Dave Cross
@davorg.davecross.co.uk
Geek. Lefty. Atheist. Skeptic. Rationalist. Secularist. Humanist. Republican (UK Meaning!). Music lover. Writer. Genealogist.
Interesting corner of British political history. It was 35 years ago today that Thatcher announced she was withdrawing from the Tory leadership election (and would, therefore, no longer be PM).
The last 15 years have given me far more respect for her than I ever had at the time.
The last 15 years have given me far more respect for her than I ever had at the time.
November 22, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Interesting corner of British political history. It was 35 years ago today that Thatcher announced she was withdrawing from the Tory leadership election (and would, therefore, no longer be PM).
The last 15 years have given me far more respect for her than I ever had at the time.
The last 15 years have given me far more respect for her than I ever had at the time.
I have actual real work that I should be getting on with. But, first, I needed to get this out of my head.
davorg.medium.com/ms-fnd-in-a-...
davorg.medium.com/ms-fnd-in-a-...
MS Fnd in a Modl
Or, The Day the Corpus Collapsed
davorg.medium.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:29 AM
I have actual real work that I should be getting on with. But, first, I needed to get this out of my head.
davorg.medium.com/ms-fnd-in-a-...
davorg.medium.com/ms-fnd-in-a-...
Thirty years ago today, the best Britpop album was released.
(It's "Different Class" by Pulp - but you all knew that, right?)
(It's "Different Class" by Pulp - but you all knew that, right?)
October 30, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Thirty years ago today, the best Britpop album was released.
(It's "Different Class" by Pulp - but you all knew that, right?)
(It's "Different Class" by Pulp - but you all knew that, right?)
The excited squealing you might hear from SW London is me celebrating after paying off my mortgage (it's the second time I've done it and I can confirm it doesn't get any less exciting with repetition 😃)
October 30, 2025 at 11:15 AM
The excited squealing you might hear from SW London is me celebrating after paying off my mortgage (it's the second time I've done it and I can confirm it doesn't get any less exciting with repetition 😃)
Good work by the Python Software Foundation for pushing back against the requirements that the (US, naturally) National Science Foundation tried to impose on them in exchange for a grant.
pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
The PSF has withdrawn a $1.5 million proposal to US government grant program
pyfound.blogspot.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Good work by the Python Software Foundation for pushing back against the requirements that the (US, naturally) National Science Foundation tried to impose on them in exchange for a grant.
pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
Perl School is waking up. Not only is the 2ed of "Data Munging with Perl" almost ready, but other projects are coming that I can't talk about yet.
To make life easy for myself, I've written this web app to generate Perl School book covers. Which books would you like to see?
cover.perlschool.com
To make life easy for myself, I've written this web app to generate Perl School book covers. Which books would you like to see?
cover.perlschool.com
Perl School – Cover Generator
Create consistent Perl School book covers in your browser: choose colours, set title/subtitle/author, apply the bead image and export a PNG.
cover.perlschool.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Perl School is waking up. Not only is the 2ed of "Data Munging with Perl" almost ready, but other projects are coming that I can't talk about yet.
To make life easy for myself, I've written this web app to generate Perl School book covers. Which books would you like to see?
cover.perlschool.com
To make life easy for myself, I've written this web app to generate Perl School book covers. Which books would you like to see?
cover.perlschool.com
I found some old USD travellers cheques (young people, ask your parents). I found Travelex would take them back and send the money to my bank. When they did it was about 17% less than expected. Seems they use a laughable FX rate.
I built this to show just how bad it was:
davorg.dev/travellers-c...
I built this to show just how bad it was:
davorg.dev/travellers-c...
Travellers Cheque Calculator
davorg.dev
October 20, 2025 at 10:08 AM
I found some old USD travellers cheques (young people, ask your parents). I found Travelex would take them back and send the money to my bank. When they did it was about 17% less than expected. Seems they use a laughable FX rate.
I built this to show just how bad it was:
davorg.dev/travellers-c...
I built this to show just how bad it was:
davorg.dev/travellers-c...
I put my song "London to Brighton" together with that BBC film of the train journey from 1983. I think it works pretty well.
www.tiktok.com/@oneirinamus...
www.tiktok.com/@oneirinamus...
This 1983 BBC film of the London to Brighton rail journey syncs beautifully with my song. #oneirina #londontobrighton #trainsong #travelmusic #railwayrhythm
TikTok video by Oneirina
www.tiktok.com
October 13, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I put my song "London to Brighton" together with that BBC film of the train journey from 1983. I think it works pretty well.
www.tiktok.com/@oneirinamus...
www.tiktok.com/@oneirinamus...
I understand that some of you will have objections to this (for perfectly reasonable reasons), but this is all AI.
* Lyrics (ChatGPT - from an idea by me)
* Song (Suno)
* Image (DALL-E)
* Lip sync (Runway)
I think it's all pretty impressive.
* Lyrics (ChatGPT - from an idea by me)
* Song (Suno)
* Image (DALL-E)
* Lip sync (Runway)
I think it's all pretty impressive.
October 8, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I understand that some of you will have objections to this (for perfectly reasonable reasons), but this is all AI.
* Lyrics (ChatGPT - from an idea by me)
* Song (Suno)
* Image (DALL-E)
* Lip sync (Runway)
I think it's all pretty impressive.
* Lyrics (ChatGPT - from an idea by me)
* Song (Suno)
* Image (DALL-E)
* Lip sync (Runway)
I think it's all pretty impressive.
My current hobby seems to be building websites about a pretty niche subject - with lots of Amazon Associates links and then SEO the crap out of them. Here's one I build over the last couple of days - Mercurial Albums.
mercurialalbums.com
mercurialalbums.com
Mercurial Albums
Mercurial Albums
mercurialalbums.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
My current hobby seems to be building websites about a pretty niche subject - with lots of Amazon Associates links and then SEO the crap out of them. Here's one I build over the last couple of days - Mercurial Albums.
mercurialalbums.com
mercurialalbums.com
I've had these old @oreilly.bsky.social promotional beermats listed on eBay for over four years. I saw them in a drawer a couple of days ago and thought, "Oh, no-one wants them - I should throw them away".
Today, someone ordered two sets.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32474898...
Today, someone ordered two sets.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32474898...
Set of 5 Open Source Beer Mats | eBay UK
Linux Lager. Apache Ale. The "Tim's Irish Ale" design on the top left of the picture is the reverse of all of the mats. They were given away at a number of conferences during that year. I have these...
www.ebay.co.uk
October 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I've had these old @oreilly.bsky.social promotional beermats listed on eBay for over four years. I saw them in a drawer a couple of days ago and thought, "Oh, no-one wants them - I should throw them away".
Today, someone ordered two sets.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32474898...
Today, someone ordered two sets.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32474898...
I think that many people aren't aware of the existence of Planet Perl (it gets 4-5 visitors on most days).
Anyway. It exists. And I've just given it a bit of a redesign. You may find it useful and/or interesting.
perl.theplanetarium.org
Anyway. It exists. And I've just given it a bit of a redesign. You may find it useful and/or interesting.
perl.theplanetarium.org
Planet Perl
Planet Perl: Your one-stop destination for the latest Perl blogs, news, and tutorials from around the web. Dive into the world of Perl with curated content from experts and enthusiasts alike.
perl.theplanetarium.org
October 1, 2025 at 10:30 AM
I think that many people aren't aware of the existence of Planet Perl (it gets 4-5 visitors on most days).
Anyway. It exists. And I've just given it a bit of a redesign. You may find it useful and/or interesting.
perl.theplanetarium.org
Anyway. It exists. And I've just given it a bit of a redesign. You may find it useful and/or interesting.
perl.theplanetarium.org
This video manages to be both incredibly nostalgic for those of us who remember the Anti Nazi League and Rock Against Racism from the late 70s but also packed full of good advice on countering the rise of racism and fascism that we see today.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeHv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeHv...
How We Beat The Fascists Last Time: The London History Show
YouTube video by J. Draper
www.youtube.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:22 PM
This video manages to be both incredibly nostalgic for those of us who remember the Anti Nazi League and Rock Against Racism from the late 70s but also packed full of good advice on countering the rise of racism and fascism that we see today.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeHv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeHv...
London today was full of people who don't understand our values and won't integrate.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
More than 100,000 join Tommy Robinson rally, as counter-protesters demonstrate
Nine people are arrested as the Met say extra officers have been deployed to deal with
www.bbc.co.uk
September 13, 2025 at 5:48 PM
London today was full of people who don't understand our values and won't integrate.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Yesterday, Facebook memories reminded me that it was 15 years since I had given my "Perl Vogue" lightning talk at YAPC in Pisa. I thought it was appropriate to add that talk to my talks site today - in memory of Matt Trout.
talks.davecross.co.uk/talk/perl-vo...
talks.davecross.co.uk/talk/perl-vo...
Perl Vogue
<b>Perl Vogue</b> is a light-hearted talk by Dave Cross that compares the Perl community’s module preferences to fashion trends. Highlighting the ever-changing landscape of popular Perl tools, he joki...
talks.davecross.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Yesterday, Facebook memories reminded me that it was 15 years since I had given my "Perl Vogue" lightning talk at YAPC in Pisa. I thought it was appropriate to add that talk to my talks site today - in memory of Matt Trout.
talks.davecross.co.uk/talk/perl-vo...
talks.davecross.co.uk/talk/perl-vo...
The thing I love about AI music is that you can create stuff that is completely tailored to your tastes (both in style and subject).
So, anyway, here's Oneirina. She produces glitchy, dream-pop about London and quantum physics :-)
soundcloud.com/oneirinamusic
So, anyway, here's Oneirina. She produces glitchy, dream-pop about London and quantum physics :-)
soundcloud.com/oneirinamusic
Oneirina
[Oh-near-EEna, she/her]
Oneirina weaves dreamlogic and glitch into intimate, three-quarter-time confessions. London-born but untethered, her songs drift through surreal electronica, whispered poetry,
soundcloud.com
August 5, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The thing I love about AI music is that you can create stuff that is completely tailored to your tastes (both in style and subject).
So, anyway, here's Oneirina. She produces glitchy, dream-pop about London and quantum physics :-)
soundcloud.com/oneirinamusic
So, anyway, here's Oneirina. She produces glitchy, dream-pop about London and quantum physics :-)
soundcloud.com/oneirinamusic
Today, I shall be mostly listening to "We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'N' Roll".
July 23, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Today, I shall be mostly listening to "We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'N' Roll".
Interesting morning. I started by playing with Suno. And within a couple of hours, I had this!
hymnsforatheists.com
#atheism #humanism #secularism
hymnsforatheists.com
#atheism #humanism #secularism
Hymns for Atheists
Twelve original secular hymns celebrating reason, doubt, science, and wonder. Sacred music, without the superstition.
hymnsforatheists.com
July 9, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Interesting morning. I started by playing with Suno. And within a couple of hours, I had this!
hymnsforatheists.com
#atheism #humanism #secularism
hymnsforatheists.com
#atheism #humanism #secularism
Here's the newsletter that went out to my subscribers yesterday.
davecross.substack.com/p/making-pro...
davecross.substack.com/p/making-pro...
Making progress
Learning things I didn't expect to learn
davecross.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Here's the newsletter that went out to my subscribers yesterday.
davecross.substack.com/p/making-pro...
davecross.substack.com/p/making-pro...
When people have an unfortunate name and that leads to you getting an incredibly scary email :-/
July 6, 2025 at 2:38 PM
When people have an unfortunate name and that leads to you getting an incredibly scary email :-/
Perl 5.42 was released this afternoon. Perl still has a major release every year (don't believe people who tell you it hasn't changed since Perl 5.0 was released in 1994). This is not your father's Perl.
Release notes - metacpan.org/release/BOOK...
Release notes - metacpan.org/release/BOOK...
perldelta
what is new for perl v5.42.0
metacpan.org
July 3, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Perl 5.42 was released this afternoon. Perl still has a major release every year (don't believe people who tell you it hasn't changed since Perl 5.0 was released in 1994). This is not your father's Perl.
Release notes - metacpan.org/release/BOOK...
Release notes - metacpan.org/release/BOOK...
Or, maybe save the money this will cost and just continuing using the existing banknotes until the inevitable death of cash in the next 10-15 years.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bank of England to redesign banknotes - and wants your help
The first facelift in more than 50 years signals the possible end of historical figures on notes.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 2, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Or, maybe save the money this will cost and just continuing using the existing banknotes until the inevitable death of cash in the next 10-15 years.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...