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Steph Gray

@lesteph.com
892 followers 635 following 684 posts

Digital, woodworking and net zero dad living (repair cafe, EV, solar, heat pump) in south London. Work-wise now: helping small orgs with digital and AI, and troubleshooting tech/supplier/team issues. stephgray.com/now

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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 29/09/2026
Me to Claude Code: I have a couple of changes to make Claude: That's four changes Me: Well, some are quite minor Claude: [tuts for 20 minutes about how much there is to refactor, then does a bang up job] Are we sure there aren't real human devs behind AI?
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 22/09/2026
Some good news, turns out @reachvolunteering.org.uk has found the funding it needed and will be staying open: reachvolunteering.org.uk/closure People I mentioned it to were shocked by the news and had no idea how to plug the gap, so this sounds like a Good Thing for the voluntary sector.
reachvolunteering.org.uk
Reach will remain open | Reach Volunteering
Reach Volunteering will remain open after funders unite to secure its immediate future.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 22/09/2026
I've been enjoying getting Claude to help me create right-click Quick Actions on MacOS to do fiddly repetitive stuff. Here, it takes a bunch of generically-named images, describes them and uses the <255 character descriptions as filenames. Result: better default ALT text when I upload to WordPress.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 12/09/2026
Nice online experience for the Bayeux Tapestry by the British Museum with full and highlights modes depending on how much of a tapestry nerd you are. h/t @janeparsons.bsky.social www.britishmuseum.org/bayeux-tapes...
britishmuseum.org
The Bayeux Tapestry online experience
Follow the story and discover the people, places and events of 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. Made for young learners, open to all.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 11/09/2026
Today on Marketplace. Just £1!
Supersize a weird chin mask thing
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 10/09/2026
This feels like some solid analysis. There's lots of reasons to worry about or object to AI, but I've not found much evidence that the terrifying environmental impact of datacentres is the slam-dunk some people reckon it is.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 07/09/2026
One for the Net Zero Dads/Mums: older wireless charging pads or ones without the magnets to snap devices into alignment are probably wasting more energy than you realise and risk damaging the battery. But does wired charging wear out the ports faster though? www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhKV...
youtube.com
How Wireless Charging Works and Why It's Terrible
YouTube video by iFixit
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 03/09/2026
There's a special place for @jukes.ie in the hall of fame for keeping the faith with broad-church, loosely-structured, maturely-organised digital events. Thank you mate for another excellent one.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 01/09/2026
Sad to hear that @reachvolunteering.org.uk is to close, as funders' priorities shift away from national and infrastructure bodies. I've found several good digital volunteering and trustee roles on the platform, and I hope someone is able to take the excellent service forward in some way.
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Robin Linacre @robinlinacre.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My son loves buses! I made an app called buslens that shows you all the places you can get to by bus from near your current location, or any other location: rupertlinacre.com/buslens/ github.com/rupertLinacr...
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 26/08/2026
Drive an electric vehicle? The EV Association is running its annual driver survey and looking to hear what the barriers and priorities are for EV drivers (or those looking to get one) to inform their policy work: www.surveymonkey.com/r/HV3TCS5
surveymonkey.com
STEER THE CONVERSATION
Drive an EV? Thinking about it? We want to hear from you
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 25/08/2026
Had something similar last night too when the electronics tutor held up a Nokia 3310 to the room as an example of ancient tech. Dude, that was my third phone 👴
Nokia 3310 phone
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 25/08/2026
Had an elderly Millenial moment of wistfulness at the forlorn Post Office counter at the back of our grungy ex-WHSmith this morning. I remember when both were beacons on the high street, bustling, exciting places to go. I know rationally how it’s the result of our choices etc etc, but still 😢
A closed post office counter looking forlorn
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 19/08/2026
Today in Weird Things On Marketplace:
Nicholas Cage cushion cover
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 18/08/2026
Absolutely banging edition of Quantum of Sollazzo this week - lots of fascinating links in there (thanks @puntofisso.bsky.social) buttondown.com/puntofisso/a...
buttondown.com
671: quantum of sollazzo
Quantum of Sollazzo NO. 671 · Did someone forward you this email?If so, you can subscribe here.You can view this email online here. In this issue...Quantum...
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 17/08/2026
There’s an eight inch square of asbestos in my 1970s electricity meter cupboard so after six months’ project management, my driveway/hazmat scene this morning looks like this
Three vans and and electrician’s car
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 13/08/2026
I'm on the receiving end of an increasingly unhinged AI-fuelled sales spam email thread. I really liked "P.S. Totally fine to ignore if not a fit." Also, the idea that government procurement has now adopted fastest finger first.
When a government team emails Steph Gray about WordPress work, whoever responds first usually wins the brief. If Steph waits a day, they find another consultant.
Got time for a brief demo?
On Wed, August 12, 2026 12:25 AM, Julie Ja
wrote:
Still worth exploring?
On Tue, August 11, 2026 12:02 AM, Julie James
Hi,
I work at SalesCloser, and we help digital consultancy freelancers talk only to pre-qualified, ready-to-buy prospects.
Steph Gray has 25 years in communications and digital consultancy, but each project inquiry means manually sorting serious clients from casual visitors before scoping work.
SalesCloser books 2x more consultations by auto-qualifying every lead, so your time goes to projects that ship.
Do you have 10 minutes to see how it works?
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 07/08/2026
Saw Princess Di's SL500 at the Stuttgart Mercedes-Benz museum today (next to the original Popemobile - it's quite a museum). She had to reluctantly return it less than a year later, following an outcry from government and unions. I'm not sure how much soft pressure to 'buy British' helps, tbh.
Princess Diana getting into a Mercedes SL500, c1991
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The Restart Project @therestartproject.org · 03/08/2026
#RepairDay is our annual chance to celebrate repair 🔧⁠ ⁠ If you have something planned to mark the occasion, add it to the map now ⁠ And if you need some inspiration for how you could get involved, explore our toolkit ⁠ It's all at RepairDay.org 🚀⁠
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 03/08/2026
Interrailing to Davos today. Can’t not picture this figure of my 1980s nightmares. He probably goes to the World Economic Forum these days, repping AI
Davros, terrifier of 1980s kids
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 01/08/2026
As the Railway 200 team wind up their work I've written down some of the ways which made it such an enjoyable campaign to work on: stephgray.com/2026/08/the-...
stephgray.com
The magic of the railway
I'll miss Railway 200, but it's reminded me how much I enjoy supporting a small team with digital in the broad sense
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 01/08/2026
“It’s not so much that the past is a different country, more that the past was a different future. It turned out that the future did have a lot more screens in it (but less carpet on the walls).”
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Jeni Tennison @jenitennison.com · 31/07/2026
So I'm pretty excited by the recognition that traditional consultation doesn't cut it any more, in the Rewiring the State Cabinet Statement. 1/3 www.gov.uk/government/p...
We agreed to replace the current model of consultation by default with new and modern forms of public participation. This includes considering where performative statutory duties to consult can be revoked and how we can more actively bring the public into the policy-making process instead. This recognises that local leaders are better equipped to link public opinion and civil society to policy making.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 31/07/2026
I'm late to this from the @dxw.com blog but it's excellent and refreshingly uncertain about how junior developers and AI will work together in an agency environment: www.dxw.com/2026/06/what...
dxw.com
What are we going to do about junior engineers?
Nicky looks at the role of junior engineers and what skills they'll need as AI progresses
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 23/07/2026
I like the granularity of this calculator by @dantaylorwatt.com of your personal AI environmental footprint. I find the moral panic about AI on ecological grounds a bit tiresome so it's good to have some apparently well-sourced data to work with: www.dantaylorwatt.com/ai/ai-enviro...
dantaylorwatt.com
AI Environmental Impact Calculator
Estimate the energy, carbon and water footprint of your AI use: chatbots, image generation, video generation and agentic coding. Based on published 2025-26 measurements.
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Dr Maha @maharafiatal.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Bittersweet to mark the Fourth while a tyrant presides over and degrades our nation. But you can play The World in 1776 and remember that all over the world people have always resisted tyranny and in the long run, we will win. worldin1776.org.uk
worldin1776.org.uk
The World in 1776: Map
It is March 1776. Adam Smith has just published a book 'The Wealth of Nations' that will change how the world thinks about wealth and power. North American colonists are on the verge of revolution. In...
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 06/07/2026
"Hmm, what's that large file called rr.mp4 sitting on the server?" I asked myself... and then proceeded to rickroll myself. Well done, me from the past.
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Dr Maha @maharafiatal.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
It's Smith-mas Eve here at @uofgsocsci.bsky.social! Our celebration of The Wealth of Nations 250th kicks off tomorrow, focusing on slavery, empire, monopoly and justice. www.gla.ac.uk/explore/adam... A little video, chatting Smith with my colleagues, to get you in the mood:
youtu.be
What does the Wealth of Nations mean today?
YouTube video by Maha Atal
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Dylan, on life in your 80’s, is incredible. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/o...
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 11/06/2026
Good to have a professional technical term for this: daringfireball.net/2026/05/what...
daringfireball.net
What Is a Dickover?
dickover — a modal panel, popover, or curtain presented by a website or app, deliberately obscuring its own content to frustrate the user with an unwanted, unnecessary, mandatory interaction; e.g. ask...
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 04/06/2026
Some blogging from me: on working with impact drivers vs phoning a builder and sharing my experiences developing software with Claude: stephgray.com/2026/06/impa...
stephgray.com
Impact drivers and Adam Smith
As I see it, craft isn't demeaned by use of a machine - there's skill in blending them together with harmony and care.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 02/06/2026
It's coming up to 30 years since I (ahem, loosely) studied it, and 250 since it was written: this has been a fun project to work on for the University of Glasgow. I'm so impressed how thorough and yet accessible @maharafiatal.bsky.social and team's storytelling is. worldin1776.org.uk
worldin1776.org.uk
The World in 1776: Map
It is March 1776. Adam Smith has just published a book 'The Wealth of Nations' that will change how the world thinks about wealth and power. North American colonists are on the verge of revolution. In...
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Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 26/05/2026
My take on AI is, essentially, everybody who’s against is too against it and everybody who’s for it is too for it.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 29/05/2026
@gilestur.bsky.social I see where you're coming from - often 'comms' does seem like this, but 'broadcasting positive achievements' is to mature communication what 'web design' is to digital services - a tip of an iceberg. Proper Comms is behaviour change; spin or no spin. gilest.org/notes/2026/o...
gilest.org
gilest.org: Working in the open ≠ comms
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Gavin Freeguard @gavinfreeguard.com · 21/05/2026
Thrilled that @policycamp.bsky.social, a one-day unconference for policy practitioners, is happening! - Thursday 23 July, 1000-1630 - University College London Apply for tickets now: policycamp.org.uk A massive thank you to everyone who helped shape our thinking. Please share widely!
Logo for Policy Camp. A stylised P is made up of sticky note-coloured shapes (a triangle and thin rectangle) in pink, a C with two yellow triangles, and there is a green triangle in the gap between the stalk of the P and the bottom of the C. There is white space between each of the shapes. 'Policy Camp' is written next to the logo.
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CJ McKinney @cjmckinney.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Record number of overseas applications for British passports in early 2026 - presumably because the Home Office began insisting that dual nationals need one to travel to the UK (rather than using their Australian or Canadian passport, say)
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Dr Maha @maharafiatal.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Corporate power today is scary, but not new. In WHEN COMPANIES RULE, I recount its 400-year history from the East India Company to Amazon, what motivates the oligarchs who would be kings, and what we can do about them. Out in November, pre-order now: cup.columbia.edu/book/when-co...
Book cover: When Companies Rule
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Giuseppe Sollazzo @puntofisso.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
NEW project: a #dataviz of #Eurovision lyrics. The question: was "do #ESC lyrics follow world news"? TL;DR sort of, but not quite :-) The result is this #scrollytelling article, inspired by @puddingviz.bsky.social 's style. Methodology and code linked. puntofisso.net/eurovision/
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 08/05/2026
Not now, Facebook memory from 8 May 2015. The subsequent twists and turns were a whole lot scarier.
"iPlayer election coverage at Helpful HQ has frozen with John Redwood's face looming over us. It's like a 1994 political horror movie."
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 08/05/2026
Nodding approvingly at this: darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/in-defense...
darbysaxbe.substack.com
In defense of husbands
The great housework convergence is here
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shri @shrikhalpada.dev · 20/04/2026
I built an interactive guide on how Shazam (the music identification app) works! This is the next installment in my newly coined "How The Heck?" series, where we explore everyday tech that can feel like magic (QR Codes, GPS, and now this one). Hope you enjoy it! perthirtysix.com/how-the-heck...
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 28/04/2026
Today's find via the @puntofisso.bsky.social newsletter treasure trove/bargain bin: some practical things to experiment with for people looking to boost their site GEO: evilmartians.com/chronicles/h...
evilmartians.com
Making your site visible to LLMs: 6 techniques that work, 8 that don't—Martian Chronicles, Evil Martians’ team blog
Most AI SEO advice is unproven. We tested what ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity actually read on our own site. Six LLM visibility techniques that worked, eight that didn't, and the metrics to tell the ...
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 23/04/2026
I'm on a 70-strong Zoom call of middle aged folks with a mega Miro whiteboard and it is utter, glorious chaos. Lockdown vibes.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 15/04/2026
A random Facebook feed post from Michael Rosen may just have saved my summer holiday (my passport's valid until January but issued in May 2016...). It's not just 3 months' validity that matters, folks!
Michael Rosen: Ha! I've just been refused entry on a plane from Stansted to Bologna. The expiry date on my passport is August 2026 but the issue date is March 2016. More than 10 years from issue date.
Thems is the regs. Thanks to Brexit. Apparently. Gotta go home. I miss the Bologna children's book fair. Hard cheese, Michael.
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 10/04/2026
While looking for open licensed 18th/19th century views of London this week, I came across this corking view of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs by George Baxter, c.1854. They're a phenomenon now, must have been crazy back then when they really dominated the landscape
Crystal Palace dinosaurs by George Baxter, c.1854
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 10/04/2026
I'm enjoying using Claude artifacts to build myself little tools and shortcuts. I've ended up doing social media as a community centre volunteer, and my new 'Frequent Flyers' artifact helps me crop a usable section from the steady stream of A4 flyers I get sent, and generate an accompanying caption.
Screenshot showing artifact helping crop a flyer, and generate social media caption
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 07/04/2026
My friend Matt has been iterating his really interesting secret-keeping product, Tidy Affairs. You can try it out for free with a 7 day trial using the code TIDYTRIAL. I think it has potential to fill a gap in how we prepare for the end in a digital world: tidyaffairs.com
tidyaffairs.com
Secure Digital Legacy Planning — Tidy Affairs
Tidy Affairs is a private, secure way to share information with the people you trust. Your modern, digital letter of wishes.
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Community Living Magazine @communitylivingmagazine.com · 31/03/2026
*NEW* stories in April, including positive stories to balance the bad times. Articles with and by: @touretteshero.bsky.social @oskabright.bsky.social @maryohara1.bsky.social @georgejulian.bsky.social @sabasalman.com and many more. communitylivingmagazine.com
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Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 02/04/2026
A propos of nothing, what's the first thing you listened to music on? Apart from a brief stint with a dubious robot-shaped radio with scary red eyes, this Hitachi did me for my first 7 or 8 years.
Hitachi TRK-510E FM MW Cassette Recorder Radio
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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
I've been professionally observing how people use tech since the 90s, and it is simply not possible to make universal digital tools. Some things work or are necessary for some people some of the time, nothing works for everyone all of the time. And yet, something in us wants us all to be the same.
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