Dan Q

I'm Dan Q. I've spent the last 25+ years creating and writing on the Internet.

I work at Automattic and volunteer with Three Rings. I live with my partner, her husband, two kids and a dog. I can sometimes be found out geo*ing, cycling, or performing magic.

I believe in open source, open relationships, and opening doors to marginalised groups.

Photograph of Dan, his ponytail hanging over the shoulder of his black t-shirt, smiling from behind his beard and waving to the camera.

  • Sabbatical Magic

    Two weeks into my extended break from work and on my way home from Spain, I've discovered something magical about a sabbatical: it frees me from my compulsion to think about next week's work, at the weekend. Read more →

  • Hero of Alexandria

    Hero of Alexandria is my hero. And it's not for the steam engine he didn't invent (that was Vetruvius), nor for his formula for the area of a triangle, nor even for his programmable robot (yes, really). It's for his square root algorithm. Read more →

  • Hour of Ambiguity

    Waking during the "hour of uncertainty" at the end of European Summer Time, I find myself wondering why we no longer expect computers to tell us what they're doing about daylight savings, and when. Read more →

  • My Oldest Article of Clothing

    I own a shirt that I bought for 50p, 23 years ago. How on earth has it lasted so long? Read more →

  • How I Learned to Enjoy Pickled Onion Monster Munch

    I like pickled onions. And I like the vinegar flavouring and the onion flavouring from salt & vinegar and cheese & onion crisps, respectively. So I ought to like pickled onion crisps too. So why don't I... and can I rationally persuade my brain that it's wrong? Read more →

  • Bad Names for Servers

    Not for the first time, our eldest child has drawn me a network diagram. It's cute, but I've outright refused to name one of the new servers I'm provisioning after our dog. Here's why... Read more →

  • Nex in CapsulePress

    I've extended CapsulePress to support Nex, an ultra-lightweight smolweb protocol from the Nightfall City community. Read more →

  • Firsts and Lasts

    I was listening to the bats flying silently above me while I watched the Perseids, the other month. When was the last time I was actually capable of hearing their echolocation? I simply can't remember, because it didn't feel significant at the time. Read more →

  • Meetup Magic

    As I come to the end of a week in Mexico with ~400 of my the smartest, friendliest, open-source-loving geeks I could wish to know, I come to realise that Automattic's meetups are just... magical. Read more →

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    (articles are traditional long-form blog posts)

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  • Hey Google, pronounce Llan­fair­pwll­gwyn­gyll­goger­ychwyrndrobwllllantysilio­gogogoch

    Wait, it isn't supposed to be pronounced "clan via Pokemon Go garage city of cocoa"? I've been saying it wrong my whole life! 😅 Read more →

  • Things my children have gotten out of bed to say to me tonight:

    - I don't want to go to school tomorrow
    - I can't find [name of toy]
    - I want [name of toy I lent to my sibling] back
    - if I'm ill, I don't have to go to school tomorrow, right?
    - I can't sleep
    - I might be ill: I don't think I should go to school tomorrow
    - I want a hot water bottle
    - I'm too hot
    - I've lost my hot water bottle
    - I spilt my water (it later turned out to have been spilled on an electrical extension socket! 😱)
    - I went to the toilet because I thought I was going to throw up but I didn't but I think I'm too ill to go to school tomorrow
    - my book is wet
    - I forgot to brush my teeth
    - I don't like these pyjamas
    - I still can't sleep

  • Note #24906

    As the kids grow older… someday our final soft play session – something we used to do all the time, and now do only rarely – will be in the past. But for now, at least, it remains a chaotic way to tire them out on a morning!× Read more →

  • 3D Workers Island

    Tony Domenico's 3D Workers Island is a clever application of the retro-Web as a storytelling medium, in sort of a "found footage" way but with webpages instead of, y'know, videotape. The story's not perfect, but the execution is great. Read more →

  • Bluesky and enshittification

    Cory Doctorow's post this week about how Bluesky's model isn't (yet) immune to enshittification matches my reasoning for not using it, too. But also points out a hypocrisy in my own behaviour for so-far failing to apply a "Ulysses Pact" model to Three Rings. Read more →

  • Found GCAAD6C El pont sobre el riu #14 Set a La Pobla Cérvoles

    I borrowed a bike from our hosts in el Vilosell so I could ride the rough hilltop trail to the bridge over the river Set, 3km away, and find a geocache. Read more →

  • Okay, is every company using AI to fuck up their mailing lists, now?

    For the second time this week I've received an email from a company whom I'd explicitly demanded cease processing my PII. This time, in February they outright told me that they'd deleted my data and sent screenshots to "prove" it (which was already after they'd failed to unsubscribe me from their mailing lists in the first place).

  • Found GCAA274 Garrigues #23 - El Vilosell

    The geokids and I are staying nearby and came out for a walk this morning to discover this under-appreciated cache. What an amazing location and such a great view! We searched many “obvious” locations without luck, then translated some logs to get a clue. We should have checked the attributes! A little danger later and […] Read more →

  • The Time Travel Movie That Doesn't Move

    The Nerdwriter's done a video essay about La Jetée, and it truly does justice to that remarkable movie. Read more →

  • Just received an unsolicited marketing email from a company that I asked to remove me from their systems eleven and a half years ago (!).

    I haven't heard from them since then.

    The marketing email is sent using a platform that "uses AI to help you seamlessly connect with your customers". By which I assume the platform means "we'll crawl your email history to find anybody we can possibly spam".

    Just gonna go grab my GDPR/DPA2018 beating-stick. This is gonna be a fun one.

  • Post: PortAventura

    Made it through a day and a half of theme park fun with the kids. Time for a much-needed beer, then as long a sleep as circumstance will allow. × Read more →

  • Sex With Monsters

    Just in time for Halloween, this comic (published via the ever-excellent Oh Joy Sex Toy) is fundamentally pretty silly... and yet still manages to touch upon important concepts of safer sex, consent, aftercare etc. Read more →

  • Did not find GC448J6 EL TRESOR DEL POU DEL MON

    The geokids and I had to give up after an extended search. We solved the riddle (we think) and counted steps, but, being unsure, hunted for a nearby map and attempted to un-do he farmer’s mistake. Still no luck. 😔 Sadly it’s our last morning in the city so this one might have to remain […] Read more →

  • Post: Dos Huevos

    For some reason, the breakfast chef assumed that when I asked for two eggs benedict that I might want them on two separate plates. As if I WEREN’T totally planning to scoff them both myself! 😂 × Read more →

  • Found GCA8R9X Xemeneies a Barcelona #2 Foneria Giralt

    An early morning walk from my hotel while I waited for the rest of my family to wake up brought me to this, another old chimney. I’ve really been enjoying discovering these relics of the industrial history of this part of the city.Unusual and well-disguised cache container! 😁 First name in a clean new log […] Read more →

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    (of all kinds: articles, checkins, notes, reposts...)