iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 02/10/2026

When you need to take a break from a busy work/STEM preparation day and realise every surface has STEM Festival boxes on it... Now torn between sorting stuff out or just eating lunch on the floor...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 02/10/2026

It seems every time I make plans to come along, life gets in the way... But things are going fairly well - STEM Festival on October 17th, and some big DPiP news coming shortly after.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 01/10/2026

Hope last night went well by the way - was sad not to make it just to heckle Tim if nothing else, but this month is probably the most ridiculously busy with work and personal life stuff I've ever had, plus Peterborough STEM Festival is on the 17th as well...

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Reposted by Dan Thornton

Lily Ray 😏 @lilyray.nyc · 30/09/2026

The sites getting hit by Google right now for scaling low quality AI content are actually producing many of the exact same page types and templates that companies scaled with freelance writers before 2023 😅 History repeats itself

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

Currently working whilst listening to a Peterborough council meeting to hear whether we might one day have a speedway team in the city again - just a few days after a former Peterborough rider was crowned world champion... www.youtube.com/live/Us-ySFY...

youtube.com

Extraordinary Meeting, Council - Tuesday 29th September, 2026 6.00 pm

YouTube video by Peterborough City Council

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

Maybe they're worried you might be a time traveller?

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

And presumably you've used a debit card or bank account on it, which is generally fine for age authentication... I've had a service recently tell me I needed to make a 1p verification card payment to prove my ID, despite the fact I already pay a monthly subscription to it. Via the same card.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

It's so frustrating to have to verify accounts that are older than the age limits (in my case, Xbox 20 years, Reddit 19 etc)... And then having to faff around to get anything actually accepted...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

As streaming services double dip on subscription fees and advertising, I'm finding myself going back to recording broadcast TV, iPlayer and DVDs...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

8+ hours invested in a TV series. And Amazon stick an ad insert right at the payoff (presumably based on an algorithm choice about engagement). The ads? Pet food (don't have a cat or dog), and ladies clothing (also not really relevant to me). What should have been an emotional moment is ruined...

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Reposted by Dan Thornton

Anton Shulke @antonshulke.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A very long shot! 2027 #seocharity conference @johnmu.com @crestodina.bsky.social @fajela.bsky.social Do you want to speak, sponsor, or attend? Let me know!

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

For context, on iRacing, my iRating is around 2K, which is roughly the top 25% of sports car drivers. Most people in the series are 3K (top 10%), 4K (top 1-2%) or higher...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 29/09/2026

Second week in the M2 Cup, up against drivers who compete in the Porsche Esports Cup (for example). So I'm happy if I'm not last... www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSBY...

youtube.com

TRL M2 CUP - Round 2 Road Atlanta Full

YouTube video by Jack Johns - The Racing Line

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 28/09/2026

Yep - meanwhile if you're judged to be riding in an antisocial manner, your bike can be taken without a warning... Given a lot of the teens with small bikes and loud exhausts near me, I can imagine it'll be easy to get caught up if you're riding along behind them etc...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 28/09/2026

I appealed one successfully many years ago, and I think it was something similar that happened - will try and dig out the email in case it's helpful...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 28/09/2026

Plus it was great to see someone my height succeeding at such a high level - there are some great performers who you forget aren't 6'5" giants purely through their abilities and personalities...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 28/09/2026

Yeah - I talked about it with my partner, because it's always strange watching tribute shows and seeing the relationships behind the scenes you might not have imagined from just watching the shows, and Pac was one that stood out... I always hoped he'd get a big solo push and loved Death Triangle

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 28/09/2026

Andy Williams and Pac were two of my favourites, even before I realised Williams and I were almost exactly the same age... I've only just watched his tribute show with Pac speaking about him, and then seeing this news...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 25/09/2026

‘Birdwatching is close to rapture' quoted from The Guardian article on Margaret Attwood... It makes me think of my son and I outside some shops in the middle of a large housing estate with cars driving past - and both of us stood looking up watching some young red kites flying overhead...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 25/09/2026

When a cold outreach email congratulates me on an award from 11 years ago, I know that it's 99% AI, and I also need to add some more prominent achievements to my sites...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 22/09/2026

Started a new sim racing series last night with Team ORD, and did OK considering how quick some of the drivers are... www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC_N...

youtube.com

TRL M2 CUP - Round 1 Lime Rock West Bend

YouTube video by Jack Johns - The Racing Line

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 21/09/2026

Also went to London purely for a fun day out for the first time in ages. Public transport was fine. Everyone we encountered was pleasant. Saw some of the sites and didn't spend a ridiculous amount of cash. Came home again happy. About the most shocking thing we saw was some live jazz in Regents Park

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 21/09/2026

My final full pre-uni weekend with my son was finished off by finally cracking open my Offerman edition Lagavulin after keeping it locked away for about 6 years. And despite my bias towards Irish whiskey - it's very, very good... And now safely locked away again until he graduates...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 18/09/2026

Ironically, I've just added a load more to my schedule... I think I need more power and possibly a time machine....

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 18/09/2026

Working with various AI skills and the tasks are long enough that I feel I should get on with something else in the meantime, but not long enough that I actually have time to do anything else meaningful...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 18/09/2026

When you spend ages looking for complex technical solutions to an SEO problem. And then realise there's a really simple cause lying elsewhere, surfaced by a different task...

static.klipy.com

Man Rubbing Eyes with Headache

Alt: Working in Scranton's top paper company would probably be less stressful than SEO at times...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 16/09/2026

It appears that absolutely everything in my life is scheduled within the next few weeks. So that's fun.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 16/09/2026

My first thought - if Piddington isn't part of the UK, do speed limits etc still apply? (Asking for a friend, obviously).

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 15/09/2026

Obviously The Princes Bride, They Live, Guardians etc are up there. But one that hasn't been mentioned.... Kes, starring writer, actor and British professional wrestler Brian Glover

static.klipy.com

Brian Glover in Kes: Football Brain

ALT: Brian Glover in Kes: Football Brain

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 14/09/2026

Strange that temporary seasonal work requires people to be able to get to where the fields are, which don't tend to be major public transport hubs.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 14/09/2026

I worked on farms in the area (and on Sheppey docks) many years ago... Buses etc full of agricultural workers from all sorts of areas have been common for generations - 100 years it would be people coming down from London, then EU students and workers etc...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 11/09/2026

Sends meeting availability for any time except 3-4pm. Gets a meeting request for 3.30pm.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 11/09/2026

I hadn't long been working in the Emap office - almost everyone was crammed into meeting rooms with the TVs on. I soon went back to my desk checking message boards and ICQ'ing people to try and get news from friends and family etc...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 11/09/2026

I'm no knife expert, but I love mine. Inexpensive, functional, comfortable and doesn't look like I'm cosplaying as a member of the special forces...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 09/09/2026

Will do - last year my birthday treat as a family visit to the Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch, and I've had Bletchley Park on the list to visit for ages but for some reason never got around to it - and really handy to know about the separation between Bletchley and the TNMOC for planning it

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 09/09/2026

Nice write-up - and it's convinced me to finally get off my backside and do a long-planned visit...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 09/09/2026

Combined with Google Ads insisting a live URL wasn't live, it's been a good week for automated tools messing things up for me...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 09/09/2026

If a box of Lincolnshire Poacher helps to solve my SEO issues, it's a legitimate business expense, right?

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 09/09/2026

At this rate I might have to bribe @johnmu.com with a selection of local cheese to try and get this one page indexed...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 08/09/2026

In a recent conversation my career post-journalism was summed up as 'something to do with computers'.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 08/09/2026

It's been almost 20 years and my parents still don't understand what I do for a living. I'd be surprised if most people surveyed even knew what search marketing was, let alone cared how it was delivered. www.searchenginejournal.com/harvard-foun...

searchenginejournal.com

Harvard Found The Public Has Little Objection To AI Taking Search Marketers' Jobs

Harvard research scored 940 jobs on moral objection to AI. Search marketing came low down at 2.31 out of 7. What that means for how you publish content.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 08/09/2026

I was discussing this with someone yesterday, comparing the original release of Elite compared to today's 150GB download for a AAA game... There are plenty of quotes about how great art needs some kind of constraints, and gaming fits with that...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 08/09/2026

Slowly going insane: - long established website - indexation working perfectly on every page except 1. Which is an important one and has no issues. - checked robots.txt etc several times. Live GSC crawl is fine. Screaming Frog crawl is fine. - Resubmitted for indexation in the past

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 08/09/2026

It's not so bad at the National Museum of Computing or the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge - I kind of expect it... What throws me is when it's in a more general museum, e.g. a 48K Speccy in the Science Museum. That makes me feel old...

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 08/09/2026

Nice post and insight, and it's something I could well have written based on the content audits I've been running over the last few months as I try to find the optimal way to utilise AI assistance without just creating a lot of lovely recommendations which don't actually work as an overall plan.

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Dan Thornton @danthornton.net · 03/09/2026

Someone has been targetting Red Bull pretty heavily recently with fake recruitment emails - I got one and was flattered until I checked and saw the person named had posted on LinkedIn alerting people to the scam... Particularly gutting as I do know people who work/have worked there...

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