Derek Peden

Watching my better half get ready to go out on “her hen do“ with the girls is incredible. She looks so beautiful. No photo as she doesn’t want a photograph to be posted, but she looks absolutely fantastic, I feel so lucky.

Watching the men’s downhill and going in excess of 120km/hr (75mph) and making 45m jumps is absolutely incredible. A medal for bravery for every competitor.

Mehdir Hasan on BlueSky:

Please, please, media outlets, remember the C word: context. You can’t discuss Trump’s apes post - or his ‘blame a staffer’ excuse - if you’re not also factoring in and reminding your viewers/readers about his birtherism, his ‘send her back’ remarks, him calling Somalis ‘low IQ’.

Anyone not watching the Olympics opening ceremony isn’t missing much. The competition is always more interesting than the ceremonies.

Yet more evidence that there is nothing beneath Trump. Disgraceful.

The truth hurts:

Trump has threatened to sue comedian Trevor Noah after the Grammy’s:

“Song of the Year - that is a Grammy that every artist wants almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

From BBC News.

Dear IT managers: the HP “Elitebook” is horrific. There is nothing “elite” about it. Performance is glacially slow and completely unreliable, with a trackpad which is unusable.

Another incredible video from Elle Cordova

Bring on the midterms

I feel some sympathy for the journalists who’ve had to endure this shit.

I love that Glasgow is playing host to Irish and Iraqi music. Proving once again that there is more that binds us than divides us.

Watching chef James Martin prepare raw squid for cooking…. I’ll stick with chicken, thanks very much.

I’ve addressed my occasional habit of posting film and TV reviews with a random format with a subscription to Quick Reviews.

I could use this to simply say how much I liked or disliked but that’s not my style. I prefer a more granular scale and based on stars, because, well because I am over 40 and prefer tradition to a thumbs-up emoji or some other visual indicator.

This post is a deliberate record to refer to, and make it consistent.

I, Tonya

and just my opinion.

MacRumors sharing What to Expect From iOS 26.4. The lacklustre adoption of iOS26 isn’t from features but function and usability. I see nothing here which fixes any of this.

The Rip

and just my opinion.

The black top to my standing desk might be gorgeous, but OMG does it feel like I am constantly cleaning it.

For someone claiming to a populist Trump certainly knows how to make himself unpopular and not just in his home country. I can’t think of a more reviled US president.

Daring Fireball: Ternus Now Overseeing Design at Apple, Reports Gurman

Sounds promising if true. However let’s not forget there will no immediate changes.

I fail to understand why Apple Music on Mac OS appears to have no knowledge of Apple Music the service. I’ve been trying to develop an Apple Music playlist and found Mac OS great for editing but unable to play tracks in the playlist when the tracks are in Apple Music.

Working for a French company really makes me wish I had paid any attention in French class when I was 12-13. The business might be conducted in English but when you visit the French sites in an entirely different matter.

It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons:

The main function of an icon is to help you find what you are looking for faster.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, adding an icon to everything is exactly the wrong thing to do. To stand out, things need to be different. But if everything has an icon, nothing stands out.

More than a little delicate today. Last night’s finale to the holidays was maybe a step too far. Or maybe it was just that last beer was one too many.

Straight from the presidential playbook : When in trouble, distract the voters away from your own performance by an act of war. This time it’s the people of Venezuela who are paying the price.