Skip to content

Dan Q

    • Articles
    • Everything
    • Notes
    • Reposts (shares)
    • Checkins (geo*)
    • Videos
    • Reviews
    • Comics
    • Tags
    • Stats
    • Subscribe
    • Blogroll
  • About
    • Semi-standard "slash pages" you might like to explore:
    • /about
    • /blank
    • /blogroll
    • /colophon
    • /contact
    • /cv
    • /license
    • /postcards
    • /privacy
    • /salary
    • /shh
    • /slashes
    • /stats
    • /subscribe
    • /where
    • Hide posts of type:
    • Choose how Dan's dressed:
    • Hair
    • T-Shirt
  • Contact
  • Podcast

Month: April 2020

  • Image representing post: Getting Hired at Automattic

    Getting Hired at Automattic

    Jerry Jones writes about his experience of Automattic's recruitment process, which is a more-readable summary than Dan's was!

    Read more (123 words)

    • Repost
    • posted 30 April, 2020
  • Drawers with a dungeon inside

    Dungeon Drawers

    Cory Doctorow shares photos of a roleplaying game dungeon built into a chest of drawers.

    Read more (53 words)

    • Repost
    • posted 29 April, 2020
  • globalclimatestrike.net/action: "Uh oh! This web page is dirtier than 97% of web pages tested. Oh my, 7.74g of CO2 is produced every time someone visits this web page."

    Digital Climate Strike's Carbon Footprint

    Dan criticises a website promoting a "Digital Climate Strike" as being among the world's worst websites from the perspective of its carbon footprint.

    Read more - about 3 minutes (643 words)

    • Article
    • 5 comments
    • posted 28 April, 2020
  • :maskchallenge:

    For the benefit of my South African colleagues on Slack, I give you the #maskchallenge #emoji.

    Read more - about 1 minutes (16 words)

    • Note
    • 2 comments
    • posted 24 April, 2020
  • Image representing post: Happy Birthday, You're Fired

    Happy Birthday, You're Fired

    Robin's latest blog sort-of reads like a contemporaneously-written "what I did on my holidays" report, except that it's pretty-much about the opposite of a holiday: it chronicles Robin's adventures in the North of England during these strange times.

    Read more (133 words)

    • Repost
    • 1 comment
    • posted 21 April, 2020
  • How to not make a résumé in React



    I’ve seen a fair share of tutorial links floating around in newsletters and Twitter and the like recently. They all promise the same thing, namely how to use React to create a résumé.
    I mean, I get it. It’s important to have something to build towards when learning a new skill, especially with …

    Read more - about 3 minutes (528 words)

    • Repost
    • posted 21 April, 2020
  • Image representing post: Coronavirus: what the hell do we do now?!

    Coronavirus: what the hell do we do now?!

    Andrew Steele's produced another COVID-19-related video, this time focussing on the endgame of the crisis, and you should go watch it.

    Read more (75 words)

    • Repost
    • 6 comments
    • posted 20 April, 2020
  • Found GC4CEXE CowSlip

    This checkin to GC4CEXE CowSlip reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. Like many others, I came at this cache from the wrong side of the ditch/fence and had to make my way East a little way to find a suitable crossing point. Cache was easy to find, but it's definitely …

    Read more (47 words)

    • Checkin
    • to GC4CEXE
    • posted 11 April, 2020
  • Found GC61RDN Beside the Seaside, Beside the . . . . Cherwell

    This checkin to GC61RDN Beside the Seaside, Beside the . . . . Cherwell reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. Found the clue object immediately and the cache a couple of minutes later while out on my coronavirus-crisis-compatible daily exercise walk. TFTC.

    Read more (22 words)

    • Checkin
    • to GC61RDN
    • posted 11 April, 2020
  • Venn-Euler diagram showing "he" and "she" as separate categories, but the name "they" shared between the subset (individuals for whom this is their individual pronoun) and the superset (one or more people whose genders are unspecified), causing confusion.

    Understanding Them (Pronouns)

    After many years, Dan has a change of heart and decides that the singular "them" isn't all that, and maybe we do need some other nonbinary pronouns.

    Read more - about 4 minutes (798 words)

    • Article
    • 5 comments
    • posted 9 April, 2020
  • Ted Chiang Explains the Disaster Novel We All Suddenly Live In

    In an interview with Halimah Marcus of Electric Literature, Ted Chiang shares his thoughts on how the coronavirus crisis is, and is not, like a science fiction story.

    Read more (192 words)

    • Repost
    • posted 7 April, 2020
  • Third-party libraries and security issues

    A month or so ago Chris Ferdinandi recommended that developers avoid third-party libraries for security reasons. Dan partially-agrees, but feels the need to explain where and why he disagrees too.

    Read more - about 3 minutes (661 words)

    • Repost
    • 9 comments
    • posted 6 April, 2020
  • SnackOverflow question: Let's say I'm camping and I need to make toast. I have a loaf of bread and a campfire. What's the best way to make toast?

    The 7 Types Of StackOverflow Answers

    StackOverflow's a great resource, but it's also a terrible one. Dan explores the seven types of answers you'll get to any question you post to the site.

    Read more - about 3 minutes (711 words)

    • Article
    • 5 comments
    • posted 2 April, 2020
  • Image representing post: The first lines of 10 classic novels, rewritten for social distancing

    The first lines of 10 classic novels, rewritten for social distancing

    Jessie Gaynor from Literary Hub rewrites the first lines of 10 classic novels for our new reality.

    Read more (31 words)

    • Repost
    • posted 2 April, 2020
  • (Fake) letter from Boris Johnson stating that the government's new policy is just to write-off 2020 and carry on from 2021, after the coronavirus crisis has passed.

    Dan receives a second letter from the Prime Minister, and fully backs the government's bold new strategy.

    Read more - about 1 minutes (20 words)

    • Note
    • 1 comment
    • posted 1 April, 2020

Get in Touch

I'd love to hear from you! Why not...

  • email me on blog@danq.me?
    (my spam filter is aggressive, so use a good subject line, i.e. not just "hello"; encrypt your email if you like)
  • say hi on Mastodon, where I'm @dan@danq.me?
  • send a letter or postcard to
    Dan Q, Unit 159610, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL, UK
  • reach out some other way?
  • © Dan Q 1998-2026
  • Creative CommonsAttributionNon-Commercial except where stated (how to use)
  • powered by BloqClassicPressHTML5CSS3
  • privacy
  • Read articles, checkins, notes, reposts, and more...
  • @dan@danq.me
  • contact
  • subscribe
  • Dan Q
  • Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license
  • ClassicPress
  • CSS is awesome
  • Created by a human, not by AI
  • LGBTQ+ pride flag (2018 progress variant)
  • Polyamory flag
  • Say no to Web3
  • Mastodon (it's like email... no, come back!)
  • Tested on Firefox
  • Best viewed on the Internet
  • PHP
  • Ruby
  • Debian
  • Caddy (webserver)
  • Find me on Melonland
  • Check out my GitHub
  • Three Rings - by volunteers, for volunteers, since 2002
  • I'm a fucking webmaster
  • Looks best at: any resolution!