iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 27/09/2026

Trying to work with an intermittent connection to the internet. The fact that Teams messages end up in a ‘failed to send’ or ‘failed to schedule’ state instead of being queued is very frustrating. Is a poor network connection an edge case now?

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 27/09/2026

Finished reading Good Bye: Leading change better by attending to endings by Lizzie Bentley Bowers and Alison Lucas. I completely agree with the authors that paying attention to endings and ensuring that they are well-marked is important. There are som... andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/09/27/14098

001

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 24/09/2026

I’m at Album Club #187. I know Crash from when I was a kid, but have never heard the rest of the album.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 06/09/2026

Finished reading Letter from an Unknown Woman and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig. This was perfect to read just before bed to take my brain off to another time and place; undemanding but poignant. I love his writing.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 20/08/2026

Finished reading Steve Marriott: All Too Beautiful by Paolo Hewitt and John Hellier. I’ve been a big Small Faces fan since I was a teenager in the 1990s. I knew the basic story arc of Steve Marriott’s life, but this filled in lots of the detail. The b... andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/08/20/13990

010

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 11/08/2026

I was about to use the word ‘proscribed‘ in an email. Something made me pause to double check what it means. It turns out that it means literally the complete opposite of what I thought.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 28/07/2026

Weeknotes #387 — Return to the Isle of Wight: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/28/week… We only have another couple of weeks together as a family before our eldest heads back to start his sophomore year at college in Texas. Our youngest finished school las...

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 28/07/2026

Finished reading Having Spent Life Seeking by Kae Tempest. My copy of the book came free with my ticket to see Tempest in conversation at The Roundhouse back in April. During the interview, he spoke movingly about “the incredible technology” of a nove... andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/28/13913

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 28/07/2026

I love it when a high street shop gets renovated, and the ghost of what was there long ago makes a brief reappearance. Jean’s Hair Fashions, which apparently was once a feature of Lower Kings Road in Berkhamsted. It seems that one thing that Berkham... andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/28/13908

Jean’s Hair Fashions, which apparently was once a feature of Lower Kings Road in Berkhamsted. Apparently, one thing that Berkhamsted has been consistent with throughout the ages is that there is no shortage of places to get your hair done.

001

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 22/07/2026

Weeknotes #386 — In the round: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/22/week… A really big week. We spent the first three days on a management team offsite. It was bittersweet, as it was the last one we will have with someone in our team who is retiring later this year. We ha...

Waiting for the start of Glengarry Glen Ross at The Old Vic theatre, 13 July 2026

A man cleaning a fourth-floor office window with an incredibly long brush. I am sure that this takes some significant skill not to lose his balance and clobber a passer-by in the street.

000

Reposted by Andrew Doran

Gabriel Roth @gabrielroth.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

My gastroenterologist's office is admirably accommodating to time travelers from the Middle Ages, many of whom probably do have gastroenterological issues

A dropdown menu from a website allowing visitors to select their preferred language. "ENGL" has been typed in the selection field. Available options include "English," "English, middle (1100-1500)," and "English, old (ca. 450-1100)"

331127201

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 15/07/2026

Weeknotes #385 — Garden karaoke: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/15/week… The latest heatwave has weighed heavily on everyone here. It is just too hot. All of my time seems to be spent working, watching World Cup football, or lying on my bed without any covering, hopi...

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 09/07/2026

Finished reading Tsunami Kids by Paul Forkan and Rob Forkan. An incredible story of their unconventional upbringing, the tragic events of Boxing Day 2004, and their subsequent business success. For me, the book is let down a little by the writing styl... andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/09/13878

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 07/07/2026

Weeknotes #384 — 23-year break: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/07/week… A fully-packed week with plenty going on. Multiple days of back-to-back meetings coupled with things happening in the evenings. And when things weren’t happening, the football was on. The football...

Lining up at the start of the JPMorganChase Corporate Challenge

David Seaman being interviewed at the start line, not long before letting us loose via the sound of his air horn.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 02/07/2026

Weeknotes #383 — I’m hot just like an oven: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/07/02/week… Boiling. In the UK we are not equipped to live through day after day of mid-30s°C heat, with the temperature only dropping into the mid-20s overnight with barely a breeze in...

A swan and their cygnets on the bank of the River Bulbourne by The Old Mill, Berkhamsted.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 14/06/2026

Just randomly recalled that as a kid, we used to say ‘fainites’ when asking for mercy or a time out. I thought it was a weird word made up amongst some friends. It turns out that it was a real word used throughout southern England.

en.wikipedia.org

Truce term - Wikipedia

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 14/06/2026

Weeknotes #381 — Conferences: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/06/14/week… Two days in the office followed by two conferences, one in London and another in Sun City, South Africa. On Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday I attended the Gartner UK & Ireland CIO Community Exec...

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 10/06/2026

📚 Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/06/10/swea… Finished reading Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint by Robert Gaskins. I’m a big fan of dissections of all things pop, and although the ...

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 10/06/2026

Weeknotes #380 — 85%: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/06/10/week… Last weekend’s sore throat and feeling parched after a very warm cycle ride turned into something else on Monday. It started as a head cold and then later in the week worked its way down into my chest. I didn’t have a...

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 04/06/2026

Weeknotes #379 — Parched: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/06/04/week… We’ve properly entered Phil Collins season, with extremely hot temperatures dominating the week. My morning walk from Euston to the City of London is now on hiatus until either (a) it cools down again, or (b)...

This old Metropolitan Line train at Chesham is nearly ready to go, with its cargo of parched weeds.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 27/05/2026

Weeknotes #378 — Dust devil: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/05/27/week… I was out the door early on Tuesday to head to Heathrow to pick up our eldest son, who has come back from university for the summer. It’s great to have him back; the house is a very different place with...

Ollie the cat expressing how we were all feeling this weekend.

Presenters on stage at Interesting 2026.

Steve Watson, founder of Stack Magazines, on stage at this week’s Interesting conference. He is showing us a quote from the first ‘digest’-style magazine ever published. Information overload was as much a thing for some people in the 18th century as it is in the 21st.

Three Dorans go on a gorgeously sunny bike ride.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 21/05/2026

Weeknotes #377 — Accessible: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/05/21/week… This week felt tough. I ended up in the office four days in a row. The end of each day arrived too quickly as I still had plenty of things left to tackle. It was great to get to Friday when I could get ...

Matisse and Lisa on stage at the Accessible Social.

010

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 16/05/2026

Bubbles looks like another useful website for surfacing interesting things to read from personal blogs. Users can log in with a Fediverse account and upvote items. You can subscribe to a thoughtful collection of algorithmic RSS feeds too.

bubbles.town

Bubbles

Independent blog posts, ranked by the community. Good stuff bubbles up. The rest pops.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 13/05/2026

Weeknotes #376 — One Stop: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/05/13/week… A four-day week due to the plainly named Early May bank holiday in the UK. Recovery from the big bike ride felt good; unlike the year before, I had no major after-effects apart from slightly stiff legs and ...

Voting time for the local council elections in Holborn, London. I walk past this lovely London street on my commute to work.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 06/05/2026

🚴‍♂️ London Wales London 2026: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/05/06/lond… All week I watched the weather in anticipation of the London Wales London Audax ride at the weekend. I’m fortunate to have a real-life weatherman living in my street, so on Wednesday I messaged him to...

Me, at 5:48am in Chalfont St Peter Community Centre, having just finished the 2026 London Wales London bike ride.

The Epic Ride Weather app’s emoji view gave a fairly accurate prediction of what was to come.

Berkhamsted Cycling Club take on London Wales London 2026. Of the six of us from the club that started, only two would make it to the finish.

100

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 28/04/2026

Weeknotes #374 — The invisible pivot: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/04/28/week… One of my lifelong school friends recently lost his dad, so on Monday I took the day off to attend the funeral. It was a lovely service, with many heartfelt and moving eulogies from fa...

Looking out from a viewing point near Ivinghoe Beacon. Photos like this never do justice to how breathtaking the landscape is in person.

St John Ambulance training centre in Hemel Hempstead. Tucked away on a residential street, you might never know that it’s there.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 23/04/2026

After listening again to Rufus Wainwright’s cover of the whole album at the weekend, this week, as I left the office, I put on Judy Garland’s concert at Carnegie Hall. By the time I’d made it to the train station I’d been moved to tears twice. It’s th... andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/04/23/13668

000

Reposted by Andrew Doran

Citizen Screen @citizenscreen.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Judy Garland played the legendary, sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961, often cited as "the greatest night in show business history". #OnThisDay

0224

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 23/04/2026

All of these people saying that Formula 1 is now like Mario Kart. I don’t think they played the original on the SNES; that was proper racing. There was none of this ‘blue shell’ malarkey and artificially being faster just because you’re at the back. I... andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/04/23/13664

010

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 22/04/2026

Weeknotes #373 — Kae Tempest: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/04/22/week… A good, solid week at work. It felt like I got lots done. I had a very busy end to the week, including a lot of socialising and an excellent long bike ride in the spring sunshine. This was a week in w...

Happy cyclists at the end of a long day. By the time we got back to our respective houses, Dave ended up completing 200km and I was just shy of it.

Kae Tempest in conversation with Shon Faye on stage at the Roundhouse, London, 16 April 2026

010

Reposted by Andrew Doran

Anil Dash @anildash.com · 21/04/2026

Some of the other stories I gathered here include the time Prince invited me to his house, a glimpse at the Myst-like CD-ROM game he released in the 90s, some digital artifacts that I had the only copy of—including Prince’s own notes on his greatest hits, and the message behind his Super Bowl show.

919261

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 14/04/2026

Weeknotes #372 — Born in the financial crisis: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/04/14/week… Despite last week being filled with illness and unexpected jobs that consumed me for days, it felt great to be back at my desk on Tuesday, so my time off must have be...

Waiting for a train at Chesham tube station. It’s always a bit surreal to jump onto a Metropolitan Line train so far out of the capital.

Waiting to buy another disk didn’t seem like the right option.

There were some wild swings in this number as the speed varied, but 96h turned out to be about right.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 07/04/2026

Weeknotes #371 — Nasty NAS: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/04/07/week… A week off work, dominated by having a streaming cold for a few days and a catastrophic failure of my home network drive, resulting in multiple days of effort to get it up and running again. All last week...

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 03/04/2026

Came across this wonderful video from 1969 with Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. The performances of the songs are superb, and there is such a lovely warmth between the two of them.

youtube.com

Stevie Wonder, March 1969

010

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 01/04/2026

Weeknotes #370 — I Don’t Know Why: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/04/01/week… A really tough week, mentally and physically. I spent the first two days at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum, an event that I really like as it is relatively small, resulting in you bumping i...

Slide from Hannah Fry’s presentation at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum

Heading to the Intercontinental Hotel at the O2 for the conference, facing the skyline of the Docklands.

Hannah Fry giving her keynote on day two of the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 24/03/2026

Weeknotes #369 — The Clapping Song: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/03/24/week… My first five-day work week for a while, and it was a tough one. Despite twenty years of following GTD and working on simplifying my workflow, in busy periods I end up falling back to a si...

This was really useful information to have once I started to see the fraudulent transactions appear on my account.

With my youngest (and tallest) son after Sundayâs ride.

000

Andrew Doran @andrewdoran.uk · 18/03/2026

Weeknotes #368 — What we all want: andrewdoran.uk/blog/2026/03/18/week… The start of the week was spent travelling back from Kingsville, Texas. Saying that it is 5,000 miles away from Berkhamsted isnât doing justice to quite how long it takes to travel between...

001