iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Yeah, that's the next question. They apparently feel the need to ask for both.

Which of the following best describes your gender identity?

100

Yeah, it makes sense to ask for somebody's sex. But why specifically their sex “as recorded at birth”? The question after that one asks for gender identity — why both?

100

A survey about improving public transport in West Yorkshire asks residents for their sex “as recorded at birth”: www.wycaresidentpanel.co.uk I appreciate there's a ‘prefer not to say’ option, but why ask this at all, @tracybrabinmayorwy.bsky.social? How will it be used in transport planning?

Screenshot of a survey, headed with the logos of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Tracy Brabin Mayor of West Yorkshire, and DJS Research, showing the question “What is your sex, as recorded at birth?”, with the options “Male”, “Female”, and “Prefer not to say”

440

Smylers @smylers.uk · 01/10/2026

Tickets successfully bought for @sawdoctors.com at Halifax Piece Hall next summer and @zaltzcricket.bsky.social at Leeds City Varieties in January. Both went on sale at 10:00, but I managed to juggle between two browser windows and bought the right things.

The Saw Doctors Summer 2027
Sat 12 June Halifax The Piece Hall
Sat 3 July Cork Virgin Media Park
with a picture of the band underneath looking happy, Davy and Anto (I think) raising their hands in the air

Andy Zalzman looking at a newspaper he's holding and looking aghast

000

They don't always present it like that. Sometimes they put the words vertically, so that we can see the mnemonic clearly spelt down the page in a nice straight line. And sometimes they do this:

A screenshot starting “Our vision is underpinned by our Personal Best Values which are:” and then a vertical list of the words from the previous post, starting with ‘respect’, each in capital italics, centred, with their ‘PRIDE’ letter in bold, then ‘PRIDE’ in bold at the bottom; the highlighted letters don't align vertically

1100

Smylers @smylers.uk · 01/10/2026

A school near us uses the acronym PRIDE to remember ... well, erm:

A row of symbols in white, gold, and red on a dark blue background, with the first being a cup with the word ‘pride’ under it and all the letters in gold; the rest of the symbols have captions in pale blue with a single letter highlighted in gold in each: the P in ‘respect’, the R in ‘courage’, the first of the 3 Is in ‘responsibility’, the D in ‘kindness’, and the first E in ‘resilience’

291

Smylers @smylers.uk · 01/10/2026

Well you should've tied them down better.

04513

Smylers @smylers.uk · 30/09/2026

When people talk about Claude, I always think of the delightful cartoon dog in the books by Alex T Smith:

Cover of ‘Claude in the City’, with a cartoon of a white dog standing up, with a long pointy face, big floppy black ears, and red beret and top, looking very happy, waving and wagging, next to a pigeon; in the background, some people on a street and a collection of skyscrapers

Cover of ‘Claude at the Beach’, with the same cartoon dog in a beret, but this time wearing arm bands and cautiously pointing a toe into the sea; in the background is another swimmer, and a shark

140

Smylers @smylers.uk · 28/09/2026

Good to know this train is on time, FastJP. Oh, unless you click the + to expand the per-station view, at which point it's predicted to depart 21 minutes late and arrive 9 minutes late — that sort of “on time”.

Part of a screenshot showing 12:45 Derby to Leeds, labelled ‘On time’, with a plus sign at the end of the row

The same thing but with the plus expanded and listed underneath are listed Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Wakefield Westgate labelled in orange, with ‘arrives’, ‘departs’, and ‘realtime’ times for each one'; Derby is departs 12:45 but realtime 13:03; Leeds is arrives 14:03 but realtime 14:12

100

Smylers @smylers.uk · 27/09/2026

To be more accurate, EBay, it's *collection* that's taking longer than expected. Evri's tracking shows the seller dropped it off at a shop on Tuesday lunchtime, but Evri themselves haven't been to collect it from there yet. The delivery window was Wed–yesterday and they still haven't collected it!

“Delivery is taking longer than expected”

000

Smylers @smylers.uk · 27/09/2026

I'm sure #Ilkley's very nice in the rain, but why risk it? Come and play board games this afternoon at All Saints church. They've even turned the heating on for the first time this winter! All welcome. Bring snacks, and games you want to play or people to play our games. See you there.

Screenshot from a weather forecast showing two rain drops for each hour from 2pm to 5pm, with chance of rain from 60% to ≥95%

000

Smylers @smylers.uk · 25/09/2026

It is. But that still doesn't explain the Breaking Bad themed fragrance gift set, which I encountered on the shelves of our local Boyes:

A yellow box with ‘Breaking Bad’ written on it, presumably like in the show titles, featuring a black drawing of a man in a hat and sunglasses (again, presumably a character from the show) and some perfume-like bottles in front of it also with ‘Breaking Bad’ on them

000

Smylers @smylers.uk · 17/09/2026

The Manfreds were as good as I dared hope! All the hits, great atmosphere, and Paul Jones a gracious and enthusistic front-person as well as a singer and impressive harmonica player:

Long shot of a band on stage, in front of a starry background and with colour lights above: bass guitarist, organist, drummer, singer, saxophonist, and guitarist

Paul Jones singing, holding a microphone

Drum kit with ‘The Manfreds’ on the bass drum

152

Smylers @smylers.uk · 17/09/2026

- You done the covers yet? - Yeah, all sorted. - What are we using for geography? - Tiger — they're foreign. - PE? - Cyclist. - German? - Group of people. They might be German. - French? - People blowing bubbles. - ? - Nothing says ‘French’ like people blowing bubbles. Everybody knows that.

‘Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography B Revision Guide’, with a drawing of a tiger on the front, walking towards the reader

‘Pearson AQA GCSE Physical Education Revision Guide’, with a drawing of a cyclist on it, in helmet and lycra and with the bike at an angle suggesting going quite fast

‘Pearson Edexcel GCSE German Revision Guide’ with drawings of three young adults in a row, side-on to the reader, looking joyful in each other's company, through the one farthest away has a mobile phone to their face

‘Pearson Edexcel GCSE French Revision Guide’, with a drawing showing two young adults, each carefully blowing bubbles through those little rings on sticks that you dip in pots

3134

Smylers @smylers.uk · 16/09/2026

Thanks. I'll try to fit that in at some point! Talking of light palette cleansers, I've recently zoomed through this. Charming and witty (also preposterous, but in an entirely forgivable way):

Cover of ‘The Distinctly Competent District Councillor’ by Jonas Jonasson

Smylers @smylers.uk · 16/09/2026

I'm currently reading the Facebook-whistleblowing memoir from Sarah Wynn-Williams (review coming soon to an unrelated crossword blog!). There's no way I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt, neither for making Instagram less bad for teams nor for that survey question.

Cover of ‘Careless People’ by Sarah Wynn-Williams, “A story of where I used to work”

100

Smylers @smylers.uk · 16/09/2026

The above was silly but oday's unanswerable survey question is so much worse, trying to trick me into saying something positive about Meta. @yougov.co.uk, this is truly terrible. I've abandoned the survey rather than be part of Meta's propaganda machine.

361

Smylers @smylers.uk · 14/09/2026

Now suddenly very tempted to move to Bristol …

Bristol is the first UK council to ban adverts promoting ultra-fast fashion, including any references to flash sales, stock or time limited offers, and Black Friday.

050

Smylers @smylers.uk · 13/09/2026

5½ years on, and @railcards.bsky.social are still trying to trick their customers into signing up for subscription scams. I really thought they'd be better than this, but apparently not. Are Atoc subject to Freedom of Information rules, to find out how many customers they've scammed?

A pop-up window offering
“£20.50 cash back!

Click here for £20.50 cash back, credited onto your card by Complete Savings when you're part of its cashback programme, following this order!

Go

By clicking above, you can join this third party partner programme
for 18 pounds per month. This cashback is not calculated based on your
purchase with Railcard.”

210

Smylers @smylers.uk · 13/09/2026

I just skipped straight to ‘Interstella 5555’ and didn't bother with any of the 5554 earlier ones:

A frame from ‘Interstella 5555’, showing blue cartoon people playing in a band, all wearing headbands with something red and shiny at the front of them, and a space-y sort of background

120

Smylers @smylers.uk · 10/09/2026

I've flown once in the past 12 years, and have never owned a car or a smartphone. This email is from my current-account provider — an organization who literally have data on all my spending! — yet apparently still think I might want to pay £18/month on covering those things?

Screenshot with the heading “Pay £18 a month to get all these benefits” and then 3 boxes:

“airplane icon
Aviva travel insurance

Get worldwide family travel insurance, with no upper age limit for policyholders. Be covered for winter sports and activities, missed departures, trip cancellations and personal belongings.

Steering wheel icon
AA breakdown cover

Get AA UK and European breakdown cover for you and for any vehicle you’re travelling in. Cover includes a replacement car to keep you going and expert patrols ready to help on the road and at home.

Mobile phone icon
Assurant mobile phone insurance

Cover for yours and your family’s mobile phones, anywhere in the world. Protect against loss, damage, breakdown and faults. Phone accessories are covered too.”

431

Smylers @smylers.uk · 08/09/2026

The 14yo's school is switching to @arboreducation.bsky.social for communication. Access involves pretending I've forgotten my password. Which won't work for accessing that school if Arbor already have it linked to a different school — and the “fix” is to contact the school they are no longer at!

If your email address is used on more than one school site, you may not be able to get a reset password email for the most current site yourself. To prevent future issues, contact the old school to have them remove or change the email address from that account

211

Smylers @smylers.uk · 07/09/2026

Know somebody wanting to get into #CrypticCrosswords? Try this one: www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/puzz... DM for gift link. The clues are explained here: bigdave44.com/2026/09/07/d... Plus Mr Rush; music from REM, Ian Dury, and, erm Miss Piggy; “Boo-urns”; Lady Penelope's car; and a bucking broncho:

cover of the Mr Rush, the Mr Men book by Roger Hargreaves

Lady Penelope from ‘Thunderbirds’ being driven in her car by Parker

a bucking bronco promotional display in a supermarket, with a model horse at an angle above crates of beer

092

Smylers @smylers.uk · 04/09/2026

I do hope there will be some sixth-formers going in sporting a single massive hooped earring, ready to argue that being by itself it is by definition discrete:

Screenshot from a document:
“Sixth Form

· All jewellery should be non-ostentatious in style. Discrete ear piercings or single nose stud/ring are allowed. Lip rings, septum piercings, multiple visible facial piercings, large ear bars, hoops or gauges are not discrete.”

250

Smylers @smylers.uk · 03/09/2026

Oooh, train delay bingo — this evening's trains are collectively affected by trespass, a safety inspection, and faulty signalling!

This service is partially cancelled
This service was cancelled between Guiseley and Ilkley due to trespass (XA).

This service is running late because of a safety inspection on a train earlier today

This service has been delayed because of a fault with the signalling system at Shipley (Yorkshire)

Smylers @smylers.uk · 03/09/2026

Hi. Thank you for this. I got there from your blog's Atom feed, where links to older articles are 404ing. Looks like they need /blog before them (or removing the leading slash would also work, I think, as a relative link from /blog/index.atom).

Screenshot of the Atom feed, showing a link to <a href=/2026/07/16/There-Is-No_Server.html">

100

Smylers @smylers.uk · 31/08/2026

Theoretically, bigdave44.com/2026/08/31/d... provides hints and explanations to today's splendid Telegraph Crossword by @heroncrosswords.bsky.social. In practice, it's as many Dolly Parton videos as I could find even the most tenuous link to one of the crossword clues. RIP, Dolly. Enjoy:

Screenshot of the video player for ‘Better Get to Livin'’ by Dolly Parton

Screenshot of the video player for ‘What's Up?'’ by Dolly Parton featuring Linda Perry

Screenshot of the video player for a ‘The Simpsons’ clip featuring Dolly Parton, busting Homer and friends out of Superbowl jail

Screenshot of the video player for ‘Rockin'’ by Dolly Parton

030

Today's unanswerable survey question: describing the size of my parcel, where none of the options are true. There's “smaller than a shoebox” and “bigger than a shoebox”, but the parcel I received isn't either of those, being very much an actual shoebox.

YouGov

How big was this parcel? (Please select the answer that best applies)

Small enough to fit through a letterbox (e.g. 25cm x 35cm x 2.5cm)

Bigger than a letterbox but smaller than a shoebox (25cm x 35cm x 12cm)

Bigger than a shoebox but smaller than a small carry on suitcase (35cm x 45cm x 20cm)

Bigger than a small carry on suitcase, but small enough for one person to deliver on their own

Requires more than one person to deliver

Don’t know

8339

Looks like it. I originally read the first 2 in hardback (from Ponteland library) with this very different style of cover. By the time I was buying the 3rd one (Christmas Book Token at MetroCentre Sherrat & Hughes), they looked different again:

‘The Falcon's Malteser’ with Anthony Horowitz's name much smaller, the cover in quite a geometric style with black lines and solid colours, showing an office with a package on a desk, an open letter, and the shape of somebody with a gun in the window in the door; no mention of the Diamond Brothers

‘South by South-East’ in comic-book style writing, with Anthony Horowitz's name at the top and bigger than on the earlier design; subtitled ‘starring the famous Diamond Brothers’, and a photo from the TV adaption inserted into a gap in drawings including a phone box, a windmill, a gun, and a rose; “now on TV” in a triangle over a corner

Also I think The Diamond Brothers series by Anthony Horowitz still work: twisty and also hilarious. 11yo me loved them (well, the ones that had been written by then).

‘The Diamond Brothers in ... The Falcon's Malteser’ by Anthony Horowitz, with cartoon of a child hiding behind a gravestone from criminal-looking characters, one with a gun

110

Smylers @smylers.uk · 20/08/2026

Have they done the Murder Most Unladylike series? They're puzzly enough that I'm reading them — better than many cosy crime books aimed at adults, just happen to have child protagonists! By Robin Stevens (who also wrote the ‘London Eye’ sequel after Siobhan Dowd's death).

‘Murder Most Unladylike’ by Robin Stevens, featuring silhouettes of two schoolgirls, one with a magnifying glass

220

At Headingley yesterday, the England drinks carriers were entertainingly keen to dash on, whether it made sense or not: www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2... (The cricket was good, too. But plenty of others have already reported on that.) #EngVPak

“Thank you for your updates,” says Smylers. Our pleasure! “At Headingley yesterday, the England drinks carriers had clearly been briefed to appear on the field at every Pakistan wicket — something they obeyed diligently, some might even say unthinkingly. This included them charging on to the field after Azan Awais’s wicket, only to be waved off again, presumably on the grounds that only a single ball of the match had been played, none of the team were actually yet in need of a drink.

“Later they also appeared after Ali Usman’s unsuccessful review, when his dismissal was confirmed, even though the review meant it was now past the time announced for the tea break, so the players were heading off the pitch. Again, we got to see them walk on with enthusiasm, only to U-turn in the outfield and head straight off again.

“Do the squad members not in the team actually follow the match, or is drinks carrying a role that requires so much focus and concentration, it isn’t possible to think about anything else?”

050

Smylers @smylers.uk · 18/08/2026

Who is it? (Not a criticism of the artist; just my ignorance of what many politicians look like.) Google's image search reckons it's Michael Gove, but I'm not seeing it myself, and I couldn't find a recent story involving him:

Screenshot of head and shoulders from the original cartoon uploaded to Google's image search, with the response: “AI Overview

This image shows a watercolor caricature of British politician Michael Gove, depicted with oversized facial features, glasses, and his hand resting on his chin.

Subject: Michael Gove, a prominent former UK Conservative cabinet minister and Member of Parliament.

Style: Satirical editorial caricature emphasizing expressive facial features and characteristic mannerisms.”

100

Smylers @smylers.uk · 18/08/2026

Looking at which bus to get to Headingley tomorrow for the Test match, and it's hard to predict what time we actually want to be there for:

Excerpt from a weather forecast, showing the chance of rain from 10am to 2pm being 80%, 70%, 70%, 50%, and 50%

260

Smylers @smylers.uk · 15/08/2026

New favourite tribute-band name:

Smylers @smylers.uk · 15/08/2026

Or even buses meeting other buses: when the direct Ilkley–Harrogate bus was cut to only doing Otley–Harrogate, we were told to use the existing X84 for the Ilkley–Otley bit. Which we can, if we're prepared to stand around Otley bus station for 47 minutes — longer than either leg of the journey!

Screenshot of a journey planner showing boarding the X84 at 15:45, getting off at Otley bus station at 16:13, then boarding the X52 at 17:00 and getting off at Harrogate bus station at 17:28

020

Smylers @smylers.uk · 14/08/2026

If you're ever in Leeds, be sure to enjoy King Lane — mostly at 30, except for this roundabout which you get to go round at 40 (then back to 30 straight after): www.google.co.uk/maps/place/M...

Image from the Google Street View link showing a 40 road sign just before a roundabout, with an inset box zooming in on a 30 sign on its far side

Smylers @smylers.uk · 14/08/2026

I love you both, @synergyapp.bsky.social and @servo.org, but please can at least one of you change your logo? Or at least your browser tab icons, which at that size take a lot of distinguishing from each other. Thank you!

Screenshot showing websites for Synergy and Servo, both with logos of a ring with sections going round it in different shades of blue and green; the inside of the Synergy ring is a circle; the inside of Servo's ring is a pentagon, and there are thin gaps between the coloured sections — but those are almost impossible to see on the browser tab icons at the top of the page

120

Smylers @smylers.uk · 05/08/2026

Happy birthday. I found the icon labelled ‘GIF’ and pressed it, but it didn't seem very amusing to me. Amazing to learn that you say “gift” with a soft G, though …

“Failed to load GIFs

There was an issue connecting to Tenor.

Retry
Go Back”

110

Smylers @smylers.uk · 04/08/2026

That really isn't what ‘round’ means, English Heritage:

“Add £1.00 to round up your total to £112.75”

070

Smylers @smylers.uk · 30/07/2026

Also, special mention to the people in the row behind who continued to chat even once the film had started. I particularly enjoyed their “Awww, George Melly” followed by further fond reminiscing about George Melly … at picture of Barry Humphries:

Barry Humphries sitting in a chair, painted in bright colours (pink trousers, wide red tie with white dots), hat at an angle, against a solid blue background

030

Smylers @smylers.uk · 28/07/2026

Pleasantly surprised to see ‘The Daily Telegraph’ today *not* pandering to their audience, with Charles Moore pointing out that inheritance is luck, not a right: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07... and Tim Stanley berating rightwing climate-change deniers: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07...

Screenshot of the first article, by Charles Moore, with the headline ‘Having to sell your house to pay for care isn’t unfair’ and the standfirst ‘Heirs may feel aggrieved but inheritance is not a human right, it’s a piece of luck’; a photo is captioned ‘Sir Ed Davey says no one should lose their home because of care costs. Why?’

A screenshot of the second article, by Tim Stanley, with the headline ‘Climate change is real – and the Right needs to get serious about it’

162

Smylers @smylers.uk · 27/07/2026

It was kind of Royal Mail to email about a new parcel locker near me, but given we already have a sorting office nearby, on balance I'll stick to the 10-minute walk there and back, rather than the 92-hour walk (plus sleep) to get to our “local” parcel locker and back in, erm, Market Harborough.

“There's a new parcel locker near you.

Our new Parcel Lockers are a simple and secure way to ship your pre-paid parcels and returns without the hassle of queueing or rushing to meet shop hours. Your local locker’s open day and night – so you can get sorted on your schedule.
Find your new local Parcel Locker at
Sainsbury's, St. Mary's Place MARKET HARBOROUGH, LE16 7DR”

OpenStreetmap directions showing 46 hours and 18 minutes to walk the 207 km from Ilkley to Market Harborough

060

Smylers @smylers.uk · 26/07/2026

Relatedly, Screwfix in Guiseley has the worst pedestrian access I've seen for a long time. The pavement just runs out partway along their entrance (left), then you have to walk through the gates on the road as vans are squeezing past:

A minor road with pavement which just suddenly stops on both sides, with a carefully clipped hedge taking over its space on the left and cones on the right, leading up to a fence and gate

Close up of the fence, showing the only way to enter is through the vehicle gate, walking on directly on the road, with no pavement, verge, or anywhere else safe to stand