Paul Taylor
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ampersarnie.com
Paul Taylor
@ampersarnie.com
Engineering Manager @bigbite.net

Dad • #Gaming • #FinalFantasy enjoyer • Web Dev

https://ampersandwich.co.uk

I'm on Germ DM 🔑
https://ger.mx/AydYEg0yhkMYSNDyxXhTEyEeFHieXFeH6owTkFxSOECl#did:plc:upfp2a3q4ikk2rrmoknin5cd
Pinned
I've finally made the repo public for my Linear plugin for @obsidian.md!

ampersandwich.co.uk/obsidian-lin...
I've not played it but Choral Chambers by Christopher Larkin for the Hollow Knight: Silksong soundtrack is lovely.

music.apple.com/gb/album/cho...
Choral Chambers by Christopher Larkin on Apple Music
Song · 2025 · Duration 2:43
music.apple.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I honestly love a lot of the changes to iPad OS, but I can't believe this in  Music still isn't actionable with mouse/trackpad and I still have to finger swipe/pull.

Frustrating.
October 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The next big thing in music, film and gaming will come after their fall to AI slop, when going back non-ai is hailed as a massive breakthrough.
October 20, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Sad that to hear D’Angelo has passed away after a battle with cancer.

I’ll be listening to Voodoo for the foreseeable.
R&B singer D’Angelo dead at 51
The singer, who was also an acclaimed songwriter, was known for helping create the genre of neo-soul.
www.bbc.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:23 AM
And not a single person with an ounce of sense is surprised after OSA.

Discord customer service data breach leaks user info and scanned photo IDs
Discord customer service data breach leaks user info and scanned photo IDs
An “unauthorized party” may have accessed the names of users, the last four digits of credit card numbers, and more.
www.theverge.com
October 4, 2025 at 9:23 AM
The continuous overreach by our Governments for our privacy over the past 2 decades is infuriating.

Conservatives were doing it, and Labour were doing it before that and have continued now they're in again.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Government targets UK Apple users in new demand for data
It is the latest development in a privacy row which has pitted the UK against the tech giant and the Trump administration.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 1, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Left and right, no room for nuance.
September 26, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Seeing more people get upset about the Digital ID thing than the Online Safety Act doesn’t sit right with me.

Lots of hypotheticals around IDs when the OSA was clear and had an immediate impact to daily lives.

Seems very sus.
September 26, 2025 at 6:36 PM
The right might have hold of the flag but rather than shouting about what it symbolises, this is the best approach. Remove its power from the right, reclaim it.

I hope this is an approach that other parties and people adopt.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Farron drapes himself in flag as Lib Dems seek to reclaim patriotism
The Lib Dems are urged to stop being squeamish about national pride, at their annual conference.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 20, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I blame all my woes on this arsehole growing legs.
September 18, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Hate begets hate. Violence begets violence.
September 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Having a DOOM-like running in SQL is incredible as it is, but a multi-player DOOM-like in SQL? 🤯

cedardb.com/blog/doomql/
Building a DOOM-like multiplayer shooter in pure SQL
CedarDB is a database system that delivers unmatched performance for transactions and analytics, from small writes to handling billions of rows. Built on cutting-edge research to power today’s tools…
cedardb.com
September 10, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Not sure there’s anything here to make me want to upgrade from a 14 Pro. Again.
September 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Interesting read on creating the refracted "liquid glass" we're seeing in upcoming Apple OSs, built with CSS and SVGs.

kube.io/blog/liquid-...
Liquid Glass in the Browser: Refraction with CSS and SVG — kube.io
Explore how to recreate Apple's stunning Liquid Glass effect using CSS, SVG Displacement Maps, and refraction calculations.
kube.io
September 9, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Sometimes I wonder if people have the wrong attitude when saying “the client doesn’t know what they want.”

Oftentimes they do know what they want, they just don’t have the knowledge or awareness to articulate it to a degree that developers are happy with.
September 8, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Saturdays are my favourite days. I get to spend one on one time with the family, and get some exercise.

I take my daughter for a walk in the morning.

My boy goes for a bike ride and I tag along.

It’s date night with my partner, and I rarely touch a computer.

A simple day, but one I need.
September 6, 2025 at 3:03 PM
"However, M365 Copilot users completed Excel data analysis more slowly and to a worse quality and accuracy than non-users, conflicting time savings reported in the diary study for data analysis.”

Does this really come as a shock or unexpected to anyone?
M365 Copilot fails to up productivity in UK government trial
: AI tech shows promise writing emails or summarizing meetings. Don't bother with anything more complex
www.theregister.com
September 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
This isn't a recent realisation but after years (decades?) of listening to K-pop on-and-off, I find artists are at their best when they lean right into pop and away from the rap/hip-hop vibes. Few pull it off. Those that do, do it well.

Its a formula that should have been left in the early 2010s.
September 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Oh wow, Buffer absolutely mangled that image with over compression.
September 2, 2025 at 9:45 AM
I never knew this feature existed in  Music - if you hold down the option key it changes the back button to "Genius Shuffle." It's supposed to line up songs that "go great together."

(They often don't go great together and there's little variety between each shuffle)
September 2, 2025 at 9:44 AM
It took me nearly 40 years to realise that the little piggy who went to market wasn’t going shopping.
August 2, 2025 at 9:43 PM
What an absolute fucking mess.
The government has now officially weighed in on VPNs. #OnlineSafetyAct www.gov.uk/government/n...
August 2, 2025 at 7:18 AM
No matter how much I want to see aspects of the Online Safety Act gone, I will NOT give my vote to Farage.
July 29, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by Paul Taylor
Various methods including custom adblock filter rules:

Bluesky's UK age assurance sucks, here's how to work around it gist.github.com/mary-ext/6e2...

"It remains unclear whether UK regulators would consider Bluesky's client-side implementation sufficient for OSA compliance."

#OnlineSafetyAct
July 27, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Paul Taylor
Just at the time the U.K. government is telling us to send personal data to unreliable U.S. companies for spurious age verification systems.
New from 404 Media: a startup is selling data hacked from peoples' computers to debt collectors, divorce lawyers, more. People already hacked, now being re-vicitmized by startup. I used the tool, found peoples' personal addresses.

“This is so gross and predatory.”

www.404media.co/a-startup-is...
A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors
Infostealer data can include passwords, email and billing addresses, and the embarrassing websites you use. Farnsworth Intelligence is selling to to divorce lawyers and other industries.
www.404media.co
July 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM