Alex Torrance
banner
alextorrance.co.uk
Alex Torrance
@alextorrance.co.uk
The Idiot
Pinned
I was looking at some English placenames recently and thought they all sounded made up, and thought it would be fun to make a thing that makes up English place names — so that's exactly what I did.

Introducing: A place in England
places.projects.alextorrance.co.uk
A place in England.
places.projects.alextorrance.co.uk
Just read the sad news about Antony Price. He was the fashion designer who styled Roxy Music and their iconic album covers.

I designed a website for him in 2008, he sent me some amazing sketches to scan, it was really special to see his work first hand.

RIP.

www.showstudio.com/contributors...
The Designer Who Crafted Roxy Music’s Boundary-Breaking Look
Described as ‘the most criminally overlooked designer in British fashion’, Antony Price put the ‘glam’ in ‘glam rock’. Speaking to Susanne Madsen, he reflects on his era-defining collaboration with Ro...
www.anothermanmag.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
A reminder that when Kemi Badenoch hacked Harriet Harman's website it was an offence carrying a sentence of up to five years in prison
December 8, 2025 at 11:08 PM
I didn’t realise that GOV.UK used to have a subdomain for independent ALBs
*. independent .gov.uk used to exist, since the need was clear. See www.independent.gov.uk for the sad vapours.
independent.gov.uk
www.independent.gov.uk
December 2, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
I agree, the publishing tools and systems GDS have created should be available for other public sector bodies — similar to how GOV.UK Pay and Notify are, and hopefully how GDS Local will enable local government.
December 1, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
I think public bodies should be using better publishing platforms than Wordpress, especially if they are handling sensitive information like the OBR.

I think GDS should create a set of standards for publishing outside of the GOV.UK proposition.

www.tpximpact.com/knowledge-hu...
Websites beyond the GOV.UK proposition - TPXimpact
Departments are creating websites outside the main GOV.UK proposition, risking user trust. We explore why new GDS guidance on domains and branding is now essential.
www.tpximpact.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I think public bodies should be using better publishing platforms than Wordpress, especially if they are handling sensitive information like the OBR.

I think GDS should create a set of standards for publishing outside of the GOV.UK proposition.

www.tpximpact.com/knowledge-hu...
Websites beyond the GOV.UK proposition - TPXimpact
Departments are creating websites outside the main GOV.UK proposition, risking user trust. We explore why new GDS guidance on domains and branding is now essential.
www.tpximpact.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Was there some guidance posted about age verifcation/OSA for small business and hobbyist apps and websites? Maybe @v21.bsky.social @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social or @jonty.bsky.social shared it? My searches are turning up nothing.
November 20, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I find it a bit weird when people put their degree qualifications on their email signature.

Maybe I’ll put my GCSEs on mine.
November 13, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Are the hashtags his categorisation sections?
November 7, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
Happy 24th Birthday Wayback Machine!

On October 24, 2001, The Internet Archive organization launched a free digital archive of websites for the general public called the Wayback Machine.

The oldest pages stored in the archive date back to 1996.
October 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
Front page of Scottish newspaper The National today.
October 13, 2025 at 12:32 PM
This video about the history of synthesisers and how they work by Chris Miller (aka Gunnar Haslam) is really fascinating.

Has a great retro look reminiscent of Look Around You and Carl Sagan. Recommended if you are interested in synths, physics or just learning things.

youtu.be/waN4owHeyaQ?...
Synthesizing with Moog | Lesson 1: Listening
YouTube video by Moog Music
youtu.be
October 10, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
October 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
Mission patches

↖Aliens (1986): Dropship crew
↗Mission to Mars (2000): Mars Recovery
↙The Martian (2015): Ares III
↘Deliver Us the Moon (2019): Fortuna I
October 6, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Show us the last four albums you listened to.
October 6, 2025 at 8:06 AM
I find it interesting how articles like this* don’t include service design, civic design and people using tech to improve society. Is not relevant?

* I would say design criticism in general but also I’m not that well versed overall
October 6, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
on.ft.com/46M9mXI Why designers abandoned their dreams of changing the world. Free to Read.
Why designers abandoned their dreams of changing the world
Design was once seen as a tool to improve lives — but as modernism has become marketing, that sense of social purpose has drifted away
on.ft.com
October 4, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Just dropped 3/4 of a rich tea biscuit into my cup of tea. Tried to fish it out with the remaining 1/4 and that fell in too.

Now drinking a biscuity tea smoothie I guess.
October 2, 2025 at 12:59 PM
@thequietus.com it would be great if your monthly subscriber playlist pages included a tracklist with links to the relevant articles/reviews — hard to find what you've written about some tracks/artists as they don't show up in your search. 👍
October 2, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
Douglas Barrowman and Michelle Mone's company, PPE Medpro, has just been ordered to refund the Government £122m from a PPE contract.

There are two very odd things about PPE Medpro that may affect the odds of the Government ever getting that £122m...

Thread:
October 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
Google just wiped EU data from its political ad library. Meta’s ban on political ads in the EU starts soon and we're worried they might do the same.

We need a backup of the EU Meta Ad Library now. If you have data (2018–present) or skills to help, let us know:
ir96l7a6vsf.typeform.com/to/fIk9XMZT
Save the EU Ad Libraries
Meta may soon switch off ad libraries in the EU and remove data going back to 2018. Help ensure this data is archived for research.
ir96l7a6vsf.typeform.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
Between 13 and 19m adults in the UK experience some kind of digital poverty - more than a million don't have a smartphone or a laptop. There are promises for consultation with digitally excluded groups, but from a build perspective this means backwards compatibility - needs to work on old phones
September 26, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Alex Torrance
A while back Historic England asked for my opinion on which was the oldest pub in London. The result is a new online article that outlines the variables, busts some myths, and points to a couple of genuinely ancient pubs in and around the city...

heritagecalling.com/2025/09/25/w...
September 25, 2025 at 3:03 PM