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Phil Gyford

@phil.gyford.com
642 followers 113 following 277 posts

More active on Mastodon. Can't read DMs on here, but you can email me at phil@gyford.com At www.gyford.com In Herefordshire, UK. Also runs @samuelpepys.bsky.social and @ooh.directory

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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 · 12/08/2026
I had something similar a couple of weeks ago. This a page or two below a fake SumUp email. Odd
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 22/07/2026
If you go to "Library" then tap the … button at top right, you should be able to do "Follow a Show by URL…" and paste in the RSS URL. (On iPhone, slightly different route on iPad.)
A screenshot of the iOS Podcasts app showing the top of the Library screen. At the top right is a button with … on it.Another screenshot of the same screen, but with a little menu overlaid. The first item in it is "Follow a Show by URL…"
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 17/05/2026
Shame about that extension on the building just in front of the tower (lift machinery?). Although I've never noticed it before. Oddly, the lower half has been there since at least 2008 (earliest Streetview) but the top was only added 2019/2020. Not sure what building it is.
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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 · 19/02/2026
Because the railways will be well funded and efficient, right?
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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 · 26/11/2025
Original sin, 2005.
An old photo of a poster advertising "Friday's West End Final" edition of the Evening Standard newspaper. The headline is "FIRST MOBILE PHONE WITH TV".
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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 · 21/10/2025
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood but iOS 26 still has them? And it sounds like the new toggle in 26.1 is “added” rather than replacing these? (It’s still daft though, yes.)
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 01/10/2025
TypePad has not only closed but already has broken images on its "Bye!" page
A screenshot of typepad.com with a headline reading "Typepad is closed for business!Thank you for being a valued customer." There are two placeholders for missing images above that.
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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 · 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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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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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 · 27/06/2025
I stand corrected: the page also doesn't scroll when viewed in Firefox or Safari on my macOS (works in Chrome). If you turn off JS then it'll scroll but you can't open any of the stages to view the acts, even though they're all there in the page's HTML.
A screenshot of some HTML showing that the Pyramid Stage code does list THE 1975 as the top-billed band on Friday, even though it's not visible on the page.
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 27/06/2025
It's OK though because I can use the Reader view to see the full line-up. Oh.
A screenshot of a white screen titled "Line-Up 2025" that only lists the names of Glastonbury's stages as headings.
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 12/06/2025
Apple's "liquid glass", so readable.
A still from the TV show The Expanse showing the right hand of a white male holding a phone-sized device. The device is almost entirely transparent and, among other widgets, displays a photo of a dark haired woman, with the text at the top: "MAO. JULIETTE A."
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 08/04/2025
You never know… My Dad left behind piles of old journals (see image). It would be a shame to recycle them all so if you want any, or know anyone or any place that might, please let me know. Feel free to pass this on.
* Dissent: 166 issues, Winter 1974 to Spring 2018
* Fabian News, tracts, pamphlets, etc: Approx 483 issues. From 1964? to mid 1970s?
* Fabian Review and pamphlets: 27 issues, around 1999-2005
* Labour Party News: 39 issues, 1986-1995
* Socialist Affairs: 134 issues, 1971-2003
* Socialist International Information: 26 issues, 1969-1970
* Problems of Communism: approx 119 issues
* Renewal: 26 issues, 1993-1999
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 28/03/2025
The WhatsApp AI refuses to be shut down. I’ll have to call, or become, Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter.
A screenshot of a WhatsApp chat. I’m asking “I want to disable the feature entirely”. It replies “To disable the Meta Al assistant entirely, you'll need to adjust your settings. Here's how:
1. Go to the Meta Al settings page.
2. Toggle off the switch next to "Meta Al
Assistant".
This will disable the assistant across all of you devices. If you need more help, feel free to ask.”I ask “Where is the Meta Al settings page”.

It replies “The Meta Al settings page can vary depending on the device and platform you're using. Here are some steps to help you find it:
1. If you're using a desktop computer, go to the Meta website and log in to your account.
2. Click on your profile picture or icon in the top right corner.
3. Select "Settings" from the dropdown menu.
4. Look for "Meta Al" or "Al Assistant" in the settings menu.
If you're using a mobile device, the steps may be slightly different:
1. Open the Meta app.
2. Tap on the three horizontal lines (menu icon) in the top right corner.
3. Scroll down to "Settings" or "Account
Settings."
4. Look for "Meta Al" or "Al Assistant" in the settings menu.
If you're still having trouble finding the Meta A' settings page, feel free to ask”I ask “What is the url of the meta website”

It replies “The URL of the Meta website is (link unavailable).”
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 15/03/2025
Just discovered by visiting ooh.directory myself that my own blog (www.gyford.com) is 25 years old today!
A screenshot of a bit of a web page. Bold text says “25 years old today!”. Underneath is a link to “Phil Gyford’s website – Writing”, a British flag, a link reading “More info” and the text “Updated 6 days ago”.
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 24/02/2025
Age yourself with a film you saw in the cinema
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 22/01/2025
Twitter was rarely a great place - I made this image in 2018. A lesson in quite how far something can keep on sliding, after you think it's really bad. I'm baffled by the otherwise reasonable collaborators still posting there and I wonder what it would take, if anything, for them to stop.
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 19/01/2025
STOP DOING DEV OPS ON PERSONAL SITES
• PERSONAL WEBSITES WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN CLOUDS
• YEARS OF BLOGGING yet NO REAL-WORLD USE FOUND for zero-downtime CI/CD PIPELINES
• Wanted to put your website on the net ? We had a tool for that: It was called "FTP"
• "Yes please orchestrate my deployment. Please provision horizontal scaling" - Statements dreamed up by the utterly Deranged
LOOK at what DevOps Engineers have been demanding your Respect
for all this time, with all the homepages & fan sites we built for them
(This is REAL Ops, done by REAL Engineers)
"Hello I would like to containerize the application layer please"
They have played us for absolute fools
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 03/12/2024
It looks a bit like what Thomas Cromwell wears in 'The Mirror and the Light'. Turns out it's two hats - he takes the top one off to reveal the ear-covering skull cap style hat underneath.
A photo of Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell wearing a soft black hat. You can just see black ear coverings poking out from underneath it.
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 31/07/2023
Glad I’m doing something right.
A screenshot of an iOS App Store icon with a red bubble over one corner containing the number 42.
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Phil Gyford @phil.gyford.com · 02/05/2023
It might be hot today but I’ve been into it for years actually
A screenshot of the Bluesky app’s What’s Hot tab, showing a bright pink error message reading “Error: undefined is not a function”
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