iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 21/09/2026

If you're looking for an anti-recommendation of where not to put your investments, Interactive Investor have been unable to show me the correct value of a fund in my SIPP for at least three weeks (when I first noticed it). Value should be around £9.12 and name should obviously not be "SIX:null".

A screenshot of a bit of a web page showing a listing for a fund. The name is "SIX:null" and underneath it says "iShares MSCI World SRI ETF GBP …". A price of £7.969 is shown.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 13/08/2026

Finally! It's been way too hot.

A screenshot of the iOS App Store updates list showing the BBC Weather app. Underneath it says "This release contains general bug fixes and improvements."

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 09/07/2026

So odd that Flickr relaunched their iOS/ipadOS app but haven’t mentioned it on their otherwise frequently-updated blog. Would be very nice to know which broken/missing things are on the roadmap.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 17/06/2026

I wrote down my thoughts on the bad arguments in favour of the UK's proposed social media ban because they were clogging up my brain www.gyford.com/phil/writing...

gyford.com

Heading in the wrong direction

Some thoughts on arguments for and, mainly, against the UK government’s hasty ban on social media for children.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 03/05/2026

Behind every great man is an LLM they think is a great woman.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 14/04/2026

There's not much info online about Wired's brief (1996-7) foray into book publishing with HardWired, so I've put together what I can find along with a list of all their books, published and not. www.gyford.com/phil/writing...

gyford.com

HardWired / Wired Books

Information about Wired Ventures’ book-publishing company from 1996-7, including all the books published and planned.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 11/04/2026

@lccmunicipal.bsky.social I thought you might like this commemorative plate I found at my parents’

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 09/04/2026

World War I, World War II, the collapse of the British Empire, any of the tiny embarrassing things I did or said that have lived in my brain ever since. What an odd, vague question.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 01/04/2026

Love an online application for a council service that says "have your supporting documents ready", then the list of supporting documents says "see list on application form", then you have to sign up for an account before you can even see the application form, then…

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Alexander Baxevanis @futureshape.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Ofcom is becoming a retirement home? :)

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 25/01/2026

I always liked the Simon Munnery line: “Many are willing to suffer for their art. Few are willing to learn to draw.” Now you could replace the last three words with “do anything but instruct an AI”. No, not as catchy but still.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 17/01/2026

My Dad's memories of visiting the Festival of Britain as a child, and working as a planner when Seifert's Space House was being developed. www.gyford.com/phil/writing...

gyford.com

John Gyford’s memories of the Festival of Britain and Space House

My dad’s memories, as told to John Grindrod for his book ‘Concretopia’.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 02/01/2026

On the one hand this is a silly Godwin’s Law bit of satire. On the other, I think about the truth of it daily.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 26/12/2025

I did not expect my find myself on the Royalist side in the second English Civil War and yet

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 16/12/2025

@thebeautyoftransport.com The "click here to find out how to join in" link near the bottom of stationheritageartefacts.org.uk/about/ is broken. I love the project!

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 12/12/2025

One of the Barbican's maintenance staff and his family – two adults, three young kids – lost their home and all their belongings in a house fire in Leyton. www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-n...

gofundme.com

Donate to Help for Naches, organized by Alba garcia

This account has been created to help a friend who just lost his house in a house fire last night leaving… Alba garcia needs your support for Help for Naches

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 07/12/2025

Everyone: The government should leave X, the extreme-right-supporting platform. Starmer: Welcome to my Substack! keirstarmer.substack.com/p/politics-t... Everyone: FFS.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 29/11/2025

@yoz.bsky.social I'm sorting through old photos and found this happy memory.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 23/11/2025

I like the Apple Weather app but even if its daily summaries of precipitation chance are statistically accurate (although I don't understand how) I'd say they usually give a less-than-useful impression.

A summary of Monday's weather showing an 80% chance of rain.

A graph of Monday's precipitation, showing only a 40% chance of rain at 1 am. Above it says there's an 80% chance for the whole day. Below it says "The daily chance of precipitation tends to be higher than the chance for each hour."

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 20/11/2025

Out to whoever was in charge of moving the British Library blogs to a new platform, breaking all existing URLs to posts, and not including an RSS feed in the specs for the new system. www.bl.uk/stories/blogs

bl.uk

Blogs and updates from curators, staff and guests - British Library

Get the latest stories and updates from our curators, cataloguers, reference staff and guest contributors. Find out more about amazing items in our collection.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 16/11/2025

It's tempting to rejoin the Labour Party just so I can have the satisfaction of canceling my membership and burning my membership card.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 13/11/2025

I hope to finally make it to this one.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 10/11/2025

Last week I watched the BBC's 'Girlbands Forever' and was frustrated so many interviews kept cutting from one sentence to the next. "How do I know if they're making them say things they didn't mean?" I thought. I'm sure normalising this kind of editing won't have any more serious consequences.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 03/11/2025

Need to remove the Duke of York's titles ASAP

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 24/10/2025

I've updated my post about my 1995 internet experience with a few more period documents, but rather than read it again you can see all of the scans on this page instead archive.gyford.com/1995/interne...

archive.gyford.com

1995 internet documents

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 15/10/2025

I wrote about what it was like to go online for the first time 30 years ago. How hard and complicated it seemed, and then how amazing this entirely new world was. Including some extracts from my 1995 diary. www.gyford.com/phil/writing...

gyford.com

My first months in cyberspace

Recalling the difficulties and wonder of getting online for the first time in 1995, including diary extracts from the time.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 08/10/2025

This, but about my career making websites. Getting going when it was nothing but HTML and – if you were fancy – a dash of Perl, grinding to a halt just as AI was being spaffed over everything.

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Hugo van Kemenade @hugovk.dev · 01/10/2025

View source  <img src="./brand_closed.png" alt="Closed for Business"> <h1>Typepad is closed for business!<br>Thank you for being a valued customer.</h1>

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 24/09/2025

I remember around 1995 a woman knocked on the door, doing a survey about air fresheners. I never bought any so it didn't last long but I was quite excited that someone was asking my opinion about a product or service. At last! Finally, Gen X was being consulted!

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 16/09/2025

After Saturday's far-right march, police would like you to let them know if you recognise those suspected of violent disorder, using the platform owned by a man encouraging violent disorder.

A screenshot including the text "The Met said anyone who recognises those people in the CCTV images can call 101 quoting CAD 4624/15SEP25, or tweet @MetCC, or anonymously contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 14/09/2025

"Mr Moseley is free to say whatever he likes and, if I may say so, he looked jolly smart in his black shirt and jackboots. His video chat with Adolf, perhaps the world's greatest innovator and entrepreneur, shared some robust views but our government will happily continue to use his media platform."

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Gillian Martin @gillmartin.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

26 Police Officers were injured in Londons fascist riots, but only 9 people were arrested. At last week's Palestine Action protest 0 Police Officers were injured, but nearly 900 people were arrested. The UK govt is chasing Reform votes & colluding with fascism, home & abroad. #fightfascism

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 10/09/2025

Odd that the Banksy had to be removed because the building is “listed and therefore legally protected”. The two Banksys that appeared a few years ago on the Barbican, also listed, were preserved under clear plastic. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Banksy 'judge' mural scrubbed from Royal Courts of Justice wall

The artwork of a judge hitting a protester with a gavel has been removed from the listed building.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 04/09/2025

Metadata nerds: If I’m archiving a TypePad blog to a new domain and URL, and fixing links etc to work in the new location, should I also change rdf:about and dc:identifier values to use the new page's location? Or should they remain as they were because that's what the page "is” even if it moves?

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Rob Palk @robpalk.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

"I'm being as racist as I can" tearful Starmer tells voters

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 27/08/2025

I'm imagining non-techy people with TypePad blogs waking up and learning they need to do… something… to move 20 years' worth of posts and images and comments to… somewhere… somehow… in a few weeks or lose it all. Fuck me, I swear it'll be this kind of thing that'll send me all Falling Down one day.

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Just for perspective, a few weeks ago roughly 100,000 turned up for the London Trans+ Pride march. By contrast fewer than 3,000 ACROSS THE WHOLE COUNTRY, have turned up to anti-asylum "protests". Yet we are meant to take the latter as "the voice of the people" and the former as "the minority".

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 20/08/2025

Imagine sending someone a self-portrait and they respond like this. www.pepysdiary.com/letters/1675...

Lisbon 21 June/1 July 1675
SIR
Although my indisposition, when your admirable picture arrived here, prevented my returning you earlier thanks for so extraordinary a favour, yet this delay has not diminished that just sense I have of so great a kindness. The picture is beyond praise, but causes admiration in all that see it its so stately, and magnificent a posture, and hits so naturally your proportion, and the noble air of your face, that I remain immoverable before it, hours together. I know not how to thank you for so great a kindness nor do I see any possibility of requital but this I assure you, if I die here he bequeath it to you, or rather restore it, and if I carry it off it shall always be at your disposal.

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Classic Web @classicweb.site · 19/08/2025

I loved a good Movable Type discussion in 2003. gyford.com on August 22, 2003 web.archive.org/web/20030822040034i…

Screenshot of gyford.com on August 22, 2003

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 14/08/2025

Radio DJ broadcasting from Paris: "August in the 2020s. I miss the noughties. Mild summers." Nostalgia for the pre-dystopiapocalyptic early 21st century already.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 12/08/2025

Please delete all social media posts laughing about the advice to delete old emails and pictures in order to save water, in order to save water.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 30/07/2025

Don't start a newsletter on Substack! It's not hard to move away from Substack if you're on it.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 13/07/2025

The Childhood of a Leader (2015)

A screenshot of the royal box at the men's Wimbledon final, including Prince George standing with his hands on the barrier, looking stern.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 10/07/2025

From 25 July, for better or worse, you'll still be able to read my blog – and, I assume, practically any blog – without having to prove you're over 18.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 01/07/2025

Do I or you know anyone in the UK using a ViaSat satellite internet service like www.freedomsat.co.uk/viasat-satel... ? I'm trying to gauge how good in reality its “Standard Data” speed is when we inevitably use up the small amount of monthly “Priority Data” provided on a plan.

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Samuel Pepys @samuelpepys.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

This I take to be as bad a juncture as ever I observed.

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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 27/06/2025

Self Esteem’s the only #glastonbury I’ve watched so far and the set got better and better. That was great.

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