iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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?

120

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.

0101

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.

020

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.

030

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 11/09/2026

Today on Marketplace. Just £1!

121

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.

261

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 07/09/2026

Nice. How long does it take yours to go from greens/browns to usable compost? Do you water it or cover it?

101

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

000

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.

2140

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.

110

Reposted by Steph Gray

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...

2165

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 26/08/2026

Nice! My kids were like that when they were a bit younger - we made triprandomiser.com and did a few random trips on it - Orkney to London was fun, as was Paris to Rotterdam :)

triprandomiser.com

Helps you pick a random UK or Western European destination and plan your public transport route there. Here's one of our previous trips.

010

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

011

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 25/08/2026

There was a Decline before the Fall, it’s fair to say

010

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 👴

040

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

220

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 19/08/2026

Today in Weird Things On Marketplace:

120

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 17/08/2026

I was going to offer to make them all tea but without a nuclear-powered kettle, they were sadly out of luck today

010

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 17/08/2026

Fun fact: you don't actually own your electricity meter cupboard, the network operator does. But you are responsible for the wiring that runs from it to your house... hence all the vans. (This is all for a main fuse upgrade btw so electric house tech doesn't blow it)

100

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 17/08/2026

I mean, it’s all economic growth I’m not directly paying for, I guess, and asbestos is certainly a Bad Thing

240

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

170

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 14/08/2026

Scary, and stressful, especially navigating it all in your new environment. Hope the injections help get things under control 🤞

010

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?

010

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 13/08/2026

Dinosaurs maybe, but perhaps the blind alley was 'official blogs' in the first place. I've never liked the idea, and always found writing for 'the company blog' much more difficult and less successful. Is the Daily Mail or anyone policing personal sites these days, or is it safe to go full Baskers?

000

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

000

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 06/08/2026

+1. With the stakes so high (££) the current reality feels like success via appeals is skewed towards committed middle class mums (especially). But with AI, maybe a broader range of parents could succeed. Maybe in this niche, AI might actually broaden access rather than just help the better-off?

100

Reposted by Steph Gray

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 🚀⁠

032

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

062

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

010

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).”

020

Reposted by Steph Gray

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.

182

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 31/07/2026

The at times glorious, at times calamitous, transitional and experimental Mac hardware of the 1990s, and how it paved the transition to Apple's resurgence in the mid-2000s

070

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

033

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 24/07/2026

As in, pointless abuse or agents acting for people whose bins genuinely don’t get collected half the time?

100

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.

3104

Reposted by Steph Gray

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...

021

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.

080

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 30/06/2026

who bill you for overtime

000

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 23/06/2026

"Changing a line manager on the system is easy. It only takes a few minutes. In this handy guide, we show you how to make this change. Line manager is a key role, so it's important to keep details up to date. Remember, if you have questions at any point, just click the ? icon. Ready to start?" etc

010

Reposted by Steph Gray

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

143

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 19/06/2026

Mainly hanging out in a care home for the week so some of it at least will be air conditioned...

100

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 19/06/2026

Heading to the motherland on Monday... 39C all week according to the forecasts... 😛

110

Reposted by Steph Gray

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...

230119713099

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 11/06/2026

"Well, it's the continental way, isn't it?" youtu.be/dfwnjO9o8OU?...

youtu.be

Mitchell & Webb - Lager Beer

YouTube video by Ten Two

110

Steph Gray @lesteph.com · 05/06/2026

FWIW I saw the NDL announcement, had an enjoyable click around and thought to myself “I’m glad Jukesie is involved in this”. God knows how long ago my professional “peak” was mate! Take the days as they come.

010

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.

031