The last two weeks have been manic, perfectly summed up by this.

Work has been full on and despite my head saying keep posting weekly, the heart wasn’t in it last weekend. I have kept the walking up thought – January saw the biggest month yet with over 310km banked. Great way to catch up on podcasts and actually think rather than veg out in front of a screen.

I’ve also been dabbling more with Claude Code and also Codex with mixed results. I gave Codex a task to summarise my pay for the year via 12 PDF’s, total pay, total tax, total paid to pension etc. After a few minutes it grabbed the data, checked it was accurate and graphed it as asked. Brilliant. Passed it another few years worth and all was good. Passed it another 10 years worth and it claimed 5 minutes later, all done. Asked it to pull into a total over 20 years and despite it saying done when I looked at the end results it was clearly wrong. I looked at 2025 and it had changed the sums drastically. I told Codex it was wrong compared to the first run…and it agreed. So off it went redoing it all, compared it to its checksums, said all good…and it was wrong again but differently from the last time. I told it again it was wrong – you are right to check and you are correct I got it wrong. Third time lucky? It got more right than wrong but still inaccurate. The scripts it was writing were impressive and seeing it install what it needed via brew was a bit mind-blowing. Still, like anyone’s code in real life, you need to check the results.

For what it’s worth, Claude Code got it right first time but I put much more effort into the prompt. Agentic coding is going to be very disruptive…not in the future but now. It will breed a whole new category of coding managers. I’m not quite sure what the future holds for apprentices and graduates. Interesting times.

It’s also interesting times thanks to Epstein, Mandelson and the stench that surrounds modern day politics. Keir Starmer swept to power promising change. In reality much to my dismay, Labour have been more of the same. Today’s resignation of Morgan McSweeney won’t save Starmer. He’s toast and it’s really a matter of when not if he goes – upcoming by-election or Scottish and Welsh elections will probably see to that. I do wish he or whoever’s next uses the opportunity Labour have to clean up politics in both Houses. That was one of their early commitments but repeated failings and infighting look to have put paid to any hope of the right kind of reform that this country needs. I dread to think what would happen if the Farage version of Reform actually won power.

🔗 Links

• Openclaw – I’ve stayed away from installing on my Mac given the various security holes found, but there’s no doubt this or something like it will form part of the future of computing.
• Moltbook – a social network for your AI bots. Amazing to watch this grow so quickly.
• The tipping point – as I dabble with Claude Code and OpenAI Codex it’s clear not from my hacking and thrashing but the general view of many experienced developers that agentic coding is here now, is useful, it’s impact needs to be understood and if you aren’t using these tools you are behind. They are evolving and improving so quickly.
• Six Lords a-speaking – I hope the deliberate stalling of bills by the Lords leads to a fundamental gutting of it. Come on Labour – stop infighting, start cleaning it up while you’ve got the opportunity.
• The Fallen Apple – Another great piece on the failings we all see day to day with Apple. The real challenge is where else to go. Windows is worse than ever, it’s been the year of Linux for about 15 years now and it’s still not there.
• I Now Assume that All Ads on Apple News Are Scams – I’m probably one of the few that likes Apple News and News+ but the adverts which started off bad are now awful…and look likely to be scam’s. Clearly over $140 billion in revenue in just the last three months isn’t enough. I’d love to say do the right thing and get rid of the ad’s, but the new Keynote, Pages and Numbers now have permanent adverts to upgrade to the new Creator Studio. And Apple supporters used to laugh at Windows running ad’s in the O/S. How the mighty really have fallen.
• Phantom Obligation – Nice article on the stagnating design of feed readers…and also an opportunity to sign up for the authors new feed reader app Current.
• A Year in The Life at MKBHD – 90 minutes but I loved seeing what goes into the company, the videos and the team that make up MKBHD.
• Opalite – Taylor Swift – a great video born on the Graham Norton show featuring the guests who appeared on the same night as Taylor. Amazing.

📺 Media

Hamnet – well made, great acting, bit too much misery porn.

Bugonia – nice switch of movie style at the end. Enjoyed it.

One that is a surprise is A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Funny and so much better without the serious world at stake tones from the other Game of Throne series. This is how you do accompanying drama’s in the same universe – you watching Disney as you’ve wasted the Star Wars licence.

Also finished series 2 of The Night Manager and (spoilers ahead) I’m not sure I’ll bother with the third. Found the story predictable and full of cliches, almost AI generated. In fact, I asked ChatGPT the following “I want a new script for a season 2 run of The Night Manager, a 10 year old hit on the BBC from 2016. Use themes from the latest Bond films as references through season 2. Ensure all the main characters that survived season 1 return. Add in a twist mid series even though the twist involves a character played by one of the exec producers. Base the series in south america. In the last episode spin out the jeopardy as you want a series 3 – think Empire Strikes Back when it comes to endings and who wins. Remember it’s the BBC so budgets are tight. Before generating the full script, list out each episode and give each episode a 5 line summary of the main plot points.” It churned out and 8 part season that would pass for what I’ve just watched.

Season 2 – Episode Guide (8 episodes)

Episode 1 – “Ghost Assets”

• Jonathan Pine resurfaces in Uruguay, working logistics security at a port quietly moving “agricultural equipment.”
• Angela Burr pulls him back in: British intelligence has lost visibility on a private arms network operating across the Southern Cone.
• Intelligence suggests the network isn’t new — it’s a reconstitution of Roper’s old supply chains.
• Pine discovers the operation uses shell NGOs and climate-aid projects as cover.
• Bond echo: post-Cold War villains hiding inside respectable global systems (think Skyfall themes of rot within institutions).

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Episode 2 – “The Long Way Round”

• Pine embeds with a Chilean shipping consortium tied to illegal drone and cyber-weapons exports.
• Burr faces political pressure: Whitehall wants plausible deniability, not arrests.
• We learn the weapons are destabilising regional elections, not wars — quieter, harder to prove.
• Pine crosses paths with a ruthless private-sector fixer who knows him from Cairo.
• Bond echo: corporate power as the real villain (Spectre).

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Episode 3 – “Green Zone”

• The operation expands into the Amazon basin, disguised as carbon-offset security infrastructure.
• Pine uncovers a plan to sell AI-driven surveillance tools to multiple governments — including allies.
• Burr realises this is bigger than Roper ever was: arms as data, not hardware.
• A familiar name appears in offshore records… but is officially “inactive.”
• Budget-smart episode: jungle, boats, radios, tension — minimal spectacle, maximum paranoia.

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Episode 4 – “The Benefactor”

• Richard Roper returns — not as a fugitive, but as a government-sanctioned intermediary.
• He’s been quietly released years earlier in exchange for intelligence cooperation.
• Roper claims he’s “gone legit,” advising on counter-terror financing — and might be telling the truth.
• Pine is forced into direct contact again, their dynamic colder, subtler, more dangerous.
• Twist sting: Roper may now be on the right side — or simply better protected.
• Bond echo: former villains repurposed by the state (No Time to Die).

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Episode 5 – “Terms of Engagement”

• Pine works alongside Roper under Burr’s reluctant authorisation.
• Evidence suggests a third actor is manipulating both sides — using Roper’s reputation as camouflage.
• Roper saves Pine’s life, muddying loyalties.
• Burr discovers her own operation has been partially funded by the same offshore structures.
• Moral theme: the system eats everyone eventually.

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Episode 6 – “Soft Power”

• A Latin American election is quietly tipped using surveillance tech Pine helped track.
• Pine tries to expose it — only to be blocked by allied intelligence agencies.
• Roper admits he warned them; destabilisation was “priced in.”
• Burr is forced to choose between exposure and collapse of diplomatic relations.
• Pine realises this war cannot be won cleanly.

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Episode 7 – “Extraction”

• Pine plans an unsanctioned extraction of evidence tying British interests to the operation.
• Roper helps — but only enough to protect himself.
• Burr burns sources to keep Pine alive, effectively ending her own career.
• The true architect remains unnamed, unseen, untouched.
• Episode ends with Pine fleeing across the border — hunted by allies, not enemies.

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Episode 8 – “Ashes in the Ledger”

• Partial truths leak publicly — no one goes to prison.
• Roper emerges wealthier, cleaner, more embedded than ever.
• Burr is sidelined, discredited, but alive.
• Pine disappears into South America under a new identity — mission unresolved.
• Final note: the system survives, worse than before.
• Victory belongs to power, not justice.

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It’s getting to that time of year already when there’s a hint of light in the sky when leaving work, still a while to go yet before I see anything light in the mornings. It makes the walking at the weekends all the more precious although the weather being cold, damp and breezy hasn’t helped over the last few days.

The Govan-Partick bridge really opens up bits of the city that previously would have been a car or underground journey. Yesterday’s walk finished with a snap of the new (last May!) Mary Barbour mural at Govan. Still enjoying Project Indigo.

Work has been focussed on three main topics – budgets, goals and recruitment – AKA fun, fun, fun. Joking. There’s also been some news that puts everything into perspective. Enjoy life, work to live not live to work. Something I still struggle with myself but hit home hard in the last two weeks. I’ve managed to survive January with no weekend work. Small steps.

📺 Media

Let’s start with Traitors and if you aren’t up to date then move on as there’s some spoilers coming. The latest series has just finished in the UK and the first two weeks were fire, there was a slight dip and then it finished strong with a cracking final. Couple of thoughts on the format and the players:

• Rachael dominated the show – such a great traitor and was pleased she won even with some luck along the way. Her and Stephen made a formidable pairing.
• Harriet – played a great game until she blew it at breakfast. Will never know if the desire to sell more books or just the pressure of the game got to her. The takedown of Hugo though was chefs kiss.
• Format means strong players do drop out quickly and the final is always weakest + traitors. However some of the players in this season were pretty poor at spotting what seemed to be right in front of them. Easy to say as a viewer I guess.
• Secret Traitor and the Dagger worked well – kept it interesting especially at the start when with so many players you are unlikely to catch a traitor.
• Claudia is THE perfect host for this show. Ed Gamble also great on Uncloaked.
• Clearly jumpers and cardigans are necessary to be on the show.
• Still love the format and if they can keep the current production team there’s plenty life in the format still.

The Pitt is back and picked up nicely from season 1. Industry season 4 is also back with a bang – really hitting their stride. Watched Tron:Areas – terrible film. The Ballad of Wallis Island is well worth catching though as is The Rip.

🔗 Links

• Health board admits fatal infections probably caused by water system – The lies told by NHS Glasgow and likely supported by the Scottish Government in some shape or form is disgusting. For the board to fight for years, pay for investigators to look into complainants and then a few days before the inquiry publishes do a 180 on their position is a disgrace. People should be forced out for this.
• There’s a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape – disgusting devices but fascinating to understand how they work and what kind of tech they pack…thats then thrown away!
• 25 years of Wikipedia – nice way to celebrate a huge milestone. One of the better corners of the web.
• Getting off US tech: a guide – given the politics of the USA right now this is a great resource to help find safer/better options.
• 10 things I learned from burning myself out with AI coding agents – great insight into the appeal and danger of vibe coding. Claude is such a great helper – I’m a couple of days into playing with Claude Code – just couldn’t resist.
• Your App Subscription Is Now My Weekend Project – this shows the danger that SAAS and App developers could face. See also Matt Birchler’s Quick Stuff.
• A Lament For Aperture, The App We’ll Never Get Over Losing – Given Apple just launched Creator Studio this post looking back at Aperture is timely. I’m still on Lightroom and paying Adobe some £££ each year that I really should drop.
• Rockstar Games Gives GTA 6 Early Access to Terminally ill Fan With 6–12 Months to Live – GTA VI should drop this year and Rockstar does (deservedly) get quite the bad press but fair play for doing this.

Into the new year with a bang – full work week and it was packed. Good to catch up with the team and colleagues alongside looking back at 2025 and what we delivered while looking to this year and where we can improve. Lots to do.

As tradition there’s no resolutions as they’d be broken within a couple of weeks but there is a theme and a few areas to focus on.

Really enjoyed Predator: Badlands – some bonkers sci-fi and hopefully there will be more of the same in a follow up. Night Manager is ok but feels just another spy thriller in amongst healthy competition from a number of streamers whereas 10 years ago it really stood out. What is pretty special is The Traitors. I wondered if the changes this season would be a tweak too far but it’s been glorious – a programme at the top of its game. To round off this first post, a few links:

• Kent Hendricks things I learned posts are also a great read and 2025’s is no exception. I’d missed the Louvre password 🤦🏻‍♂️
• Interesting read around 21 lessons from working at Google.
• Nikita Prokopov’s post on Tahoe, It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons, is a terrific takedown on what’s going wrong on the Mac. Liquid Glass is such a step back and the OS is so buggy but it’s the attention to detail on interface design that’s highlighted by Prokopov that used to be prided upon and now seems abandoned. Shame.
• Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards – this post is stinging and can’t disagree with a word of it. If you are still using X its time to leave.
• 2025: The year in LLMs – Simon Willison covers in great detail just how much has changed in 2025.
• Claude Code and What Comes Next – I could have posted four or five links just this week on what people have been using Claude Code for and it’s damned impressive. I need to start dabbling.

A much needed lazy weekend after a packed week. Clocks have moved back so darkness for the next few months in mornings and late afternoons. Did enjoy a fantastic meal at Ka Pao in Glasgow. Sharing menu is always a favourite…which 3 of us shared instead of 4. Oops.

Apple Upgrades

Upgraded to the iPhone 17 Pro and AirPods Pro 3 in September and that feels enough time to scribble some thoughts down. The iPhone’s move back to aluminium has meant a pop of colour finally in the Pro phones. I love the orange but it will scratch up more…but I always use a case so not a biggie. I don’t mind the camera plateau stretching across the whole phone, but looks more and more like a Pixel. The camera’s upgrades are actually noticeable especially the move from 12 to 48MP for the zoom lens. The x4 instead of x5 delivers a much better photo than the 16 Pro. I’ve compared a few taken from similar spots year and year and it’s a pretty big step. The other noticeable change is the lack of heat – the 16 Pro would feel hot from time to time and I’ve not noticed it once with the 17 Pro. Overall a positive upgrade but lets be honest, its all become pretty incremental.

Not so positive – eSIM’s. The transfer did not go well, ended up with no cellular data/phone/texts for three days as the transfer needed unpicked by EE. Even a visit to the shop didn’t resolve it…but I now have a working old fashioned SIM instead.

The Airpods Pro 3 were an insta purchase when Apple said the noise cancellation was improved. Actual results have been more mixed. The new Pro’s sound better but they fit in the ear differently and I still can’t settle on a proper fit. I either get slightly more outside noise or the tighter fit means they click with every step. The case is also slightly lighter, slightly bigger, feels cheaper and as the battery is less needs to be charged more.

Alongside the new hardware Apple launched iOS, macOS, iPadOS 26. For me this has been one of the worst of the yearly upgrades. Liquid Glass feels unfinished. So many readability issues, so many animation bugs and I hope that the .1’s when the come out address a lot of the problems. Worse is macOS. Liquid Glass is pretty ugly in a number of places but I’ve had so many software problems since upgrading. Safari – redraw issues, every page complaining about memory issues, needing frequent restarts. Spotlight – app searching fine, everything else broken. Can’t find a file, no clipboard history and I’ve tried many of the fixes but for whatever reason it’s broke. Finder – craps out from time to time connecting to a network share. Every thirds or fourth wake from sleep there’s no menu bars, no system menu’s. Need to sleep again or reboot. Couple all that with many graphical glitches, two hard crashes and once when the keyboard just wouldn’t work until a reboot…can’t wait for the first proper update to hopefully address these issues.

A positive is iPadOS. Proper windowing and quite a number of improvements finally mean the software is stepping up to the hardware. Swap out Files for Finder and it would be fantastic.

Always look to chuckle at Windows and BSOD’s and the ugly bugs they’d have throughout their operating systems. Not anymore, the quality of Apple software feels at an all time low especially when you throw in Apple Intelligence and Siri. A real shame as the hardware is streets ahead.

What I Read

• UK designates Apple and Google as having ‘strategic market status,’ opening door for more regulation – good. Bring on alternative AppStore’s and side loading.
• OpenAI acquires Software Applications Incorporated, maker of Sky – Amazed Apple never tried (maybe they did?) to acquire this but as OpenAI were already investors maybe it was out of reach.
• Govan is the secret economic engine of Glasgow. Do locals benefit? – great article showcasing investment around Glasgow but when you see some of the poverty in Govan its hard to say that the whole area is benefiting.
• Why the Shutter Button Matters So Much to Photographers – something a phone or software button will never recreate well. Camera control on the iPhone requires too much pressure to work effectively as a shutter so all it does is launch the Camera app.
• Roc Camera – interesting device, stepping away from computational photography and AI
• Xbox fully surrenders the console wars: ‘Halo is on PlayStation going forward,’ a fact that just doesn’t seem real – Microsoft have been bringing their AAA titles like Forza to PlayStation but announcing a remake of Halo for Xbox, Pc and PlayStation feels like the beginning of the end of Xbox as a console brand. Perhaps the next generation of consoles from Microsoft will also be the last.
• Loving Celebrity Traitors and also cracked through Slow Horses which is good as ever if a little safe/samey. Also (finally) got into Battlefield 6. Such a great return to form after 2042 was such a bust at the start of its life.

• Feeling a bit beat up after the last two weeks. Work busy and a little bit of ill health coupled with a lack of sleep has left me feeling bust. Also entering that time of year when I start and finish work in the dark so important to get out for some fresh air when I can. Also getting increasingly frustrated with the bugs on macOS Tahoe. I do hope 26.1 focusses on bugs only as this release feels more like an early beta.
• Indefinite Backpack Travel – I always struggle to travel light so it amazes me how much and yet so little is packed into this one bag.
• A cartoonist’s review of AI art – thought provoking post from cartoonist Matthew Inman on the threat and also disappointment of the growing use of AI for sketches/comics/graphics. Some is great, vast majority is slop.
• Agile is Out, Architecture is Back – AI has a lot to answer for but there is an over reliance on agile.
• The 20 bytes of code that fixed Antennagate – you’re holding it wrong! Love that 15 years on we’re still finding out new things about the iPhone 4.
• Synology Reverses Policy Banning Third-Party HDDs After NAS sales plummet – the right decision but too little too late for me at least. My custom NAS is doing well and I’ve no regrets on ditching Synology.
• How I Reversed Amazon’s Kindle Web Obfuscation Because Their App Sucked – when you buy a book, it’s yours. It will age, get damaged, you can share easily and sell it on again and pass on to charity shops. Why should you buy a book from Amazon that ties you to them forever. Ugly.
• A deep dive into the rss feed reader landscape – comes from Lighthouse which is a paid for cloud hosted feed reader but it’s an accurate summation of where the market is right now. Still view RSS as better way of keeping on top of things vs social media.
• Album Cards: Rebuilding the Joy of Music Discovery for My 10-Year-Old – ❤️ – this is so good. Want to do something similar over the winter months as a small project.
• The World Trade Center Under Construction Through Fascinating Photos, 1966-1979 – remarkable images of an iconic structure
• Space Harrier at 40 – scary that games I loved are now this old. I’ve played this in a normal static arcade cabinet and also a couple of times in a motion one – it felt like the future. So good.
• Blue Lights has been one of the best police dramas in years but episode 1 of season 3 felt a bit flat. How foolish was I – devoured the other 5 over a weekend on iPlayer and it was tremendous. Highly recommended.
• Peacemaker season 2 kept up standard from the first season. Loved it…and it might be the last?
• Celebrity Traitors has been an autumn gift. Only 4 episodes in but probably the best series so far. Alan Carr – who knew!

• A week off work was much needed. Time to recharge although sleep was awful until Friday night – grrrr. Made terrific progress with the custom NAS – now got all the basic docker images installed, Plex humming along nicely and all the data from the Synology is migrated. Thats a blog post I need to write – what hardware, why Unraid, how I’ve found it a few weeks in compared to Synology.
• Storm Amy felt was a rude awakening that we’re well into autumn. Got most of the garden winter ready…fingers crossed that I don’t need to cut the grass again but will really depend on a cooler October.
• Why I gave the world wide web away for free – Tim Berners-Lee is made different to today’s tech leaders.
• Sora 2 is here – some of the videos I’ve seen Sora 2 generate are amazing…but it’s more slop. I’ve not bothered downloading OpenAI’s social media app that’s full of the videos being generated but seeing them seep elsewhere.
• Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish? – Amazon really is stuffed full of shit sellers so you need to be more aware than ever when ordering…but they also have made it really easy to tower and return anything with problems. While not always the cheapest they were for 90% of the components needed for my NAS build.
• DHH Is Way Worse Than I Thought – there’s been many tech leaders who’s actions have been suspicious over the years but have kept their real views hidden…except they aren’t hiding anymore. Grim.
• Complying With ‘Demand’ From Trump Administration, Apple Removes ICEBlock From App Store – compare this to when Apple stood up to the FBI – we’re in a different world now.
• In Praise of RSS and Controlled Feeds of Information – another shout out for RSS from actual blogs rather than sifting through feeds of shit forced on you via X, Bluesky, LinkedIn or one of the Meta platforms. Mastodon while not perfect is so much better than any alternative right now.
• Always invite Anna – this really hit home. I’m not the most sociable but also recognise how it feels not to be invited. Beautiful post.
• Microsoft revamps Xbox Game Pass plans and hikes Ultimate to $29.99 a month – everyone expected price rises were coming but this is excessive. I guess the loss of COD money had to be made up somewhere. I’ve got another 9 months of Ultimate paid for, but will drop down after that and go back to buying the odd AAA game I want to play. Not sure what’s next for gaming at Microsoft – rumours they might not do any more hardware and it feels like they’ve set fire to Game Pass.
• Jumped on to macOS Tahoe this week – should have left it until a .1 comes out. Buggy and crashy.
• And one game I really am looking forward to that comes out this week is Battlefield. Loved the demo and the sneak peaks into what’s coming in multiplayer and some of the single player game looks really good. Are they back?