Simon Bisson
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sbisson.com
Simon Bisson
@sbisson.com
3.3K followers 2.1K following 9.2K posts
👨‍💻 Used to write code, now writes words about code 📘 Azure AI Services At Scale🦎O'Reilly 💻 Beats: enterprise, dev, cloud 🙋‍♂️ Vrai Jerri, bird photos, SFF writer, reader, ally, he/him/they 🐈‍⬛ calico floofs 📧 simon@sandm.co.uk 🌍 sbisson.com
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sbisson.com
Simon Bisson @sbisson.com · Jun 19
Come for the developer journalism, stay for the long running SFF review series, photographs of inner London birding, and well, the randomness of a crapaud in the big city.

All this from an ex-engineer who found one of his cancelled projects in For All Mankind.

And if you want to chat try Signal.
QR code for Signal messages.
sbisson.com
As if the traffic in SW London wasn't bad enough, we're down another bridge.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Albert Bridge closes to traffic as 'precaution' after inspection
Concerns were raised about the 150-year-old crossing following a routine maintenance inspection.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Simon Bisson
daddybaggage.bsky.social
there are varying degrees of fucks to give. obviously one cannot go throughout life without giving any fucks because you need to give at least a little bit of a fucks in order to survive. but it’s a slippery slope before giving a fuck can spiral out of control. #art #life #drawing #illustration
January 21, 2026 at 9:37 PM
sbisson.com
A final set of Bernina Express images, over the summit and down towards Chur past glaciers and frozen waterfalls.

#travelphotography #railwayphotography #switzerland #berninaexpress #alps
A sliver of moon over the alps on the descent into Chur. A funicular in the Alps, through trees to the summit of a mountain. A frozen waterfall tumbles down a cliff, white ice and brown/grey stone. Looking up a mountain at the blue ice of a glacier from the train.
February 9, 2026 at 7:31 PM
sbisson.com
Post a banger that isn't in English.

youtu.be/eWkWCFzkOvU...
February 9, 2026 at 6:57 PM
sbisson.com
The Bernina line reaches over 2500m in the Alps, going from still lush valleys to frozen lakes and high glaciers, as the little red train twists and turns over the mountains.

#berninaexpress #railwayphotography #travelphotography #alps
A frozen lake high in the Alps, white with streaks of green ice, surrounded by dark black trees. The Bernina line clings to the side of the mountains, giving you views across the Alps from massif to massif and beyond. The little red train crosses a viaduct over a frozen river, icicles visible through its arches. The train goes into yet another tunnel...
February 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Simon Bisson
tomgauld.bsky.social
My latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books
A writer sits on a large couch in the foyer of a publisher's office. An assistant approaches. Assistant. "Suzy is caught up in an editorial meeting but she shouldn't be long. Can I get you a triple vodka and tonic while you wait?" Writer "You know it's 11 am, right?" Assistant "Yes, but I also know what she thinks of your latest draft." The assistant goes to get the drink adding " ... Actually, I'll get you a couple."
February 9, 2026 at 2:54 PM
sbisson.com
The Bernina Express winds its way up the Alps, following switchbacks through tunnels and over bridges as it heads for the summit.

#travelphotography #railwayphotography #alps #berninaexpress
Looking down the track as it clings to a narrow shelf on the mountainside. A tunnel and a bridge, the curve of a switchback. Looking up at an alpine massif from the panoramic windows of the train. Mary's head is just visible. Reflected mountains in a mirror lake.
February 9, 2026 at 3:51 PM
sbisson.com
Reinstalling BirdNET-Go on my rooftop Pi was a good idea...

Inner London has a lot more birds than you might think.
A screenshot of bird detections over the last day.
February 9, 2026 at 3:35 PM
sbisson.com
When I last posted some pictures from our winter rail exploration of the Alps, we were about to board the Bernina Express from Tirano to Chur.

Here we start the climb, over ther Brusio Spiral Viaduct.

#travelphotography #railways #berninaexpress #alps
Looking out the back window down the narrow gauge line to Tirano. The Brusio Spiral Viaduct from the climb up the valley side. The railway crossing itself in the meadow below. The little red train snakes up the mountain from the Brusio Spiral Viaduct. The front of the train starts to climb the Brusio Spiral Viaduct while the back just passes through the arches.
February 9, 2026 at 3:28 PM
sbisson.com
Monday's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #StareDown, a bird looking right at you... The alternate is #Gulls.

How about both? A non-breeding plumage black-headed gull down on the Spit.

#birds #birding #wandle #wildlifephotography
A head on look at a black-headed gull in its non-breeding plumage of grey and white, with red legs and a beak. The background is distant and blurred.
February 9, 2026 at 2:35 PM
sbisson.com
My rooftop bird detector spotted a superb owl.
Screenshot of a BirdNet detection for a tawny owl.
February 8, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Simon Bisson
rosemarymosco.com
Since Valentine's Day is approaching, I'm reposting some of my past Valentine's comics.
A great blue heron is standing in a marsh reading a book. The book says "They lived at opposite ends of the pond. From afar, she admired his long plumes and excellent fishing technique." The heron gets more flustered as she reads: "One day he came flying toward her. Watching him approach, she wondered: What did he want? And was he... carrying something in his beak?" The heron gets even more flustered as she reads: "Her heart skipped a beat as he landed beside her. Fluffing his neck feathers, he said those three special words:" The heron falls backwards in a swoon as she reads, "Here's a stick."
February 8, 2026 at 2:38 PM
sbisson.com
Today's #BirdOfTheDay is #Posted, a bird on a post or a fence.

Another Venetian gull, this time yellow-legged, standing on a piling beside a canal.

#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #venice #gulls
A yellow-legged gull with a bright yellow book standing on a wooden piling, in the background are the stucco walls of a Venetian hose.
February 8, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Simon Bisson
unlikelyworlds.bsky.social
I did a thing for the #Shelfie website. Click on over to find out more -- including a few highlights of this modest and rather random collection of books about #Londontown.
February 6, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Simon Bisson
guarin-jsy.bsky.social
Stunning sunset from L’Ouziere slip in St Ouens Bay, Jersey. #stunday

#photography #blueskyartshow #sunset #jersey #eastcoastkin #artchallenges #jersey
Colourful orange / pink sunset with foreground and rocks in silhouette on a beach. Pools of water reflecting the dramatic sunset
February 7, 2026 at 5:44 PM
sbisson.com
And so to Kingston for a short and very intimate acoustic set from Big Big Train in a tiny room.
Three members of the band Big Big Train on stage: violin, piano, and guitar.
February 7, 2026 at 5:31 PM
sbisson.com
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Serenity.

And so a gadwall drifts across the Wandle delta, on a spring day, under reflected green trees.

#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #wandle #gadwall
A grey duck moves smoothly across still water reflecting green leaves, with just a gentle ripple behind it.
February 7, 2026 at 12:10 PM
sbisson.com
Today's #BirdOfTheDay alternate theme is #BacklitBeauty.

From a recent trip to Venice, a black-headed gull sits on a piling at the edge of the quay on Burano, the sparkling lagoon behind it.

#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #venice #gulls
A silhouetted gull sits on a wooden piling. Silver sparkling water fills the background.
February 6, 2026 at 12:56 PM
sbisson.com
When Lego commits to a model, it goes all in…

… Lightning McQueen is as much BrickHeadz as Speed Champions. There’s a brain brick behind the eyes and a tongue under the hood…
A screenshot of the building instructions for a Lego car. It is red, with big eyes, and is only part built.
February 5, 2026 at 10:39 PM
sbisson.com
A final stroll through Tirano on the way to the stations, and I end up following a dipper as it flew up the river, well at home in the fast-running mountain streams.

#travel #tirano #italy #alps #wildlifephotography #photography #dipper
A clearer look at the peaks of the alps over Tirano's bridges. A dipper stands on a rock in a fast-flowing river. A dipper stands on a rock in a fast-flowing river. A mountain in a blue sky over the yellow stucco of the Tirano old town palazzos. Including one that's more castle...
February 5, 2026 at 4:05 PM
sbisson.com
The narrow streets of Tirano's old town wind up the hillsides. They are also home to a surprising number of dragons.

#travel #photography #tirano #italy #alps
One of Tirano's dragons catches the morning sun. It is a copper relief. High on a palazzo a metal dragon serves as water spout down into the street. A narrow street in Tirano's old town, palazzos rising up to meet the mountains. More woodsmoke from a chimney catching the morning sun, behind the roofs the mountain slopes are dark.
February 5, 2026 at 3:55 PM
sbisson.com
Back to our rail trip around Europe, where we had arrived in the Italian alpine town of Tirano. A morning walk took us over the rushing river into the old town. Every way you looked, there were mountains. We were here to go further, by another train.

#travel #photography #tirano #italy #alps
Woodsmoke rises from a chimney on a cold, crisp frosty morning in Tirano Looking down the valley towards one range of mountains. They are white and snowy, looking over a hazy landscape. Up the river more snow capped mountains loom over the old town and its ancient palazzos. We were in Tirano to ride the Bernina Express to Chur, where signs at its station reminded you of the danger.
February 5, 2026 at 3:49 PM
sbisson.com
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Pigeons&Doves.

So, from our recent trip to Venice by train, here's a collared dove sat on an abandoned church building on the island of Torcello.

#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #venice #collareddove
A small grey bird sits on a rusted cross against a cold blue sky.
February 5, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Simon Bisson
annaecook.com
So I know a lot is going on right now, but I do want to share this:

I’m excited to share the launch of the new Microsoft Inclusive Design website 💙

This project is my love letter to the community and practice that’s shaped my work for nearly a decade.

inclusive.microsoft.design

1/
Microsoft Inclusive Design
Microsoft Inclusive Design is a practice that anyone who creates and manages products and services can use to build more inclusive experiences for everyone. Get the principles, guidebooks, workshop to...
inclusive.microsoft.design
February 4, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Simon Bisson
kimkelly.bsky.social
journalists are workers who deserve to be paid fairly for our labor and I think that far too few consumers of media recognize or even care about this fact
February 4, 2026 at 5:20 PM