it's somehow getting hotter how is it getting hotter why is it getting hotter it's too damn hot. regardless, had a ridiculously busy week with PlatformCon, my five minute standup set and Bruno coming to visit!

miscellanea

• in my infinite wisdom, I'm an Aella reader. this article is a good collection of anecdotes about polyamory.
• found an interesting article about the House of Lords and the Parliament Acts, which has been especially interesting in the context of the assisted dying bill

musings

• had a 1:1 with the CTO this week, and it was lovely catching up! I should schedule more external 1:1s with others I don't already interact with socially, as it would be nice to catch up regularly.
• I upgraded to the iOS 26 beta, as mentioned last week. here are a few thoughts.
  • the lag when navigating the interface is insane. input lag with the new keyboard is atrocious. this seems to have gotten better as time has gone on (or maybe my brain has adjusted)
  • had to set the device type of my Bluetooth headphones to get it to show up as an audio output in Apple Music
  • Apple Music's automix is rough around the edges and you can feel it. when it works, it works rather well. however, when it doesn't, the transitions can be jarring. it alters the key and speed of the music to make it fit, which can make it sound 'off' when going from one song into another. it's like a beat-matched crossfade. when it can't find something to match from one song to another, it just gives up and doesn't even do a regular crossfade
  • notification shade manages to be a glitchy pileup sometimes
  • it needs less transparency, more frosting. there isn't enough distinction between elements
• Virgin dropped sometime this week, but I'm yet to listen to it all. Shapeshifter is the best song on the album, so far

misadventures

• created a booking link for recurring 1:1s using my existing Cal.com infra on the homelab
• updated my weeknotes blog post template with my mmm headings, to make it easier to get started. however, it didn't work as I didn't know I had to update the source parameter on the endpoint.
• started Series 3 of YOU
• powdered 370g of sugar. I'm considering baking at some point but had no powdered sugar to dust my cakes with.
• enjoyed PlaformCon this week, heading to an executive roundtable on Tuesday and then the Live Day on Wednesday
  • heard some good takes around platform adoption initiatives, what a platform is and why it matters, and the role of the platform engineering team within an organisation. went to the pub after, which is always lovely
• missed my 1:1 with Josie this week, as she was busy and I went to that executive roundtable. I've pulled it back to Monday next week, so we can talk about projects we've got on
• went to the Live Day on Wednesday, where there were 700+(!!) people. I met up with Felix and some of his colleagues, too
• there was hilariously overdramatic music when the emcee introduced people on the main stage
• there was quite a bit of sponsored content, but it was actually useful stuff as opposed to other conferences
• took part in a second roundtable titled The Future of Platform Engineering, and was told I should do standup comedy by one of the other people there. glad I'm not completely delusional, and other people also think I'm funny
• headed to the F1 Arcade after, and played on some of the simulators
• did my standup set at the Freedom Fridge on Thursday night. it was a brilliant time, and I'm so grateful that to everyone who came to see me
  • surprisingly, only two people dropped out before the set
  • all eleven of the audience plants I brought alone were polite enough to laugh, despite being inoculated against my humour by virtue of being around me
  • got McDonald's after the set
  • slept on an air mattress after, had really bad sleep and woke up with my neck in immense pain
• Bruno finally came to visit on Friday! did some calendar gardening in advance 0f Bruno’s visit
  • I had the misfortune of dealing with the absolute nightmare that is BA's incredibly condescending support
  • got breakfast with him and Katie, and apparently the café near mine does very nice iced lattes
  • we did rock karaoke on Friday night, and it was lovely for everyone to meet him. went home late on the Night Tube, which wasn't the worst experience
• got a Tesco delivery on Saturday, got a bunch of frozen stuff for the month
  • I think their knockoff Soleros are pretty good
  • need to do a meal plan each week and stick it to my fridge
  • finally found that 70l bin bags fit my bin properly without stretching too much
• on Sunday, finally got around to transcribing notes from my developer experience roundtable two weeks ago. curse my bad handwriting!
• went to the Hercules Pillars with Bruno on Sunday evening, a lovely sports bar in London. watched the Formula 1 Austrian GP with him, and it wasn't packed