Published on Tuesday, 30 June 2026.

Inspired, as so many are, by Robert, I'm going to attempt #Junited2026 — sharing one link to another blogger every day to celebrate some of the excellent writing out there.

I may not make it but we can but try.

30th June

This library is a shrine to books that have disappeared, to authors whose courage unmasks structures of power and control, and to readers who refuse to be told what book they are allowed to read. You are invited to visit and decide for yourself what belongs on these shelves. Because sometimes the most subversive thing you can do is read a book and then talk about it

Dua Lipa to open library of banned and censored books in Portugal by Laura Molloy at NME

29th June

We’ve had a decade of being told that the problems in our lives are caused by people who are different from us. That the NHS is broken because of immigrants. That your kids can’t get jobs because of DEI. That society is being undermined by trans people using the wrong toilets. None of it stands up to scrutiny, but scrutiny requires energy, and it’s much easier to be angry at someone visible.

I Tip Toe, But Should I? by Pete Carr

28th June

But hate speech isn’t free speech. It demands violence against marginalized people. There is no “both sides” to it. It’s not okay to “fundamentally disagree” on it. If you are a company who earns income, and that income is funneled to a fascist political party, it is absolutely part of your mission. Even if it’s turning a blind eye to a teammate with whom you disagree.

If Your Company Funnels Money to Fascists, You’re a Fascist Company by Mark Wyner

27th June

I’m unaware of any circumstance where <div role="button"> should ever be used over a <button>. Before you tell me you can’t edit your React component library, do the web a favour and delete your codebase.

ARIA, anti-patterns, and you by David Bushell

26th June

The modern web is not designed for reading, as reading requires brain power - and the brain power is what internet moguls can't control.

Internet works best in small dosages by Michal Sapka

25th June

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: discovery and alpha is best when there’s good synchronicity of thought on a team. Like when you’re on an acid trip and everyone’s having similar thoughts. Not full unity, just great alignment.

The Broad Bean by Steve Messer

24th June

I quite like what Verlyn has to say about cutting longer sentences into shorter ones because I’ve always struggled with the need to show off in my writing, to prove I can write a sentence that never stops. Verlyn argues this is due to fear and maybe that’s true. Perhaps I’m afraid to put a full stop somewhere because it’s hard and I’m an undisciplined writer, because I fear that folks will stop reading if each and every sentence doesn’t do a backflip-720-no-scope

Several short sentences on writing by Robin Rendle

23rd June

I believe plain language can be just as effective as beautifully written prose, and so I’ve always loved his work for the brevity. He’s an ideas guy; the plain writing on the surface gives way to some complex philosophical ideas and themes.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick by Alice at The Wallflower Digest

22nd June

Please don’t “use AI to polish” your blog posts. It makes them sound like every other blog post on the internet and therefore makes them very boring to read. I like your idiosyncratic little voice ok? Your silly little grammars. You’re the only you there is.

Week 407: Soho-mayo from The website of Alice Bartlett

21st June

London traffic is so much less aggressive than Berlin. The worst I’ve seen is an electric motorcycle on a towpath (if you do this, you’re a dick), but unlike Berlin, car drivers and cyclists don’t seem to want to deliberately run you over.

Weeknotes 2026 W25: Abandoned by Denis Defreyne

20th June

In town I walk past a shop that self-describes as a “Tattoo, piercing and welding studio”. I wonder what I’d get welded on. A spare arm probably, or a pair of heat resistant tongs, which may be more useful?

15 – 20 June 2026 by DW at Walknotes

19th June

Musea have always felt like churches to me. Not only because of the often imposing architecture, but also because of the reverence I felt for the art or knowledge on display.

The next best thing to actually visiting a museum by Ruben Verweij

18th June

the fundamental difference was that those arguing for “responsible ‘AI’ adoption” had accepted “AI” as inevitable and I had not. […] Except in cases where your boss forces you to use “AI” or be fired, it is entirely possible to eschew the use of these tools today.

Everywhere Foist Upon Us by darthmall.net

17th June

It's probably for the best though that I don't have a time machine, because in every time period other than the modern age, meaning the last two or three hundred years, I would very likely be dead within days, if not hours after arriving, because I have absolutely zero survival skills.

Re: If I could be transported back by Andreas from 82MHz

16th June

As photographers, we’ve all been there. A severe lack of inspiration and/or enthusiasm. This, of course, can put you off wanting to head out with your camera. When you begin to smash up the routine and rule book, it’s a) a whole lot more fun and b) going to open up a lot more opportunities.

Photography as a Distraction by Mike Hindle

15th June

What most teams call collaboration is actually coordination. You divide the work up, each person goes off and does their piece, and then you review each other’s output. That’s not collaboration. Collaboration is working on the same problem together, at the same time, building on each other’s thinking in real time.

The case for real collaboration by Mike Bowler

14th June

Mac’s a children’s writer and in Make Believe he argues that these books aren’t a silly genre, they’re a form we should treat seriously and respect. Meaning, books for children aren’t a lesser kind of literature simply because they’re for children.

Make Believe by Robin Rendle

13th June

I've spent a lot of time lately digging through my own digital photographs - I was on the lookout for photos with interesting glitches or degredations - and I ended up getting sucked in to the sheer amount of photos I have of things that aren't actually worth keeping[…]They're not good and they're not useful, and they're not pictures of things I care about. And yet, I didn't want to delete them, which I thought was a curious feeling to have about pictures of nothing.

Album of Nothing by Frances Berriman

12th June

Things that would have been tweets back in the olden times.
• Spotify have reverted back to their original app icon. I know the reason for the disco ball one, but it was just awful.

Shorts by Kevin Spencer

11th June

The council and the press release suggest that Blackpool’s crime statistics are “slightly skewed” due to the high volume of visitors compared to the residential population Blackpool has approximately 145,000 residents but is visited by an estimated 23 million people annually. However, no analysis or formal breakdown has been provided, and none could be given on request either, showing how many recorded offences involve visitors versus residents. The claim that crime rates are distorted by tourism therefore remains an assertion without verifiable evidence in the publicly available documents.

Blackpool crime “falling”, but key figures are unverified by Adam Green at North West Bylines

10th June

We are, after all, authors on a quest, world building our own habitat in the ether between the ones and zeros, looking to connect with other like minded people.

Be Authentic by Alexandra Woolfe at Wry Writer

9th June

After mentioning this idea of somehow being able to authenticate the source of a photo, I’ve implemented and tested the idea. Here is an update on the project.

Photography Chain of Custody Experiment #2 by Cedric at Photoni.st

8th June

The characters were three dimensional – all with hopes met or dashed, and their flaws brutally exposed.

Funny, sad, tense, depressing, exciting, and satisfying. Also v long.

Middlemarch by George Eliot by felix.gripe

7th June

I started to notice how there’s an awful lot of near-future brand names and corporations and such like. Snacks like AnooYoo bars. Walk-in cosmetic surgery SnipNFix and NooSkins.  Ersatz beverages like Happicuppa.  Big pharma corporations like HelthWyzer. Takeaway treats like SoyOBoy Burgers. GMO fast foods like ChickiNobs Bucket O’Nubbins.

A Wombat’s Anus by futuromaniac

6th June

I watched a video review of Dirty Dancing yesterday that talked about how well it’s held up. They pointed out how the film values abortion as healthcare, that it doesn’t vilify Penny’s decision and also doesn’t vilify sex (it’s a pretty sex-positive movie), and that the class commentary is insightful and sensitive.

Dirty Dancing is still a great movie by Hollie

5th June

The physical act of framing and taking images with a phone just does not feel right. I know I am in a dwindling minority here. Humanity loves taking photos like this. But I don’t.

On Using a Proper Camera by Florian Ziegler

4th June

Sighted people have a casual, almost dismissive, relationship with the weather; they glance out the window or check an app. The weather is a visual fact; a piece of data. For me the weather isn't data — it's a symphony…

The Acoustic Signature of Weather by Robert Kingett

3rd June

There was a couple of buskers, one guy with a guitar doing pop covers and my favourite busker, the Pan Pipe player from Ecuador. It's always a pleasure to hear music from the Andes Mountains of South America in Wigan. Wigan might be an old mining town, but the place is quite cosmopolitan at times.

Frugal Film Project 2026 - Compact - May by Jim Graves

2nd June

Then there's AI. Sigh. I'm currently on a job hunt and I considered this time to be perfect to get a better grip on vibe-coding, vibe-designing, vibe-everything—the things that my future job will expect me to be good at. But at the mere thought of the "new way of doing things", I recoil. I've been having my objections with big tech for years—that's just who I am: looking for software alternatives, swimming against the stream, thinking maybe a little too much about how we use software in general. I haven't found a way to fit AI into my way of being a user.

Drowning in the City by niqwithq

1st June

The idea that a great photograph is created in a single, perfectly-timed instant is both deeply appealing and fundamentally wrong. Stepping into the world and courting serendipity may yield a beautiful accident, but pressing the shutter is only the beginning. The real work begins later, when those frames return from the field to the sorting table, where photography becomes art.

The Myth of Intent in Photography by David M. M. Taffet