Simon Bisson
@sbisson.com
👨💻 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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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.
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.
Betteridges Law in practice.
February 10, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Betteridges Law in practice.
Opal Fruits are made to make your mouth water.
And I'm still a Tom Baker guy...
And I'm still a Tom Baker guy...
February 10, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Opal Fruits are made to make your mouth water.
And I'm still a Tom Baker guy...
And I'm still a Tom Baker guy...
Pretty sure a fair few were coming back to see the place again...
February 10, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Pretty sure a fair few were coming back to see the place again...
I know I went straight to carrying a phone card in the mid-80s.
February 10, 2026 at 11:16 AM
I know I went straight to carrying a phone card in the mid-80s.
Jersey was always a little behind the times!
February 10, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Jersey was always a little behind the times!
Age verification? I'd phone my mum and not press button B so my dad would know to come pick me up from Scout camp without having to spend 5p on a phone call.
Age verification? Growing up I used a gramophone to play my mum's 78rpm jazz records. And how to indicate I was about to make a turn by sticking my arm out the driver's side window on vehicles that didn't have indicators. (It was on the driving test back then.)
Age verification?
I used to have to stick my finger into one of several holes in a phone and rotate a circular piece of plastic, repeating the process a certain number of times to input the number I wanted to call.
I used to have to stick my finger into one of several holes in a phone and rotate a circular piece of plastic, repeating the process a certain number of times to input the number I wanted to call.
February 10, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Age verification? I'd phone my mum and not press button B so my dad would know to come pick me up from Scout camp without having to spend 5p on a phone call.
French and German on Jersey in the 70s and 80s; which made sense as they were where most of the non-English speaking tourists came from.
February 10, 2026 at 11:05 AM
French and German on Jersey in the 70s and 80s; which made sense as they were where most of the non-English speaking tourists came from.
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #OddCouples, two different birds in one picture, with an alternate of #Urban for birds in a town or city.
How about both again? A juvenile starling and feral pigeons on a London rooftop.
#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #pigeons #starling
How about both again? A juvenile starling and feral pigeons on a London rooftop.
#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #pigeons #starling
February 10, 2026 at 10:41 AM
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #OddCouples, two different birds in one picture, with an alternate of #Urban for birds in a town or city.
How about both again? A juvenile starling and feral pigeons on a London rooftop.
#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #pigeons #starling
How about both again? A juvenile starling and feral pigeons on a London rooftop.
#birds #birding #wildlifephotography #pigeons #starling
So it's all your fault, eh?
February 9, 2026 at 10:34 PM
So it's all your fault, eh?
As if the traffic in SW London wasn't bad enough, we're down another bridge.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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
As if the traffic in SW London wasn't bad enough, we're down another bridge.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Simon Bisson
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
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
It is one of the great railway journeys for a reason!
February 9, 2026 at 8:57 PM
It is one of the great railway journeys for a reason!
A final set of Bernina Express images, over the summit and down towards Chur past glaciers and frozen waterfalls.
#travelphotography #railwayphotography #switzerland #berninaexpress #alps
#travelphotography #railwayphotography #switzerland #berninaexpress #alps
February 9, 2026 at 7:31 PM
A final set of Bernina Express images, over the summit and down towards Chur past glaciers and frozen waterfalls.
#travelphotography #railwayphotography #switzerland #berninaexpress #alps
#travelphotography #railwayphotography #switzerland #berninaexpress #alps
February 9, 2026 at 6:57 PM
I know it has a camera, but I recently shifted from Arlo to Reolink, as they don't use a cloud and have deep integration with Home Assistant for scripting and notifications.
So I can detect if a package has been left at my door and still spy on the local fox antics withiout feeding the beast.
So I can detect if a package has been left at my door and still spy on the local fox antics withiout feeding the beast.
February 9, 2026 at 6:07 PM
I know it has a camera, but I recently shifted from Arlo to Reolink, as they don't use a cloud and have deep integration with Home Assistant for scripting and notifications.
So I can detect if a package has been left at my door and still spy on the local fox antics withiout feeding the beast.
So I can detect if a package has been left at my door and still spy on the local fox antics withiout feeding the beast.
Yes, Usenet is up there for me. After all, I met @marypcbuk.bsky.social there in 1992...
February 9, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Yes, Usenet is up there for me. After all, I met @marypcbuk.bsky.social there in 1992...
Well worth it; and if you chain together the local trains on the line can be surprisingly affordable!
(We had Interrail passes, so just had to pay a seat reservation fee.)
(We had Interrail passes, so just had to pay a seat reservation fee.)
February 9, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Well worth it; and if you chain together the local trains on the line can be surprisingly affordable!
(We had Interrail passes, so just had to pay a seat reservation fee.)
(We had Interrail passes, so just had to pay a seat reservation fee.)
And of course if we go right back to the early days of online, PLATO had Talkomatic in 1973...
February 9, 2026 at 5:42 PM
And of course if we go right back to the early days of online, PLATO had Talkomatic in 1973...
I think they're pretty much the same; I chose Relink as I use Home Assistant and the two platforms have a very mature integration for use in automations.
I started with a cheap PTZ camera to see if it worked for me and went on from there.
I started with a cheap PTZ camera to see if it worked for me and went on from there.
February 9, 2026 at 5:31 PM
I think they're pretty much the same; I chose Relink as I use Home Assistant and the two platforms have a very mature integration for use in automations.
I started with a cheap PTZ camera to see if it worked for me and went on from there.
I started with a cheap PTZ camera to see if it worked for me and went on from there.
I wrote my first webchat tool in, what, 1995 for UKOL.
And was an iRCop in 1996.
I also need to bmake some stickers: "Survivor of the Instant Messenger Wars: 1999-2001. Ready, AIM, fire!"
And was an iRCop in 1996.
I also need to bmake some stickers: "Survivor of the Instant Messenger Wars: 1999-2001. Ready, AIM, fire!"
February 9, 2026 at 5:25 PM
I wrote my first webchat tool in, what, 1995 for UKOL.
And was an iRCop in 1996.
I also need to bmake some stickers: "Survivor of the Instant Messenger Wars: 1999-2001. Ready, AIM, fire!"
And was an iRCop in 1996.
I also need to bmake some stickers: "Survivor of the Instant Messenger Wars: 1999-2001. Ready, AIM, fire!"
I'm fairly close to the river and to the WWT at Barnes, so the dunlin isn't as impossible as it might be! But yes, I'm working on training the hooded crows out of the model here. Lots of crows as I am also a couple of roads from the big roost in Wandsworth Park...
February 9, 2026 at 5:22 PM
I'm fairly close to the river and to the WWT at Barnes, so the dunlin isn't as impossible as it might be! But yes, I'm working on training the hooded crows out of the model here. Lots of crows as I am also a couple of roads from the big roost in Wandsworth Park...
Usefully too Reolink is a lot cheaper; buying direct from them, a camera with bright LED lighting and solar panels was under £60.
February 9, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Usefully too Reolink is a lot cheaper; buying direct from them, a camera with bright LED lighting and solar panels was under £60.