Dale Lane
dalelane.co.uk
Dale Lane
@dalelane.co.uk
Developer for IBM. Kafka. Kubernetes. AI. ML. Gadgets. Mobiles. Gaming. Coffee. Creator of Machine Learning for Kids.

https://dalelane.co.uk
Genuinely surprised to wake up this morning to find my wife and I had stockings full of presents. In a lovely role reversal (at age 21 + 17) our kids had decided it was their turn to play Santa 🥺
December 25, 2025 at 11:13 AM
I shared my podcast-listening stats for the year last night at dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5776 but the top one being 99hrs 57mins bugged me all night, so I'm listening to yesterday's episode to bump it up to 100 😆
2025 in podcasts (Overcast) | dale lane
I've long used podcasts as a way to distract me while travelling for business trips, doing housework at the weekends, shopping, and much more... This year, I listened to even more podcasts than usual - the increased time I've spent walking this year gave me an extra couple of hours a day. I use th
dalelane.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Just watched the Pac Man Secret Level episode (having never seen any other Secret Level episodes, or hearing anything about it other than it being based on video game worlds)

wtaf was that? 😳
December 22, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Dale Lane
"I think today's Wordle word is actually the worst in the entire history of the game."

Wordle 1644 is trending as Friday's puzzle is breaking many streaks. How did you do?
Wordle - A daily word game
Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.
nyti.ms
December 19, 2025 at 3:40 PM
When I first created a blog (in... ahem... 2006) I posted something every day.

This year, I managed 26 posts - a mixture of Kafka, Flink, MLforKids, & other random bits.

I want to write more regularly next year... still as a random stream of whatever captures my interest
2025 in writing (WordPress)
Looking back over what I've put on dalelane.co.uk this year... I wrote twenty-six posts. Not as many as I'd hoped... I want to try and write a little more in 2026. Machine Learning for Kids Four we...
dalelane.co.uk
December 17, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Dale Lane
Becoming Gods of Gaps is problem I fell over delivering talk on #ContentDesign and #AI. That pointing out how human capacities get framed as being in the (temporary) gaps between AI capabilities. It minimises people while seeming positive about them.

It’s not a good thing.
December 17, 2025 at 1:42 PM
this week, a chunk of the woods I go through on my way to work has been cleared, with a sign up explaining that they're trying to fight ash dieback ☹️
December 17, 2025 at 8:00 AM
I've not tried vibe coding before - letting AI create something from scratch without reviewing

my first attempt: asking Claude to visualise my WordPress stats

don't think it's something I'll do often, but idea to working code in minutes is undeniably impressive

dalelane.github.io/wordpress-ye...
December 16, 2025 at 10:42 PM
On our way home after a family weekend at Port Lympne Safari Park - we saw lots of animals, walked the amazing festive lights night trail, and slept next to a lion enclosure.

(Lions are better than roosters at making noise in the morning to wake you up!)

www.aspinallfoundation.org/port-lympne/
Port Lympne Safari Park, Wild Animal Reserve & Hotel
Experience a great day out in Kent by visiting our award winning safari park or sleep amongst the animals at our multi award winning Port Lympne Hotel.
www.aspinallfoundation.org
December 14, 2025 at 12:56 PM
turns out that my ML book is included in the Anthropic class action!

probably a bad sign that my family's first reaction on seeing that I got a letter from a US District Court was "what have you done?!"
December 13, 2025 at 10:21 AM
back in London. after a very long and tiring week, I'm finding being in the Underground unusually welcoming
December 11, 2025 at 8:44 PM
getting ready to kick off the last day of the apidays AsyncAPI track with a talk on how we could better document things like Kafka

I've arrived so early the room still has a bomb shelter vibe, but it'll liven up once people arrive!

I've got 55 minutes... hopefully enough to cover my *many* slides
December 11, 2025 at 7:57 AM
first day of #apidays Paris, by La Grande Arche

by the looks of the agenda and expo stands, I'll (unsurprisingly) spend the next few days talking about AI as much as I do Kafka & AsyncAPI
December 9, 2025 at 9:44 AM
On the Eurostar to get to #apidays Paris. At the risk of sounding like an advert, it's a much nicer way to travel than flying!
December 8, 2025 at 1:30 PM
we've got people over to stay this evening - which is lovely except it does mean today has mostly been a frantic tidying exercise, to trick them into thinking we aren't animals
December 6, 2025 at 5:11 PM
This feels a little harsh - I think it's nice for people to share what they like. If it takes some shameless corporate marketing to nudge us to do that, I'm okay with that 🤷

www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-y...
Please shut up about your Spotify Wrapped
In fact, it’s a total abomination, dreamed up by the company’s marketing department as a way of appealing to your inner narcissist
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I cast my votes in #TheGameAwards

As every year, there are hardly any categories where I've played enough of the nominated games yet to be able to vote.

I tend to buy games after a few years once they're discounted - I need a time-delayed Game Awards so I can join in!
December 6, 2025 at 11:25 AM
I've said that I enjoyed my walk home from work across fields, woods and farms in the Spring/Summer because it's peaceful and relaxing. And I've said that I'm enjoying the challenge in the Autumn/Winter.

By that metric, I guess I should call tonight's walk home very enjoyable! 😜💨🍃🌧️🌚🔦
December 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I've come to a fancy-looking (but very wet and soggy) Greenwich to listen to eldest daughter in a percussion concert
December 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
we're at the Mayflower to see SIX

(how many more musicals am I allowed to see before I have to stop pretending that these are exceptions, and that maybe I kind of like musicals?)
December 2, 2025 at 7:27 PM
After stubbornly avoiding Christmas music all through November, today is 1st December and I'm at Winchester Cathedral for a Carol Service

It's Christmas Vibes 0 to 60 🥳
December 1, 2025 at 7:02 PM
at Vue to watch Wicked - apparently along with the rest of Eastleigh... haven't seen the cinema this busy in ages!
November 22, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Dale Lane
#Strimzi 0.49.0 is out! 🎉

⚠️ This release contains many important changes (including backwards compatibility impact), deprecations, and removals. Make sure to watch the What's new video and read the release notes carefully before upgrading!

➡️ github.com/strimzi/stri...
🎦 youtu.be/aIGZD8lk6vc
Release 0.49.0 · strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator
⚠️ IMPORTANT: Strimzi 0.49 introduces new API version v1 to all Strimzi custom resources. Make sure to Upgrade the CRDs as part of the Strimzi upgrade as well (especially when using Helm). The old...
github.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I got Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines this week - which I'm loving, but then I'm a sucker for a game with a good rope swing / grappling hook mechanic

backloggd.com/u/dalelane/l...
'My fave games with a grappling hook' a list of games by dalelane | Backloggd
Games Ive enjoyed that have a grappling hook rope swing mechanic
backloggd.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:14 PM
#Wordle fail ☹️

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November 20, 2025 at 8:57 AM