I'm Dan Q (he/him). I've spent the last 26+ years creating and writing online.
While I'm considering a new paid role, I continue to volunteer with Three Rings. I live with my partner, her husband, two kids and a dog. I can sometimes be found geo*ing, performing magic, or recording the most pointless podcast.
I believe in open source, open relationships, and opening doors to marginalised groups. Black lives matter. Trans
rights are human rights.
Be nice to humans, human.
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Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella
I recently read Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella. I guess it's got a 'werewolf'. It barely feels 'gay'. It certainly left me 'bored', at times. Turns out that it's a very middle-of-the-road story about Gen Z folks growing into their identities, using sexuality and lycanthropy as loosely-fitting framing devices. Read more →
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I Wrote the Same Code Six Times!
Could I rock an interview tech-test in a programming language I haven't touched in a decade? I wanted to know, so I found a tech-test... then solved it in six different programming languages in a single sitting. Read more →
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The Difference Between Downloading and Streaming
Mostly to make use of an animation I made for a different blog post that hasn't materialised, let me take a moment to explain to you the fundamental technical difference between 'streaming' and 'downloading'. Which won't take long... because there isn't one! Read more →
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Google Shared My Phone Number!
When people started calling my personal mobile number with questions about a voluntary organisation I'm involved with, I was confused: we weren't sharing that number. It turns out that Google had decided to take the number I used to verify my identity for Google Business some years prior and start putting it in Google Search results. WTF, Google? Read more →
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Dynamic Filters in Pure CSS
CSS is powerful and performant. Let's implement client-side list filtering (with the user's choice of AND and OR modes) in CSS, without a line of JavaScript. Read more →
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Avanti's Accessibility Failure
Train provider Avanti's website may be accessible... but their emails, which you need to interact with to USE their website... are not. It's simply not possible to verify your email address if you use a screen reader, and there's no guest checkout option. Read more →
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Variable-aspect adaptive-bitrate video... in vanilla HTML?
Thanks to recent browser enhancements, it's possible to show videos of different aspect ratios based on CSS media queries with no JavaScript dependencies. You can even combine it with adaptive bitrate streaming, even on static hosting. Let me show you how. Read more →
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Deprecate React
Just to reassure myself that I really can do all the things I say on my CV, I've been looking at tech tests that touch on each of them. I can definitely write React, for example... but... I might question the wisdom of a company that's exclusively recruiting for React skills in their front-end developers... Read more →
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Halifax Shared My Credit Agreement!
Today, my partner's husband received a letter, addressed to him, about a change to his credit card agreement. Except the letter wasn't about his credit card... it was about mine! Halifax dun goofed. Read more →
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More articles →
(articles are traditional long-form blog posts) -
In case you weren't already a little nervous or uneasy going in to the dental clinic, the doorstop at my dentist's front door will fix that for you.
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Did not find GC9M1WJ Village Hall series 1179 - Mortimer Hall Marston
Had to give up on this one for now. Found the plaque without difficulty and soon had a believable set of coordinates (though I briefly struggled with what was meant by the D & E description). Soon I was at the GZ and, after a brief hunt through the multitude of possible hosts, tried the hint. No use, though: I'm no wiser what I should be looking for. Sadly this is only a flying visit to Marston and I've got to go wrangle the kids now, but maybe I'll revisit next time I'm in the area. Read more →
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Found GC9GJZH Dotty writes letters
I'm in Marston on an errand and figured I'd pick up a couple of local caches that weren't around when I was last in the vicinity: which I guess was way back when I lived near here! The puzzle didn't leave me stumped for long, but I always used to score highly at Dotty's kind of game! TFTC. Read more →
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Found GC9GEC1 Church Micro 14176...Old Marston
A quick and easy offset church micro if ever I saw one. I'll tell you what, I totally approve of this form of formula - this letter is this number plus or minus something, ten just string them all together - rather than the more-common algebraic backflips one sometimes has to do. SL, TFTC! Read more →
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Found GCANV4T #14 Longworth Loop
While I searched through potential hosts in this off-the-path GZ, the geopup just stood in one particular place, looking at me as if I were a fool. I should've listened, because clearly her own geosense is developing: she was right next to the cache's hiding spot!
TFTC, and thanks once more for such a brilliant loop of caches: all nicely hidden, well cared for, and appropriately sized. Really enjoyed our walk this morning Read more → -
Found GCANV4Q #13 Longworth Loop
After a brief hunt in a couple of candidate places a hit the hint, which was reassuringly clear on which host I should be searching. Soon the cache was in hand. TFTC. Read more →
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Found GCANV4N #12 Longworth Loop
After fashioning the requisite tool it still took me a solid 5+ attempts to retrieve the cache - it felt a bit like playing those wiggle-wire fairground games that I suck at so much! Once retrieved, the dog was very disappointed that start I was holding wasn't a plaything for her. TFTC, FP awarded for the right container, right hiding place, right difficulty. Read more →
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Found GCANV4E #11 Longworth Loop
Found at retrieved entirely by feel while the geopup stood (well, sat) guard. TFTC. Read more →
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Found GCANV49 #10 Longworth Loop
A helpful geotrail led me right to this one, though I had to wait until a slow-moving jogger, talking on their phone, had passed before I could retrieve it. TFTC. Read more →
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Found GCANV45 #09 Longworth Loop
Great container in an excellent spot (have another FP!) but retrieval of this one was a bit of a stretch for my old bones! Amazing route you've picked out here, too, CO. TFTC! Read more →
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Found GCANV41 #08 Longworth Loop
QEF at the one obvious hiding place within the GZ. Got pickled retrieving the cache, but that was nothing compared to how difficult it was to extract the log from its inner container. What a challenge! TFTC. Read more →
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Found GCANV3H #07 Longworth Loop
A telltale sign to geocacher's eye made both finding and retrieving this cache pretty easy. TFTC! Read more →
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Found GCANV3D #06 Longworth Loop
My geosense tingled and I found this cache straightaway, even while the geohound excitedly ran out into the open field ahead and exhorted me to follow. SL, TFTC! Read more →
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Found GCANV37 #05 Longworth Loop
After initially following what I mistook for a geotrail but which turned out to be on entirely the wrong side of the path, I soon saw my mistake, crossed over, and had the cache in hand. TFTC. Read more →
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Found GCANV2R #03 Longworth Loop
Searched high and low around the obvious hiding place before sitting down to have a think and immediately spotting another even better hiding place she the cache in pain sight: d'oh! The geopup didn't want to come all the all the way to it so she waited at the first obvious hiding spot.
Great to see a good sized cache for the environment and in such good condition. FP awarded. Took 4x4 travel bug. TFTC! Read more → -
More posts →
(of all kinds:
articles, 
checkins, 
notes, 
reposts...)