Xmas 2023
Home office
Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles. It takes away today’s peace. – Syed Balkhi 2023 https://twitter.com/syedbalkhi/status/1724436909949120887
4 player chess variant
This is a variant of 4 player chess that I think would work well. It has less pieces than a traditional 4 player board, which should reduce complexity, and the eighth rank, for promotion, is very clear, since it’s delineated by when you reach your opposite opponents zone.
Be like Stella May!
Panasonic tape player
I think I last owned one of those around 2005/2006 when I upgraded to an MP3 player. I remember saying that MP3 players were dumb, and that their functionality should just be combined into the phone which we were all already lugging around in our pocket. Nobody seemed to agree.
First watch I bought
This was the first watch I bought with my own money. Mine was a lemon colour rather than this lime one.
WordCamp Netherlands
Last week, I spoke on “Bytes and Minds: Navigating Mental Health in the Tech World” at WordCamp Netherlands 2023. Big thanks to Roan de Vries for capturing these moments. Catch the slides here: WordCamp Netherlands 2023 presentation.
AI love hearts
Karting at Spreewaldring
This is me karting at Spreewaldring, south of Berlin. Thanks to James for providing the exterior clips. My fastest time was 0:42.146, but I think there’s a couple of seconds to be cut off that with some more practice.
RIP Jamie Harvey
RIP Jamie Harvey. A tribute to a lifelong friend who taught valuable lessons in kindness, sharing, and courage. From kindergarten adventures to shared hobbies and support during school years, Jamie’s influence is unforgettable. His loss is deeply mourned, but his memory lives on.
Sim racing
Liuba took this photo of me during an Asphalt League race on iRacing. I didn’t realise how poor my cable management was until looking at the photo. And yes, my racing rig is in my wardrobe.
Lightbulb
Question: How many Genders are there? Katie Hopkins: Two. Question: And they are? Katie Hopkins: Male female. Question: But what about someones right to tell you what their gender is? Katie Hopkins: No problem at all. So it’s you, you’re gonna tell me what your gender is. But in a less fucked world, I don’t […]
Müggelsee bike ride route
This is a work in progress … it’ll be a bike ride route from Ostkreuz in Berlin to Kleinermüggelsee (for swimming), then up to Großer Müggelberg (tallest natural mountain in Berlin), over to Müggelberg tower, then a trip through the forest, then finishing at S Treptowerpark. Download GPX
A bad idea
Yasser Arafat Museum
Some pictures from the compound used by Yasser Arafat in Ramallah in Palestine during the Second Intifada. I remember hearing about this at the time, but based on the news at the time, I assumed he was stuck in some sort of hell hole the whole time. But it was actually surprisingly nice on the […]
Bethlehem
Some snaps from my trip to Bethlehem with Brianna.
New bike
My bike was stolen yesterday. Here’s the replacement.
Church of the nativity
Brianna and I visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem at night
View of the beautiful Bethlehem suburb that Brianna stayed in whilst visiting Israel. I tried catching a photo of us with the homes in the background, but every attempt came out blurry and all we caught was a close up of us 😛
Bahai Garden in Haifa
On advice from my old colleague and friend Josh, Brianna and I went to Bahai Garden in Haifa whilst in Israel.
Garden of Gesthemane
Brianna and I visited the Garden of Gesthemane in Jerusalem.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Brianna and I visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Dating profile photos 2005
I found this blast from the past in my Google Drive just now. They’re my dating profile pictures from 2005, back before dating apps were at all useful and only crazy people (including me) were on them. As far as I know, the last one was never used due to the excessive cringe factor. As […]
n00b Vampire
Some photos from Halloween 2015 that got lost in my photo storage.
Orange Bay
Some pictures from Orange Bay in Egypt, with Liuba.
Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza
The pyramids
Some photos from a recent trip to the pyramids of Giza.
The Sphinx
Some pictures from a trip Liuba and I made to the Sphinx, in Egypt.
Snorkeling in Egypt
Some pictures from a snorkeling trip in Egypt.
Sentia Red
My first order of a Gaba based drink arrived today 🙂 It’s Sentia Red, which is intended as an alcohol replacement.
The Egyptian Museum
Some photos from my visit with Liuba to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo recently.
Light Park Tenerife
Liuba and I went to see Light Park Tenerife, a park with glowing sculptures. I have to say, this was quite a crappy park and is not worth the trip to get there, or the €11 entry fee. There was a demonstration of … I’m not sure what. It was some dude trying to look […]
Pilot Whales
Liuba and I took a boat trip in Tenerife to go see Pilot Whales in the wild. Such majestic beasts.
Chess set
I’m not a fan of overpriced ornaments that don’t serve any real purpose. I’d rather spend a bit more on things that are both functional and good-looking. But there’s one exception to this rule for me – luxury chess sets. I’ve been fascinated by these beautiful sets since I was a kid. I love the […]
Sima Park in Tenerife
I’d never been to a water park before. The closest I’d been, was to hydroslides at water pools. Liuba and I noticed that there was a water park near where we were staying in Tenerife, but were surprised to find out that it was rated one of the best water parks in the world! I […]
Tenerife with Liuba
Liuba and I went on a winter getaway to Tenerife. We had perfect weather.
I grew a beard
So this happened. Then this happened. And now I’m all smooth again 🙂
New Years eve 2022
Some photos I took while hanging out with Liuba, watching the beautiful new years eve fireworks in 2022.
Aquadom
RIP to the beautiful Aquadom which ruptured recently, sending it’s contents into the hotel lobby below. I used to love hanging out there and working on my computer beneath the fish.
Xmas tree 2022
Strattic happy hour
Egg fried rice background show.
Celebration meal
Calculation of how much I ate in celebration once … 1683 kcal Milka Orea chocolate 1716 kcal Vienetta ice cream 2008 kcal Magnum Classics 990 kcal Lindt toffee bites 602 kcal Milka Alpinemilch chocolate ~7000 kcal https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10160077318341789
New candle holder
Why do we define sex at all?
Question from Jo Zayner on Facebook. So that we can better describe people. Just like we define objects like cars and bikes, even though there’s an obvious grey area between them. – answer from me
Orchard in Potsdam
Julia and I went fruit picking in a little orchard in Potsdam.
Lions in a tree
We found these lions hanging out in a tree in the Serengeti. They appeared to give zero damns about us being there and seemed to totally ignore us.
Serengeti hyena
This little hyena was chilling out in a hole in the ground in the Serengeti. When we drove over, he popped out of his hole to check out what the loud metal thing was doing.
Giraffes in the Serengeti
We saw what felt like hundreds of giraffes all over the Serengeti. I feel they are somewhere between beautifully graceful and clumsily strange.
Cheetah in the Serengeti
This majestic beast caught a gazelle right in front of us (I didn’t catch it on camera unfortunately). Our friendly tour guide drove over to it so that we could have a good look. It seemed a bit grumpy at us for being there though. I think it thought we were going to take away […]