iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 09/09/2026

I visited a link to a tweet today (which I rarely do). A hot mess of UI from Twitter/X. A QR code hovers on the right and overlaps a Continue to X button, which in turn overlaps a cookie banner that I cannot read. I was most amused by the animated hand pointing insistently. X marks the spot clearly!

The user interface of the bottom of the screen of Twitter (X) with overlapping banners and text and an hand pointing to Continue to X

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 14/06/2026

Just finished reading The AI Con by @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social A fantastic book dismantling AI hype and talking about a more human future for AI. It’s refreshing to read, so many business meetups are caught up with the AI dream, it’s good to take a hard, critical look.

A book laying on a wooden table, white cover with large words in black and red: The AI Con - How to fight big tech’s hype and create the future we want.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 19/05/2026

I’ve been reading the Odyssey so thought this rather nice porter, Blind Poet from New River was rather apt! An excellent Cambridge Beer Festival :)

A smiling man with a checked shirt holds aloft a pint of dark porter, the glass is inscribed with a bear spreading marmalade on toast. A crowd of people are behind in a large beer tent.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 10/05/2026

Excited to start reading this translation of The Odyssey by Emily Wilson, as recommended by @wmarybeard.bsky.social. I skipped the intro (for now), but the translator’s notes is an interesting read and talks about the care Emily took in translating this ancient epic poem for a modern audience.

A book cover with three Minoan women in elaborate headdresses at the top, a pretty blue wave border at the bottom. It has the words: The Odyssey - Homer - translated by Emily Wilson

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 09/05/2026

Yesterday I was in London with Kate for a rather special garden party! It was a wonderful experience - military bands playing James Bond tunes, beautiful palace gardens, and a lot of fabulous formal wear. We were invited thanks to Kate’s excellent work on community cafe www.cherryhintonhub.org

A man and a woman smiling and standing in front of the back of Buckingham Palace, both dressed smartly in a brown lounge suit and blue tie, and a dark red dress with vertical stripes. Many people in formal dress mill around in the background.

A view of the garden trees and flowers. Many strange tall pointed flowers, which taper off to a thin point and have spiky green leaves, surround three old, bent tree trunks.

A dozen royal guards dressed in bright red wig gold trim and black caps march past a couple sat on chairs. A woman in formal service uniform (Navy?) takes a photograph.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 17/03/2026

Had a great time at the CamCreatives Neville Brody talk this evening, hosted by @billt.bsky.social Lots of talk about design, the importance of young people creating things and breaking the rules, and how technology changes design (not always for the better). #design #cambridge #creativity

A lecture hall, two men speaking in front of an audience. On the wall is an album cover design, orange and faces with lines and dots, The Last Testament.

A man in front of an audience, above on the screen is bold black hand-drawn type with letters Q R S. The Q is a circle with a bold straight vertical line down the middle bottom.

A man talking in front of an audience, above an image of a young Neville Brody hand cutting type on pieces of paper to create a layout. The text: romance is revolutionary.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 08/01/2026

Finished The Rose Field last night, the last book in Philip Pullman’s evocative world of Lyra Silvertongue. A wonderful read and very welcome fantasy at this time when the world seems to be tearing itself apart.

A book resting on a wooden table, the cover has an illustration of two camels with riders travelling through a red desert. The title: The Book Of Dust has a tawny cat and a pine marten inquisitively crouching on the letters O and D.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 02/01/2026

It is 2nd January. What should not be in this photo. #cambridge

A street corner with an old stone building with carved faces on the left. Two people walk around the corner. In front of the stone building is a yellow street sign saying: Chariots of Fire, Garret Hostel Lane CLOSED, Sun 21 Sept 08.30 - 12.00

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 18/11/2025

Looks like Cloudflare found a fix (around a 1.5hrs after the initial issues). Let's hope service is restored fully soon. We're seeing a few client sites working fine, and others are still down. Ironically our uptime monitor Pingdom is down since the website uses Cloudflare.

2 updates from Cloudflare:
The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.
Posted 5 minutes ago.

We have made changes that have allowed Cloudflare Access and WARP to recover.

We are continuing to work towards restoring other services.
Posted 2 minutes ago.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 13/09/2025

Last night I attended the UK Digital Inclusion Awards, celebrating orgs helping reduce digital poverty. I'm proud @studio24.net was nominated for the Ensuring Accessible Services and I enjoyed talking to like-minded people about how to make digital fairer to everyone. digitalpovertyalliance.org

Two women and two men dressed smartly in suits and dresses standing in front of the Digital Poverty Alliance banner smiling and posing for a photograph, a board with "Digital access is a basic right. I'm taking action to end digital poverty" is held aloft.

A crowd of men and women dressed smartly, talking and holding drinks in an art gallery. Colourful art is hung on the wall and there's a blue table to the right with many wine glasses.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 24/08/2025

I tried searching on Waterstones.com for her other books and the website struggled with the Finnish name Satu Rämö returning no useful results! @waterstones.bsky.social please update your website search to deal with special characters properly!

A search results page from Waterstones website. A keyword search for “Satu Rämö” results in a search for “satur m” with confusing search results: the first 2 books are The Rings of Saturn and Worst Week Ever.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 07/06/2025

Had a great evening listening to inspiring talks at Alt Ctrl Org last night. At the end the FAIR package manager was launched, an impressive project to decentralise the plugin repository backed by the Linux Foundation. It’s a bright future #wordpresss #wceu #OpenSource marucchi.com/introducing-...

A crowd of people in a room listening to a speaker, the slide on the wall says Alt Ctrl Org

A large number of people stand up to applause from the crowd - the project team of FAIR

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 24/04/2025

Richard Ayoade at the Cambridge Literary Festival taking questions from the floor on diverse topics such as lost playwright Harauld Hughes, bad writing, GCSE advice, and how he has to skip the offer of drinks with St Catharine’s College students to catch his train. An amusing gentlemen. 😀

A man with glasses and black frizzy hair in a brown couduroy suit sitting on a big brown leather chair on the Cambridge Union stage, legs crossed, both hands out as he talks. A yellow banner is behind him saying Cambridge Literary Festival: for the love of books. A small table with flowers and an interviewer sits to the right.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 14/04/2025

Returned from a week off exploring Corfu, Sarandë and Gjirokastër. Beautiful places, friendly people, and lots of delicious food (the Greeks do great cheese!). Refreshing to take a break from the news for a while..

In the foreground boats next to a quay, beautiful blue sea and clear blue sky, a walkway leading to a pretty monastery with white walls in the middle of the bay, a small tree lined island behind, and rolling hills in the background.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 09/04/2025

Just arrived in Albania half an hour before we left Corfu! Crazy timezones has Albania 1 hour behind even though it’s more eastwards.

A man with glasses in a white t-shirt wearing a white straw hat with a blue band. It’s a bright sunny day, a pebble beach is behind with blue sea, and hills in the distance. A family are sitting on the beach together.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 15/03/2025

Reading Sarah Wynn-William’s new book, Careless People, while having a morning coffee in Cambridge as the church bells chime in the background. It’s an interesting first chapter!

A wooden table outside in the morning sun. On the table: a steaming mug of coffee in a white mug, a hardback book with an orange cover with a block of blue with two legs sticking out. The title is Careless People: A story of where I used to work.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 01/03/2025

At #DrupalCamp England, handily at the Law Faculty in Cambridge! Look forward to hearing about the current state of Drupal today :)

A large curved atrium full of people milling around with a large glass wall of windows

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 20/02/2025

Attended the opening night of Fitzwilliam Museum’s latest exhibition. Rise Up: Resistance, Revolution, Abolition. Fascinating and impactful. Great to see so many people attend. It’s on until 1 June so come and see it. fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/plan-your-vi...

A poster fixed to the railings in front of a museum, lit up in blue and yellow light. The poster reads: Rise Up Resistance, Revolution, Abolition.

A spacious hall in the exhibition, lots of people are looking at exhibits and talking. Multiple coloured columns are in the middle of the room with quotes written upon them such as: “Surely no national wickedness can be more henious in the sight of God than a public toleration of slavery.”

A fabric installation spanning the wall and ceiling made up of different coloured segments with bold black typography with names of important black people from history including: Oludah Equiano, Fanny Eaton, and Billy Waters.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 19/02/2025

Started reading my new copy of @heyrocker.com’s new book Designing Content Authoring Experiences on how to make the CMS editing experience actually work for editors! Nice to see my name in the back as a Kickstarter supporter.

Holding a copy of a brown paperback book above a dark wooden table. The cover of the book says: Designing Content Authoring Experiences by Greg Dunlap

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 02/02/2025

Some old men talk to a groundhog to predict the future. Probably the most sensible thing happening in the US at present. 6 more weeks of winter!

9 men dressed in smart black coats, scarves, and top hats, gather around a tree stump, a groundhog it atop. A white bearded man at the front holds a staff and talks to the groundhog apparently in groundhogese.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 02/02/2025

It’s Groundhog Day! www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4...

A groundhog is held aloft by two outstretched arms. The person carrying the groundhog is wearing a smart black jacket, white shirt cuffs, and black gloves.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 18/12/2024

Had a fabulous time watching the talented @comedystoreplayers.com improv on the stage of the Shakespeare Globe! Such great songs! Such amusing sketches about tea bags being left on the side! A most excellent evening & glad to introduce my teenage son to them 😄

A crowd watch 5 actors on the Globe stage. One is pointing at an animated woman with sparkly trousers and a pink scarf whose turn it is to tell the improv story!

The 7 improv actors take a bow on the Globe stage to rapturous applause from the audience.

A man who other dark glasses and a younger teenage son smile outside the Globe theatre, the white walls of the Globe are covered with sparkling lights.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 30/11/2024

Cherry Hinton Christmas lights and carols! Not too cold & lots of mince pies 😄 #cambridge

A crowd of people outside Cherry Hinton high street gathered together singing carols, bright blue Christmas lights are lit on the trees all around.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 29/11/2024

Had a good time at Cambridge Maths School today talking to computer science A-level students about making accessible web software. A nice bunch, some good questions on text contrast and web maps. Even talked about @dracos.co.uk’s TrainTimes.org.uk and front-end performance!

A man (me) wearing a winter coat standing outside a brick building. On the wall is a purple sign with the outline of Cambridge skyline and the text: Cambridge Maths School.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 18/11/2024

If you see this, post a bird. #bird #museum #eagle From the wonderful Birds exhibition at the Natural History Museum, which I visited on the weekend.

A stuffed eagle with brown and white feathers sitting on a pedestal at a museum, its wings majestically spread out wide. In the background are lots of vertical lines reaching to the ceiling.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 17/11/2024

Delicious coffee on a chilly morning in Norwich at the excellent Kofra coffee. This was a lovely filter: Angie Hernandez. Bought a bag of that, their fabulous decaf, and the new Christmas coffee. www.kofra.co.uk #coffee #norwich

A mint green mug full of steaming black coffee sits on a wooden table with a white plate and a small cake. The sun is shining on a cold morning.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 15/11/2024

Travelling back to Cambridge after a fabulous evening at the theatre watching Dr. Strangelove with Steve Coogan. He plays 4 characters (just like the film) but his Dr Strangelove is superb (better even than Peter Sellers)! Brilliant 😄 #theatre #london #comedy

Outside in London’s West End outside a theatre with a long queue of people waiting to go in. The theatre is lit up, a big poster of Steve Coogan as Dr Strangelove is above.

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 01/01/2024

Had a magical time at Wimpole Hall festive lights earlier this evening. Happy new year to all!

Dozens of flaming torches and festive lights spread across the lawn in front of Wimpole Hall, a stately home lit up in blue lights.

A young girl takes a photo on her phone of a brightly lit tree which has festive lights wrapped around the trunk and all its branches!

Old Redwood tree trunk at night with trails of lights coming out from its base, like roots running through the earth.

Simon, Daniel, Kate and Billy all smiling and wrapped up warm at Wimpole Hall festive lights (trees and lights can be seen in the background).

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 18/11/2023

Had a *brilliant* evening listening to poet Lemn Sissay at Cambridge Literary Festival tonight at the Cambridge Union. Lemn entertained us all, young and old alike, with his energetic, welcoming (and wandering) speaking style. Such fun! Am very glad to have sponsored this event via Studio 24.

Poet Lemn Sissay standing on the stage at the Cambridge Union debating chamber, dressed in yellow trousers and trainers and a brown coat, with a bright yellow poster for the literary festival behind.

Sally, Isaac and Simon sat in the comfy seats at Cambridge Union (a bit like a nice old sofa) waiting for Lemn to appear. We’re all smiling in anticipation!

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 26/08/2023

Happy to have received 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams in the post today, after seeing some of Adams archive material at St John’s College and backing the book project 2 years or so ago!

Front cover of the book, a big 42 on the cover and a photo of a grinning Douglas Adams in the bottom right corner

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 25/07/2023

Visited Southwold lighthouse yesterday, I swear the central light column inspired the design of the inside of the TARDIS!

A lighthouse in the distance looming over a bunch of houses next to a green in Southwold

A hexagonal black structure with 8 LED lights per side on a rotating base, this is the modern lighthouse light which is inside a big collection of curved and straight prism glass sections which amplify the light.

A close up of the glass prism, light reflecting off

A shot of the entire central lighthouse glass column made up of glass prisms

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Simon Jones @simonrjones.net · 22/07/2023

Spotted at Latitude festival and very true

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