Software dev, theatre critic and creator of @CritiCalTheatre – a beautiful diary app for professional theatregoers. Opinions my own and not any employer’s

Joined November 2006
2,648 Photos and videos
Bike lanes and crossings aren’t “virtue signalling” just because a self-important MP doesn’t use them. There are an estimated 1.5 million cycle journeys per day in London.
I’m in Dulwich. One of the more expensive areas of London, supposedly a global city, and I’m getting worse mobile phone reception that I did in Kabul a decade ago. I pay for two contracts: @O2 and @EE and neither is reliable so I can’t work. Mobile phones are useless in vast areas of Britain and have got worse. You can never work on a train, unlike in France. But we’re spending £4.5 billion in bike lanes and crossings. This government is prioritising virtue signalling vanity projects when we need infrastructure urgently.
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Flo and Joan’s One Man Musical returning? Yes! George Fouracres not returning with it? Nooooo! I’m sure Edward Easton will be brilliant in the role, though
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Disclosure Day is what would happen if Steven Spielberg and a budget attached themselves to a 1970s Disney live action sci-fi kids’ film
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Woohoo, if this is backported I can retire my own handrolled tools for building compound Predicates…
With anyAppleOS 27, it's possible to create dynamic compound predicates with SwiftData using Predicate(all:) and Predicate(any:). According to a Frameworks Engineer, it can maybe be back deployed to iOS 17.4 🤩 Please, help make it happen @twostraws! developer.apple.com/forums/t…
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Out and about tonight, trying some tweaks to the iPhone version of @CritiCalTheatre heading to the App Store soon. Improved use of event photos to create beautiful detail pages is a definite plus. Diary apps shouldn’t be boring.
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Whatever happens between that ludicrous ending and the new series of #DoctorWho that ignores it, I’m sure Big Finish will find a slightly dull way to bridge the gap over several years of box sets.
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Sometimes I look at people’s Substack subscription rates and think, wow, you really do believe people bought a week’s worth of newspapers just for your one column, don’t you
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Whoever takes on the #DoctorWho mantle, it needs a brand new feel and tempo. The rest of the magic will follow. Rose created a style that fit into the TV landscape of the time, but still felt connected to the show’s history. A 2027 producer needs the same intent.
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An annual reminder that if an account is going into minutiae about iOS 27 presentation based on the very first developer beta, they’re just click farming. Visual design of the OS changes multiple times before final release every year.
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The ability to dynamically resize any preview indicates a forthcoming iOS device with radically different screen dimensions (eg a foldable). I still remember the Xcode where the default preview was a square so that devs had to ensure they didn’t hardcode screen dimensions #WWDC
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Torn between “they didn’t really cover anything else” and “thank goodness they didn’t try to cram huge swathes in” in that keynote #WWDC as ever, the PSOTU will be the more interesting presentation
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“This year, we’re reimagining…” is Apple’s way of saying “yeah yeah we know it sucked” #WWDC
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The best thing will be if the on device and cloud versions of Foundation Models are updated more than once a year #WWDC
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Thankfully @CritiCalTheatre already integrates fully with Spotlight and App Intents, the two surfaces that the new Siri AI will use to integrate itself with third party apps. Let’s hope it’s as easy as all this promises it will be. We’ve been here before though #WWDC
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All this talk about parental controls is great for most families. But history is littered with young adults who’ve needed to explore their growing self-awareness in ways that risks parental violence. Finding out more about LGBTQ lives is a particular example. #WWDC26
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Janet Murray’s probably rubbing her hands with glee at all the attention she’s getting – after all, thrusting herself into the spotlight is the core of all her anti-trans belligerence. She’s probably so excited she doesn’t notice that she’s once again being laughed at
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Called it (see 🧵 x.com/scottm/status/20575017…) – starting with a younger Poirot is definitely the way to go. Best of luck to Mammoth Screen for what is going to be a mammoth, not to say Herculean, task…

Say bonjour to the new Poirot. 👋 Read more: radiotimes.com/tv/drama/bbc-… Hercule will be coming to BBC One and iPlayer.
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Now include a clip of the speech where Apple TV was called out for its cancellation of season 3
Officially a Tony-winning schmusical. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew of @Schmigadooon! on their 4 Tony Award wins, including Best Musical.
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James Graham’s Ink, which debuted in 2017 about the 1969 launch of the Murdoch-owned Sun newspaper, feels like it’s aged in the decade since as newspapers have ceded their stranglehold on the national conversation. Graham’s ear for great dialogue remains though. #IntervalTweet
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