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andy-pearce.com
Andy Pearce 🇬🇧👨🏻‍💻
@andy-pearce.com
640 followers 510 following 2.9K posts
I code for fun & profit, more the latter now I’m a father. Interested in anything but intolerance (but I’m not big on sports). Kind or not, at least be civil. All views my own. I occasionally blog about coding: http://www.andy-pearce.com/
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andy-pearce.com
A morning of chores calls for a decent brunch – bacon and egg bagels, the brunch of champions.

Disclaimer: the champions in question may be darts champions.
A pair of filled bagels with a fried egg and grilled bacon in them, on a light pink plate. A red napkin sits to the side, and a light green mug of tea just beyond it. They are all on an oak dining table with a diffuse reflection from a window shining from it.
November 8, 2025 at 1:21 PM
andy-pearce.com
For context, the BHTP results aren’t just from stats, but heavily influenced by the perception is safety among specifically US travellers. Canada’s intentional homicide rate is 2.27 – much better than 5.76 in the US, but the UK is 1.15.

www.bhtp.com/blog/safest-...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
History and Methodology We survey a large group of American travelers and ask them where they've traveled in the last five years. Only people who have visited specific countries can rate those countries on safety. We then augment those ratings with other indices and information, including the Global Peace Index, data from Numbeo, and an average of the GeoSure Global scores of the major cities in each country. From there, we blend in past results with the scores from outside sources and calculate a weighted score that reflects each country's overall safety.
November 7, 2025 at 8:30 AM
andy-pearce.com
It indicates that gun manufacturers were selling non-lethal sprays. If you really want all the dots joined, it’s not hard to find sources. Mace was developed with women in mind, and promptly bought by Smith & Wesson.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(s...

www.officer.com/tactical/les...
The original formulation consisted of 1% chloroacetophenone (CN) in a solvent of 2-butanol, propylene glycol, cyclohexene, and dipropylene glycol methyl ether. 5] Chemical Mace was originally developed in the 1960s by Allan Lee Litman and his wife, Doris Litman, after one of Doris's female colleagues was robbed in Pittsburgh. ° In 1987, Chemical Mace was sold to Smith & Wesson and manufactured by their Lake Erie Chemical division. Smith & Wesson subsequently transferred ownership to Jon E. Goodrich along with the rest of the chemical division in what is now Mace Security International, which also owns federal trademark registrations for the term "mace" 71[81[91[10] When Mace was invented, it was initially intended as a defensive weapon for women. In 1962, Doris Heil, a high school biology teacher from Pittsburgh, was upset when her friend was attacked while walking down the street. Just talking about fighting crime wasn't enough, so she had an idea for a defensive weapon for women to ward off attackers. Her idea was an aerosol tear gas device. She took it to a local inventor, Alan Litman, who designed the prototype. It was equipped with a safety catch to prevent it from being fired [4] accidentally._
November 5, 2025 at 6:03 AM
andy-pearce.com
I find this tidbit in a recent Economist article interesting, as part of the picture driving the AI bubble. Nobody wants to risk being a pariah for outing the emperor as naked.
Highlighted text from a paragraph: Tellingly, many are sceptical of AGI, albeit sotto voce (one asked The Economist not to name him as a doubter, lest he be blacklisted from the San Francisco party scene). The paragraph In full is included below for more context. The startups' founders remain remarkably chipper. They believe that the balance of power will remain firmly in their favour for the foreseeable future. Tellingly, many are sceptical of AGI, albeit sotto voce (one asked The Economist not to name him as a doubter, lest he be blacklisted from the San Francisco party scene). They argue that rather than AGI, the capability that businesses actually need to spur deeper adoption of generative AI is "artificial specialised intelligence", ie, AI that is specific to a particular field, such as law or medicine. That is where they hope to retain the competitive edge.
November 2, 2025 at 1:16 PM
andy-pearce.com
A cartoon illustrating a dark-skinned man in a t-shirt sitting opposite a white man in a hard hat and hi-vis, with Rupert Murdoch in between. The white man has a plate with a single cookie, Murdoch has a plate with a huge pile of cookies, the other man has none. Murdoch is leaning over to the white man saying, “Careful mate, that foreigner wants your cookie!”
November 2, 2025 at 12:50 PM
andy-pearce.com
Happy Halloween everyone!
Three carved pumpkins, which were carved by myself, my daughter, and my wife respectively. Also a couple of much smaller pumpkins, and some candles and pumpkin decorations.
October 31, 2025 at 7:31 PM
andy-pearce.com
Funny how it’s always fine to discriminate against cyclists and pedestrians, but not drivers. This is why anyone who understands the myriad benefits of encouraging car-free transport options needs to be so vocal about it, whether or not they themselves regularly walk, cycle, or use public transport.
A painting by Swedish artist Karl Jilg which shows a typical urban junction but with roads as huge chasms, sidewalks as narrow ledges, and crossings as wooden planks crossing the space.
October 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
andy-pearce.com
Why the hell is she doing her lipstick in the mirror while stopped in traffic?! Get your eyes on the damn road, and keep your attention on vulnerable road users moving around you, and be ready to move off safely when you’re able, instead of slamming your foot down without looking when someone honks.
A still frame from the video which shows the woman behind the wheel putting on lipstick using the rear view mirror.
October 21, 2025 at 11:21 PM
andy-pearce.com
Reminds me of a letter to The Economist this week. The topic in that case was a wealth tax, but I think the principle is similar—if you push people too far away from a fair distribution of resources, and offer them insufficient redress, the results will eventually be catastrophic one way or another.
You listed the failures of wealth taxes in the past. But the economy of the future will be different. As machines and Al come to do more work and humans less, income will flow ever more to capital rather than labour. Fairness aside, a widening inequality and wealth gap is not sustainable. If redistribution does not come through policy, it will arrive in less polite ways. History suggests that when wealth concentrates too heavily it eventually gets redistributed, sometimes by legislation, sometimes by revolution. A wealth tax may be a blunt instrument, but it is cheaper and safer than pitchforks and guillotines. Lucas Flynn Cherry Hill, New Jersey
October 21, 2025 at 6:39 AM
andy-pearce.com
I had to look up what a sharrow was, and that just seems very confusing. A bicycle symbol should mean a cycle lane, nothing else. Cyclists shouldn’t need a symbol to tell them to take the lane where needed—the UK Highway Code rule 72 specifically advises it in most cases.

www.gov.uk/guidance/the...
UK Highway Code rule 72. Road positioning. When riding on the roads, there are two basic road positions you should adopt, depending on the situation. 1) Ride in the centre of your lane, to make yourself as clearly visible as possible, in the following situations: • on quiet roads or streets - if a faster vehicle comes up behind you, move to the left to enable them to overtake, if you can do so safely • in slower-moving traffic - when the traffic around you starts to flow more freely, move over to the left if you can do so safely so that faster vehicles behind you can overtake • at the approach to junctions or road narrowings where it would be unsafe for drivers to overtake you 2) When riding on busy roads, with vehicles moving faster than you, allow them to overtake where it is safe to do so whilst keeping at least 0.5 metres away, and further where it is safer, from the kerb edge. Remember that traffic on most dual carriageways moves quickly. Take extra care crossing slip roads.
October 15, 2025 at 1:56 AM
andy-pearce.com
This icon must be very puzzling to some of today’s children.
The “phone” icon from an Apple iPhone, which is in the shape of a landline handset.
October 8, 2025 at 7:52 AM
andy-pearce.com
One of the few compensations for getting up early is to enjoy the dawn—there’s always something slightly magical about it.
A picture taken shortly after dawn from Ely railway station in the UK. The rising sun is hidden behind a stand of silhouetted trees on the horizon, throwing a peachy orange glow on to the high clouds that cover half the sky, and picking out their edges in yellow. In the foreground lie railway tracks and behind them a field, dimmed into darkness by the brightness of the sky behind.
September 30, 2025 at 6:34 AM
andy-pearce.com
I liked the views there so much, I had a go at sketching a couple, one of which is from the photo above. Unusually for me, I was actually quite pleased with his they turned out.
Pen drawings of two views from Jarlshof, the one on the left being drawn from the photo in the post above. The right-hand one is from another photo on the same site.
September 29, 2025 at 8:08 PM
andy-pearce.com
Beautiful! I love me some natural framing. Reminds me of this picture I took on Shetland years ago.
A photo of a square window in an ancient lichen-covered stone wall, through which can be seen the remains of stone-walled houses. These low remains are now covered in grass, and patches of shaggy moss. Beyond them in the distance can be seen a modern house next to water. The picture was taken in September 2017 on the island of Shetland, in the Jarlshof prehistoric and Norse settlement.
September 29, 2025 at 8:03 PM
andy-pearce.com
Funnily enough, the American Heritage Dictionary (at least) has them covered on this one.
A screenshot of a dictionary definition of the verb form of “volunteer”, with the second definition highlighted. intransitive verb 1. To give or offer to give voluntarily. "volunteered their services; volunteer to give blood." 2. To compel (someone) to do something. "We were volunteered to do the dishes." 3. To perform or offer to perform a service of one's own free will. Definitions excerpted from the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition, by the DuckDuckGo search engine.
September 28, 2025 at 1:10 PM
andy-pearce.com
I knew that the UK railway network has been grossly underfunded for decades, but the rolling stock situation looks like it’s getting ridiculous…
A screenshot from an app showing live train times. At the top is an explanation for the delay to a trains, which reads: “This service has been delayed by a bicycle on the track.”
September 17, 2025 at 7:23 AM
andy-pearce.com
Yes, it would be absurd to confuse that with Toronto, which is all the way over in County Durham.
An excerpt of an Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 showing Bishop Auckland in County Durham in North East England. The village of Toronto, on the outskirts of Bishop Auckland, is highlighted. An excerpt from the Wikipedia page for Toronto, Cointy Durham: Toronto is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a mile to the north-west of Bishop Auckland and was represented in Wear Valley District Council until that authority was merged into Durham County Council in April 2009. In the 2001 census Toronto had a population of 399.
September 17, 2025 at 12:06 AM
andy-pearce.com
Of all the recent(ish) features added to smartphones, I still somehow find the night mode photos the most remarkable. I took these at the same time with and without it—the difference is stark. Even more remarkable when you consider the darker photo is still lighter than it appeared to the naked eye.
A photo from our top floor window, showing a line of houses along a lit street on the right, a darker area of back gardens on the left and the moon shining through patchy cloud in the sky above. The same scene without night mode. The lit street is still clearly visible on the right, and the moon can still be seen shedding a faint white flow on the sky—but the rest of the shot is mostly a silhouette.
September 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
andy-pearce.com
This one is on London Wall, and I’d worked very close to this area for years without knowing it was there, since I’d never driven in the area. When I did finally drive though, I realised it’s not just a road through a building, but a building over a crossroads.
A picture of a building in London over the crossroads between London Wall and Wood Street. It is a skyscraper with a large archway covering four lanes of traffic.
September 14, 2025 at 12:17 AM
andy-pearce.com
Looks like the Bodleian poking out to the right, so I think it’s somewhere near this viewpoint.

maps.app.goo.gl/8QJbDxNDoAQD...
A screenshot from Google Maps street view, standing on Catte St. next to St. Mary’s church, looking towards The Radcliffe Camera. The main building of the Bodleian Library can be seen behind and on the right of it.
September 11, 2025 at 6:51 AM
andy-pearce.com
This was the view on Queen Victoria Street, near the bank junction, at 1pm today. I’ve never seen so many Lime bikes in one place!
A view on Queen Victoria Street in London, taken from near the Bank junction and looking towards it. A mass of maybe a 100 or more green Lime bikes are nearly parked in multiple rows by the side of the road. On the right hand side is a PuttShack sign, and in the distance is the Magistrates Court, behind that Mansion House, and behind that the Royal Exchange building. Towering n the distance are glass skyscrapers.
September 10, 2025 at 6:42 PM
andy-pearce.com
To try and stop me doomscrolling so much lately, I’ve been trying to get outside and touch grass more—but when the weather’s not so good, I draw it instead. I was actually not too disappointed with how this one turned out.
A pen drawing of a path running through grass with an old wooden fence on the left with a large tree behind it. On the right the grasslands curve gently upward with a tree in the distance and a small bush and rocks in the foreground. The path curves down over the brow of a hill straight ahead, and just beyond the roof of a hut is just peeking into view with a stream of smoke rising up from it. In the far distance is an hillside, and beyond that a rocky peak.
September 7, 2025 at 5:35 PM
andy-pearce.com
Who’s going to tell her she’s four decades too late to audition for Automan?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automan
A picture of the titular hero from Automan, a man dressed in a holographic star-filled bodysuit.
September 6, 2025 at 2:16 PM
andy-pearce.com
I wonder if this depends on your discipline? I’m a software engineer, worked in open plan offices my whole life, and it helps my team collaborate. We sit in circles of 6 desks, and my team often slide our chair over to get advice on an issue or do some pair programming.
An image from our website showing a typical desk layout, which is a circle of six large desks, with gaps to enter between two groups of three. In the centre of the circle is a small table around which people can huddle to discuss things.
September 3, 2025 at 5:15 AM
andy-pearce.com
Please levitate whilst using the facilities; no diving.
A sign from a toilet door showing a figure hovering a little above a toilet in a seated position with a green tick; and a figure crouching on a toilet with a red cross.
August 30, 2025 at 1:22 PM