This is me

My name is Daniel and I like computers

At the time of writing I would call myself a – sort of ¹ – web developer type, working in the transport sector. I have been fascinated by computers since childhood and, despite my best attempts, I have also been drawn to them in a professional capacity. I can expect myself to write about shiny boxes with lights, the web, user experience, design, accessibility, and adjacent topics.

I am sceptical of “technologists” or “futurists” as they’re usually selling some rotten agenda, so those are not terms I subscribe to. I am not selling anything here and have no intention to monetise my time and skills outside of my job. Technology is used by specific people to do things. We should be critical of who the technology is really for and what broader impacts it might have to people, societies, and our planet. So I hope to adopt a thoughtful post-humanist approach to technology topics, tempering the “ooh ahh” factor a little.

I will be writing about our built environment, and in particular there will be raging against “motonormativity” AKA “car brain”. I am fascinated by the diversification of first/last mile mobility options for consumers but also for transportation (see micromobility). Anglosphere cities and cultures are stupidly hostile to biological bipedals. I expect that I will chronicle urban transportation experiences and advocate for more thoughtful, less ableist, more inclusive, less wasteful, and more equitable ways of moving ourselves around.

Lastly, let me remind myself that I have collected many hobbies, which I will undoubtedly remark upon in this place. Foremost in mind is my ongoing obsession with brewing specialty coffee. I take enormous pleasure in pursuing laborious and time-consuming brewing methods that yield only marginal (if any) improvements to flavour. It’s a personal rebellion against convenience culture and an expression of mindful presence in the here and now. Also yum.

Next week on...

I plan to post a pretty detailed overview of how I built this very website. I am learning Angular so I have thoughts on that which I want to explore. I’m not going to rush it though because I’ll need to find time to read it as well, and with all the writing I’m going to be very busy…