Matthew Somerville
@dracos.co.uk
I help people report broken street lights, find out their bin day, plan train travel, manage an orchestra, locate the nearest postbox, research old theatre productions, keep time in a choir, and occasionally play board games | https://dracos.co.uk
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in your back garden
Hummingbird hawk moth
Fox
Starling (recommend Stephen Moss’ book)
Tawny owl
A small frog (no one around us has a pond)
Hummingbird hawk moth
Fox
Starling (recommend Stephen Moss’ book)
Tawny owl
A small frog (no one around us has a pond)
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in your back garden
- sparrow hawk
- fox
- pheasant
- bank vole
- green mamba (admittedly not in current North Yorkshire back garden)
- sparrow hawk
- fox
- pheasant
- bank vole
- green mamba (admittedly not in current North Yorkshire back garden)
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you have seen in the wild
- rhino
- orca
- elk
- hedgehog (in a pub entrance)
- black bear (back garden)
- rhino
- orca
- elk
- hedgehog (in a pub entrance)
- black bear (back garden)
November 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in your back garden
Hummingbird hawk moth
Fox
Starling (recommend Stephen Moss’ book)
Tawny owl
A small frog (no one around us has a pond)
Hummingbird hawk moth
Fox
Starling (recommend Stephen Moss’ book)
Tawny owl
A small frog (no one around us has a pond)
My copies arrived today :-)
Looking forward to trying one out with the 10yo tomorrow
Looking forward to trying one out with the 10yo tomorrow
If you’re stuck for a Christmas gift for a computer nerd, I’m pretty sure they’ll prefer my magazine to another pair of socks or a Lynx gift set
vole.wtf/doctype/
(Lulu currently seems pretty fast in UK but get orders in nowww to be safe)
vole.wtf/doctype/
(Lulu currently seems pretty fast in UK but get orders in nowww to be safe)
DOCTYPE magazine 🚀⌨️
’80s BASIC type-in mags are back, but this time for HTML!
vole.wtf
November 28, 2025 at 4:47 PM
My copies arrived today :-)
Looking forward to trying one out with the 10yo tomorrow
Looking forward to trying one out with the 10yo tomorrow
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
Oasis/Manics/OCS, Maine Road, 1996
Radiohead + The Divine Comedy, Manchester, 1996
Kylie, Manchester, 2007
Girls Aloud, Sheffield, 2007
Janelle Monáe, Birmingham, 2011
(Would include Dido & Aeneas in a nightclub but not sure opera counts as a concert)
Oasis/Manics/OCS, Maine Road, 1996
Radiohead + The Divine Comedy, Manchester, 1996
Kylie, Manchester, 2007
Girls Aloud, Sheffield, 2007
Janelle Monáe, Birmingham, 2011
(Would include Dido & Aeneas in a nightclub but not sure opera counts as a concert)
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
Lyrics Born + Chali 2na + Jazz Mafia (The Independent)
New Order + Underworld + The Chemical Brothers (Ally Pally)
The Definite Articles + Sea Of Bees + Tornado Rider
serpentwithfeet + Katie Gately
MC Hammer + Snap! + Joey B. Ellis (Wembley Arena)
Lyrics Born + Chali 2na + Jazz Mafia (The Independent)
New Order + Underworld + The Chemical Brothers (Ally Pally)
The Definite Articles + Sea Of Bees + Tornado Rider
serpentwithfeet + Katie Gately
MC Hammer + Snap! + Joey B. Ellis (Wembley Arena)
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
The Orb
Primal Scream
Ride
Explosions in the Sky
White Denim
The Orb
Primal Scream
Ride
Explosions in the Sky
White Denim
November 28, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
Oasis/Manics/OCS, Maine Road, 1996
Radiohead + The Divine Comedy, Manchester, 1996
Kylie, Manchester, 2007
Girls Aloud, Sheffield, 2007
Janelle Monáe, Birmingham, 2011
(Would include Dido & Aeneas in a nightclub but not sure opera counts as a concert)
Oasis/Manics/OCS, Maine Road, 1996
Radiohead + The Divine Comedy, Manchester, 1996
Kylie, Manchester, 2007
Girls Aloud, Sheffield, 2007
Janelle Monáe, Birmingham, 2011
(Would include Dido & Aeneas in a nightclub but not sure opera counts as a concert)
“A survey […] finds that while 87% of executives use AI on the job, just 57% of managers and 27% of employees do.”
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
www.economist.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:23 PM
“A survey […] finds that while 87% of executives use AI on the job, just 57% of managers and 27% of employees do.”
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
&
“A paper […] refers to “genAI’s mediocrity trap”. With the assistance of the tech, people can produce something “good enough”.”
Perhaps it is the execs who can be replaced?
For Hansard debates on @theyworkforyou.com, we get source XML from @ukparliament.parliament.uk. This includes new data, plus recent corrections. Yesterday, it included XML for 2nd June 2010. What correction would be worth republishing a day from 15 years ago?
Correcting “Ian Drury” to “Ian Dury” :)
Correcting “Ian Drury” to “Ian Dury” :)
November 27, 2025 at 8:01 AM
For Hansard debates on @theyworkforyou.com, we get source XML from @ukparliament.parliament.uk. This includes new data, plus recent corrections. Yesterday, it included XML for 2nd June 2010. What correction would be worth republishing a day from 15 years ago?
Correcting “Ian Drury” to “Ian Dury” :)
Correcting “Ian Drury” to “Ian Dury” :)
www.promptarmor.com/resources/go...
bughunters.google.com/learn/invali...
“Impact: Data exfiltration through prompt injection via multiple vectors like Markdown, tool invocation, etc.”
“Impact: Code execution through prompt injection”
This is fine, they know this happens, don’t worry about it.
bughunters.google.com/learn/invali...
“Impact: Data exfiltration through prompt injection via multiple vectors like Markdown, tool invocation, etc.”
“Impact: Code execution through prompt injection”
This is fine, they know this happens, don’t worry about it.
Google Antigravity Exfiltrates Data
An indirect prompt injection in an implementation blog can manipulate Antigravity to invoke a malicious browser subagent in order to steal credentials and sensitive code from a user’s IDE.
www.promptarmor.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:53 AM
www.promptarmor.com/resources/go...
bughunters.google.com/learn/invali...
“Impact: Data exfiltration through prompt injection via multiple vectors like Markdown, tool invocation, etc.”
“Impact: Code execution through prompt injection”
This is fine, they know this happens, don’t worry about it.
bughunters.google.com/learn/invali...
“Impact: Data exfiltration through prompt injection via multiple vectors like Markdown, tool invocation, etc.”
“Impact: Code execution through prompt injection”
This is fine, they know this happens, don’t worry about it.
Client to me today: “Do you have some sort of AI tool checking and fixing these things so quickly?“
No, they’ve got me, which is much better :-)
No, they’ve got me, which is much better :-)
November 25, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Client to me today: “Do you have some sort of AI tool checking and fixing these things so quickly?“
No, they’ve got me, which is much better :-)
No, they’ve got me, which is much better :-)
Reposted by Matthew Somerville
Fun fact: November 28, 2001:
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
November 22, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Fun fact: November 28, 2001:
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
"ENRON, which had been a component of the S&P; 500, was removed at the end of trading Thursday and replaced by NVIDIA Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of computer-graphics chips."
If you or anything you’re responsible for used NPM today, check you didn’t install something malicious:
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
November 24, 2025 at 2:50 PM
If you or anything you’re responsible for used NPM today, check you didn’t install something malicious:
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
helixguard.ai/blog/malicio...
If the worm doesn’t manage to upload your secrets to GitHub (see github.com/search?q=sha...), or propagate via NPM, it apparently wipes your home directory instead.
The fifth 40 ever in Blackpool week #andyzaltzmanofstrictly
November 22, 2025 at 7:08 PM
The fifth 40 ever in Blackpool week #andyzaltzmanofstrictly
This is going over right now, not that cloudy, very bright!
ISS pass: magnitude -3.8, 18:03:03–18:07:03 from W to ESE, maximum altitude 79° at 18:06:26 in S. Weather: broken clouds.
November 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
This is going over right now, not that cloudy, very bright!
Reposted by Matthew Somerville
ISS pass: magnitude -3.8, 18:03:03–18:07:03 from W to ESE, maximum altitude 79° at 18:06:26 in S. Weather: broken clouds.
November 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
ISS pass: magnitude -3.8, 18:03:03–18:07:03 from W to ESE, maximum altitude 79° at 18:06:26 in S. Weather: broken clouds.
Reposted by Matthew Somerville
Of course it’s what the chords are that’s important, not their order.
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
![Google AI Overview saying that “The main chords for "Barcelona" by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé include Bb, Eb/Bb, Ab/Eb, Db, Gb/Db, Ab, Ebdim7, Eb, Bb, Ab, Eb/C, Cb, E/Cb, Gb/Bb, Gb, Cb, E/Cb, Bb7sus2, Bb, Ab, Bb/Ab, Fm7, Eb/F, Fm7/Eb, Ab/Bb, Bb7, Ebadd9, [...]" etc etc](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7bhzt33apansyf24a772y72f/bafkreigois2g3an2lmy247ogfurbbnmg672vjotbjdq356gys4znkjjl7q@jpeg)
November 21, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Of course it’s what the chords are that’s important, not their order.
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
Of course it’s what the chords are that’s important, not their order.
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
November 21, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Of course it’s what the chords are that’s important, not their order.
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
The chords I was looking for were, everybody now:
“Barcelona! It was the first time that we met” Eb (/Bb)
“Barcelona! How can I forget” Absus4/Db (/G)
“The moment that you stepped into the room you took my breath away” Ab (/C) Eb
I have kept URLs, that perhaps 3 people looked at in 2001, working/redirecting since. The @britishlibrary.bsky.social (“preserve the UK’s national collection of … digital content.”) can’t maintain links from a few months ago (e.g. blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-af...), now returning a 308 Permanent Redirect
November 21, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I have kept URLs, that perhaps 3 people looked at in 2001, working/redirecting since. The @britishlibrary.bsky.social (“preserve the UK’s national collection of … digital content.”) can’t maintain links from a few months ago (e.g. blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-af...), now returning a 308 Permanent Redirect
Reposted by Matthew Somerville
I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-w...
I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person
I love my job. I make a great salary, there’s a clear path to promotion, and a never-ending supply of cold brew in the office. And even though my j...
www.mcsweeneys.net
November 16, 2025 at 10:09 AM
I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-w...
At 3pm this afternoon, come and hear us at the Birmingham Conservatoire sing Gerald Finzi’s “Intimations of Immortality” (a setting of Wordsworth’s poem), with soloist Ruairi Bowen; Michael Hurd’s “This day to man”, six poems on the Nativity; and Richard Rodney Bennett’s Serenade for Small Orchestra
November 16, 2025 at 8:18 AM
At 3pm this afternoon, come and hear us at the Birmingham Conservatoire sing Gerald Finzi’s “Intimations of Immortality” (a setting of Wordsworth’s poem), with soloist Ruairi Bowen; Michael Hurd’s “This day to man”, six poems on the Nativity; and Richard Rodney Bennett’s Serenade for Small Orchestra
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Or eat an ice cream (while watching The Choral)
Or eat an ice cream (while watching The Choral)
November 15, 2025 at 9:11 PM
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Or eat an ice cream (while watching The Choral)
Or eat an ice cream (while watching The Choral)
Caught the bus to town; walking from the Arcadian to the Mailbox and the roads are one big traffic jam, angry and honking, multiple selfish cutting or blocking in just a short walk. I don’t understand why anyone drives to the centre, and imagining how nice it would be if cars were banned from there
November 15, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Caught the bus to town; walking from the Arcadian to the Mailbox and the roads are one big traffic jam, angry and honking, multiple selfish cutting or blocking in just a short walk. I don’t understand why anyone drives to the centre, and imagining how nice it would be if cars were banned from there
“The chandeliers chain had broken and this huge glass crystal and metal thing was dangling over the entire cast by just the electrical wires. We bought the tabs in; I went FOH and told audience that “due to a slight technical problem we were having to pause the play”.” – theatricalia.com/d/bvt
Production of The Doctor’s Dilemma | Theatricalia
theatricalia.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:25 PM
“The chandeliers chain had broken and this huge glass crystal and metal thing was dangling over the entire cast by just the electrical wires. We bought the tabs in; I went FOH and told audience that “due to a slight technical problem we were having to pause the play”.” – theatricalia.com/d/bvt
Upgraded a very old server from buster to bullseye to bookworm, and found I could no longer SSH to it. Found @imrannazar.com’s imrannazar.com/articles/lin... with the same problem (thanks!); I don’t think I can upgrade the kernel, but I can downgrade OpenSSH: gist.github.com/dracos/ad5f1...
gist.github.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Upgraded a very old server from buster to bullseye to bookworm, and found I could no longer SSH to it. Found @imrannazar.com’s imrannazar.com/articles/lin... with the same problem (thanks!); I don’t think I can upgrade the kernel, but I can downgrade OpenSSH: gist.github.com/dracos/ad5f1...
People who think this is a bad idea, put off Labour. People who think this is a good idea, encouraged that their ideas are valid and to go for the people who believe in it properly
To reiterate, this is about making life immeasurably more miserable and stressful for some of the most vulnerable people, in the almost certainly vain hope of winning over the votes of racists.
Anything more shabby and shameful is difficult to envisage.
Anything more shabby and shameful is difficult to envisage.
Asylum in UK to be made temporary under Home Secretary’s plans
Shabana Mahmood will lay out reforms modelled on the Danish system on Monday.
www.independent.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
People who think this is a bad idea, put off Labour. People who think this is a good idea, encouraged that their ideas are valid and to go for the people who believe in it properly
On the 27 bus, passing through the flooded Bournville tunnel, deep enough to come into the bus
November 15, 2025 at 9:25 AM
On the 27 bus, passing through the flooded Bournville tunnel, deep enough to come into the bus
I, in Birmingham, haven’t had a recycling or garden waste bin collection in *2025* :-/ Which doesn’t bode well for the elections next year.
Continuing to even fail to manage a decline, failed to plan for government and what to do, betting on “AI growth zones” as concerns rise over finances, … :-/
Continuing to even fail to manage a decline, failed to plan for government and what to do, betting on “AI growth zones” as concerns rise over finances, … :-/
Everything they do should be about what best sets up whichever fresh-faced MP becomes the leader in January 2029 to go 'I'm new! Inflation is down, interest rates are down, bin collections are weekly, GP appointments are up and the police catch criminals again!'
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I, in Birmingham, haven’t had a recycling or garden waste bin collection in *2025* :-/ Which doesn’t bode well for the elections next year.
Continuing to even fail to manage a decline, failed to plan for government and what to do, betting on “AI growth zones” as concerns rise over finances, … :-/
Continuing to even fail to manage a decline, failed to plan for government and what to do, betting on “AI growth zones” as concerns rise over finances, … :-/
My site and RTT disagree on the cause of this delayed train
November 14, 2025 at 7:58 PM
My site and RTT disagree on the cause of this delayed train