Result.

That was a long time ago. The book is browning at the edges…

These are my notes from a talk by Sir Tim Berners-Lee at LeWeb back in 2014. He was starting to say things we weren’t ready to hear back then…

The creator of the World Wide Web is fighting to reclaim it from the Duopoly - if you don’t care about re-decentralising the web, you don’t understand how important it is to all of us.

Good morning. Hard at work in my favourite coffee shop.

Beer, beer, beer… what?

Now my account is all fixed, I’m really enjoying micro.blog again. Thanks, @manton.

The sheer hell of living here on a day like today… 😇

These boats need some TLC, though.

Down by the coast is the best place to be in this heat.

This looks like a good hire - hopefully Apple’s streaming video offering won’t be US-centric by a year or two in: Apple hires BBC Films veteran for its international development team

How this for slow blogging? I just published a post I wrote in 2008. Going online: be brave

Facebook to small publishers: no Instant Articles for you.

That felt good. I did something that I thought other people might find interesting - and blogged about it straight well. As I used to teach: “Connect the ‘that’s interesting’ observation with posting as soon as you can”. I should listen to myself more.

A reminder that Amazon often isn’t nearly as cheap as other options. (And a gentle plug for what looks like a great book.)

A long and unusually personal blogpost, which explains why I’ve been absent here, amongst other things.

Astonishing to think this space tech is 19 years old now…

Not sure this is a great message for the future of the journalism business…

Happy GDPR day!

Alas, Livejournal. Even George RR Martin has quit you now.

Reading this post by a former colleague makes me realise that I’ve really lost the skill of personal blogging over the last decade.

I have to confess, I paid basically zero attention to the royal wedding in the build up to it. But seeing the royals give a hearty two fingers to the racists we’ve seen rise post-Brexit?

Pitch of the day:

I am writing because I would like to write an article reviewing the best fleshlights on the market and then discuss whether they are worth it. I feel the readers of onemanandhisblog.com may find this of interest.

🤔👌🏻

So, it turns out that Storyful journalists could see which videos their newsroom clients were watching… Not the social media verification company’s smartest move.

I’m ready for the flood defence works to be finished now. (I’m grateful and all, but…)

New reading matter.

One of those days when I thought I’d knocked it out of the park with a post — and everyone goes “meh”. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Facebook’s approach to news is getting ever more elitist - and controlling.

I should have a blogroll again.

The man who coined the term blog has been blogging for 20 years.

Five years of blog platform Ghost - a podcast

The Stories format matters - because it tells us something about what the smartphone is doing to media.

Got a new look for those people who subscribe to my blog by e-mail.

And on the way home…

And on the way home…

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/e3c094fd91.jpg" width=“600” height=“599” />

That was worth the walk.

That was worth the walk.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/f209b428f4.jpg" width=“600” height=“599” />

Medium: destroyer of journalism

Medium: destroyer of journalism

Medium drives a final nail in the coffin of its publishing partners. Way to build trust there.

Medium drives a final nail in the coffin of its publishing partners. Way to build trust there.

In memory of the late, unlamented Klout, let’s remember the time its founder failed to defend it on stage at LeWeb.

In memory of the late, unlamented Klout, let’s remember the time its founder failed to defend it on stage at LeWeb.

We need to talk about hyperactivity in media - and why it’s a problem.

We need to talk about hyperactivity in media - and why it’s a problem.

Pop goes the influencer.

Pop goes the influencer.

The dangerous ignorance at the heart of Facebook.

The dangerous ignorance at the heart of Facebook.

Interesting Kickstarter for a book about the original emoji and their designer.

Interesting Kickstarter for a book about the original emoji and their designer.

Gosh, look at all the women in Facebook’s reorg…that aren’t there.

Gosh, look at all the women in Facebook’s reorg…that aren’t there.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/93fca046c0.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

What’s next for Facebook’s newsfeed… (satire)

What’s next for Facebook’s newsfeed… (satire)

Medium goes all in on being a social network for content

Medium goes all in on being a social network for content

First water shoes day of the year.

First water shoes day of the year.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/11ec96082d.jpg" width=“600” height=“450” />

A shellfull on the beach today. 🐚 🐚 🐚

And exactly how am I meant to do that on a plane?

And exactly how am I meant to do that on a plane?

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/ae6fe35bd3.jpg" width=“600” height=“450” />

Still struggling with two micro.blog accounts with identical names - and no idea which one each post it going to. I wonder if anyone’s even seeing this…?

howls into the void

Still struggling with two micro.blog accounts with identical names - and no idea which one each post it going to. I wonder if anyone’s even seeing this…?

howls into the void

Olympic dreams.

Possible epic RickRoll in my near future. #ifswoco18

Possible epic RickRoll in my near future. #ifswoco18

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/631e2e80b3.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Hello, Belinda Carlisle #ifswoco18

Hello, Belinda Carlisle #ifswoco18

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/fa668ddeba.jpg" width=“600” height=“599” />

Mr Rick Astley working it tonight.

Room not found.

Room not found.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/e748e4d64f.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Turns out, Twitter is a video company now.

Turns out, Twitter is a video company now.

A new language for work, hobbies and meaning?

A new language for work, hobbies and meaning?

Probably not worth worrying about on the last day of the month.

Probably not worth worrying about on the last day of the month.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/bedcc68e31.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Here we go again.

Here we go again.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/4dc56245c3.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Sunday morning beach walk.

Sunday morning beach walk.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/39bd6d1143.jpg" width=“600” height=“450” />

Sailing under stormy skies on #shorehambeach

Calm out today. #shorehambysea

A little help folks? Can you suggest some other people fighting for a better digital world, like @manton with this service, and the indie web movement?

A little help folks? Can you suggest some other people fighting for a better digital world, like @manton with this service, and the indie web movement?

Not hard to guess where I am today…

I really love portrait mode on the iPhone X. It lifts ordinary snapshots into something quite special.

I really love portrait mode on the iPhone X. It lifts ordinary snapshots into something quite special.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/a5a128a68f.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” /><img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/28e954a389.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Worthing #worthless campaign.

The thing I loved about Saturday’s education protest is that it wasn’t the normal suspects, but angry parents and children exercising their rights to protest.

Home made protest signs are the best protest signs.

Get in.

Get in.

&lt;img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/7d96a7bd43.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” /&gt;

Get in.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/7d96a7bd43.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Beach life.

Beach life.

&lt;img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/58d017d7d5.jpg" width=“600” height=“450” /&gt;

Beach life.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/58d017d7d5.jpg" width=“600” height=“450” />

Just another Saturday afternoon protesting school funding cuts.

Just another Saturday afternoon protesting school funding cuts.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/9936404bac.jpg" width=“600” height=“450” />

Heatwave evidence discovered on Instagram:

Heatwave evidence discovered on Instagram:

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/5c1d4012f7.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Well, that does look like we’re having a heatwave, doesn’t it?

This one’s growing up terrifyingly fast.

Such a shy, retiring girl.

Everywhere you go, everything you do, Zuckerberg’s tracking you…

Everywhere you go, everything you do, Zuckerberg’s tracking you…

First pub garden opportunity of the year. ☀️ 🍺

British Airways Boeing 787 for the night flight home.

British Airways Boeing 787 for the night flight home.

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/b5d75d466f.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Sometimes hotel corridors look marvellously sinister:

Sometimes hotel corridors look marvellously sinister:

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/092e9772b1.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Today&#x2019;s office view:

&lt;img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/06a4232187.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” /&gt;

Today’s office view:

Today’s office view:

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/06a4232187.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

On a @british_airways @boeing 787 from Abu Dhabi. Premium economy for the night flight.

Walking the #hotelcorridors

Today’s office view.

You can’t beat moody lighting and flowers in a hotel reception, can you?

Nice to have a hotel right next door to the client.

Happy with my room. Now to get some 💤

Happy with my room. Now to get some 💤

<img src=“http://adders.micro.blog/uploads/2018/b6fcef8449.jpg" width=“600” height=“450” />

Well, blast. I just tried to add podcasting to my account, to play with Wavelength. I now I appear to have two micro.blogs with the same name. And this account still doesn’t seem to support microcasting. WTF?

Well, blast. I just tried to add podcasting to my account, to play with Wavelength. I now I appear to have two micro.blogs with the same name. And this account still doesn’t seem to support microcasting. WTF?

Oh, cool. iMovie for iOS updated for iPhone X - and now uses Metal for video processing. I can’t wait to try it.

<img src=“http://microblog.onemanandhisblog.com/uploads/2018/16147de536.jpg" width=“200” height=“200” />

Oh, cool. iMovie for iOS updated for iPhone X - and now uses Metal for video processing. I can’t wait to try it.

Farewell, Maastricht.

Farewell, Maastricht.

<img src=“http://microblog.onemanandhisblog.com/uploads/2018/af5e282ef7.jpg" width=“600” height=“599” />

Rule for life.

I love this piece of art in the courtyard at the University of Maastricht.

Seat of learning.

Not a happy chappie.

Maastricht station is quite impressive.

This chap does not look happy.

Maastricht station is quite something.

Heading for the continent on the Eurostar.

Quick change…

Flood defences going in behind Riverside Road. #shorehambeach #shorehambysea

Easter holiday forced route march with Daddy.

As long as Twitter rewards hoaxing with attention, it’s going to get ever less useful for breaking news.

With a bit of luck, my Disqus comments should have been moved across to the new URLs on One Man & His Blog.

I’m still really excited by the move to @tryghost.

I ain’t afraid of no dentist…

Change is upon us. One Man & His Blog is now running on Ghost - and I couldn’t be happier.

Finally. #spring

Finally. #spring

<img src=“http://microblog.onemanandhisblog.com/uploads/2018/8e2ee981bd.jpg" width=“600” height=“600” />

Spring has sprung.

I’ve found my band name.

Got the wok out and did a stir fry for the first time in an age. Thankfully, the girls ate it…

Open RSS reader. First screen is mainly obvious April Fools. Close RSS reader.

Flood defences looking good.

Editing photos from last summer is making me excited for this summer’s return to France.

The first one is the spookiest: iPhone in a 1937 painting - and in an 1860 painting. And 1918.

Blog post of the Beast. 😈

Reading stage 8 celebration cake 👏🏻

End of a long day. Tom Foolery pit stop on the way home. ☕️

The App Store appears to be quite unwell this evening.

Interesting post from @Stephtara about how Facebook seduced her away from blogging - but the “heaviness” and pressure of some approaches to blogging helped:

Blogging and Facebook

I find cooking the traditional Sunday roast a meditative experience. It really helps me unwind.

Upping our feeding game here in team 10, @zgarbz 😛

Haze bounced back enough to go to her class - and the first step towards her green belt:

First step towards her green belt.

Talking of change l finally found the time for a much-needed haircut this morning…

Change is coming…

The tracks that will make life hard for Southern commuters tomorrow.

Very festive. Just a bit late.

This is why I’m in London on a Sunday Evening. Running a course tomorrow, and that looks like enough for Southern to start getting twitchy about running trains…

Sometimes, I forget how lucky I am to live somewhere where I can take photos like this from my home office window.

It’s technically spring here. ❄️ 🙄

Ah, the joys of spring.

The @TryGhost team are looking for a Senior Infrastructure Engineer: blog.ghost.org

Apple’s acquisition of Texture (a digital magazine subscription app) means we should probably be paying Apple News more attention than we are. But we should go in with our eyes open as to the downsides.

My irregular interesting reading newsletter is going out in an hour’s time.

Sign up, if you want an inbox full of interesting links, untouched by algorithms…

Oh, a lovely, tiny kickstarted type nerd joy has arrived:

Nice sight waiting for me in my local coffee shop.

Daff-a-down Dillies

Bad instagrammer leaves it a bit late to photograph his coffee.

Rain does not interrupt play.

Still missing you Mum, even after all these years.

Rain interrupts play.

Oh, my.

Oh, my.

<img src=“http://microblog.onemanandhisblog.com/uploads/2018/c364967954.jpg" width=“600” height=“599” />

Serious signs of #spring in #shorehambysea

Uninstalling all social media from my 12 inch iPad Pro - I want to make this my productivity and focus device. Only micro-blog survives - for now.