Dan Q

I'm Dan Q. I've spent the last 25+ years creating and writing on the Internet.

I work at Automattic and volunteer with Three Rings. I live with my partner, her husband, two kids and a dog. I can sometimes be found out geo*ing, cycling, or performing magic.

I believe in open source, open relationships, and opening doors to marginalised groups.

Photograph of Dan, his ponytail hanging over the shoulder of his black t-shirt, smiling from behind his beard and waving to the camera.

  • D20 with Advantage

    D&D players spend a lot of time rolling D20s. Sometimes they 'roll with advantage' - that is, roll two dice and take the largest. Last night I dreamed I derived the probability matrix for such rolls, and it got me thinking... could you construct a single die that rolls 'D20 with Advantage'? Read more →

  • Idea: Meeting Spoofer

    Coworkers keep scheduling meetings in periods you've blocked-off for no-meetings, head-down focus time? Maybe you should try scheduling fake meetings in those slots instead and see if they respect those any better! (But perhaps there's a bigger cultural issue you oughta look at instead.) Read more →

  • Roll Your Own Antispam

    The Web contact form of a nonprofit I founded started attracting a huge volume of spam, and conventional tools weren't helping. But a little analysis allowed us to block almost all of it without compromising on accessibility, privacy, or the false-positive rate. Read more →

  • 2024 in Videogames

    With my busy schedule, I appreciate a video game that I can pick-up-and-drop at will and a prefer depth rather than quantity of content. This year, I've played and can recommend three games in particular - Horizon: Forbidden West, Thank Goodness You're Here!, and Tactical Breach Wizards. Read more →

  • So... I'm A Podcast

    As you might have already noticed, I started a podcast. Let's take a look (or listen!) into how and why I adapted my WordPress installation to double as a podcast host, and discuss what kind of content you're likely to find on it... Read more →

  • Even More 1999!

    Regular commenter Spencer wrote an SVG filter to improve my "1999 Mode", and it's excellent. But it got me thinking about how it doesn't exactly replicate the feel of my 90s Web pages, which featured extensive dithering. Read more →

  • Easy Socialising

    This weekend a bunch of old Abnibbers - folks I spent much of my time with 20 years ago - plus their children and dogs came over to visit, and I was delighted with how relatively-effortless it was to hang out with them despite not seeing some of them in-person for multiple years. Read more →

  • Draw Me a Comment!

    Instead of typing a comment for me to read, you can now draw one! Please don't make me regret this, Internet (🍆). Read more →

  • Permanent Record

    I spent my school years being told that things would go on my permanent record. But it looks like that's not so-permanent as I was lead to believe. Read more →

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    (articles are traditional long-form blog posts)

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  • Note #24514

    When she’s in need of some love and attention, like this Twentieth of Bleptember, my dog will place herself underfoot at my desk. She won’t necessarily put her blep away, though.× Read more →

  • Calculating the Ideal "Sex and the City" Polycule

    When Juan Pablo Sarmiento thought to himself "couldn't Sex and the City's love triangles be squared-away by polyamory?" he didn't just sit down and write slashfic. No; he came up with a formula for idealised polycules, and open-sourced the algorithm. That's my kind of nerdity! Read more →

  • Note #24503

    She might not have completely slept through me serving her a dog treat this Nineteenth of Bleptember, but our dog was still dozy enough from her nap that she didn’t notice for a while that I’d placed it directly onto her bleppy tongue. 😅 Read more →

  • Post: Reply to short note on emoji text alternative variations

    I replied to Steve Faulkner's 2022 post about screen readers and emoji, highlighting the underlying interpretation problem with emoji, and sharing a topical joke that Chris McCausland made on Would I Lie To You? a few years prior. Read more →

  • Note #24485

    “Is is walkies time yet? How about now? Now? What about now?” Her blep partially-engaged, our doggo buzzes with excited anticipation as I put on my shoes. × Read more →

  • Note #24481

    More mlem than blep, but I ❤️ this picture of our happy pupper mid-playtime too much not to share it with you this Seventeenth of Bleptember. Photo courtesy Lisa from Muddy Paws.× Read more →

  • Note #24479

    Usually our dog ignores the television, but when a horse appeared it was interesting enough that she sat up to take notice. Not interesting enough for her to put away her half-asleep blep, though.× Read more →

  • Found GC9XJDB WLMCP #2E Bridge The Gap

    A quick and easy cache-and-dash in-between errands. I’ve got gardening gloves; I’ve got supplies to make brunch… and I’ve got ten minutes spare, so I came to find this cache.Container might enjoy some camo tape or something if it’s not to be mistaken for litter! TFTC.× Read more →

  • Note #24474

    “What’chu lookin’ at?” our doggo appears to ask, this Fifteenth of Bleptember. × Read more →

  • Note #24471

    If the most significant thing you achieve this Fourteenth of Bleptember is that you find a good spot to lie in a sunbeam… that’s still a win. × Read more →

  • Note #24461

    Does there exist a more contented moment for this bleppy doggo than getting to lounge on the sofa with her favourite humans? × Read more →

  • Note #24459

    Some days… you’re just so dog-tired you can’t even find the energy to pull your head into your basket with the rest of you. This Twelfth of Bleptember’s a bit like that for me, too. I feel you, dog.× Read more →

  • How to Monetize a Blog

    Tyler's written about How To Monetize A Blog, and it's excellent reading for anybody w̵͓͒h̶̤̉o̵̩͘ ̸̮̀h̷̗̓a̴̫͆s̶̢̓ ̷͔̏ȩ̴͛v̷͍̐ĕ̵̟r̷̤̈́ ̷͖̎c̴̟̓o̵͉̚ñ̴̮s̸͈̊i̴̞͆d̵̳̀ẹ̸̀r̷͉̃e̷̫͛d̶̘̈́ t̷̖͇̭̭̠͙̭̙̓̇̾̒̂͝ḩ̴̨̱͙͇͉̫̘̻̎̔į̴̛̲̪̜͈̜̻͉͖̲̰̥̘̩͕͒̈͑͂̔̆̆̍̊̕͜r̵̼͇̲͎̰̓̅͂͛̅͗͜d̷̞̃̀͊͜͝-̴̛̖̱̬̣͍͙̠̰̽̂͌̈̉̆͊̈́͘͝p̷̲̅̀̑̈́̕͝a̵̢̙͉̱͈̬͈̝̲̪͈͉̺̣̤̎̓͑͊͂͝r̸̹̳͇̦̫̿̽̈́̑͗̀͒̎̚͘͝t̵̢̖͈̺̺̻̳͔̹̩̀̐̀̿͛͛͒͂̂̌͝y̶̨̹̗̹̐͗̍͊̐̏̏̾͂̀͆͋̇̀͊ ̷̡̺̩̫̣̦̤̹͓̺̬̑͜ã̵̺͔̬̟̭̻͉̺̘̖͉̜̹̳͎̲̌͋̂͆͋̄͝d̸̢̨̢̳̗̭͍̞̣̗̯̖͚͇͔͊̉͒̓͂s̸̡̨̛̰̘̠̘̣̦̘̼͇̫͔̹͇͛̾͊͘͝͝ ̴̥̗͙̣̈́̐́̐͛̓͗͛̈́͋̇̊̐̕͘a̴̲̼͎͍̮̪͑̂̀̇̿̿͛͝ ̸̨̘̼̤̭̱̩̱̞͋̿̓̕͘g̷͉͇̰̰̰̰̻͖̫̠̹͖̅ơ̴̻̩̹̹͂̂́̇̈́̏͒́́̃̓͗͝͝͝͠ó̷̤̝͔̞͙̽̍̌͐́̈͘͠ͅd̵̼̂̀̃͒͂͐̏͌̅̈̈̒̈́ ̵̡̢͎̬̠̭̪̭̪̼̭̠̰͍̠̜̓̈́̓̀͑̍͒̏̌͂̀͂̀i̴̡̜͕͇͖̤̬̜̼̹̟͇̤̞̝̪͐́͑̋͠d̷̟̬͛͛̉̀̇̐͊̈͒͒̈́̅̽͝ę̸̛̛̹̦͇̰̱͚̮͎̟̞͇̙͖̎̐̂̌̅͊͑̐͛̈́͝ȁ̷̠̳͙̊̈̌͋͂̎́̌̌̐͝.̷͖͓͉̠͍̝̭̘́̋̈͛͒̔̂͝͝ͅ. Read more →

  • Note #24437

    Such poise! Such grace! While out for a run around with her doggy pals this Eleventh of Bleptember, our dog takes every opportunity to show off her elegance and style and definitely not just look like a derpy little wazzock.Photo courtesy Lisa from Muddy Paws.× Read more →

  • Note #24435

    According to news media: today, a billionaire is being taken into space, where the crew will open the rocket door and put him outside. This seems like a great start, and I hope that the remaining 1,780+ billionaires left here on earth will be following suit soon.× Read more →

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    (of all kinds: articles, checkins, notes, reposts...)