Cocktail

The Bad Idea: My favourite cocktail

I invented a Long Island style cocktail with spicy ginger ale that goes down way too easily. Light, punchy, and perfect for picnics or karaoke. It’s simple to mix, dangerously drinkable, and absolutely lives up to the name: The Bad Idea.

FacetScore Featured

Why Your LLM Prompts Should Match Your Content Language

Matching LLM prompt language to content language isn't just good practice, it's measurably better. Learn why defaulting everything to English costs more and delivers worse results, with real examples from building FacetScore's multilingual sentiment analysis system.

Tech Featured

Navigating the EU AI Act: A CTO's Guide to Risk Classification and Compliance (Part 1)

The EU AI Act introduces a risk-based framework every CTO should understand, whether selling in the EU or planning global growth. This post (part 1 of a series) explains the four risk tiers and shows how to classify an AI product, using my platform FacetScore as a case study.

Tech

Where I choose not to work: the values behind it

Choosing where not to work matters. Here’s why Arkilon Ltd and I steer clear of certain industries, guided by ethics that reduce harm, protect people and planet, and focus our skills on positive impact.

Life Featured

I can travel!

Continuing my recovery from my injury, I am able to get around on my own with crutches, walk unaided a little, and finally: travel again.

I can walk!

After a major ankle injury in March 2024, multiple surgeries, and months in the hospital, I can finally walk with support! My doctor is optimistic about a full recovery by summer. I’m losing weight, returning the wheelchair, and stepping into a stronger, happier me.

A new journey in 2025

After nearly 7 years at Tripla, I'm reflecting on an incredible journey—from being one of the first engineers to helping grow the team, leading platform development, and supporting our IPO. Ready for a new chapter as I join a B2B startup as Engineering Manager in January 2025.

Personal Featured

I can stand!

I've been recovering from a severe injury to my left ankle. I've been completely off my feet for over 190 days. I stood for the first time since the accident this weekend and I couldn't be happier.

MtG Featured

My first deck, and everything is an otter!

I made my first Deck in Magic: The Gathering, where I turned all creatures into otters for some creative gameplay. It’s a lighthearted take on how otter-themed enchantments and synergies can lead to a winning strategy. Check it out if you’re into MtG or just love otters!

Tech Featured

Some thoughts about product, leadership, and teams

Leadership in tech: Foster open communication, embrace diverse viewpoints, and make purposeful products. Balance strategic thinking with quick decision-making. Cultivate empathy, encourage speaking up, and support your team. Remember: AI is a tool, not the solution. Lead with humility and respect.

Food

Pizza Sauce recipe

I had some friends over for dinner and drinks last weekend and they asked me to share how I made my pizza sauce, so here it is.

Life Featured

A Decade in Japan: From Six Months to Forever

Ten years ago, I moved to Japan for what I thought would be a brief stay. Instead, it became a life-changing journey. From struggles with roach-infested apartments to finding love in Tokyo, this post recounts my evolution from newcomer to long-term resident, sharing a decade of experiences in Japan.

Projects Featured

Bringing back the pizza calculator

Bringing new life to an old project is always good fun. In this post, I talk about How Many Pizzas and how I brought it into 2024 with a modern technology stack.

Barkeeper Featured

Barkeeper has its own blog

Barkeeper is a fantastic tool that helps venues mange their online presence and drive new customers.

Food

My pea and ham soup recipe

I'm not really a food blogger, but I was asked about this recipe by a friend of mine - so here it is for all to enjoy. One New Year, I was craving pea and ham soup but had to make some adjustments to how I normally would

Barkeeper

Introducing Vector: Peace of Mind for your venue

Vector serves as a purpose-built communication tool exclusively designed for bars and clubs to securely exchange vital information. It handles lost and found items and cloakroom management, while also helps to combat antisocial behavior and improve loss prevention.

Using AI to calculate a fair review score for a venue

In this post, we explain how we use some AI and old-fashioned content scraping to generate a fair review score for a venue. We call this "FairScore" and it makes up part of our product, Barkeeper

Projects

Designing a static / dynamic website builder hybrid

This is part of a series about the technology behind one of my projects, Barkeeper. In this post, I'll give a rough background about what Barkeeper is and how I approached its website build system.

Politics Featured

My thoughts about the UK Supreme Court ruling on Indyref2

The historic judgement by the UK Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 23rd 2022 was as disappointing as it was unsurprising. The Court has ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to hold an Independence referendum. This post is about what I think about that.

LGBT

Transphobes over Scotland

Right at the start of the "Yes Scotland" movement, there was a blog that provided great content on the various things happening on the campaign trail. It was called Wings Over Scotland. Now, the blog is a hub of awful transphobic frothing.

Let's get it right this time

The First Minister of Scotland and her Government have fired the starting pistol for the next independence referendum. Scotland will be going to the polls in October 2023 to decide if it should become an independent country. You can find out more details about the Scottish Government's plans

LGBT

Gay life in Japan

Japan has a reputation around for world for doing things a little differently than everywhere else. The Gay Scene there is no different.

Politics

Let’s get our eyes back on the goal

Right now, when Brexit is set to throw us back into an economic downturn that will hurt for 30 years we should be more determined than ever to make sure that an Independent Scotland happens.

Tech

The tale of the invisible man - a conference story

Ruby Kaigi is a Japanese technology conference for Japanese people that does great work to make sure that their talks are available in both English and Japanese.

Personal

Goodbye, Mathie

Goodbye Graeme. Thank you for your long and valued friendship. You’ll be missed, but never forgotten.