You STILL can't get a new number and keep your old one?!
I’ve had my mobile phone number for 15 years. My number is a nice number. It’s pleasing to say out loud. There’s a repeating pattern of digits in it that is especially pleasant. (For obvious reasons, I’m not going to put it on this blog.) My mum was particularly proud of herself when she bought it on a pay-as-you-go SIM card in the high street...
Smart home user interfaces
Terry has written a blog post that’s given me an idea for one of my own. This is also sort of part 2 of my moaning about smart home stuff that I started on this blog last year. Smart homes are lovely. I love being able to hit one button to turn off all the lights and appliances when I go out, or go to...
Smart home stuff still sucks
My other half loves his new fart button. That’s one of the nice things about the Flic Hub — you can set up each button to perform multiple actions, including playing a range of sounds preinstalled on the hub. Some of which are farts, because fart humour knows no bounds of appropriateness. (We are yet to do it whilst the other is in a meeting,...
Skylar MacDonald's “Skylar MacDonald” FAQ
Hi, I’m Skylar MacDonald. Recently, I took the decision to change my name to Skylar MacDhòmhnaill (but you can call me Skylar MacDonald). As it turns out, when you change your name, people have a lot of questions. Here are the answers to some of them. I have been asked all of these questions at least once. I’m sure I will update this as time...
Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Me
I’m sure we’re all aware of the excellent article Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names by Patrick McKenzie. It’s a wonderful list of everything that programmers assume when designing systems that handle names. I changed my name recently, so I’ve had the fun of updating my name on every system that knows who I am. To add additional complications to the process, my new last name...