Ross's Micro Blog

"Jira for kids asking parents things"

Mark Jaquith made this and it's very good.

I love that it needs no login and… is the data in the URL? It doesn't seem to POST any data. Very good if so.

https://parentrequest.com/

As I made a product that depends heavily on the WordPress admin dashboard not becoming a React app, I think a lot about it becoming a React app.

There are so many plugins that hook into the Dashboard in clever ways.

And then I see what WordPress seems to be doing to be SQLite compatible: basically making a whole SQL translation layer! 😵‍💫

And now I wonder if this is what will happen with the dashboard. Will they write some crazy JavaScript/jQuery translator that keeps old stuff working somehow?

I'm partly upset because I volunteered a ton of time to actually make my daughter's school's website good. And then a year later some agency comes along and messes it all up again!

And now they're doing it AGAIN. And that got me looking at the sites of other local schools in the same group/collective, and they are just shocking.

This should be a solved problem in 2025.

Caveats:
1. Schools are awesome and teachers and school staff are brilliant and work so hard
2. Technology is not a core competency for schools

Having said that…

Why are school websites all so very bad? There seems to be no thought of who the site is for, or how to make common tasks easy.

School collectives should have a comms person. They should make a site template that's half good and make all their schools use it.

Instead, one school makes something awful & others copy it!

Maddening! 😠

Weird seeing my thing being promoted this way!

I’m no marketer. Or designer. But when the Bristol WordPress Meetup asked for some sponsorship I decided to give back to a community that has been kind and generous to so many.

To be clear: this is a tiny amount of money. I’m grateful for the chance to put my magic little thing in front of people who wouldn’t normally see it.

It’s fun… and exciting! Huge thanks to Dave, Janice and the meetup team for all their hard work. 👏 https://mastodon.social/@BristolWPMeetup/114743421912167097

🤩 Yaas!! Cassidy Williams has made a cool year-at-glance web app.

And it saves the data in the URL!

Freakin’ magic. I love it.

pocketcal.com

#WordPress developers!

I’m curious. What’s your experience with static analysis tools. State your maximum level of current use:

What’s static analysis?
I know about it but don’t use it at all.
I use it in a small way.
I use it in a big way on at least one project.

This indie app looks like a neat and fun medication tracker for iOS

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pill-buddy-meds-tracker/id6742357512

Hat tip: The Hiro Report newsletter (@hiro)
https://www.hiro.report/22jun2025-a-really-satisfying-twisty-knob/

Politics/war

---

Just. Like. What’s the point? Just stop it. Now. It’s stupid. It makes no sense.

Leadership… wisdom… strength here is stopping this destructive nonsense.

Do that please.

That’s all I got.

Is “nuclear” some special word that some people genuinely have a speech impediment with?

Genuine question because I’ve never had a problem with it and can’t mis-pronounce it the way many people do with “new-cu-lure”.

On my trip to the local arboretum on Friday, I picked up a disposable vape that had been discarded at the foot of an ancient tree.

First of all: OMG WTF???

Second: I’m now trying to recycle it. I am determined. It is ONE VAPE, and, fine, you can vape, I drink coffee, it’s good. But I am a RESPONSIBLE HUMAN BEING.

And so the journey begins. The local corner shop guy looked at me like no one had ever asked if they could recycle a vape before.

So… where now?

This is an interesting request and the replies remind me that MY favourite todo + habits + pomodoro + kanban app is the little-recommended TickTick.

It’s simple, highly customisable, you can use as much or as little of the functionality as you like, and there’s a great web version too.

I’m a very happy paid user and have been for YEARS.

But you rarely hear about it.
https://mastodon.functional.computer/@samir/114721143306699787

What an exciting week!!!

– Last week was the boy's parent's evening and he had amazing reports all round.
– The girl had a Taekwondo grading and is now a green belt
– The girl was also a prizewinner from her school and we got to go to the ceremony
– The girl then got another certificate in assembly on Friday
– Wife and I went to see Warhorse at the theatre yesterday which was AMAZING
– Tomorrow me and the boy are off to a concert recital of the Undertale soundtrack (IYKYK)

Like one epic party!

This Tony’s Chocoloney I got for Father’s Day is going to melt if I don’t eat it real soon, right?

I have an idea. How about an LLM that you can give a set of really precise instructions to that ensure that it always generates the same output for any given input.

Like, some kind of special language for directing its behaviour.

You could make it do all sorts of things.

It could be a web server, generating HTML pages based on user input. Or it could work as a layer in front of a database. It could have agent mode that lets you see what files are on your computer!

Imagine the possibilities!!

So my kid (13) is making a game in Godot. It’s very impressive. He’s done all of the beautiful art and animation himself and has even made a trailer!

I’d love it if you could give it a like and admire his creativity.

https://youtu.be/sFqgG-T_JRg

Fathers Day.

– 3 loads of washing
– Oversaw a handyman doing some work
– Built a pergola for the deck
– Dismantled a desk; moved 2 other desks; assembled a fourth desk

Not bad!! 💪😅

Mathew Baynton’s prize task in this week’s TaskMaster is such a well-executed piece of comedy. 👏 👏 👏

https://youtu.be/nnmKp0HNjZA