To combine archives safely, I had to start by understanding the `tar` and `gzip` file formats. I learnt about tape drives, patent laws, and end-of-file markers.

When I save a photo, I write a sentence or two of descriptive context. It helps me remember what's in a photo, why I took it, and how I felt when I did.

When I save a photo, I write a sentence or two of descriptive context. It helps me remember what's in a photo, why I took it, and how I felt when I did.

I wrote a pair of regular expressions to find repeated words and phrases in my source code.

I wrote a pair of regular expressions to find repeated words and phrases in my source code.

We traded the physical boundaries of dedicated rooms for the convenience of our always-on digital lives -- but recently I've been building those walls back up.

We traded the physical boundaries of dedicated rooms for the convenience of our always-on digital lives -- but recently I've been building those walls back up.

When I saw a cool animation, I used the browser's native screen capture API to get a high-quality screen recording, audio included.

When I saw a cool animation, I used the browser's native screen capture API to get a high-quality screen recording, audio included.

Who tests the tests? Test code isn't immune to bugs, so I'm using pytest's Pytester plugin to ensure my Playwright fixture is behaving correctly.

I thought rendering chat bubbles would be straightforward, but I found it tricky to get the CSS right and make the bubbles "shrink-wrap" to fit the text.

I've written a Swift script that uses the FSEvents API to get notified of file changes, then I'm using stdout as a bridge to forward those notifications to Python.

I've written a Swift script that uses the FSEvents API to get notified of file changes, then I'm using stdout as a bridge to forward those notifications to Python.

Playwright is a testing library that lets you control a browser and check how the page is behaving, and it's great for testing and scripting web apps.

An SQLite table that caches expensive operations has dramatically sped up local development of this website.

For my local scripting, a lightweight wrapper around the Python standard library gets me a friendly API without the dependencies.

For my local scripting, a lightweight wrapper around the Python standard library gets me a friendly API without the dependencies.

Python's virtual environments mean I can have many versions of the same package scattered across my machine. I've started keeping a list of my environments so I can see exactly what's installed, and where.

Python's virtual environments mean I can have many versions of the same package scattered across my machine. I've started keeping a list of my environments so I can see exactly what's installed, and where.

Every year I use Python and a bit of CSS to create a fridge calendar that tells me about bin day.

Every year I use Python and a bit of CSS to create a fridge calendar that tells me about bin day.

When safety and normality are slipping away, how do we make our code, our communities, and our lives truly resilient?

When safety and normality are slipping away, how do we make our code, our communities, and our lives truly resilient?

Modern computers are more powerful than I know what to do with, but the norm is still to upgrade every few years. I want my current computer to last a decade, and I don't think that's unreasonable.

A step-by-step guide to a movie poster grid that uses CSS Grid, text-wrap balanced titles, and dynamic hover states.

A step-by-step guide to a movie poster grid that uses CSS Grid, text-wrap balanced titles, and dynamic hover states.

I started picking colours for my site headers with a more perceptually uniform approach, so their colours look more correct to the human eye.

Sapphics and spies, butlers and basketball, prophecy and purpose – what I enjoyed reading this year.

Filter for formats that don't include `-sr` ("super resolution") in their format ID.

Using parametric templates to draw Truchet tiles, then placing them randomly to create generative patterns.

Using parametric templates to draw Truchet tiles, then placing them randomly to create generative patterns.

Palmyrene is an alphabet that was used to write Aramaic in 300–100 BCE, and I learnt about it while looking for a palm tree emoji.

Palmyrene is an alphabet that was used to write Aramaic in 300–100 BCE, and I learnt about it while looking for a palm tree emoji.

I reviewed 150,000 fragments of my online life, and I was reminded of the friends I found, the mistakes I made, and the growth I gained.

Preserving social media is easier said than done. What makes it so difficult for institutions to back up the Internet?

I don't trust platforms to preserve my memories, so I built my own scrapbook of social media.

I don't trust platforms to preserve my memories, so I built my own scrapbook of social media.

When you want to get the dimensions of a video file, you probably want the display aspect ratio. Using the dimensions of a stored frame may result in a stretched or squashed video.

Let's work out exactly when you need to pay Oxford's new congestion charge.