Dave Cross
@davorg.davecross.co.uk
Geek. Lefty. Atheist. Skeptic. Rationalist. Secularist. Humanist. Republican (UK Meaning!). Music lover. Writer. Genealogist.
Most of what I know about US political procedures comes from The West Wing, Bloom County (Meadow Party, 1984) or Howard the Duck (All-Night Party, 1976).
I watched Trump's speech at Davos. How bad does it need to get before someone invokes the 25th Amendment?
I watched Trump's speech at Davos. How bad does it need to get before someone invokes the 25th Amendment?
January 21, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Most of what I know about US political procedures comes from The West Wing, Bloom County (Meadow Party, 1984) or Howard the Duck (All-Night Party, 1976).
I watched Trump's speech at Davos. How bad does it need to get before someone invokes the 25th Amendment?
I watched Trump's speech at Davos. How bad does it need to get before someone invokes the 25th Amendment?
Today I had lunch in the same restaurant as Dexter Sol Ansell - who is one of the leads in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" (the new "Game of Thrones" prequel).
Weird to think that was probably his last public meal before the show is broadcast on Monday and half of the population will recognise him
Weird to think that was probably his last public meal before the show is broadcast on Monday and half of the population will recognise him
January 17, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Today I had lunch in the same restaurant as Dexter Sol Ansell - who is one of the leads in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" (the new "Game of Thrones" prequel).
Weird to think that was probably his last public meal before the show is broadcast on Monday and half of the population will recognise him
Weird to think that was probably his last public meal before the show is broadcast on Monday and half of the population will recognise him
The World: Hey Grok, those sexual images aren't a good idea
Grok: Oh, ok. I'll limit that feature to paying customers
The World: You're really not seeing the problem here
Grok: Ok. I've turned that feature off completely...
The World: Good
Grok: ...in jurisdictions where it's illegal
The World: FFS
Grok: Oh, ok. I'll limit that feature to paying customers
The World: You're really not seeing the problem here
Grok: Ok. I've turned that feature off completely...
The World: Good
Grok: ...in jurisdictions where it's illegal
The World: FFS
January 15, 2026 at 3:17 PM
The World: Hey Grok, those sexual images aren't a good idea
Grok: Oh, ok. I'll limit that feature to paying customers
The World: You're really not seeing the problem here
Grok: Ok. I've turned that feature off completely...
The World: Good
Grok: ...in jurisdictions where it's illegal
The World: FFS
Grok: Oh, ok. I'll limit that feature to paying customers
The World: You're really not seeing the problem here
Grok: Ok. I've turned that feature off completely...
The World: Good
Grok: ...in jurisdictions where it's illegal
The World: FFS
These blog posts (by James Duncan, an old friend from the early dotbom boom) are very good marketing for his new project. Good because they're clear and make great points, but don't (yet) give away anything about what it is. And leave you (well, me, at least) desperate to know more.
page.love/blog/
page.love/blog/
Pagelove: Building a better web — for humans and machines
Pagelove collapses the modern web stack into its simplest form. No databases, no APIs, no complex infrastructure. Just HTML that works like an app, scales like a CDN, and is AI-native by design.
page.love
January 15, 2026 at 12:20 PM
These blog posts (by James Duncan, an old friend from the early dotbom boom) are very good marketing for his new project. Good because they're clear and make great points, but don't (yet) give away anything about what it is. And leave you (well, me, at least) desperate to know more.
page.love/blog/
page.love/blog/
I've decided to bring altogether all my old Perl training decks from the last 25 years. They might be useful to someone. And they might encourage more people to hire me to run courses for them :-)
I made a (small) start on that today. It'll take a while!
learn.davecross.co.uk/slides/
I made a (small) start on that today. It'll take a while!
learn.davecross.co.uk/slides/
Learn with Dave Cross
Technical training courses from Dave Cross
learn.davecross.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 4:03 PM
I've decided to bring altogether all my old Perl training decks from the last 25 years. They might be useful to someone. And they might encourage more people to hire me to run courses for them :-)
I made a (small) start on that today. It'll take a while!
learn.davecross.co.uk/slides/
I made a (small) start on that today. It'll take a while!
learn.davecross.co.uk/slides/
People have been talking about Perl's rather impressive improvement in the TIOBE index over recent months. I dug into the data.
tiobe.perlhacks.com
tiobe.perlhacks.com
Perl in the TIOBE Index
tiobe.perlhacks.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:38 PM
People have been talking about Perl's rather impressive improvement in the TIOBE index over recent months. I dug into the data.
tiobe.perlhacks.com
tiobe.perlhacks.com
I've just been (mildly) bitten by a Markdown gotcha. Who can work out what problem this commit fixed?
github.com/davorg/davec...
github.com/davorg/davec...
January 7, 2026 at 1:58 PM
I've just been (mildly) bitten by a Markdown gotcha. Who can work out what problem this commit fixed?
github.com/davorg/davec...
github.com/davorg/davec...
I'm rather enjoying this conversation with a scammer (even though I know it's, ultimately, pointless) 🙂
January 7, 2026 at 11:53 AM
I'm rather enjoying this conversation with a scammer (even though I know it's, ultimately, pointless) 🙂
I really don't want to come across as a lifestyle guru or some kind of finance bro, but I wrote down some things I was thinking about over the weekend.
davorg.medium.com/retirement-i...
davorg.medium.com/retirement-i...
Retirement isn’t a date, it’s a dial
How to make work optional long before you reach pension age.
davorg.medium.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:51 PM
I really don't want to come across as a lifestyle guru or some kind of finance bro, but I wrote down some things I was thinking about over the weekend.
davorg.medium.com/retirement-i...
davorg.medium.com/retirement-i...
Here's the newsletter I sent out to subscribers on New Year's Eve.
davecross.substack.com/p/books-and-...
davecross.substack.com/p/books-and-...
Books and websites and clouds, oh my!
And totally failing to stick to "one thing at a time"
davecross.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Here's the newsletter I sent out to subscribers on New Year's Eve.
davecross.substack.com/p/books-and-...
davecross.substack.com/p/books-and-...
A command-line program I use constantly. Maybe you'll find it useful too.
perlhacks.com/2026/01/apph...
perlhacks.com/2026/01/apph...
App::HTTPThis: the tiny web server I keep reaching for - Perl Hacks
Whenever I’m building a static website, I almost never start by reaching for Apache, nginx, Docker, or anything that feels like “proper infrastructure”. Nine times out of ten I just want a directory s...
perlhacks.com
January 4, 2026 at 1:54 PM
A command-line program I use constantly. Maybe you'll find it useful too.
perlhacks.com/2026/01/apph...
perlhacks.com/2026/01/apph...
This week's entry in "The Horsell Transmissions" was published this morning.
horsell.substack.com/p/extract-2-...
horsell.substack.com/p/extract-2-...
Extract 2: Horsell Common - Hatch Open
A Checklist Completed Under Damp Conditions
horsell.substack.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:22 AM
This week's entry in "The Horsell Transmissions" was published this morning.
horsell.substack.com/p/extract-2-...
horsell.substack.com/p/extract-2-...
Maybe it's not the right day to mention this. But if you're planning some kind of "giving up a particular pleasure for January" exercise starting tomorrow, then Dave's Dry January tracker will tell you how far through it you are.
davorg.dev/january/
davorg.dev/january/
Dave's January Tracker
davorg.dev
December 31, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Maybe it's not the right day to mention this. But if you're planning some kind of "giving up a particular pleasure for January" exercise starting tomorrow, then Dave's Dry January tracker will tell you how far through it you are.
davorg.dev/january/
davorg.dev/january/
I've written a little more about my new Substack project - The Horsell Transmissions
open.substack.com/pub/horsell/...
open.substack.com/pub/horsell/...
A Note on the Provenance of the Documents
I have learned, over the years, that there are two reliable ways to acquire a thing you do not fully understand.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I've written a little more about my new Substack project - The Horsell Transmissions
open.substack.com/pub/horsell/...
open.substack.com/pub/horsell/...
A silly new project for the new year.
The Horsell Transmissions: Recovered Mars–Earth transmissions from 1898, translated and annotated. Procedure, panic, and the planet’s smallest citizens.
horsell.substack.com
The Horsell Transmissions: Recovered Mars–Earth transmissions from 1898, translated and annotated. Procedure, panic, and the planet’s smallest citizens.
horsell.substack.com
The Horsell Transmissions | Dave Cross | Substack
Recovered fragments of intercepted Mars–Earth transmissions from the summer of 1898, translated and annotated as a campaign log of the Horsell landing: what the Martians thought they were doing, what ...
horsell.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
A silly new project for the new year.
The Horsell Transmissions: Recovered Mars–Earth transmissions from 1898, translated and annotated. Procedure, panic, and the planet’s smallest citizens.
horsell.substack.com
The Horsell Transmissions: Recovered Mars–Earth transmissions from 1898, translated and annotated. Procedure, panic, and the planet’s smallest citizens.
horsell.substack.com
In an end-of-year cinema rush, I saw "Hamnet" yesterday and "David Bowie: The Final Act" today. I need to see fewer films about death :-/
December 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
In an end-of-year cinema rush, I saw "Hamnet" yesterday and "David Bowie: The Final Act" today. I need to see fewer films about death :-/
Happy Christmas, everyone.
I'm not sure how I managed it[*], but I got to Christmas Day without being Whamaggeddoned.
[*] Probably not going into a shop during the Christmas period was a big help.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gm...
I'm not sure how I managed it[*], but I got to Christmas Day without being Whamaggeddoned.
[*] Probably not going into a shop during the Christmas period was a big help.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gm...
Wham! - Last Christmas (Official Video)
YouTube video by WhamVEVO
www.youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Happy Christmas, everyone.
I'm not sure how I managed it[*], but I got to Christmas Day without being Whamaggeddoned.
[*] Probably not going into a shop during the Christmas period was a big help.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gm...
I'm not sure how I managed it[*], but I got to Christmas Day without being Whamaggeddoned.
[*] Probably not going into a shop during the Christmas period was a big help.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gm...
For many years, I used this photo as part of the Magnum Solutions branding. It was on business cards, my website and talk slides. Google Photos "On This Day" has just reminded me that it was taken 20 years ago today.
It's the Castlerigg Stone Circle, just outside of Keswick in the Lake District.
It's the Castlerigg Stone Circle, just outside of Keswick in the Lake District.
December 24, 2025 at 12:17 PM
For many years, I used this photo as part of the Magnum Solutions branding. It was on business cards, my website and talk slides. Google Photos "On This Day" has just reminded me that it was taken 20 years ago today.
It's the Castlerigg Stone Circle, just outside of Keswick in the Lake District.
It's the Castlerigg Stone Circle, just outside of Keswick in the Lake District.
At the start of this year, Jekyll was something that I disliked so much that I started writing my own static site generator in Perl.
Today, I uploaded my first Jekyll plugin to RubyGems. It's been a weird year.
rubygems.org/gems/jekyll-...
Today, I uploaded my first Jekyll plugin to RubyGems. It's been a weird year.
rubygems.org/gems/jekyll-...
jekyll-taxonomy-redirects | RubyGems.org | your community gem host
rubygems.org
December 22, 2025 at 5:48 PM
At the start of this year, Jekyll was something that I disliked so much that I started writing my own static site generator in Perl.
Today, I uploaded my first Jekyll plugin to RubyGems. It's been a weird year.
rubygems.org/gems/jekyll-...
Today, I uploaded my first Jekyll plugin to RubyGems. It's been a weird year.
rubygems.org/gems/jekyll-...
Today, I'm being annoyed by companies that see you browsing their site and use that as an excuse to send a "Did you forget something?" email. Looking at you, Grind
December 16, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Today, I'm being annoyed by companies that see you browsing their site and use that as an excuse to send a "Did you forget something?" email. Looking at you, Grind
A peek behind the curtain at Perl School Publishing (maybe useful to other people who might want to publish an ebook)
perlhacks.com/2025/12/behi...
perlhacks.com/2025/12/behi...
Behind the scenes at Perl School Publishing - Perl Hacks
We’ve just published a new Perl School book: Design Patterns in Modern Perl by Mohammad Sajid Anwar. It’s been a while since we last released a new title, and in the meantime, the world of eBooks has ...
perlhacks.com
December 14, 2025 at 6:05 PM
A peek behind the curtain at Perl School Publishing (maybe useful to other people who might want to publish an ebook)
perlhacks.com/2025/12/behi...
perlhacks.com/2025/12/behi...
Back in 1984, when "Resurrection of the Daleks" was first broadcast, I knew little about Shad Thames (it was "that dodgy area to the east of Tower Bridge"). But having spent a couple of years working at Zoopla, I now know it very well.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WAB...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WAB...
The Fifth Doctor vs. the Daleks | The Collection: Season 21 Announcement Trailer | Doctor Who
YouTube video by Doctor Who
www.youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Back in 1984, when "Resurrection of the Daleks" was first broadcast, I knew little about Shad Thames (it was "that dodgy area to the east of Tower Bridge"). But having spent a couple of years working at Zoopla, I now know it very well.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WAB...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WAB...
David Bowie was my top artist in Spotify Wrapped - but not one of his songs made my top 100 playlist.
Anyway, if you're interested in what I've been listening to this year, here's the playlist.
open.spotify.com/playlist/37i...
Anyway, if you're interested in what I've been listening to this year, here's the playlist.
open.spotify.com/playlist/37i...
Dave Cross's Top Songs 2025
open.spotify.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:34 AM
David Bowie was my top artist in Spotify Wrapped - but not one of his songs made my top 100 playlist.
Anyway, if you're interested in what I've been listening to this year, here's the playlist.
open.spotify.com/playlist/37i...
Anyway, if you're interested in what I've been listening to this year, here's the playlist.
open.spotify.com/playlist/37i...
I've been writing Advent Calendar posts about Pixie the Elf for a few years now. So I thought it was time she had her own website.
pixie.perlhacks.com
pixie.perlhacks.com
Pixie the Elf writes Perl
Pixie the Elf is a cheerful Perl hacker at the North Pole. This page collects all of her Perl Advent calendar stories in one place.
pixie.perlhacks.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I've been writing Advent Calendar posts about Pixie the Elf for a few years now. So I thought it was time she had her own website.
pixie.perlhacks.com
pixie.perlhacks.com