I'm Dan Q. I've spent the last 25+ years writing things on the Internet.
I work at Automattic and volunteer with Three Rings. I live with my partner, her husband, and our two children. When I'm not at my desk, I can often be found doing GNSS sports, cycling, or travelling.
I believe in open source, an open Web, and open minds. Open relationships are cool, too.
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It Takes Two
At the weekend, Ruth and I travelled to Edinburgh to attend a tango class for which we were in no-way qualified. We learned a lot, but mostly because we knew very little to begin with! Read more →
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Household Finances Revisited
A year or two ago, my polyfamily and I switched from an "income-assessed" to a "same-residual" model for managing our household expenditures. If the former could be described as "socialism at home", the latter is more like "household Universal Basic Income". Read more →
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Pen Pals Wanted
Please will you be my pen pal for one month in 2024? Read more →
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My Default Apps at the End of 2023
All the cool kids are sharing their "lifestack" as we approach the end of 2023. Here's mine. Read more →
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Gemini and Spartan without a browser
Half a dozen different ways of downloading content from Gemini (and Spartan) servers from the command-line using everyday tools. Read more →
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Making WordPress Fast (The Hard Way)
Lots of guides explain how to improve WordPress performance easily. This guide is different. I'd like to share the hard ways in which you might squeeze even more speed out of your WordPress site. Read more →
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Tension in the Wires
Received my physical copy of Planets In The Wires today, and I must say it was really cool of Pagan Wanderer Lu to include one of Fred "Thickie" Holden's famous Tension Sheets as a freebie. Read more →
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Emoji Reactions
I added a stupid feature to my blog. On some posts, including this one, you can now send an "emoji reaction". Y'know, for if you're too lazy to write a comment. The available reactions vary by post. That is all. Read more →
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The Frosted Pane
Pagan Wanderer Lu's new album Planets In The Wires dropped today, and I just cried my eyes out at track 5 (The Frosted Pane). It opens almost apologetically, like an explanation for the gap in new releases for most of the twenty-teens. But it quickly becomes a poetic exploration of a detached depression of a man trapped under the weight of the world. It's sad, and beautiful, and relatable. Read more →
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ET App
Travelling around Edinburgh by tram this weekend, I kept being advertised the "ET app". I didn't install the app, in case it was bundled with spyware. After all, everybody my age knows: ET phones home. Read more →
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Bramble
Fresh D&D campaign! I'm playing a Harengon Barbarian. I'm a fierce bunny rabbit! Read more →
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Gemini Squared
How did I never think of accessing Gemini (the protocol) on my Gemini (portable computer) before today? Of course, I recently rehomed my Gemini so instead I had to access Gemini on my Cosmo. Read more →
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Monster Munch Sandwich
Experimenting with some unusual combinations in anticipation of International Crisp Sandwich Day. Today's is Roast Beef Monster Munch on Farmhouse White. Read more →
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Weird A.I. Yankovic, a cursed deep dive into the world of voice cloning
What if Weird Al wrote the original versions of the songs the covered, and the other artists did the parody covers? With "thanks" to AI voice deepfake technology, and some work by Andy Baio, we can answer that question. Read more →
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Watch with Pride
With thanks to Shawn Rast of Pride Bands, my watch/fitness tracker proudly sports some new colours. Read more →
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Out of the Trees
In 1976, Graham Chapman and Douglas Adams made a single episode of a sketch comedy show which was broadcast only once before the master tapes were destroyed. It took significant work to recover, but that's small potatoes compared to the ephemeral media we create today. Read more →
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Found GC2HDCZ Tom Burts Cache 4
Found while walking into High Wycombe to work after dropping my canine caching-companion (pictured) off at the nearby veterinary hospital for an operation. Didn’t need her help with this easy find, luckily! Shame about all the fly tipping littering this otherwise pleasant path. Greetings from Oxfordshire!× Read more →
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Groundhog Day
After a break of nine and a half years, webcomic Octopuns is back! Read more →
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