Dale Lane
@dalelane.co.uk
Developer for IBM. Kafka. Kubernetes. AI. ML. Gadgets. Mobiles. Gaming. Coffee. Creator of Machine Learning for Kids.
https://dalelane.co.uk
https://dalelane.co.uk
How have I never noticed that the clock faces on Big Ben use an "F" instead of an "X" to represent 10???
overcast.fm/+AALJPBkuRWI...
overcast.fm/+AALJPBkuRWI...
February 6, 2026 at 8:21 PM
How have I never noticed that the clock faces on Big Ben use an "F" instead of an "X" to represent 10???
overcast.fm/+AALJPBkuRWI...
overcast.fm/+AALJPBkuRWI...
still working through my backlog of classic files I "should" have, but somehow haven't yet, watched
disappointingly, I just didn't get Time Bandits, but I loved the others
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday
disappointingly, I just didn't get Time Bandits, but I loved the others
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday
February 6, 2026 at 2:21 PM
still working through my backlog of classic files I "should" have, but somehow haven't yet, watched
disappointingly, I just didn't get Time Bandits, but I loved the others
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday
disappointingly, I just didn't get Time Bandits, but I loved the others
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday
we're in Winchester Cathedral to see the (massive!) sun sculpture Helios, and a night of geeky comedy
www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/event/festiv...
www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/event/festiv...
February 5, 2026 at 7:23 PM
we're in Winchester Cathedral to see the (massive!) sun sculpture Helios, and a night of geeky comedy
www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/event/festiv...
www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/event/festiv...
in London to listen to @hevansdev.bsky.social share the latest state of Diskless #Kafka - a super exciting project that I'm long overdue in having a play with
Next Evolution of Kafka: Diskless & AI-Assisted Kafka Engineering with MCP, Wed, Feb 4, 2026, 6:00 PM | Meetup
Join us for an exciting deep dive into the future of Kafka architecture and the intersection of AI with data streaming! Learn how diskless Kafka is revolutionising cloud-na
www.meetup.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:09 PM
in London to listen to @hevansdev.bsky.social share the latest state of Diskless #Kafka - a super exciting project that I'm long overdue in having a play with
I finished 1000xRESIST at the weekend and it's still on my mind.
In the absence of someone who has played it that I could talk to about it, I listened to a podcast with gamers talking about their experiences with and reactions to the game. A 5-hour podcast sounds ridiculous but it was really good!
In the absence of someone who has played it that I could talk to about it, I listened to a podcast with gamers talking about their experiences with and reactions to the game. A 5-hour podcast sounds ridiculous but it was really good!
Talking for 5 Hours About 1000xRESIST — dotzip
Today we’re talking about 1000xRESIST by sunset visitor 斜陽過客! A game about the human experience and experiencing a collection of dance grooves.Get 1000xRESIST on Steam or Switch! Check out sunset visi...
overcast.fm
February 4, 2026 at 2:43 PM
I finished 1000xRESIST at the weekend and it's still on my mind.
In the absence of someone who has played it that I could talk to about it, I listened to a podcast with gamers talking about their experiences with and reactions to the game. A 5-hour podcast sounds ridiculous but it was really good!
In the absence of someone who has played it that I could talk to about it, I listened to a podcast with gamers talking about their experiences with and reactions to the game. A 5-hour podcast sounds ridiculous but it was really good!
I wrote this week about approaches I've been trying out for teaching kids about generative AI.
It's a broad topic, so I've been working on which ideas are most useful, the best way to sequence them to not make it overwhelming, and how to explain them through hands-on activities
It's a broad topic, so I've been working on which ideas are most useful, the best way to sequence them to not make it overwhelming, and how to explain them through hands-on activities
How to explain Generative AI in the classroom
Generative AI is fast becoming an everyday tool across almost every field and industry. Teaching children about it should include an understanding of how it works, how to think critically about its ri...
dalelane.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 4:41 PM
I wrote this week about approaches I've been trying out for teaching kids about generative AI.
It's a broad topic, so I've been working on which ideas are most useful, the best way to sequence them to not make it overwhelming, and how to explain them through hands-on activities
It's a broad topic, so I've been working on which ideas are most useful, the best way to sequence them to not make it overwhelming, and how to explain them through hands-on activities
I finished 1000xRESIST - and... wow. It's the most moving, thought-provoking, and emotional game I've played since Nier: Automata. And like with Nier, I'm gonna be thinking (and probably talking!) about it for a while.
1000xResist (2024)
1000xRESIST is a thrilling sci-fi adventure. The year is unknown, and a disease spread by an alien invasion keeps you underground. You are Watcher. You dutifully fulfil your purpose in serving the ALL...
backloggd.com
February 1, 2026 at 12:54 PM
I finished 1000xRESIST - and... wow. It's the most moving, thought-provoking, and emotional game I've played since Nier: Automata. And like with Nier, I'm gonna be thinking (and probably talking!) about it for a while.
the only downside to watching Godzilla Minus One is that now Netflix is recommending a seemingly endless number of other Godzilla movies
#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
January 30, 2026 at 1:26 PM
the only downside to watching Godzilla Minus One is that now Netflix is recommending a seemingly endless number of other Godzilla movies
#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched
I'm playing "Roombo: First Blood" where you're a robot vacuum fighting burglars who have broken into your home, setting traps to kill them, then hoovering up their blood or other mess before your owners get home.
Is it ridiculous? Yes.
Did I get it solely because of the punny name? Also yes.
Is it ridiculous? Yes.
Did I get it solely because of the punny name? Also yes.
Roombo: First Blood (2019)
Roombo: First Blood is a comedic, top-down, stealth-action game about being a robot vacuum cleaner and fending off burglars that have broken into your home. A Samurai Punk Short.
backloggd.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:24 PM
I'm playing "Roombo: First Blood" where you're a robot vacuum fighting burglars who have broken into your home, setting traps to kill them, then hoovering up their blood or other mess before your owners get home.
Is it ridiculous? Yes.
Did I get it solely because of the punny name? Also yes.
Is it ridiculous? Yes.
Did I get it solely because of the punny name? Also yes.
I've been working on how we can teach school-age children about Generative AI for nearly a year now.
I considered waiting until it was a full year, but being typically impatient, I jumped the gun and pulled together my thoughts on what works well
I considered waiting until it was a full year, but being typically impatient, I jumped the gun and pulled together my thoughts on what works well
How to explain Generative AI in the classroom
Generative AI is fast becoming an everyday tool across almost every field and industry. Teaching children about it should include an understanding of how it works, how to think critically about its ri...
dalelane.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 12:08 PM
I've been working on how we can teach school-age children about Generative AI for nearly a year now.
I considered waiting until it was a full year, but being typically impatient, I jumped the gun and pulled together my thoughts on what works well
I considered waiting until it was a full year, but being typically impatient, I jumped the gun and pulled together my thoughts on what works well
I've been thinking about replacing Machine Learning for Kids' old gulp + bower build system for years, but it never passed the benefit > cost threshold to get me to actually do it.
Coding agents change the maths on that, so today I guided an agent through doing it with me in under an hour.
Coding agents change the maths on that, so today I guided an agent through doing it with me in under an hour.
January 24, 2026 at 6:12 PM
I've been thinking about replacing Machine Learning for Kids' old gulp + bower build system for years, but it never passed the benefit > cost threshold to get me to actually do it.
Coding agents change the maths on that, so today I guided an agent through doing it with me in under an hour.
Coding agents change the maths on that, so today I guided an agent through doing it with me in under an hour.
As a Nintendo + Xbox gamer, there are a small number of PlayStation games I feel like I've missed out on, like Spider Man, and the God of Wars.
But today I can cross one off that list, because I've got the Final Fantasy 7 Remake on Switch. I've been looking forward to this! 😁
But today I can cross one off that list, because I've got the Final Fantasy 7 Remake on Switch. I've been looking forward to this! 😁
January 23, 2026 at 8:44 PM
As a Nintendo + Xbox gamer, there are a small number of PlayStation games I feel like I've missed out on, like Spider Man, and the God of Wars.
But today I can cross one off that list, because I've got the Final Fantasy 7 Remake on Switch. I've been looking forward to this! 😁
But today I can cross one off that list, because I've got the Final Fantasy 7 Remake on Switch. I've been looking forward to this! 😁
continuing this year's effort to catch up on classic movies I "should" watch.
Interstellar was great, but a little more bleak & depressing than I expected
Good, Bad & Ugly was great... although the dubbed dialogue was super distracting!
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
Interstellar was great, but a little more bleak & depressing than I expected
Good, Bad & Ugly was great... although the dubbed dialogue was super distracting!
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
January 23, 2026 at 2:32 PM
continuing this year's effort to catch up on classic movies I "should" watch.
Interstellar was great, but a little more bleak & depressing than I expected
Good, Bad & Ugly was great... although the dubbed dialogue was super distracting!
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
Interstellar was great, but a little more bleak & depressing than I expected
Good, Bad & Ugly was great... although the dubbed dialogue was super distracting!
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
Faith (who has made Spotify playlists with music by genre, decade, tempo, activity to do while listening, how she discovered the song, ...) learned today that I have only one Spotify playlist. It's called "music" and has 362 hours of music in it.
She's decided that this is the sign of a sociopath.
She's decided that this is the sign of a sociopath.
January 22, 2026 at 7:50 PM
Faith (who has made Spotify playlists with music by genre, decade, tempo, activity to do while listening, how she discovered the song, ...) learned today that I have only one Spotify playlist. It's called "music" and has 362 hours of music in it.
She's decided that this is the sign of a sociopath.
She's decided that this is the sign of a sociopath.
Reposted by Dale Lane
I think today I had my first instance of somebody assuming some artwork was AI-generated because it had a .ai file extension.
That's the file extension Adobe Illustrator has used since 1987.
That's the file extension Adobe Illustrator has used since 1987.
January 22, 2026 at 4:46 PM
I think today I had my first instance of somebody assuming some artwork was AI-generated because it had a .ai file extension.
That's the file extension Adobe Illustrator has used since 1987.
That's the file extension Adobe Illustrator has used since 1987.
A #Scratch project chaining translations between languages using #GenAI, and seeing it drift from the starting sentence.
I've tried variations of this idea with student groups to see what lessons can be learned by building it.
I wrote up what I think works best last night with some instructions
I've tried variations of this idea with student groups to see what lessons can be learned by building it.
I wrote up what I think works best last night with some instructions
Explaining few-shot prompting in Scratch
In this post, I want to share a recent worksheet I wrote for Machine Learning for Kids. It is a hands-on project to give students an insight into an aspect of prompt engineering with language models.
...
dalelane.co.uk
January 20, 2026 at 10:45 AM
We got ourselves a bread maker at Christmas. Waking up to the smell of fresh bread has quickly become the way that we start a Sunday morning
January 18, 2026 at 9:02 AM
We got ourselves a bread maker at Christmas. Waking up to the smell of fresh bread has quickly become the way that we start a Sunday morning
Working on a new page for Machine Learning for Kids - with a visualisation of how the training for a regression model went.
It's always a tricky balance between making things too complex for young students, vs patronisingly hiding too much useful and interesting info. 🤔
It's always a tricky balance between making things too complex for young students, vs patronisingly hiding too much useful and interesting info. 🤔
January 17, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Working on a new page for Machine Learning for Kids - with a visualisation of how the training for a regression model went.
It's always a tricky balance between making things too complex for young students, vs patronisingly hiding too much useful and interesting info. 🤔
It's always a tricky balance between making things too complex for young students, vs patronisingly hiding too much useful and interesting info. 🤔
Life of Chuck was weird but super thought-provoking
and The Great Dictator was great
Trying to avoid any rewatches this year - so far, so good 👍
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
and The Great Dictator was great
Trying to avoid any rewatches this year - so far, so good 👍
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
January 16, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Life of Chuck was weird but super thought-provoking
and The Great Dictator was great
Trying to avoid any rewatches this year - so far, so good 👍
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
and The Great Dictator was great
Trying to avoid any rewatches this year - so far, so good 👍
#LastFourWatched #LetterboxdFriday #Letterboxd
I worked on a bunch of improvements to #MLforKids over Christmas.
Last night, I went back and wrote a rambling stream-of-consciousness post about the thinking that went into one of them (addressing error reports from resource constrained browsers)
Last night, I went back and wrote a rambling stream-of-consciousness post about the thinking that went into one of them (addressing error reports from resource constrained browsers)
Improving support for older computers and mobile devices on Machine Learning for Kids
In this post, I want to share some changes I've been making to how I train models in Machine Learning for Kids.
The problem
Many of the machine learning models that students create on the site are t...
dalelane.co.uk
January 16, 2026 at 11:14 AM
I worked on a bunch of improvements to #MLforKids over Christmas.
Last night, I went back and wrote a rambling stream-of-consciousness post about the thinking that went into one of them (addressing error reports from resource constrained browsers)
Last night, I went back and wrote a rambling stream-of-consciousness post about the thinking that went into one of them (addressing error reports from resource constrained browsers)
I watched "The Great Dictator" tonight - surprising (and maybe depressing?) how well it still works for a film that's over 85 years old.
(Also finally the first time I've ever watched a Charlie Chaplin film!)
letterboxd.com/dale_lane/
(Also finally the first time I've ever watched a Charlie Chaplin film!)
letterboxd.com/dale_lane/
January 15, 2026 at 10:58 PM
I watched "The Great Dictator" tonight - surprising (and maybe depressing?) how well it still works for a film that's over 85 years old.
(Also finally the first time I've ever watched a Charlie Chaplin film!)
letterboxd.com/dale_lane/
(Also finally the first time I've ever watched a Charlie Chaplin film!)
letterboxd.com/dale_lane/
everyone else does their Year In Review before Christmas, but #NintendoSwitch2025 waits until 13th January 😃
dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5819
dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5819
2025 in gaming (Nintendo)
Another gaming end of year recap - this time from Nintendo.
I thought I was finished with these 2025 year in reviews, with Spotify Wrapped first out of the gate on 3rd December.
It looks like Ninten...
dalelane.co.uk
January 13, 2026 at 9:01 PM
everyone else does their Year In Review before Christmas, but #NintendoSwitch2025 waits until 13th January 😃
dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5819
dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5819
I've started using (generated) click tracking events as a data source when introducing #FlinkSQL - it's simple, yet still rich enough to let me explain a variety of nice #Flink features.
I've written up a few examples at dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5806
I've written up a few examples at dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5806
Flink SQL examples with click tracking events
In this post, I introduce a few core Flink SQL functions using worked examples of processing a stream of click tracking events from a retail website.
I find that a practical, real-world (ish) example...
dalelane.co.uk
January 13, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I've started using (generated) click tracking events as a data source when introducing #FlinkSQL - it's simple, yet still rich enough to let me explain a variety of nice #Flink features.
I've written up a few examples at dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5806
I've written up a few examples at dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5806
sending postcards (where you might otherwise send a text) is such a lovely idea that I absolutely want to steal
gilest.org/notes/how-to...
gilest.org/notes/how-to...
How to write more postcards - gilest.org
gilest.org
January 13, 2026 at 1:16 PM
sending postcards (where you might otherwise send a text) is such a lovely idea that I absolutely want to steal
gilest.org/notes/how-to...
gilest.org/notes/how-to...