Andrew Doran
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andrewdoran.uk
Andrew Doran
@andrewdoran.uk
160 followers 450 following 170 posts
He/him. Husband, dad of two teenage boys, Technology person working in Financial Services, over-enthusiastic, geek.

🎶 Co-founder of Album Club (https://albumclub.info), meeting every month since 2011.

✍️ Blogging since 2004.

🌐 https://andrewdoran.uk
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andrewdoran.uk
Added an ‘/ai’ page to my site to disclose my use of generative AI, inspired by Damola Morenikeji’s /ai ‘manifesto’.
AI
This page is to disclose my use of generative AI. For more information about pages like this, please read the /ai ‘manifesto’. Aside from anything that I quote, the content of this webs…
andrewdoran.uk
November 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Gave my About page a long-overdue update. I’ve also added a /now page to the site too.
About
I write here in order to work things out and understand myself better: to put down the things that I have been carrying around in my head so I don’t have to carry them anymore, and to capture momen…
andrewdoran.uk
November 27, 2025 at 7:35 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #352 — Doing thought work: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/26/weeknotes-352-doing-thought-work/
November 26, 2025 at 7:44 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Solving a micro.blog and Cloudflare connectivity issue: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/23/solving-a-microblog-and-cloudflare-connectivity-issue/
November 23, 2025 at 7:59 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #351 — Back in Barcelona: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/22/weeknotes-351-back-in-barcelona/
Sunrise over the Mediterranean as seen on my morning run. The view from the 22nd floor of the Leonardo Royal Hotel Barcelona Forum. Dinner at El Nacional in Barcelona. The Gartner Xpo hall.
November 22, 2025 at 8:46 PM
andrewdoran.uk
A small software change that delights: holding down a key on my iPad keyboard now brings up a menu of accented variations of that letter. This is a massive improvement over having to bring up the on-screen keyboard and doing a similar thing on the screen.
November 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
andrewdoran.uk
ChatGPT image weirdness

andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11...
ChatGPT image weirdness
About a year ago, I asked ChatGPT “Based on what you know about me, draw a picture what my current life is.” It came up with this: Aside from the fact that it has that typical AI feel abo…
andrewdoran.uk
November 18, 2025 at 11:27 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Strava seem to have removed their activity map styles of ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘Pride’ and ‘Support Ukraine’. Presumably this is part of getting ready for their IPO and not wanting to have a potentially damaging narrative about whether the... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/13/12688/
November 13, 2025 at 8:54 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #350 — Huxley, not Orwell

andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11...
Weeknotes #350 — Huxley, not Orwell
After starving myself for over twenty-four hours last week ahead of a colonoscopy, this week I once again found myself going without food for a whole day. Unfortunately, this time it wasn’t planned…
andrewdoran.uk
November 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #349 — Look inside yourself

andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11...
Weeknotes #349 — Look inside yourself
Without beating around the bush, the major event of this week was a colonoscopy. This year I decided to follow up with a couple of minor medical issues that I’ve experienced in the recent past, fig…
andrewdoran.uk
November 8, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Andrew Doran
thompsonsimon.com
This is Perplexity's attempt (I nearly needed oxygen after seeing this)
Set over a Union Jack, this poster of the Last 10 British Prime Ministers features 12 (yes) polaroid-style photos of essentially the same face (a mix of Boris Johnson, King Charles III, Donald Trump, with hints of Tom Baker). From left-to-right, top to bottom: Larabe (the most Trump-y), British (the most King Charles), Prime (the most Johnson), Ministers (less hair), Pronlalong (the same face but female with grey hair and pearls), Lritish (not so different from Ministers), Minnter (Theresa May-ish), Briaue (a yunger Lritish), Prricllar (the most Tom Baker), Hentitish (could also be Lritish), Prime (an actor playing one of the others in The Crown), and Ministers (equally generic). Most have a pin badge just off the left lapel, but none look like a Union Jack.
November 2, 2025 at 9:22 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Finished reading The Secret Public: How LGBTQ Resistance Shaped Popular Culture (1955–1979). An epic book in five parts, covering the mid-1950s, the early and late 1960s, and the early and late 1970s. This period is transformational for gay rights, ... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/11/02/12662/
November 2, 2025 at 11:14 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #348 — Born ugly: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/30/weeknotes-348-born-ugly/
October 30, 2025 at 11:31 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #347 — Another detached retina: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/21/weeknotes-347-another-detached-retina/
Looks like we picked the wrong week to fly to a popper-fuelled party at Everest Base Camp. Grant-Lee Phillips at The Lower Third, London, 15 September 2025
October 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Last night, thanks to a friend pointing out that there were three members of Britpop-era band Dodgy, the penny dropped and I finally got the triple meaning pun of Dodgy’s 1996 album title Free Peace Sweet. Superb work, guys from Dodgy. Is 29 years to ... https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/21/12613/
October 21, 2025 at 6:46 PM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #346 — Hansen Sea-Cow: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/17/weeknotes-346-hansen-sea-cow/
October 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
andrewdoran.uk
It’s Album Club #176ref="https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/tag/176/" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">#176.
October 16, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Andrew Doran
depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social
Pre social media people used to make websites for Dougs to hang out with Dougs! Same for Shirlenes, Geoffreys, Susan Parkers... I dug up a bunch of them on the wayback machine (thread!!!)
October 10, 2025 at 5:03 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #345 — Bath full of bricks: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/09/weeknotes-345-bath-full-of-bricks/
“In July, just as it was disintegrating, the GLF pulled off a major coup with the first official Gay Pride march in the UK. The culmination of the group's ideal of an open and confident, indeed non-commercial, gay scene, it had been planned for a while. It began in London on Friday 23 June with a dance at Fulham Town Hall and culminated on International Gay Pride Day, Saturday 1 July, with a carnival parade from Trafalgar Square to Speakers' Corner, followed by a Gay Day in Hyde Park.” — from The Secret Public by Jon Savage
October 9, 2025 at 6:33 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #344 — Some jacket required: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/10/02/weeknotes-344-some-jacket-required/
Stopping to fix a puncture on Saturday morning’s ride. Sadly our rider suffered a slow flat on the other wheel shortly after and decided to head home.
October 2, 2025 at 8:18 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #343 — En Seine: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/09/27/weeknotes-343-en-seine/
Graffiti near the Moxy Hotel. The cellar at Château Kirwan. Various vintages in the cellar at Château Kirwan. The cellar at Château Kirwan. Presumably some very intensive wine-based rituals take place here.
September 27, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Andrew Doran
jowolff.bsky.social
Was musing yesterday on whether teams should go back to taking the knee before games during the World Cup this summer. I vote yes.
September 27, 2025 at 4:56 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #342 — Out of breath: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/09/16/weeknotes-342-out-of-breath/
A bicycle pedal and crank, sitting abandoned on the pavement. “During the week that followed, Andy Warhol had another breakthrough. On 23 November, he invited some friends over to dinner — including Muriel Latow, the owner of a small Manhattan art gallery — during the course of which he bemoaned the fact that his current work, in particular the cartoon paintings, was being trumped by his competitors Claes Oldenburg and Roy Lichtenstein. He begged his guests for ideas, offering $50 (around $430 in today's money) for the one that worked best. Latow wasn't terribly impressed with Warhol — she thought he was 'one of society's natural aliens' — but she came up with the goods once the cheque was offered. She told Warhol that he should paint 'something you see every day and something that everybody would recognize. Something like a can of Campbell's Soup? 'Oh that sounds fabulous,' Warhol replied, and rushed out the next day to the supermarket across the street to buy every single can of Campbell's in the store, an act that would launch him on his way to becoming the most famous artist in America.” — Jon Savage, The Secret Public
September 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Andrew Doran
rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social
Working on the next update of the Society of Hopeful Technologists newsletter today, which will be wending its way to inboxes soon. There are currently 564 subscribers ❤️. You can join them here buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Society of Hopeful Technologists
Sign-up to keep in touch with the discovery phase of the Society for Hopeful Technologists (working title).
buttondown.com
September 11, 2025 at 10:16 AM
andrewdoran.uk
Weeknotes #341 — Just the three of us: https://andrewdoran.uk/blog/2025/09/10/weeknotes-341-just-the-three-of-us/
September 10, 2025 at 7:56 AM