Matthew Pennell
@matthewpennell.com
Designer, developer, writer, reader, feminist, atheist, optimist. I believe there is goo in everyone.
Heading down to that London to see the excellent @tuneyards.bsky.social at the Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre. Unsure what the venue's policy is on mosh pits.
November 22, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Heading down to that London to see the excellent @tuneyards.bsky.social at the Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre. Unsure what the venue's policy is on mosh pits.
Looking forward to actually being able to watch a game in real-time for once - @wshcommanders.bsky.social are playing in Madrid this weekend. #HTTC
November 16, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Looking forward to actually being able to watch a game in real-time for once - @wshcommanders.bsky.social are playing in Madrid this weekend. #HTTC
Been hacking my bad habits for the last couple of months, here's a reflection on what worked (and what didn't):
matthewpennell.com/blog/purpose...
matthewpennell.com/blog/purpose...
Purposeful attention
Just about eight weeks ago now, I decided that I wanted to be more deliberate about the ways in which I spent my spare time. I had found myself wasting hours every day, idly surfing YouTube in the mor...
matthewpennell.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Been hacking my bad habits for the last couple of months, here's a reflection on what worked (and what didn't):
matthewpennell.com/blog/purpose...
matthewpennell.com/blog/purpose...
More vibe coding adventures this weekend; I switched from ChatGPT to Windsurf (using GPT-5) until I ran out of free credits. Not sure how helpful the (entirely free) SWE-1 model is going to be while I add the finishing touches. #ai
November 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
More vibe coding adventures this weekend; I switched from ChatGPT to Windsurf (using GPT-5) until I ran out of free credits. Not sure how helpful the (entirely free) SWE-1 model is going to be while I add the finishing touches. #ai
First Radiohead, now Interpol/Bloc Party - why can't bands ever choose a ticketing platform that can cope with the traffic their fans generate? They all use these obscure third-party apps that fail at the crucial moment.
November 5, 2025 at 9:05 AM
First Radiohead, now Interpol/Bloc Party - why can't bands ever choose a ticketing platform that can cope with the traffic their fans generate? They all use these obscure third-party apps that fail at the crucial moment.
Experimented with some vibe coding today (ChatGPT and Windsurf). Kind of nearly almost worked, but I suspect my free accounts ran into a context window issue because it started going in circles eventually. Main learning is to write a much more detailed, step-by-step functional spec up-front. #ai
November 2, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Experimented with some vibe coding today (ChatGPT and Windsurf). Kind of nearly almost worked, but I suspect my free accounts ran into a context window issue because it started going in circles eventually. Main learning is to write a much more detailed, step-by-step functional spec up-front. #ai
It's a bit of a niche request, but I'd like it if MacOS apps had an alternative icon, for those situations where you use two apps regularly but are constantly clicking on the wrong one because their icons are too similar. Looking at you, Bear and Vivaldi.
October 27, 2025 at 10:40 AM
It's a bit of a niche request, but I'd like it if MacOS apps had an alternative icon, for those situations where you use two apps regularly but are constantly clicking on the wrong one because their icons are too similar. Looking at you, Bear and Vivaldi.
Reposted by Matthew Pennell
A thread, a super interesting, yet terrifying study, by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and Purdue, which shows language models can suffer permanent cognitive damage when trained on low-quality, high-engagement social media posts.
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AIResearch
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AIResearch
October 22, 2025 at 6:26 AM
A thread, a super interesting, yet terrifying study, by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and Purdue, which shows language models can suffer permanent cognitive damage when trained on low-quality, high-engagement social media posts.
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AIResearch
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AIResearch
Considering how pivotal they've been in the direction my life has taken, it's slightly surprising to realise that I've only ever owned seven computers. Two 8-bit machines; two in the early 2000s, Pentium III era; two iMacs; and my current (now five-year-old) PC.
October 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Considering how pivotal they've been in the direction my life has taken, it's slightly surprising to realise that I've only ever owned seven computers. Two 8-bit machines; two in the early 2000s, Pentium III era; two iMacs; and my current (now five-year-old) PC.
Wrote up a brief summary of some of the design choices on my relaunched personal site. Most fall under the category of "stealing from myself":
matthewpennell.com/blog/redesig...
#ux #design #blog
matthewpennell.com/blog/redesig...
#ux #design #blog
Redesign 2025
Back in March I published a post about the thought process and technology behind this newly rebuilt personal aggregation site. Now, six months later, I've finally completed a redesign -- one that ende...
matthewpennell.com
October 19, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Wrote up a brief summary of some of the design choices on my relaunched personal site. Most fall under the category of "stealing from myself":
matthewpennell.com/blog/redesig...
#ux #design #blog
matthewpennell.com/blog/redesig...
#ux #design #blog
Probably a couple of weeks late to this (slowly clearing my newsletter backlog), but The Oatmeal's take on AI art is spot-on:
theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art
theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art
A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal
This is a comic about AI art.
theoatmeal.com
October 18, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Probably a couple of weeks late to this (slowly clearing my newsletter backlog), but The Oatmeal's take on AI art is spot-on:
theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art
theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art
Redesigned and restructured my personal website for about the twentieth time - but this time, finally, the underlying platform remains the same.
matthewpennell.com
matthewpennell.com
matthewpennell.com
The personal blog and portfolio of a UK-based UX designer and developer with over two decades of experience and a passion for writing, music, and gaming.
matthewpennell.com
October 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Redesigned and restructured my personal website for about the twentieth time - but this time, finally, the underlying platform remains the same.
matthewpennell.com
matthewpennell.com
On about the fourth attempt, I finally have a navigation that actually works at all screen sizes. Forgot this stuff was so hard.
October 11, 2025 at 3:44 PM
On about the fourth attempt, I finally have a navigation that actually works at all screen sizes. Forgot this stuff was so hard.
Putting down my CRASH! mug on my CRASH! coaster, I pull out a credit card from my ZX Spectrum styled wallet and put down the money for yet another CRASH! annual:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/zza...
#retro #zxspectrum
www.kickstarter.com/projects/zza...
#retro #zxspectrum
Our Fusion Retro Books 2026 Annuals - 4 in total!
Another year - some more XMAS Annuals to read!
www.kickstarter.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Putting down my CRASH! mug on my CRASH! coaster, I pull out a credit card from my ZX Spectrum styled wallet and put down the money for yet another CRASH! annual:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/zza...
#retro #zxspectrum
www.kickstarter.com/projects/zza...
#retro #zxspectrum
Reposted by Matthew Pennell
Hadn't seen this "Cartography of Generative AI" before. From Estampa, a collective of programmers, filmmakers and researchers working in the fields of audiovisual media and digital environments: cartography-of-generative-ai.net
October 3, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Hadn't seen this "Cartography of Generative AI" before. From Estampa, a collective of programmers, filmmakers and researchers working in the fields of audiovisual media and digital environments: cartography-of-generative-ai.net
After two hours fighting with Kubernetes, Docker, NPM and custom deploy scripts, I'm quite nostalgic for the days when deploying a website meant dragging your files from one window to the FTP server window and watching the little progress bar files fly from one folder to the other.
October 3, 2025 at 2:29 PM
After two hours fighting with Kubernetes, Docker, NPM and custom deploy scripts, I'm quite nostalgic for the days when deploying a website meant dragging your files from one window to the FTP server window and watching the little progress bar files fly from one folder to the other.
Wow - just received a late Amazon refund ... from 2019.
September 30, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Wow - just received a late Amazon refund ... from 2019.
Put your faith in the one who tries,
Don't gossip and don't tell lies,
When in doubt by a larger size.
Never trust a judgmental man,
Listen to those you are younger than,
Be good just because you can.
Make up after every fight,
Always kiss your girl goodnight,
Don't buy underwear too tight.
Don't gossip and don't tell lies,
When in doubt by a larger size.
Never trust a judgmental man,
Listen to those you are younger than,
Be good just because you can.
Make up after every fight,
Always kiss your girl goodnight,
Don't buy underwear too tight.
September 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Put your faith in the one who tries,
Don't gossip and don't tell lies,
When in doubt by a larger size.
Never trust a judgmental man,
Listen to those you are younger than,
Be good just because you can.
Make up after every fight,
Always kiss your girl goodnight,
Don't buy underwear too tight.
Don't gossip and don't tell lies,
When in doubt by a larger size.
Never trust a judgmental man,
Listen to those you are younger than,
Be good just because you can.
Make up after every fight,
Always kiss your girl goodnight,
Don't buy underwear too tight.
Every few years I remember how great Kristin Hersh's first solo album, Hips and Makers, was. This time I discovered they released a 30th anniversary edition last year, with 10 additional tracks.
open.spotify.com/album/13JHk7...
open.spotify.com/album/13JHk7...
Hips and Makers (30th Anniversary Edition)
open.spotify.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Every few years I remember how great Kristin Hersh's first solo album, Hips and Makers, was. This time I discovered they released a 30th anniversary edition last year, with 10 additional tracks.
open.spotify.com/album/13JHk7...
open.spotify.com/album/13JHk7...
May be an odd topic to write about after a week's vacation spent doing nothing, but here we are.
matthewpennell.com/blog/to-live...
matthewpennell.com/blog/to-live...
To live deliberately
More and more frequently these days, I feel as though I'm rushing through the things I consume in order to reach a goal that does not actually exist.
matthewpennell.com
September 21, 2025 at 7:04 PM
May be an odd topic to write about after a week's vacation spent doing nothing, but here we are.
matthewpennell.com/blog/to-live...
matthewpennell.com/blog/to-live...
So that's <counts> 30 items remaining on the to-do list before this redesign is ready to launch, hopefully before October 1st.
September 13, 2025 at 1:17 PM
So that's <counts> 30 items remaining on the to-do list before this redesign is ready to launch, hopefully before October 1st.
A multi-monitor setup really comes into its own on race/game weekends. Figma on the main screen, Spotify on one side, and F1 qualifying on the other.
September 6, 2025 at 2:07 PM
A multi-monitor setup really comes into its own on race/game weekends. Figma on the main screen, Spotify on one side, and F1 qualifying on the other.
While I do like having a gaming PC, I definitely don't enjoy the hellishly complex process of debugging hardware issues on Windows - juggling drivers, updates, installs, BIOS settings, overclocking, undervolting, and watching/reading hundreds of YouTube guides and Reddit threads.
August 30, 2025 at 1:43 PM
While I do like having a gaming PC, I definitely don't enjoy the hellishly complex process of debugging hardware issues on Windows - juggling drivers, updates, installs, BIOS settings, overclocking, undervolting, and watching/reading hundreds of YouTube guides and Reddit threads.
Great article on the challenges facing product design orgs: matthewstrom.com/writing/prod...
It's only going to be exacerbated by any AI-driven shedding of junior roles.
It's only going to be exacerbated by any AI-driven shedding of junior roles.
The product design talent crisis
Why we should invest in the next generation of product designers
matthewstrom.com
August 25, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Great article on the challenges facing product design orgs: matthewstrom.com/writing/prod...
It's only going to be exacerbated by any AI-driven shedding of junior roles.
It's only going to be exacerbated by any AI-driven shedding of junior roles.
Share a favorite TV show character that isn’t the main character.
August 24, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Share a favorite TV show character that isn’t the main character.