The personal website of David Mead. A British guy living in the USA.
I am so tired of every company feeling the need to shoehorn in an AI helper. To be honest I've found zero use for any of them, and they are all a bit shit. Take a banking app I have. This week I got a notification from the app. Nothing unusual there. But instead of confirming a receipt or payment, it took me to a AI Chat window in the app. In the chat (see screenshot) it tells me I have an…
Four videos I watched recently seem to connect with aspects of this feeling of things, in general, not being that great in "the world" right now. Johnny Harris dives into why "Oligarchy is worse than you think" Benn Jordan claims "The Richest Country Is Pretty Mid Now" Report Of The Week (Reviewbrah) asks "Is there anything that isn't getting worse". And Rory Sutherland's 2026 predictions touches…
Catching up on my RSS feeds and I'm happy to see you're recovering and back out enjoying nature. Great photo.
Om Malik passed away on June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital after a long health journey with his heart. He was surrounded by family and friends. — Om's family, Om.co Om Malik had been a constant voice I followed since the early days of building on the web. I'll miss that voice. My thoughts go out to his family & friends.
Last year I wrote about uninstalling Destiny 2 , with the hope of returning this year. After this, and whatever the Star Wars themed season called Renegades is, I hope Destiny will find it's footing and I can give it another shot. — Me, Uninstalling Destiny 2 With the post-Renegades update being continually pushed back, Sony/Bungie (seemingly out-of-nowhere) announced the closing down of Destiny 2…
Over the Winter I had the usual run of colds, shivers, and flu-like symptoms. Sharing a house with two people in the service industry and a 2 year old will open up your vectors of attack. But as the months went by, post-recovery, something remained. A cough. A dry, persistent cough. Getting worse And then I started to notice it sometimes got worse after. Bad enough that I was dry retching and felt…
Light from a dying sun on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E08": Download audio
Light from a dying sun on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E07": Download audio
Gameplay screenshot This weekend is the "server slam" for Bungie's new game, Marathon . Meaning everyone gets to hop and play for free, while Bungie get's to stress test it's infrastructure. I've been following Marathon's development for a while. Through the changes in leadership, plagiarism scandal, and less than stellar play tests. After a couple of days playing it's kinda, meh. I'm not mad at…
Light from a dying sun on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E06": Download audio
I read and re-read a blog post today that made me pause & reflect, a few times actually. First off it was only available through an RSS feed. Nothing posted publicly or permalinked on their website. Secondly it concerned visiting a place I had no idea even existed. Thirdly the experience came across as deeply personal, possibly transformative. The post, the place, and the experience, all secret.…
Light from a dying sun on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E05": Download audio
Still here. Taking it one-day-at-a-time as the shitshow that was 2025 seems to be still bleeding into 2026. Onwards and upwards!
Light from a dying sun on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E04": Download audio
So here's a thing that's been mildly irritating me the past few months. The problem If I'm watching a video on the YouTube website and send it, via AirPlay, to AppleTV from my laptop I get the wrong audio. I get the video just fine, but the audio is some random language. Go back to watching it on my laptop, the original English audio returns. At first comical, then annoying. I've tried looking for…
Easing into 2026. Fresh ground coffee, hot baked cinnamon rolls, and Peruvian Psychedelic Cumbia, Salsa, Boogaloo and beyond with Infopesa on the speakers (and TV). When it finishes I'm off to clear the drive from all the overnight snow.
This is the last day of 2025. For the most part it wasn't too bad, as years go. But it has to be said the last quarter has, in the words of the great prophet, been a bit crap really. Having to navigate and deal with; break-ups, custody of a grandchild, an attempted suicide, multiple ER visits, police at the house, family estrangement, and a life-changing medical diagnosis. One of those is a lot,…
Light from a dying sun on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E03": Download audio
On December 22nd we rushed James to the local ER. He was diagnosed being in Diabetic ketoacidosis. Transferred to Rainbow Babies Hospital 's Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at 2am, this is where I stayed until 1pm. 3 days later and he's doing a lot better. Out of the PICU and on a regular ward. Gone are the IV lines and heart monitors. He's now eating solids, letting us know he's ready to…
Thursday's set on radio.l0wl1f3 . Listen to Thursday's mix: Download audio
Light from a dying sun on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E02": Download audio
After 10 years Ganzeer has completed his work, The Solar Grid . Back in Aug.'24 I wrote how I was waiting for the final part to drop. Now it has! And it's only here until January 1st, in digital form. Print versions will be available—See his latest newsletter for an explanation. I really enjoyed issues 1-8 so, since it's been over a year since reading the previous issues, I think this weekend I'll…
Thursday's set on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix Dub and Dub Techno. Listen to "Dubz": Download audio
My first set on radio.l0wl1f3 is a mix of dark ambient, drone, etc. Hopefully an ongoing series I called "Light from a dying sun". Listen to "Light from a dying sun S01E01": Download audio
Driving back from Sandusky tonight I witnessed a truly great moonrise. Starting as a huge red ball slowly rising above the flat fields, it ended as a bright golden light shining over the Cleveland skyline. The sky was clear enough that, at all stages, I could make out the distinct markings of seas & craters. Every once and awhile the natural world just catches me by surprise, delivering something…
To be honest I've been pretty spoiled with new music thanks to supporting Headphone Commute and The Black Dog over at Patreon. Stasis Sounds For Long-Distance Space Travel II The second collaboration in this series (I already have the first) between 36 & zakè. Both of whom were the featured artists on Headphone Commute's Patreon. Beautiful soundtrack for drifting among the stars while in…
Raining again. Grab some noodles, hit a brain dance, end on cracking some Corpo ice? Due to a "technical issue" this stream was broken in two parts. Listen to my Neon Gutters mix, part one: Download audio Listen to my Neon Gutters mix, part two: Download audio
2025-12-07 update: As my Mixlr free trial ended, I started to stream on radio.l0wl1f3 as well. Those will be tagged accordingly. As Chris mentioned I have been streaming music mixes over at Mixlr. It's been a lot of fun, curating a playlist around a title or theme of my choosing. Then getting to listen to Coinops and others stream theirs throughout the week. That thrill of discovery of new-to-me…
Based on Warren's quick review I pulled the trigger on this. CD arrived pretty quickly, and it's very good.
Walkman on, dancing along an empty beach. Listen to my Overcast Shoreline mix: Download audio
I had a fitful night last night. Between letting the dogs out and coughing fits, sleep was hard to find. So today was spent doing nothing. Nothing apart from coughing, reading RSS feeds, sneezing, napping, sipping on warm Vimto , and listening to music. I let Roon choose my Sunday soundtrack using it's Roon Radio feature. As I don't use Tidal or Qobuz it just pulls from my library. screenshot of…
Voices. Lots of voices. Listen to my Vocal mix: Download audio
The last two weeks have been really rough. The events, all consuming. Mentally, physically, and emotionally. I am spent. Things will never be the same after this fortnight. A point of inflection, if you will. Maybe I will write more later. Maybe.
Music to jump, cruise, and drift the stars by. Listen to my System Hopping mix: Download audio
...an A-1, tip top clubbing jam fair. It was a sandwich of fun on ecstasy bread, wrapped up in a big bag like disco fudge. It doesn't get much better than that... Listen to my Beatz mix: Download audio
Clocks changed. It's that time to swap out the wardrobe. Away goes the short-sleeved and linen shirts. Out come the heavier weights. Summer jackets now stored, Winter coats take their place. For the first time in years, new El-Pine wool socks from WigWam have arrived. My darning skills have not improved and it was time to let my old ones go. As the rain stopped for the weekend I took the chance to…
Aldi UK teamed up with Agro Studio to create a Jacket Potato Jacket . C'mon! Pete Brown has 2 short posts that capture my feelings better than I could write. First how companies will do anything to avoid treating employees as humans , and second why to just give the kids some candy . John Gruber posted about the WSJ article, and video, covering the new 'humanoid' robot housekeeper from 1X . The…
Some tunes for a certain bloke, at a certain time of year. Listen to my Hellblazer mix: Download audio
ARC Raiders character screen This week was the ARC Raiders server slam . A chance to play the game for free. Even though I'm not a fan of extraction shooters I thought I'd give it a go. Maybe my tastes have changed. Maybe they have a unique take on the genre, especially as this started life as a PvE looter shooter. The opening, laying out the history of the world was interesting and I really liked…
This. This is great. Boards of Canada "Olson" on a 1959 PDP-1 Computer /via Brad Frost . This weekend saw huge turnout for the No Kings protests across the USA. Cleveland's one happened downtown . And with the current spate of ICE detaining over 170 US Citizens and the government shutdown hitting week three, it's no wonder. This week I learned of the word "nemophilist". Definition is One who is…
Yearly check-in with the Doc. Blood pressure is back down in the "normal range" for a gentleman of my years, which is good news. Also took advantage of the Flu jab and Tetanus shot too while I was there.
Google is the wonder killer . Great video clip I found via Swiss Miss. Not a new take, but I couldn't agree more. Once again Jeremy Keith published something I want to implement. A simple approach to handle images as a carousel on smaller screens . Dominion, a supplier of voting machines, has been purchased by a former Republican director for the St. Louis City Board of Elections. This isn't a…
I used Wil Yeung's video as a base for this. It came out really tasty, and made a load. I had it for lunch, got 2 more portions in the fridge, and froze at least 5 more. Chickpea stew Ingredients 3 red onions 5 cloves garlic (I used 2 tsps garlic ginger paste) 3 medium potatoes 3 tbsp olive oil 2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp chili powder 1 generous tbsp sweet paprika 1 tbsp cinnamon few sprigs fresh…
A late start today. Laundry in, then breakfast in Mentor . Popped in to Meijer's and disaster! No plain chocolate digestives. Couple of loaves from Great Harvest, then treats from Trader Joe's. Took advantage of the nice weather and gave the back lawn one last mow. Finished up the laundry, enjoyed a late milky coffee while diving into an unexpected gift. Cleared out some old food from the chest…