Terence Eden
British open-standards and open-source technologist, formerly of the UK Government Digital Service and the W3C Advisory Committee. Blogs at shkspr.mobi, where he posts a book review most weeks.
Terence Eden did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
Latest Bluesky
What they believe
-
The absence of autonomous drone-built housing on Earth is evidence that claims about robot-built space habitats are overhyped.
The fact that we don't have swarms of drones prefabbing houses in the relatively benign atmosphere of our planet should be evidence that maybe these claims aren't quite matched with reality.
shkspr.mobiSaid 20 Sept 2026This on korrents
-
Attribute behavior that depends on CSS layout size rather than an element's natural or declared size is a design trap web authors should avoid relying on.
Basically, what I'm saying is, don't use ismap unless you're absolutely sure that there will be no CSS shenanigans. Even then, it probably isn't worth the risk.
shkspr.mobiSaid 14 Sept 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Feed
As its own page →Hiding
21 October
20 October
19 October
18 October
+ 6 more
- Mastodon
- BlogUna Watch TOTP - MFA on your wrist!
- Mastodon
- Mastodon
- Bluesky
- Mastodon
17 October
+ 4 more
- Bluesky
- Mastodon
- BlogBook Review: Are You *Really* The Doctor? by Matthew Hutchinson ★★★⯪☆
- Bluesky
16 October
14 October
13 October
11 October
10 October
9 October
8 October
6 October
5 October
Nothing matches.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 5 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The absence of autonomous drone-built housing on Earth is evidence that claims about robot-built space habitats are overhyped.
The fact that we don't have swarms of drones prefabbing houses in the relatively benign atmosphere of our planet should be evidence that maybe these claims aren't quite matched with reality.
Book Review: How to Build a Space Station by Jonathan Morrison ★★★⯪☆ Said 20 Sept 2026
Lack of interest, not lack of technology, is why practices like water recycling remain rare in buildings.
We have the technology - but we don't seem to be interested in using it.
Book Review: How to Build a Space Station by Jonathan Morrison ★★★⯪☆ Said 20 Sept 2026
Housing people in cramped, windowless, noisy environments will drive them mad.
Putting people into a tin-can with no windows, blank walls, and an infernal background hum will drive them mad.
Book Review: How to Build a Space Station by Jonathan Morrison ★★★⯪☆ Said 20 Sept 2026
Show 2 more
Attribute behavior that depends on CSS layout size rather than an element's natural or declared size is a design trap web authors should avoid relying on.
Basically, what I'm saying is, don't use ismap unless you're absolutely sure that there will be no CSS shenanigans. Even then, it probably isn't worth the risk.
Esoteric HTML - ismap vs CSS Said 14 Sept 2026
Riding in a taxi with a human driver carries no genuine expectation of privacy, only reliance on the driver's discretion.
There's no privacy expectation although you might rely on their discretion.
The expectations of privacy in driverless cars Said 13 Sept 2026
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 7 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Loved ActivityPub
Evan Prodromou has the unenviable task of making the whole ecosystem easy to understand. Thankfully he does that well. Things are logically laid out, there are comprehensive descriptions of even the most obscure parts of the spec, and it builds up nicely from the fundamentals.
shkspr.mobi 1 Sept 2026
affiliate link
Mixed on An Immense World
This is a funny, heartfelt, and (perhaps overly) thorough book. It will gleefully send you down rabbit holes
shkspr.mobi 21 Aug 2026
affiliate link
Disliked Coding Literacy
This is a disappointing and frustrating book - not least because it so nearly hits the mark. The subtitle is "How Computer Programming Is Changing Writing" - but it never gets close to discussing that topic, let alone deeply examining it.
shkspr.mobi 13 Aug 2026
affiliate link
Show 4 more
Recommends The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error'
This is such a useful book. It makes the case that there's no such thing as "human error" - instead most catastrophes are caused by system issues, misaligned incentives, and unrealistic processes. You are not the custodian of an otherwise safe system that you need to protect from erratic human beings.
shkspr.mobi 3 Aug 2026
affiliate link
What others say about The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error' →
Mixed on Dungeon Crawler Carl
It is mostly pretty good fun. The tropes are goofy, the gore is splattertastic and only rarely ventures into torture porn, the villains are suitably campy, and the wisecracking sidekick doesn't become too annoying.
shkspr.mobi 26 Jul 2026
affiliate link
Loved A City on Mars
They excel at making the dull delightful. There are a lot of big and serious facts to get through, but they have a gift for communicating them simply and eloquently. I just wish they'd've come to a different conclusion.
shkspr.mobi 18 Jul 2026
affiliate link
Liked The Great When
It is an epic tale full of rogues and reprobates. The story is excellent even though the plot follows a fairly basic structure. Although set up to be a series, it is a satisfying stand-alone tale.
shkspr.mobi 18 Jun 2026
affiliate link
Where they publish
Blog shkspr.mobi Blog since 2007; posts a star-rated book review most weeks.
Recent
- Book Review: Quackery - A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang ★★★⯪☆ 20 Oct 2026 This is a charming and funny book all about the various ways humans have promoted fake medical cures in exchange for money. Despite the grim (and occasionally distressing) subject matter, the tone remains light and popp…
- Una Watch TOTP - MFA on your wrist! 18 Oct 2026 Let's get this out of the way first - this is a terrible idea! I want my two-factor authentication codes to be easily accessible to me, so I've built a watch app which will display them. That's really convenient for me…
- Book Review: Are You *Really* The Doctor? by Matthew Hutchinson ★★★⯪☆ 17 Oct 2026 A few months ago, I went to see Dr Hutchinson record his stand-up comedy special for the BBC - it's about his experiences working in the NHS as a Black doctor. As the title of the book implies, some of the public can be…
Show 17 more
- Book Review: Africa Is Not A Country - Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa by Dipo Faloyin ★★★★⯪ 16 Oct 2026 It's hard to craft a book with so much righteous indignation - let alone make it funny, accessible, and informative. Nevertheless, Dipo Faloyin has succeeded in writing a spectacular takedown of the myths which are ofte…
- The Internet of Very Cheap Things 14 Oct 2026 Twelve years ago, I was complaining that IoT devices were too expensive. Last week I bought a colour changing Zigbee lighbulb for £4. Not a typo - less than a fiver. While the aipocalypse is devouring RAM with its insat…
- Book Review: The Thousand Deaths of Romeo and Juliet - Caroline Finch ★★★★★ 13 Oct 2026 The thing about Romeo and Juliet is that it is a true story. It isn't literally true, but it is literary true. We see the same motif repeated throughout all cultures and all times. Caroline Lea (writing as Caroline Finc…
- I paid people to try and follow my README 11 Oct 2026 Developers suck at writing documentation. We like to say RTFM but often there ain't no FM to R. At best we have a half-arsed collection of notes, some obsolete tips, and a link to a desolate forum full of people asking…
- Some quick thoughts on Unit Testing ActivityPub 10 Oct 2026 I'll be radically honest here - I never really got the idea of "Test Driven Development". I'm much more of a "telnet into production and damn the consequences" kind of guy. Look, it's much more fun and my cardiologist r…
- Concert Review: London Voices - Video Games Go Choral ★★★★☆ 9 Oct 2026 London's musical entertainment scene has something for everyone - from long-running blockbuster shows to no-name bands in dingy basements. Somewhere in the middle is monophonic plainchant versions of the Halo theme sung…
- Theatre Review: Hay Fever at Wyndham's Theatre ★★★★⯪ 8 Oct 2026 I'm a theatrical cheapskate. I'm on all those last-minute seat-filler websites. I'll happily take a chance on an experimental play for a tenner a ticket or sit in an inexplicably unsold cheap seat at a major show. My ph…
- Una Watch - SDK and Writing Your First App 6 Oct 2026 I don't know why hardware manufacturers find it so hard to write decent documentation. As I've said before you need to actually test your readme. The Una Watch development instructions are scattered across a bunch of di…
- [RSS Club] Changes to the RSS and Atom feeds 5 Oct 2026 This content is exclusive to RSS and Atom subscribers. It is not on the web. Shhhhh! A few weeks ago I accidentally broke some of your feed readers. I was using blocks in the feed. That allows me to put in raw HTML with…
- My Pitch for the New Season of Doctor Who 4 Oct 2026 With the news that the BBC are tendering for a new series of Doctor Who, I thought I'd write down what I want from the show. This is, to be fair, pure fan-service wankery with zero chance of being made. I've based it on…
- Gadget Review: Una Watch ★★★★☆ 2 Oct 2026 I've never been a huge fan of smart watches. My £16 smartwatch is basically fine, but the OS is closed source and there's no way to add new functionality. Previously I had the eInk Watchy which was a pain to use and rea…
- Are you a smartwatch "power user"? 30 Sept 2026 What do you use your smartwatch for? A few weeks ago, I overheard a conversation between someone on the Pixel Watch team and a woman I know. He was quizzing her at a party about her Pixel watch and what features she use…
- Book Review: Bobiverse Books 1-3 by Dennis E. Taylor ★★★☆☆ 28 Sept 2026 Like sticky popcorn, this is a moreish but ultimately unsatisfying set of stories. After I flamed out of Dungeon Crawler Carl, someone suggested I try this series. I can see why! It's campy sci-fi fun, with enough trope…
- Gig Review: Public Service Broadcasting's Race For Space at Alexandra Palace ★★★★⯪ 27 Sept 2026 Ahhh! PSB's RFS! A delightfully indulgent soundscape of melodic wonder, performed here on its 10th (ish) anniversary. Is it really nostalgia if an album is only a decade old? It feels like it has been in the air forever…
- No errors, no warnings, no gods, no masters - HTML Purity is a Fetish 26 Sept 2026 "The problem with defending the purity of the HyperText Markup Language is that HTML is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. The standard doesn't just borrow concepts from better languages; on occasion, HTML has pursued…
- Some thoughts on HTML's proposed previewsrc attribute 24 Sept 2026 One of the great things about modern HTML is that it tries to standardise stuff that developers are already doing. If there are a myriad ways of, for example, loading video onto a page - then browsers and other interest…
- Are LLMs still surprisingly bad at some simple tasks? 22 Sept 2026 Last year I ran an experiment to test the ability of modern LLMs to correctly answer a relatively straightforward question. Every single one of them got it wrong. Some missed information, some made up false statements,…
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
x.com @edent His X account.
Link verified 5 Sept 2026.
Mastodon @edent@mastodon.social His main Fediverse account.
Recent
- Just got the new #Mastodon 5.0 UI and… I bloody love it! Much less wasted space (on multi column layout). Much clearer and easier to read text. Good looking dark mode. Sure I'll find a few niggles, but this is *excellent* work from the team 😍 20 Oct 2026
- 🆕 blog! “Book Review: Quackery - A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang” ★★★⯪☆ This is a charming and funny book all about the various ways humans have promoted fake medical cures in exchange for money. Despite the grim (and occasionally distressing) subject matter, the tone remains light and… 👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-quackery-a-brief-history-of-the-worst-ways-to-cure-everything-by-lydia-kang/ ⸻ #BookReview #medicine 20 Oct 2026
- I'm going to be speaking at the Bennett Institute in Oxford. Details: 20 Oct 2026 bennett.ox.ac.uk
Show 17 more
- RE: https://mastodon.social/@streetcomplete/117468641641299594 I love using this on Android - glad my iOS friends get to play as well 😃 19 Oct 2026
- I get asked to review a lot of weird tech stuff for my blog. Here's the latest gadget being offered to me. On the one hand, I'm fascinated to see how bad a privacy nightmare this could be. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to normalise this sort of thing. So, should I get one of these to review? Please vote in the poll (next message). 18 Oct 2026
- 🆕 blog! “Una Watch TOTP - MFA on your wrist!” Let's get this out of the way first - this is a terrible idea! I want my two-factor authentication codes to be easily accessible to me, so I've built a watch app which will display them. That's really convenient for me - but makes for a terrible security posture. Anyone who steals my watch will be able to see my one-time… 👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/una-watch-totp-mfa-on-your-wrist/ ⸻ #c++ #HowTo #UnaWatch #watch 18 Oct 2026
- Standing desk, under desk treadmill, ergonomic keyboard, trackball, air quality monitor, multiple screens. I don't think I could ever go back to an office. I probably need to tidy up my workspace somewhat though! What does your set-up look like? 18 Oct 2026
- Hmmm. Looks like #AVIF images aren't support in OGP metadata when shared on Mastodon. This URl: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-are-you-really-the-doctor-by-matthew-hutchinson/ Shows a blank image on link preview. 18 Oct 2026
- I listen to all my podcasts on 8-track. 18 Oct 2026
- For fans of GeoGuessr and similar. This paper claims that they can do semantic editing of images to preserve location privacy. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2610.20055 > we propose GeoCloak, an agentic framework for semantics-preserving geolocation privacy protection. It acts as a clue-aware planner that analyzes each image to identify geolocation-relevant clues, dispatches targeted semantic edits to directly suppress peripheral clues It mentions both my blog and OpenBenches. #GeoGuessr #Privacy 17 Oct 2026
- A lovely comment on @openbenches 17 Oct 2026 openbenches.org
- 🆕 blog! “Book Review: Are You *Really* The Doctor? by Matthew Hutchinson” ★★★⯪☆ A few months ago, I went to see Dr Hutchinson record his stand-up comedy special for the BBC - it's about his experiences working in the NHS as a Black doctor. As the title of the book implies, some of the public can be a mite suspicious that anyone with even a hint of… 👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-are-you-really-the-doctor-by-matthew-hutchinson/ ⸻ #BookReview #NHS #racism 17 Oct 2026
- Checked in to Old School Yard, 111 Long Ln, United Kingdom Nose swabs before the karaoke — with Sheila 16 Oct 2026 swarmapp.com
- 🆕 blog! “Book Review: Africa Is Not A Country - Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa by Dipo Faloyin” ★★★★⯪ It's hard to craft a book with so much righteous indignation - let alone make it funny, accessible, and informative. Nevertheless, Dipo Faloyin has succeeded in writing a spectacular takedown of the myths which are… 👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-africa-is-not-a-country-breaking-stereotypes-of-modern-africa-by-dipo-faloyin/ ⸻ #africa #BookReview 16 Oct 2026
- Grrr. Android's Bluetooth filesharing deliberately restricts to specific MIME types. So I can't Bluetooth share an ePub (which is just a ZIP file) without first renaming it to .zip. I can't install QuickShare on the receiving Android device (generic eInk tablet with no Google Play). There are no FOSS QuickShare apps that I can find. Is the only solution installing yet-another sharing app on all my devices? 16 Oct 2026
- 🆕 blog! “The Internet of Very Cheap Things” Twelve years ago, I was complaining that IoT devices were too expensive. Last week I bought a colour changing Zigbee lighbulb for £4. Not a typo - less than a fiver. While the aipocalypse is devouring RAM with its insatiable appetite, Moore's Law appears to be keeping up its end of the bargain when it comes to … 👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/the-internet-of-very-cheap-things/ ⸻ #gadget #InternetOfThings #IoT #SmartHome 14 Oct 2026
- Unintentionally conducting a global shipping race. I have a parcel in transit from Thailand and one from China. I wonder which will win? 14 Oct 2026
- Our local pharmacy had walk-in availability for the new Covid vaccine. Grabbed a flu shot while I was there. Arms feel like pincushions, but a couple of jabs is better than illness. Might spend the next few days asleep while my immune system applies these updates. 14 Oct 2026
- Checked in to Ophthalmology Department, Queen Mary's Hospital, B Block Level 2, Queen Mary's Hospital (Frognal Ave.), United Kingdom 👀 🤓👁️🗨️ 13 Oct 2026 swarmapp.com
- 🆕 blog! “Book Review: The Thousand Deaths of Romeo and Juliet - Caroline Finch” ★★★★★ The thing about Romeo and Juliet is that it is a true story. It isn't literally true, but it is literary true. We see the same motif repeated throughout all cultures and all times. Caroline Lea (writing as Caroline Finch) asks an important… 👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-the-thousand-deaths-of-romeo-and-juliet-caroline-finch/ ⸻ #BookReview #NetGalley #shakespeare 13 Oct 2026
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
Bluesky @edent.tel His Bluesky account.
Recent
- "BDFL only works if the D is genuinely B. Otherwise the FL becomes FML." 21 Oct 2026 shkspr.mobi
- New blog post: Book Review: Quackery - A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang ★★★⯪☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-quackery-a-brief-history-of-the-worst-ways-to-cure-everything-by-lydia-kang/ This is a charming and funny book all about the various ways … 20 Oct 2026
- This is great. Cher reading Kipling's "If", illustrated by Sergio Aragonés. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Ib... The closing line is perfect! 19 Oct 2026
Show 10 more
- We have AI back home (1980s edition) 18 Oct 2026
- New blog post: Una Watch TOTP - MFA on your wrist! https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/una-watch-totp-mfa-on-your-wrist/ Let's get this out of the way first - this is a terrible idea! I want my two-factor authentication codes to be easily accessible to me, so I've built a watch app which will … 18 Oct 2026
- "A newspaper is presented like a book; you read each page in turn. You're perfectly free to skip over a story - but I found myself reading at least the first paragraph of each story. On the web, I pick and choose." 18 Oct 2026 shkspr.mobi
- I'm pleased we added comments to @openbenches.org 17 Oct 2026 openbenches.org
- New blog post: Book Review: Are You *Really* The Doctor? by Matthew Hutchinson ★★★⯪☆ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-are-you-really-the-doctor-by-matthew-hutchinson/ A few months ago, I went to see Dr Hutchinson record his stand-up comedy special for the BBC - it's about his … 17 Oct 2026
- Fascinating to see this in the Libby Library app. 17 Oct 2026
- Checked in to Old School Yard, 111 Long Ln, United Kingdom Nose swabs before the karaoke — with Sheila 16 Oct 2026 swarmapp.com
- New blog post: Book Review: Africa Is Not A Country - Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa by Dipo Faloyin ★★★★⯪ https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/book-review-africa-is-not-a-country-breaking-stereotypes-of-modern-africa-by-dipo-faloyin/ It's hard to craft a book with so much righteous … 16 Oct 2026
- I like the idea of transferring to @eurosky.social - but not until they fix this bug! 16 Oct 2026 github.com
- I wonder if there is a feasible technological solution to this social problem? Anything printed on a plate (like a QR code) can be copied. A wireless transponder with a rotating code could work - but that leads to all sorts of weird surveillance and sousveillance issues. 16 Oct 2026
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.