One of my side projects is a retro word processor. This started out as something I was building for myself. I need to blog and I’m finding it difficult to write with all the distractions of modern office suites. Yes, there are plenty of focus mode writing apps already, but I wanted something that reminded me of when I first started to write. When I was back at school using DOS word processors. So far it’s working well, but as it turns out, there’s a lot to learn about running a cloud-based word processor. How to handle the internet going down. How to handle merge conflicts. Proper encryption and appreciating when that encryption can go too far. And then there’s a balance to consider between the old retro aesthetic and modern functionality. The two often don’t play nicely side by side. But it works. It’s got me writing again and I’ll post more about it soon.

How many people do you know outside tech who use agentic AI? Most have never heard of Grok Bot or Hermes, never mind tried them. My guess? Under 5%. Imagine the world when the other 95% catch up. They'll need your help getting there.

Using WordPress? There are critical security fixes buried away in the change log for the latest release. Including, ironically, a fix which prevents remote code execution during updates.

I said I was never going to pay for another WordPress plugin. Well, I was wrong. Today, I spent my hard-earned £s on a licence for a WordPress-native chatbot plugin, @resolverchatbot. It works directly in WordPress and learns from my posts, pages and files. It uses APIs I already have, so I get to choose which models handle the embeddings and the responses. That’s something other services I tried didn’t offer. Do I really need it? No. I haven’t posted on my blog for months. But do I want it? Absolutely. It’s cool, and I like to support developers who build cool stuff. Over the last year, lots of people in learning and development roles have told me they want a chatbot on their learning resources. If yours run on WordPress, here’s something you can set up with hardly any technical knowledge. You just need to know how to get your API keys. This isn’t a sponsored post. I don’t do those, and Resolver hasn’t asked me to post this. I’m just a customer who’s very impressed with what they’ve built. If you know of something else that’s as good, please share it below.

I’ll be speaking at this event next Tuesday. Introducing guidance on the safe and appropriate use of AI for social services in Scotland. Free tickets are still available for the live stream until Friday.

The problem with the switch to daylight saving time, is waking up at 4am, feeling like it’s 5am and staring into the bottom of a coffee mug for an hour.

I worked with these at a Dundee media charity back in 2003. Editing video, writing newsletters, building and websites and occasionally playing a networked racing game that I can't recall the name of. They remind me of Zip disks, because that's what we stored everything on.

Grok 4.7 is dumb. Even in the Grok Build harness. It gets stuck in loops, creates one-off code rather than reusable functions and every task is a chore of self-correction for mistakes other models simply don't make. I really hope this isn't what they intend to put in @bot.

Opus 5.5 feels like it’s Fable class.

Grok 4.7 is here and I gave it the same test I give all new models - "Make me a plex playlist of banging 90s tunes to vibe code to." This is a test of model taste, but brilliantly flawed as it's limited to music I actually own. 4.7, after complaining I didn't own enough Red Hot Chili Peppers, came up with this: 1. Blur — Song 2 2. The Prodigy — Firestarter 3. Beastie Boys — Sabotage 4. Green Day — Basket Case 5. Oasis — Supersonic 6. Elastica — Connection 7. Supergrass — Alright 8. Ocean Colour Scene — The Riverboat Song 9. The Offspring — Self Esteem 10. Suede — Animal Nitrate 11. Pulp — Common People 12. Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit 13. Pearl Jam — Even Flow 14. The Cranberries — Zombie 15. Green Day — Longview 16. Radiohead — Just 17. Beastie Boys — Intergalactic 18. The Chemical Brothers — Block Rockin' Beats 19. Fatboy Slim — The Rockafeller Skank 20. Beck — Loser 21. CAKE — The Distance 22. The Smashing Pumpkins — 1979 23. Weezer — Buddy Holly 24. The Cure — Friday I'm in Love 25. No Doubt — Just a Girl 26. Lenny Kravitz — Are You Gonna Go My Way 27. Cornershop — Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook remix) 28. The Verve — Bitter Sweet Symphony 29. Manic Street Preachers — A Design for Life 30. Oasis — Wonderwall 31. The Charlatans — North Country Boy 32. R.E.M. — Losing My Religion 33. Massive Attack — Teardrop 34. The Stone Roses — Fools Gold 35. Daft Punk — Around the World 36. Leftfield and John Lydon — Open Up 37. Faithless — Insomnia 38. The Prodigy — Breathe 39. Basement Jaxx — Red Alert 40. Fatboy Slim — Praise You 41. The Chemical Brothers — Hey Boy Hey Girl 42. Warren G — Regulate 43. 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre — California Love 44. Madonna — Ray of Light 45. Primal Scream — Rocks 46. Alanis Morissette — You Oughta Know 47. blink-182 — All the Small Things 48. Pulp — Disco 2000 49. New Radicals — You Get What You Give 50. Oasis — Don't Look Back in Anger