I'm Dan Q (he/him). I've spent the last 26+ years creating and writing online.
I work as a software engineer, and I volunteer with Three Rings. I live with my partner, her husband, two kids and a dog. I can sometimes be found geo*ing, performing magic, or recording the most pointless podcast.
I believe in open source, open relationships, and opening doors to marginalised groups. Black lives matter. Trans
rights are human rights.
Be nice to humans, human.
-
Why I Am So Tired
After dusting off and modernising a joke I first read in a chain email from 1996, I can tell you conclusively that the reason that I'm tired is because I'm overworked. Read more →
-
Visualising Forged In The Dark probabilities
Blades in the Dark (and other Forged In The Dark-based games) use a highest-value-from-D6-dice-pool mechanic to resolve actions. I was looking for a visualisation of the resulting probabilities, but couldn't find one... so I made my own. Read more →
-
Roomscale VR Still Rocks
I'd promised the kids I'd dig up my (ten-year-old!) original HTC Vive VR gear and hook it up in the living room over Christmas. Roomscale VR, even running on decade-old kit, still rocks and is as immersive as ever! Read more →
-
Egg and Dispatch
I don't get much time for videogames, so when I find the opportunity to complete not one but two games within a single month, you know my recommendation of them holds some weight! Let me tell you about 'Egg', and 'Dispatch'. Read more →
-
Actually, Yes! (that IS what my birth certificate says)
There's a certain kind of person who, upon hearing my unusual name, immediately asks whether that's what's on my birth certificate (with an underlying implication that it's not my 'real' name, whatever that means, if it isn't). Well: as of this week, thanks to a quirk in Scottish law, the name I've used every day for almost two decades DOES appear my birth certificate. Fuck the haters. Read more →
-
For anyone who :has :not yet seen the magic of modern CSS
CSS is all grown-up, and the combination of nested selectors, variables, :not, and :has unlocks a wealth of potential for interactivity and customisation without resorting to (the slower and brittler approach of) JavaScript. Let me show you two examples from my recent editor history. Read more →
-
CSS Lightbox with Alt Text Viewer
Off the back of my details/summary-based semantic HTML+CSS lightbox, I've come up with a way to add Mastodon-like 'show alt text' widgets in the same way, and I'll be applying both to images on my blog's new theme, in the New Year. Read more →
-
DOCTYPE
I received my copy of DOCTYPE magazine, a genuine 'type this program in and run it'-style programming magazine but for a modern world, and enjoyed writing, debugging, playing, and then considering refining Stuart Langridge's puzzle The Nine Pyramids. Read more →
-
Pushing RSS to WhatsApp (for free?)
RSS remains the gold standard for subscribing to Web content... but WhatsApp Channels/Newsletters provide another interesting opportunity for syndication. If only somebody had written an RSS-to-WhatApp integration that could run for free in a GitHub Action? Oh wait, that's what I just did! Read more →
-
More articles →
(articles are traditional long-form blog posts) -
Not kink-shaming anyone, but I’m not sure I want to go to the ‘toilets viewing area’. × Read more →
-
The younger kids' taekwondo school put on a free 'new years workout' class this morning. It was pretty awesome.
My watch says my heart rate averaged 146bpm, peaking at 169bpm. It's possible I'm not as fit as I used to be. 😅
But at least I don't feel like I might die, like I did during the 'dads go free' promotion last year. Progress? Read more → -
Why I Am So Tired [Video]
A video version of my recent joke about why I'm so tired, which was also made available in article and podcast formats. Read more →
-
As part of my efforts to reclaim the living room from the children, I'm building a new gaming PC for the playroom. She's called Bee, and - thanks to the absolute insanity that is The Tower 300 case from Thermaltake - she's one of the most bonkers PC cases I've ever worked in. Read more →
-
A small collection of text-only websites
Terence Eden's maintaining a list of websites that are presented as, or are wholly or partially available via, plain text. Obviously my own text/plain blog is among them, and is as far as I'm aware the only one to be entirely presented as text/plain. Read more →
-
Tintern Abbey’s looking especially beautiful in the fresh snow, this morning. × Read more →
-
Our dog has decided that the perfect place to lie down at our holiday accommodation is… on a staircase whose carpet is the same colour as her!I’m grateful for her very-visible blep… or I’d have tripped over this camouflaged pupper several times already! × Read more →
-
Found GC47WME PYVW- Cuckoo Wood
I was in these woods anyway, seeking GC10N80 and figured I'd come hunt for this cache too. A quick find; my geosense spotted a candidate hiding place right from the main path, and I turned out to be right. Read more →
-
Found GC10N80 Wye Eye
This puzzle cache, undiscovered for 20 months, made for one of the most satisfying geocaching expeditions I've ever done. Read more →
-
Found GC39NPC Cleddon shoots and falls
Hiked over from Catbrook on the way to a cache up Pen Y Fan and stopped by these beautiful waterfalls on the way. So glad I did! Read more →
-
D&D 5e is not for everyone
Kai Koehler reminds us that D&D 5e is far from the only TTRPG, with a tight dissection of its specific characteristics so that they can be compared to other, perhaps more roleplay-heavy, games and systems. They include some suggested ideas for other games, too, a couple of which I'm strongly-inclined to try out! Read more →
-
Found GC7P0AN A Fine Pair # 1089 ~ Parkhouse
The geohound and I walked over from Catbrook this morning "the long way" - over the hill and woods, finding a couple of caches along the way - to this cache.
From both the cache type and my GPSr's map data I fully expected to find a post box here alongside the (decrepit) red phone box, but it's nowhere to be seen! Has it perhaps been removed?
In any case, the hint reassured me that I was in the right place and my geosense told me where to look. A disappointingly tiny cache container (where a larger one could have probably been placed) was soon found, caked in mud, and replaced as-found.
TFTC. Read more → -
Found GC2DJ9K The Wolf Cache
The geopup and I absolutely chose the right time to come up here on this wintery morning. The sun's ascent over the valley whenever we escape the cover of the woods is absolutely spectacular.
Found without difficulty SL, TFTC! Read more → -
Found GC2EFAW The Cairn Cache
The geopup and I, on holiday from West Oxfordshire and staying nearby, came out for a morning walk in the ice and snow today.
Our little Frenchie's tiny legs made the work of climbing the stiles on this path a little challenging, but with persistence we were treated to a wonderful view of the sun broaching the horizon over the valley at the North end of School Wood.
Soon the cairn was in sight, and what a brilliant spot for a cache! Signed log, and dropped a travel bug that's come all the way from Texas to continue its journey. FP awarded for bringing us out this way. Read more → -
Back at the Rollright Stones fire New Year's Day, per family tradition. This year the younger child counted 74, the elder 59. The curse that prevents you counting the same number twice continues! Read more →
-
More posts →
(of all kinds:
articles, 
checkins, 
notes, 
reposts...)
