As I enjoyed writing up my reflections on 2020 and recently reading back over them, I've decided to do it again this year. A long time ago, I used to do these around my birthday, but the end of the year is as good a time as any to do them. I don't keep a … Continue reading Reflecting on 2021
Year: 2021
Garden Retro 2021
Last year I did some end of year reflection on my attempts to grow vegetables. Despite having done it for quick a few years now, it was a useful exercise that helped me plan for this year. So I'm doing it again. What did I set out to do this year? Looking back at my … Continue reading Garden Retro 2021
How will AR change urban spaces?
I was out walking over the weekend. As usual, when I deliberately put my phone away, I found myself paying attention to the little details around me. The steam coming from a compost pile. The faint mist coming off the lake in the park. Signs and waymarkings. Painted graffiti and stickers slapped onto lampposts and … Continue reading How will AR change urban spaces?
Thinking through decentralisation as a process, not an architecture
I tweeted this the other day: https://twitter.com/ldodds/status/1458562522919936001 I don't claim this is a new or even particularly profound insight. But I do sometimes feel that discussion around the need for more decentralised products and services focuses more the technical design of a system, rather than how it is governed. An expectation that a decentralised protocol … Continue reading Thinking through decentralisation as a process, not an architecture
What is Swash and is it really changing data ownership?
This is another in a very occasional series of blog posts where I look at different data initiatives, institutions or infrastructure in order to understand a bit more about how they work. And then have opinions about them. Previously I wrote about Common Voice. This time I'm looking at Swash which describes itself as "reimagining … Continue reading What is Swash and is it really changing data ownership?
The Doom Pyramid
There's a lot going at the minute. Both in general and personally. I've been trying to think through the way I feel about it all. To reflect on what helps me deal with the anxiety of These Times. As well as what doesn't. Today it clicked and I tweeted it. This is post just expands … Continue reading The Doom Pyramid
Obsessed by bees
I've become a bit obsessed by bees. In a good way. Earlier in the year whilst I was quietly reading a very large, very black bee fell out of chimney. We were both stunned. After a moment to see if I was about to be engulfed in a swarm of bees (BEES!!!) I escorted the … Continue reading Obsessed by bees
Why are we still building portals?
The Geospatial Commission have recently published some guidance on Designing Geospatial Data Portals. There's a useful overview in the accompanying blog post. It's good clear guidance that should help anyone building a data portal. It has tips for designing search interfaces, presenting results and dataset metadata. There's very little advice that is specifically relevant to … Continue reading Why are we still building portals?
TTRPGs and Me
In January I tweeted this: https://twitter.com/ldodds/status/1351293034093285382 Six months later and I'm now in two weekly TTRPG sessions. And I'm thoroughly enjoying it. For a long period TTRPGs were a big part of my life. Like many people of my age, my introduction to TTRPGs was through the D&D "red box" set. When I got my … Continue reading TTRPGs and Me
24 different tabular formats for half-hourly energy data
A couple of months ago I wrote a post that provided some background on the data we use in Energy Sparks. The largest data source comes from gas and electricity meters (consumption) and solar panels (generation). While we're integrating with APIs that allow us to access data from smart meters, for the foreseeable future most … Continue reading 24 different tabular formats for half-hourly energy data
Lost Boy 