This BBC News article about weak passwords killing a business popped up on my phone this morning:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2gx28815wo
So it's a good time to re-promote my internet security post that's aimed at regular people, helping you take the next step with security:
https://rosswintle.uk/2020/01/stepping-up-the-security-ladder/
This is all going to go to my head, I tell you. I'm going to be unbearable until about the end of October.
Please tell me if I am!! š³
I donāt do public speaking often. I donāt take my talks on tour. I donāt really like traveling very much, and family commitments prevent me getting out much.
But when I doā¦ oh boy, itās a BIG deal.
https://rosswintle.uk/2025/07/public-speaking/
(This post includes links to the very few bits of public speaking I've done that have been recorded.
Including, if you missed it, my @wordsesh talk from this year, which can now be watched for free! Thanks @rzen !!)
The only reason I donāt use Koko is that most of my online sites right now are static pages.
https://toot.re/@dvk/114891430661244368
So one of the supermarkets I use does discounts if I have a loyalty card. But now I have to open the app and activate the discounts?
Either:
– You have some ridiculous internal target for app usage
– You want to add friction so people donāt get the discounts.
So user hostile in both cases.
Iāll keep going to Aldi where stuff is just cheap!
I'm sorry, who now???
š
(This is the most amazing thing to be invited to be part of. Truly an honour.)
https://indieweb.social/@loopconf/114863510080684202
I have made a terrible parenting error.
Son and I were having a conversation about D&D.
After which he asked "Can I put some music on?"
To which I replied: "You'll need to roll for persuasion."
And now I fear every parental request will get some kind of skill check.
What HAVE I done??? š
Tell me I'm not going crazy.
Am I right that you used to be able to search in Google for āwhat's my IP address", and it would just show you your external IP address?
Right?
And now it's all smart-assā¦
"Your IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to your device when connected to a networkā
So weird when your own testimonial pops upā¦
I've discovered some great little indie iOS (and sometimes Android!) apps recently. I wanted to quickly jot down some links to some of them, and links to the places that I found them – usually interesting newsletters.
https://rosswintle.uk/2025/07/newsletters-and-indie-ios-apps/
Features @hiro, @quicheindustries and others that I don't think are here.
This week my phone has occasionally said.
āCharging On Hold. Charging will resume when [device] returns to normal temperature.ā
This is what my brain has been like all day.
It just got down to 20Ā°C and itās nearly midnight. Brain just started working again!
Letās go people!!!
š
The internet is so weird.
Years ago, I made a simple interface to Twitter's advanced search.
I stopped using Twitter a long time ago. But this little thing is BY FAR my most visited side project – it gets 4k views a month! (I know that's tiny, but it's all I got. Lol!)
It's the THIRD organic result on Google for āfind tweetā.
Amazing.
Elsewhere I just described this as:
āThe ancient knowledge, handed down from programmer to programmer over the decades. It is my time to hand it to you.ā
This is a much better tagline!
https://crikey.social/@ross/114842599184885598
How I Code. Part 1. Possibly the most important programming knowledge I have.
These three principles have stuck with me for 30 years.
Start with good decomposition. Then use encapsulation to create good abstractions.
https://rosswintle.uk/2025/07/the-way-i-code/
(Writing this makes me want to overhaul my blog design to make it more readable. It is what it is for now.)
Filling in my WP World profile and remembering all the amazing WordCamps I attended and had the privilege of speaking at in the 2010's. Good times!!
Decided it was time for a new profile pic. New office. New hat. Glasses-on (as I almost-permanently do these days). And my little avocado friend.
(Don't ask!!)
I try NOT to sarcastically rant too much. But, like, seriously. The last place I would think of having āAIā is in my password manager.
Why, why, why???
Static Analysis, I tell youā¦ itās a thing!!
So good to see the benefits of it outlined so clearly here.
My intro to it:
https://deliciousbrains.com/php-static-code-analysis/
And Iām sure I have a meetup/conference talk brewing about it too.
https://mastodon.social/@westonruter/114837363266146094
Iām down to just 1 joker to unlock in Balatro.
ONE!!!
Iām so gonna do this.
And then Iāll be free!!!!!