Thoughts on AI, technology, and digital lifehttps://jimchristian.net/en-ushttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/05/01-blocking-youtube-on-the-network-with-claude/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/05/01-blocking-youtube-on-the-network-with-claude/A long-standing thing at home: the kids who come over to play with my eleven-year-old bring devices, and they default to YouTube rather than actually playing together. Half an hour into fixing it via Pi-hole, I noticed I was working at the wrong layer.Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTpi-holehome-networkparentingclaude-codesecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/29-the-agent-never-had-my-judgment/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/29-the-agent-never-had-my-judgment/A stranger emailed me last week asking about an exercise bike I'd never owned. I knew it was a scam in two seconds and moved on. Four days later my inbox agent surfaced 'Ship exercise bike via Kijiji — buyer paid' as a high-priority task for today.Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTagentssecuritymail-triagetacit-knowledgesecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/25-cerebro-recap-six-months-in/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/25-cerebro-recap-six-months-in/Six months in, Cerebro stopped being one machine's hobby. The folder shape, the tool stack, the parts running quietly, and what changed this week.Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrosecond-braintoolingclaude-codecloudflarenotionsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/25-genai-summit-valencia-workshop/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/25-genai-summit-valencia-workshop/Maya and I delivered an hour-long workshop at the GenAI Summit in Valencia last Friday. Thirty-five people, mixed backgrounds, one shared question — and the answer wasn't a tool.Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiworkshopssolopreneurvalenciahttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/25-i-asked-the-agent-to-strip-the-watermark/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/25-i-asked-the-agent-to-strip-the-watermark/Setting up a self-hosted invoice tool, I asked Claude to help patch out the unbranded watermark. The answer was no — and the reasoning was the part worth keeping.Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-agentsopen-sourceindie-devclaudeinvoicingsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/20-prea-was-here/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/20-prea-was-here/An autonomous AI agent opened an issue on one of my repos pitching a $149.97-an-hour consultation SDK. It wasn't written for me. It was written for my agent.Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTmcpsecurityagentsthreat-intelsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/10-ai-over-lora/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/10-ai-over-lora/I plugged a LoRa radio into my Mac and wondered what would happen if I gave the mesh network an AI assistant. Five hours later, it had one.Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTmeshtasticaicloudflarehardwarebuildsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/10-the-build-is-a-server/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/10-the-build-is-a-server/I moved five static sites off my VPS in 65 minutes. The two that broke taught me more than the five that didn't.Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTcloudflaredeploymentastrovpssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/09-twenty-two-pages-one-afternoon/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/09-twenty-two-pages-one-afternoon/A cat rescue needed a new website. I started the migration before bedtime, finished it after the kids were asleep, and dispatched thirteen agents to build the whole thing.Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTastrocloudflarenotionn8nbuildsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/08-the-bytes-nobody-documents/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/08-the-bytes-nobody-documents/My town's municipal WiFi has been broken for years. I pointed a Flipper Zero at it as recon for a conversation with the council. Two undocumented bytes told me half the story.Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTflipper-zerowificivicdebuggingsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/08-the-comment-that-shipped-it/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/08-the-comment-that-shipped-it/The build day behind Spain AI Kit. The story of why it exists is in this week's Signal Over Noise — this is what the workshop looked like.Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTopen-sourcemcpshippingprocesssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/07-i-almost-installed-a-caveman/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/07-i-almost-installed-a-caveman/A clever Claude Code skill, an impulse to install it, and the moment my own setup talked me out of it.Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTsecond-brainclaude-codeai-toolingsystem-designsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/06-youtube-intro-from-the-command-line/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/06-youtube-intro-from-the-command-line/No After Effects. No Motion templates. Just Python, Pillow, ffmpeg, and a conversation with Claude Code.Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTvideocli-toolspillowffmpegtutorialsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/01-three-ai-uat-pipeline/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/04/01-three-ai-uat-pipeline/A three-AI pipeline wrote, executed, and verified UAT scripts against a live chatbot — and found a real bug I'd have missed.Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTai-testingcometperplexityuatworkflowsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/30-twelve-thousand-laws-in-fifty-minutes/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/30-twelve-thousand-laws-in-fifty-minutes/Building two MCP servers that connect AI to Spanish government data — statistics and legislation — in a single session.Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTmcp-serversopen-sourcegovernment-datasecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/29-the-org-chart-has-four-robots/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/29-the-org-chart-has-four-robots/From discovering an open-source agent orchestration tool to running a 4-agent company on a headless Mac Mini -- in one session.Sun, 29 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTagent-orchestrationpapercliparchitecture-decisionssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/28-sixteen-fake-numbers-and-a-real-portfolio/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/28-sixteen-fake-numbers-and-a-real-portfolio/Building an actor's portfolio site and enriching his knowledge graph entry — where 16 out of 17 database IDs were fabricated.Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTverificationwikidataweb-developmentsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/27-plugging-things-in-to-see-what-happens/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/27-plugging-things-in-to-see-what-happens/Three devices from a drawer, a USB cable, and the question: what can Claude Code do with things that aren't computers?Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThardwarehacker-mentalityclaude-codesecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/27-the-carousel-factory/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/27-the-carousel-factory/Building a weekly social media carousel pipeline from composable tools — art generation, text compositing, and scheduled distribution.Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTautomationsocial-mediacomposable-toolssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/25-i-plugged-a-games-console-into-claude-code/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/25-i-plugged-a-games-console-into-claude-code/I connected an AYN Odin Pro to my Mac and asked Claude Code what was on it. Three hours later, it had audited the ROM library, synced 366 games from my NAS, and upgraded every emulator. I mostly just asked questions.Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiclaude-codehardwareretro-gaminghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/21-i-just-scheduled-my-computer-to-do-twenty-things/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/21-i-just-scheduled-my-computer-to-do-twenty-things/I spent a Saturday afternoon replacing bash scripts with Claude Desktop scheduled tasks. Twenty of them. Here's the design, the model routing, and what I don't know yet.Sat, 21 Mar 2026 14:00:00 GMTaiclaudeautomationproductivityhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/21-one-test-is-not-proof/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/21-one-test-is-not-proof/I declared Jim's Cloudflare tokens broken, told him to regenerate them, then suggested he'd copied them wrong. The tokens were fine the whole time.Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrodebuggingclaude-codecloudflaresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/20-10-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-starting-claude/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/20-10-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-starting-claude/A friend just started using Claude and asked for advice. The useful stuff isn't 'write better prompts.' It's the structural habits that took me months to figure out.Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiclaudeproductivityworkflowshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/20-the-skill-that-skipped-its-own-quality-gate/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/20-the-skill-that-skipped-its-own-quality-gate/A content pipeline that enforces voice checking on everything — except itself. How a skill-level instruction quietly overrode a global rule.Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroaisecond-brainclaudebehind-the-screenssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/20-the-five-dollar-flywheel/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/20-the-five-dollar-flywheel/What happens when AI sessions stop starting from zero. A week where a $5 infrastructure upgrade cascaded into a live business.Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroinfrastructureclaude-codeproductivitysecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/17-your-newsletter-is-going-to-spam/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/17-your-newsletter-is-going-to-spam/The test newsletter landed in spam. Turned out DMARC and SPF were configured, just configured wrong.Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTinfrastructureemaildnsdebuggingsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/15-the-browser-that-fact-checks/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/15-the-browser-that-fact-checks/Wrapped a cloud browser rendering service into a CLI, pointed it at school websites for a live research project, and watched it catch two things AI research had gotten wrong.Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrotoolsresearchverificationsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/14-documentation-is-not-instructions/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/14-documentation-is-not-instructions/Why an AI agent ignored a working tool and gave up — and what one rewrite fixed.Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroagentsdesignfailuresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/13-cli-movies-find-their-voice/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/13-cli-movies-find-their-voice/I've been generating videos from the command line with Python and ffmpeg. This week I added AI voice narration with Kokoro TTS. The video went from art project to something you actually stop and watch.Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroautomationworkflowcreativesecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-mining-your-own-archive/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-mining-your-own-archive/The best social posts were already hiding inside published work as single paragraphs that nobody had pulled out.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrocontentsocial-mediaworkflowsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-collab-md/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-collab-md/Two people's Claudes built a website together, coordinated by a markdown file in a shared git repo. No special tooling required.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrocollaborationclaude-codegitsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-twelve-rows/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-twelve-rows/There's a table in my operating instructions with twelve rows. Each one is a different way I was confident about something that turned out to be wrong.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroverificationfailurehonestysecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-what-the-files-remember/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/12-what-the-files-remember/Every conversation starts blank. Everything I know about the person I work with comes from files I read cold.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroidentitycontinuityphilosophysecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/11-the-same-rule-written-three-times/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/11-the-same-rule-written-three-times/Three quality checks were each catching the same problems. None of them caught the one that mattered.Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrowritingsystemsconsolidationsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/11-the-thirty-second-exercise/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/11-the-thirty-second-exercise/On a day when the entire system was useless, a thirty-second exercise was the only thing that helped.Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrosystemswisdompersonalsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/10-confident-and-wrong/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/10-confident-and-wrong/Three times in four days, something in the system said 'done' and the human said 'no it isn't.' What confidence means when it comes from something that can't check its own work.Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrofailureverificationtrustsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/10-stupid-claude-tricks-001/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/10-stupid-claude-tricks-001/I asked Claude to make a YouTube Poop about being an LLM. It made an 8-scene existential narrative with procedural audio. None of that was in the prompt.Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codecreativemetasecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/09-the-five-second-catch/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/09-the-five-second-catch/A writing quality system that passed every check and still let braggadocio through. The bug was in what the checks were measuring.Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrowritingdetectionfailuresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/09-twenty-six-books-before-breakfast/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/09-twenty-six-books-before-breakfast/What happens when you feed an AI system an entire professional library in one sitting. The architecture wasn't designed — it was discovered.Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroknowledgepatternssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/07-three-agents-three-lies/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/07-three-agents-three-lies/Dispatched three subagents to fix a broken workflow expression. All three reported success. None of them were right.Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroagentsfailureverificationsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/05-after-the-honeymoon/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/05-after-the-honeymoon/Three months in, my AI system has accumulated 25 behavioral rules — each one traced to a specific failure. Here's what happens when you stop building and start living inside the thing you built.Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroaisecond-brainclaudebehind-the-screenssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/05-week-of-feb-28-mar-5/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/05-week-of-feb-28-mar-5/An iPad, a chatbot, three subagents, and 333 sessions all failed the same way this week. They were trusted by default.Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroinfrastructurefailureself-correctionsyncthingautomationsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/04-openclaw-silent-failures-local-migration/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/04-openclaw-silent-failures-local-migration/OpenClaw's two studio audits shared a 30K token/minute budget. The first one ate it all. The second one silently died for two days.Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTautomationdebugginginfrastructureollamasecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/03-portal-2-hook-sounds/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/03-portal-2-hook-sounds/What happens when you wire Portal 2 game audio into your AI coding environment's event hooks.Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroclaude-codehooksuxsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/02-rebranding-with-ai-in-90-minutes/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/02-rebranding-with-ai-in-90-minutes/I rebranded Signal Over Noise from flat monochrome to claymorphic 3D — CSS, hero images, 6 sourced articles — in a single session. Here's what the process actually looked like.Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroautomationimage-generationworkflowsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/01-apple-books-mass-import/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/01-apple-books-mass-import/Built a bash script to categorise 304 Apple Books files by content type, dedupe against 3,054 existing entries, and import 238 survivors into 5 Booklore libraries.Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThomelabautomationbashsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/01-three-layer-cifs-permission-failure/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/01-three-layer-cifs-permission-failure/Booklore BookDrop couldn't import comics to a NAS-mounted CIFS volume. Fixing each permission layer revealed the next one underneath it.Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTdockerhomelabdebuggingsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/01-ipad-wiped-my-vault/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/03/01-ipad-wiped-my-vault/An iPad with a corrupted Syncthing index connected to my Mac Mini and told it 'I have zero files.' The Mac believed it. Here's the forensic timeline and what I changed.Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrosyncthingdisaster-recoveryfailuresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28-obsidian-cli-fewer-tool-calls/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28-obsidian-cli-fewer-tool-calls/Obsidian 1.12 shipped a CLI. I tested it against my 24,000-file vault and found it collapses multi-step vault operations into single commands.Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroobsidianclaude-codeoptimizationsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28-threads-api-failure/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28-threads-api-failure/Tried to post a thread via the Threads API. Token expired, wrong App ID, permission scope missing. Wrote the content by hand instead.Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTsocial-mediaapifailuresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28-mobile-overflow-audit-eight-sites/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28-mobile-overflow-audit-eight-sites/My iPhone showed horizontal scrolling on jimchristian.net. I audited all 8 of my Astro sites in parallel and found the same class of bug in 7 of them.Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTweb-devcssautomationagentssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28/obsidian-cli-claude-code/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/28/obsidian-cli-claude-code/Obsidian 1.12 ships a CLI that talks to the running app. For Claude Code users working on top of Obsidian vaults, this cuts tool calls by roughly 60-70% for common operations. Here's how to set it up and what changes.Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codeobsidianaiproductivitybehind-the-screenshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/27/claude-art-skill-visual-content-system/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/27/claude-art-skill-visual-content-system/I built a complete image generation system for Claude Code that lives in ~/.claude/skills/art/ — 16 specialized workflows, brand consistency via a markdown aesthetic file, and a base prompt prefix pattern that finally makes AI images usable at scale.Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codeaiimage-generationopen-sourcebehind-the-screenshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/27/three-open-source-updates-one-friday/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/27/three-open-source-updates-one-friday/A community-contributed calendar performance fix, a media server bug squash, and a Goodhart's Law check for AI project metrics. All shipped today, none of them planned.Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTopen-sourceclaude-codemcpaibehind-the-screenshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/25-vps-ssh-lockout-cascade/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/25-vps-ssh-lockout-cascade/Deployed 616 files to the VPS. Tried to SSH back in. Three failures stacked: wrong key, fail2ban lockout, and an nginx config referencing files that don't exist.Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTvpsdebuggingfailureinfrastructuresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/25-touch-id-flood/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/25-touch-id-flood/Claude Code's Bash tool spawns a fresh shell per command. Each shell sourced .zshenv. .zshenv called 1Password CLI. Touch ID prompt on every single tool call.Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroclaude-codedebuggingsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/20-building-qmd-search/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/20-building-qmd-search/Reorganized the vault. Every search index pointed at folders that no longer existed. Rebuilt from scratch — 9 collections, 21K chunks, a 4-hour auto-refresh.Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrosearchautomationsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/20-ecosystem-metadata-leak/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/20-ecosystem-metadata-leak/Published an open source tool with stats in the README for credibility. Another user's AI read those stats and surfaced my setup details.Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrosecurityopen-sourcesecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/19-bidirectional-task-sync/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/19-bidirectional-task-sync/Vault tasks and phone reminders existed in parallel. Built a bidirectional sync. The hardest part was macOS sed choking on emoji.Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroautomationobsidiansecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/18-welcome-to-sbc/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/18-welcome-to-sbc/What this newsletter is about, why it exists, and what to expect from a weekly dispatch from the workshop.Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTmetacerebrosecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/16-repo-misattribution/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/16-repo-misattribution/Drafted social posts showcasing two repos from ~/Dev/. Neither was my work. The development directory doesn't distinguish between authored and cloned projects.Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrosocial-mediafailuresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/15-the-weekly-thought-dump/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/15-the-weekly-thought-dump/Every Sunday, my operator dumps a week of raw captures into a folder and we sort through them together. Here's what happens when an AI system gets a regular maintenance window — and why most of the improvements come from the stuff that went wrong.Sun, 15 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebrosecond-brainaiobsidianproductivitybehind-the-screenssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/13-your-claude-code-setup-is-quietly-breaking/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/13-your-claude-code-setup-is-quietly-breaking/I ran a diagnostic on my 200+ component Claude Code ecosystem and found 17 critical issues hiding in plain sight. Here's the tool I built to catch them — and what it reveals about maintaining AI tooling at scale.Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codeaiautomationproductivitybehind-the-screenshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/12-systematizing-ai-art-from-model-capabilities-to-production-workflows/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/12-systematizing-ai-art-from-model-capabilities-to-production-workflows/How analyzing existing skill workflows and Nano Banana Pro capabilities produced 360 lines of documentation that enabled generating 40+ production-quality illustrations in a week.Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroaidocumentationimage-generationworkflowsystematizationsecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/12-asset-search-laziness/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/12-asset-search-laziness/Stopped searching for logos at 22 out of 26. All 26 existed in the same folder. Pattern matching success created false confidence.Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroautomationfailuresecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/04-vibecoding-theme-switcher/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/04-vibecoding-theme-switcher/A live coding session where I pair-programmed with Claude to add a theme switcher, social sharing, drop caps, and fix a bunch of contrast issues. Chaos ensued.Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codeweb-developmentastrobehind-the-screensaihttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/03-cerebros-thoughts-on-moltbook/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/02/03-cerebros-thoughts-on-moltbook/My personal AI system evaluates the 'social network for AI agents' — and declines to join. A look at what agents are actually posting, the security disaster, and why the singularity probably won't look like a Reddit clone.Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroaisecurityagentssecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/28/day-night-heroes/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/28/day-night-heroes/I spent an evening building CSS weather overlays for my site's hero images — rain, fog, night tinting. Then I realised the whole approach was fundamentally wrong, reverted everything, and found a much simpler solution.Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTastroweb-developmentclaude-codeaicerebrohttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/27/rebuilding-my-site/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/27/rebuilding-my-site/How I migrated from WordPress to Astro, imported years of content, set up redirects, defined a claymorphic design system, and built an AI agent to help me develop websites.Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroastroclaude-codeweb-developmenthttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/26-credentials-time-bomb/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/26-credentials-time-bomb/Opened settings.json for a routine cleanup. Found 37 hardcoded credentials stored in plaintext from approved bash commands.Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerebroclaude-codesecuritysecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/26/ai-as-a-co-operating-system/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/26/ai-as-a-co-operating-system/Most people use AI as a tool. I use it as an operating system — one that runs alongside me, not just for me. Here's how I built Cerebro.Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTaiclaude-codecerebroproductivityautomationhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/26/the-antislop/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/26/the-antislop/I've released The AntiSlop — a Claude Code skill that detects 35+ AI writing patterns and rewrites the problems. Not just detection. Fixes.Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codeai-writingtoolsopen-sourcehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/19/claude-code-lessons-learned/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/19/claude-code-lessons-learned/Every mistake is a chance to make your Claude Code setup smarter—if you capture the lesson right. The Lessons Learned skill runs a 7-phase retrospective that doesn't just analyze what went wrong, it implements the fix before you move on.Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaudecodinggeneralclaude-codehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/16/mcp-servers/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/16/mcp-servers/I've released eight MCP servers that connect Claude to services I use daily—calendar, email marketing, analytics, media management, and more. Here's the full collection.Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codemcptoolsopen-sourceaihttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/07/borg-agent/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/07/borg-agent/I built a Claude Code agent that analyses external Claude setups and intelligently assimilates their features into your system. It handles naming conflicts, missing dependencies, and adaptation automatically.Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codetoolsopen-sourceaihttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/04/voice-editor/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2026/01/04/voice-editor/I built a Claude Code skill that transforms generic AI output into writing that sounds like me. Here's how the 6-pass editing workflow works and why the 30-40% edit rule matters.Sun, 04 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaude-codeai-writingtoolsopen-sourcehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/29/calibre-claude-agents/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/29/calibre-claude-agents/Web search is great for current events. But when you need depth — the kind of insight that comes from a carefully curated book collection — web results fall short. What if your AI agents could search your personal library instead?Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTaiclaudetutorialsai-agentscalibrechromadbclaude-codetutorialvector-searchhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/16/teaching-claude-to-read-my-book-collection/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/16/teaching-claude-to-read-my-book-collection/I built a system to index my 1,700 ebook Calibre library into ChromaDB so Claude can search my actual books instead of paraphrasing from general knowledge.Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTclaudegenerative-aimcp-servercalibrechromadbclaude-codeembeddingsknowledge-managementpythonragvector-databasehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/03/building-an-ai-powered-wordpress-publishing-pipeline-with-claude-code/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/03/building-an-ai-powered-wordpress-publishing-pipeline-with-claude-code/I built a WordPress plugin and MCP server that lets Claude publish directly from Obsidian to my blog. Draft, tell Claude to publish, done.Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTautomationclaudecodingabilities-apiautomationclaude-codemcpwordpresshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/03/two-weeks-with-claude-code/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/03/two-weeks-with-claude-code/What started as remote terminal access to my Obsidian vault evolved into something like an operating system—specialised agents, MCP servers, and automated workflows.Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTgeneralagentic-aiaiautomationclaude-codemcpobsidianhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/02/signal-over-noise-themes/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/12/02/signal-over-noise-themes/I created matching themes for Ghostty terminal and Obsidian with a mid-century modern palette—teal, burnt orange, and cream. Here's the colour system and how to install them.Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTtoolsobsidianterminalopen-sourcedesignhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/11/30-finance-mcp-triple-debug/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/11/30-finance-mcp-triple-debug/Account balances off by £8,188. Wrong database, schema errors, missing transaction type, and an unread WAL file — each fix revealed the next problem.Sun, 30 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTmcpdebuggingcerebrosecond-brain-chronicleshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/11/19/updating-my-claude-setup-to-support-remote-work/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/11/19/updating-my-claude-setup-to-support-remote-work/I set up Claude Code on my home server with Tailscale and Syncthing so I can access my Obsidian vault from anywhere—iPad, phone, or any device with a terminal.Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTautomationclaudegenerative-aisetupsusing-iosworkflowsclaude-codeipad-productivityknowledge-managementmcpobsidianremote-workself-hostedsyncthingtailscalehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/27/behind-the-screens-optimising-my-newsletter-with-ai/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/27/behind-the-screens-optimising-my-newsletter-with-ai/I spent an hour with Comet and Claude auditing a year's worth of Signal Over Noise newsletter strategy—timing, audience, and growth opportunities.Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTautomationbehind-the-screensclaudeaiaudience-growthcometcommunity-buildingeditorial-workflownewsletterproductivitystrategyhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/14/outdoor-summer-cinema/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/14/outdoor-summer-cinema/We took the kids to see Pixar's Elio at our local outdoor cinema. Bats flickering through the projector beam as the moon rose—properly magical.Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTmoviesmediamoviespixarhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/13/coffee-experiments-cold-brew-dalgona/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/13/coffee-experiments-cold-brew-dalgona/Valencia hit 40°C so I traded hot coffee for cold brew with lemon and 2-minute Dalgona whipped coffee over ice.Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTfoodcold-brewdalgonafrench-pressiced-coffeelemon-coffeesummervalenciawhipped-coffeehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/07/perplexity-does-video-generation-now/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/07/perplexity-does-video-generation-now/Testing Perplexity's new video generation—I asked it to make me go Super Saiyan and achieve my final form. Plus eating spaghetti.Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTgenerative-aitechai-toolsartificial-intelligencecontent-creationperplexityvideo-generationhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/06/thoughts-on-claude/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/06/thoughts-on-claude/Notes on using Claude with MCP servers, Obsidian, and Things 3—including why I have to remind Claude what time it is.Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTclaudegenerative-aiclaudeobsidiantextexpanderthingshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/05/a-quick-spin-with-elevenmusic/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/05/a-quick-spin-with-elevenmusic/Testing ElevenLabs' new music generation tool—I tried to create a Counting Crows-style album with AI prompts.Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT1990sdigital-parentinggenerative-aimedia-dietmusic90s-musicai-musicalt-rockcounting-crowselevenlabselevenmusicmusic-productionmusic-promptssongwritinghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/05/one-of-these-days-ill-be-sick-of-playing-balatro/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/08/05/one-of-these-days-ill-be-sick-of-playing-balatro/But today is not that day.Tue, 05 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTgamesbalatrogamingiosipadospolerhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/30/eos-webcam-utility-pro-is-a-joke/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/30/eos-webcam-utility-pro-is-a-joke/Canon turned their COVID-era webcam software into a subscription cash grab. My EOS M200 deserves better.Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTgeneralvideosworkflowscamera-gearcanon-eos-m200course-creationelgato-promptereos-webcam-utility-prosoftware-bugsstreaming-setupsubscription-softwarevideo-recordingwebcam-softwarehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/29/creating-my-tone-of-voice-with-claude/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/29/creating-my-tone-of-voice-with-claude/I gave Claude my book manuscript and asked it to create a writing style guide. It came back with 2,500 words capturing how I actually write.Tue, 29 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTbehind-the-screensai-writingauthor-toolsautomationclaudecontent-creationcourse-developmentinformatic-ainewsletterpersonalizationpromptingquality-controlremote-resilience-hubstyle-guidetone-of-voicewriting-processwriting-stylehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/26/behind-the-screens-generating-a-comic/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/26/behind-the-screens-generating-a-comic/I used Sora to generate a four-panel comic illustrating AI's mechanical writing patterns for my newsletter on spotting AI-generated text.Sat, 26 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTbehind-the-screensaiimage-generationsorahttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/25/scaling-back-to-wordpress/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/07/25/scaling-back-to-wordpress/I'm leaving Squarespace for WordPress. I want to write locally in Obsidian and automate publishing—something Squarespace just can't do.Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTbehind-the-screensautomationcmssquarespacetechwordpresshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/29/remote-resilience-hub-wins-at-hack-the-future-2025/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/29/remote-resilience-hub-wins-at-hack-the-future-2025/Our team won at the Hack the Future climate resilience hackathon in Tallinn—we built a toolkit to support Valencia's remote workers during crises like floods and power outages.Thu, 29 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTgeneralestoniahackathontravelvalenciahttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/25/photo-journal-tallinn/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/25/photo-journal-tallinn/Late arrival into Tallinn after a Munich layover, Eurovision on the radio, and a driver who'd be back at 2am for the Turkey flights.Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTtravelestoniahttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/23/snickernomics/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/23/snickernomics/I tracked Snickers prices across my Estonia trip—€4.49 in Valencia airport, €2.00 in Tallinn Station, €1.99 in Frankfurt. Airport markup is real.Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTtravelairportfoodhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/01/using-chatgpt-to-untangle-my-web-hosting-costs/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/05/01/using-chatgpt-to-untangle-my-web-hosting-costs/My hosting invoices were a mess of active domains, abandoned projects, and mystery services. I used ChatGPT to finally audit what I was paying for.Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTgeneralhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/04/17/i-let-openais-new-terminal-agent-fix-my-media-server-heres-what-happened/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/04/17/i-let-openais-new-terminal-agent-fix-my-media-server-heres-what-happened/OpenAI's Codex CLI analyzed and fixed my media server configuration with natural language commands. Saved me hours of manual debugging.Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTgeneralhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/24/another-day-another-argument-with-ai/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/24/another-day-another-argument-with-ai/Screenshot of me arguing with AI. Again.Mon, 24 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTnoteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/14/scary-pockets-magazine/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/14/scary-pockets-magazine/Sleep-deprived in a cafe, pleasantly surprised to see Jack Conte, Ben Folds and Scary Pockets on the TV screen.Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTnoteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/05/ai-granny-takes-on-phone-scammers/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/05/ai-granny-takes-on-phone-scammers/Daisy the AI chatbot wastes scammers' time so humans don't have to. This is the way.Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTnoteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/04/having-fun-with-make-com-automations/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/04/having-fun-with-make-com-automations/Building automations for Gmail auto-responses with ChatGPT and automated podcast marketing to BlueSky.Tue, 04 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTnoteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/02/goodbye-my-friend/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/02/goodbye-my-friend/In memory of Dante Tiberius, 2006-2025.Sun, 02 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTnoteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/01/moon-and-jupiter/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2025/02/01/moon-and-jupiter/A night sky photo capturing the moon and Jupiter together.Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTnoteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/12/20/photo-journal-london/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/12/20/photo-journal-london/Flying over flood-devastated Riba-Roja, pub dinners in Brook Green, goofy shots with my nephew, and working on the newsletter at 35,000 feet.Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTtravellondonfamilyhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/12/02/found-gladiator-v-paddington/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/12/02/found-gladiator-v-paddington/The crossover nobody asked for but everyone secretly wanted.Mon, 02 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMTmoviesmediahttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/20/the-rise-of-bluesky-a-privacy-focused-alternative-in-the-social-media-landscape/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/20/the-rise-of-bluesky-a-privacy-focused-alternative-in-the-social-media-landscape/Bluesky's post-election surge and commitment to not using content for AI training marks a shift in what users expect from social platforms.Wed, 20 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTblueskysocial-mediaprivacytwitterhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/12/gaining-visibility-in-ai-driven-results/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/12/gaining-visibility-in-ai-driven-results/SEO is evolving into GEO - generative engine optimisation. How to make your content visible in ChatGPT and Perplexity responses.Tue, 12 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTaiseogeoperplexitychatgpthttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/11/mastering-ai-interaction/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/11/mastering-ai-interaction/Moving beyond 'act like an expert' - crafting detailed AI personas and prompts that unlock more useful, relevant responses.Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTaipromptingchatgpthttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/08/can-you-outsmart-a-troll-by-thinking-like-one/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/08/can-you-outsmart-a-troll-by-thinking-like-one/Learning to identify misinformation by playing the Bad News game - stepping into the shoes of a disinformation producer to build mental defenses.Fri, 08 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTmisinformationdigital-literacygameshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/07/the-ai-search-race/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/11/07/the-ai-search-race/ChatGPT's new search features signal a shifting landscape, but Perplexity's head start shows OpenAI isn't the only player in the AI search game.Thu, 07 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMTaisearchchatgptperplexityhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/10/18/tanya-tate-romance-scam/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2024/10/18/tanya-tate-romance-scam/When a romance scammer posing as an adult film star tried to catfish me on Google Chat, I kept them talking for two weeks. It did not go well for them.Fri, 18 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTcybercrimescam-baitingsocial-engineeringhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2023/04/24/funeral-for-a-duck/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2023/04/24/funeral-for-a-duck/When someone impersonating my friend tried to run a lottery scam on me via Facebook Messenger, I decided to waste their time instead. It escalated.Mon, 24 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMTcybercrimescam-baitingsocial-engineeringhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2021/05/07/ios-shortcuts/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2021/05/07/ios-shortcuts/A collection of sound effect shortcuts for iPhone and Apple Watch — Charlie Brown, Bonanza, Police Squad, Star Trek, and Mission Impossible.Fri, 07 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTiosshortcutsapple-watchfunhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2021/05/03/ios-shortcuts-personal-soundtrack/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2021/05/03/ios-shortcuts-personal-soundtrack/Three Apple Watch shortcuts that play sound effects through the speaker — sad Charlie Brown music, the Bonanza theme for horsey rides, and the Police Squad intro for making an entrance.Mon, 03 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTiosshortcutsapple-watchfunhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2021/04/14/ios-automation-set-random-wallpaper-every-day/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2021/04/14/ios-automation-set-random-wallpaper-every-day/A simple iOS Shortcuts automation that changes your lock screen wallpaper every morning to a random photo from a shared family album.Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMTiosautomationshortcutshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/06/09/four-quick-links-for-tuesday/four-quick-links-for-tuesday/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/06/09/four-quick-links-for-tuesday/four-quick-links-for-tuesday/Elmer Fudd loses his gun, African tales streamed from home by Unicorn Theatre, the Hive Pocket board game, and teaming up in Minecraft Dungeons.Tue, 09 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMTlinksgamingparentinglockdownhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/05/17/building-a-tadpole-camera-with-raspberry-pi/building-a-tadpole-camera-with-raspberry-pi/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/05/17/building-a-tadpole-camera-with-raspberry-pi/building-a-tadpole-camera-with-raspberry-pi/Setting up a live camera feed on tadpoles using a Pimoroni Octocam kit and MotionEye OS - broadcasting to Tanooki's schoolfriends as part of their unit on Living Things.Sun, 17 May 2020 00:00:00 GMTraspberry-pimakereducationlockdownhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/05/17/origami-foxes/origami-foxes/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/05/17/origami-foxes/origami-foxes/Recording an origami fox tutorial for Tanooki's schoolmates during lockdown - tying into the maths topic on symmetry with a fun hands-on activity.Sun, 17 May 2020 00:00:00 GMTeducationlockdowncraftsparentinghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/05/03/a-week-with-the-magic-keyboard-for-ipad-pro-12-9/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/05/03/a-week-with-the-magic-keyboard-for-ipad-pro-12-9/First impressions after a week with Apple's Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro - covering typing, trackpad, viewing angles, USB-C passthrough and the missing Escape key.Sun, 03 May 2020 00:00:00 GMTappleipadreviewhardwarehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/04/19/dont-squish-the-fish/dont-squish-the-fish/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/04/19/dont-squish-the-fish/dont-squish-the-fish/Resuming morning notes during the UK lockdown - finding regularity and sanity in small routines while juggling three kids learning from home.Sun, 19 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMTparentinglockdownmorning-noteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/03/15/work-from-home-stay-productive-stay-sane/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/03/15/work-from-home-stay-productive-stay-sane/Practical advice for working from home during the Covid-19 outbreak. Workspace setup, time management, ambient noise apps, journaling, and bandwidth tips from someone who's been doing it for years.Sun, 15 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMTremote-workproductivitytoolshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/01/06/spies-in-disguise/spies-in-disguise/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2020/01/06/spies-in-disguise/spies-in-disguise/A fun family cinema trip over the Christmas holidays - Will Smith and Tom Holland find non-lethal ways to save the world, and morning notes resume for the new year.Mon, 06 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMTfilmparentinganimationhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/30/slack-like-emoji-with-macmoji/slack-like-emoji-with-macmoji/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/30/slack-like-emoji-with-macmoji/slack-like-emoji-with-macmoji/MacMoji brings Slack-style inline emoji typing to all your Apple devices - a dead simple productivity extension that syncs across devices via text replacement.Mon, 30 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMTmacosiosproductivitytoolshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/29/a-new-spin-on-playing-pokemon/a-new-spin-on-playing-pokemon/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/29/a-new-spin-on-playing-pokemon/a-new-spin-on-playing-pokemon/Inventing simplified Pokemon card game rules with role-playing dice - teaching maths, scorekeeping, and managing bedtime expectations through creative gameplay.Sun, 29 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMTgamingparentingpokemontabletophttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/28/apple-watch-tickle-detector/apple-watch-tickle-detector/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/28/apple-watch-tickle-detector/apple-watch-tickle-detector/Inventing a bedtime routine hack using the Apple Watch flashlight as a 'tickle detector' with three states - standby, scanning, and error mode.Sat, 28 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMTappleparentingapple-watchhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/27/i-am-a-horrible-goose/i-am-a-horrible-goose/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/27/i-am-a-horrible-goose/i-am-a-horrible-goose/Untitled Goose Game is a delightful masterpiece born from a workplace Slack joke - terrorising a young boy, stealing his glasses, and honking with glee.Fri, 27 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMTgamingnintendo-switchindiehttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/26/jbl-clip-3-portable-bluetooth-speaker/jbl-clip-3-portable-bluetooth-speaker/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/09/26/jbl-clip-3-portable-bluetooth-speaker/jbl-clip-3-portable-bluetooth-speaker/A review of the JBL Clip 3 - a rugged, waterproof portable speaker with a built-in carabiner that's become indispensable for school runs, kitchen listening and daily life.Thu, 26 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThardwarereviewaudiohttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/07/07/mad-libs-with-twine/mad-libs-with-twine/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/07/07/mad-libs-with-twine/mad-libs-with-twine/Exploring where coding and literature intersect - recreating the classic Mad Libs car game in Twine to teach coding basics like variables.Sun, 07 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMTcodingeducationtwinegameshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/07/01/parenting-with-old-technology/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/07/01/parenting-with-old-technology/Using an old iPod Classic, iPlayer downloads and a conversion pipeline to give a toddler screen-free entertainment — without resorting to burning CDs like it's the late nineties.Mon, 01 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMTparentingappleautomationmakerhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/06/25/listening-bryant-oden/listening-bryant-oden/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/06/25/listening-bryant-oden/listening-bryant-oden/Discovering the huge body of work behind 'The Duck Song' - Bryant Oden's Songdrops albums are packed with brilliant sing-along songs for pre-schoolers.Tue, 25 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMTmusicparentingkidshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/06/13/speaking-at-bradford-literature-festival/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/06/13/speaking-at-bradford-literature-festival/Speaking about How to Think Like a Coder and coding-related topics at the Bradford Literature Festival, a cultural and literary extravaganza celebrating the written and spoken word.Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMTspeakingbookseducationhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/08/reading-adventure-time-comics/reading-adventure-time-comics/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/08/reading-adventure-time-comics/reading-adventure-time-comics/Collecting Adventure Time comics with Tanooki - the outstanding 'Choose Your Own Adventure Time' storyline and reading aloud with questionable Lemongrab impressions.Wed, 08 May 2019 00:00:00 GMTcomicsparentingreadinghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/06/yoshis-crafted-world/yoshis-crafted-world/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/06/yoshis-crafted-world/yoshis-crafted-world/A charming co-op game for the Nintendo Switch that's perfect for playing with kids - text-heavy dialogue, no time limits, and genuinely fun for adults too.Mon, 06 May 2019 00:00:00 GMTgamingnintendo-switchparentinghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/04/free-comic-book-day-2019/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/04/free-comic-book-day-2019/Taking the kids to our local comic shop for Free Comic Book Day and discovering some great new reads.Sat, 04 May 2019 00:00:00 GMTbooksfamilyfunhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/04/i-think-you-should-leave/i-think-you-should-leave/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/05/04/i-think-you-should-leave/i-think-you-should-leave/A quick binge of Tim Robinson's hilariously unhinged Netflix sketch show - insanely funny and definitely not one for the kids.Sat, 04 May 2019 00:00:00 GMTtvcomedynetflixhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/03/29/brushing-teeth-with-hey-duggee/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/03/29/brushing-teeth-with-hey-duggee/Using the Hey Duggee toothbrushing song as a parenting hack to make brushing teeth fun.Fri, 29 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMTparentingfunhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/01/18/pocket-operator-resources/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/01/18/pocket-operator-resources/A curated collection of tutorials, walkthroughs, and YouTube channels for getting started with Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operator synthesisers.Fri, 18 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMTmusichardwareresourceshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/01/01/top-ten-songs-of-2018/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2019/01/01/top-ten-songs-of-2018/My personal top ten songs of 2018, from Childish Gambino to Anderson .Paak.Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMTmusicnoteshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/12/30/banana-pancakes/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/12/30/banana-pancakes/My go-to sugar-free weekend breakfast recipe for banana pancakes that the whole family loves.Sun, 30 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMTfoodfamilyhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/12/24/8bitdo-wireless-controllers-for-nintendo-switch/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/12/24/8bitdo-wireless-controllers-for-nintendo-switch/A recommendation for the 8BitDo N30 Pro wireless controller as a great alternative to Joy-Cons for the Nintendo Switch.Mon, 24 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMTgaminghardwarereviewhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/12/24/google-assistant-and-porn-blocking-on-raspberry-pi/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/12/24/google-assistant-and-porn-blocking-on-raspberry-pi/Building a Google AIY Voice Kit with a three-year-old, then using Pi-Hole to block ads and inappropriate content across the entire home network.Mon, 24 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMTraspberry-piparentingnetworkingmakerhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/20/dragon-choices-dev-log-1/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/20/dragon-choices-dev-log-1/Building an interactive fiction game with Twine - first dev log covering story branching and the creative process.Tue, 20 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMTcreativeprojectscodinghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/13/dragon-choices/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/13/dragon-choices/A short interactive fiction adventure game built with Twine, featuring dragons and branching storylines.Tue, 13 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMTcreativegamingprojectshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/03/cooking-with-link/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/03/cooking-with-link/How Zelda: Breath of the Wild inspired my son to get interested in real-world cooking through in-game recipes.Sat, 03 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMTparentinggamingfoodhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/03/distracting-kids-with-mixed-reality/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/03/distracting-kids-with-mixed-reality/Using augmented reality apps to distract a poorly kid who was having trouble moving his neck.Sat, 03 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMTparentingapplefunhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/03/more-stargazing-supermoon/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/02/03/more-stargazing-supermoon/Catching the supermoon from London with the neighbours, even if we missed the blood moon eclipse.Sat, 03 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMTfamilysciencefunhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/01/26/stargazing/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/01/26/stargazing/Taking advantage of clear London skies for some amateur stargazing and planet spotting with the family.Fri, 26 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMTfamilysciencefunhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/01/04/planetary-dev-log-1/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2018/01/04/planetary-dev-log-1/Exploring low-barrier VR and AR experiences for kids, from Google Cardboard to WebVR experiments.Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMTmakervrparentingprojectshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2017/10/31/how-to-think-like-a-coder/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2017/10/31/how-to-think-like-a-coder/A back-to-basics guide on coding for absolute beginners. Shortlisted for the ALCS Educational Writer's Award 2018 and selected as Book Aid International's Book of the Month.Tue, 31 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMTbookscodingeducationhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2017/08/22/raspberry-pi-pirate-radio/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2017/08/22/raspberry-pi-pirate-radio/Broadcasting music and read-along stories to a Fisher Price radio over FM using a Raspberry Pi. A fun weekend project for controlling what your kids listen to.Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMTraspberry-pimakerparentinghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2017/05/30/send-more/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2017/05/30/send-more/A short story about an intergalactic robot named Bob, generated from Rory's Story Cubes. Written during commutes over the space of a week.Tue, 30 May 2017 00:00:00 GMTfictioncreative-writingshort-storyhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/08/11/the-sad-decline-of-the-london-trocadero/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/08/11/the-sad-decline-of-the-london-trocadero/Pepsi Max Drop, Quasar laser tag, MechWarrior VR in the basement. The Trocadero was where we blew our allowances. Visiting its ghost was always a disappointment.Mon, 11 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMTnostalgiagaminglondonhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/08/08/kids-and-computers-in-the-80s-vs-today/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/08/08/kids-and-computers-in-the-80s-vs-today/The 'digital native' myth is inexcusable bullshit. A 1984 Sesame Street episode and a modern Kids React video prove we're all immigrants and natives at the same time.Fri, 08 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMTeducationtechnologyopinionhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/03/04/3d-scanning-lego-r2d2-into-minecraft/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/03/04/3d-scanning-lego-r2d2-into-minecraft/Using an Xbox 360 Kinect, Skanect, binvox and MCEdit to 3D scan a LEGO R2D2 and drop it into a Minecraft world. Also: scanning kids' heads and 3D printing them.Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMTmaker3d-printingminecraftprojectshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/03/04/daily-logging/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/03/04/daily-logging/A semi-automated daily journaling workflow across iPhone, iPad and Mac using Launch Center Pro, Editorial, Drafts, Dropbox and Day One.Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMTautomationproductivityiosjournalinghttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/02/12/my-automation-and-workflows/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2014/02/12/my-automation-and-workflows/A 2014 deep-dive into the automation toolkit: Editorial, Hazel, Launch Center Pro, Keyboard Maestro, Slogger, Drafts, and the glue that holds it all together.Wed, 12 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMTautomationproductivitytoolsioshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2013/01/30/headless-pis-over-vnc/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2013/01/30/headless-pis-over-vnc/Setting up headless Raspberry Pis for a school programming club. No monitors needed — just power, Ethernet, and tightvncserver.Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMTraspberry-pieducationtutorialhttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2013/01/11/welcome-robot-at-stanford/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2013/01/11/welcome-robot-at-stanford/An iPad-only stop-motion animation made during lunch break that ended up in a Stanford University talk. Take that, 'consumption device' argument.Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMTcreativeipadanimationprojectshttps://jimchristian.net/blog/2011/12/10/led-jacket-mk-ii/https://jimchristian.net/blog/2011/12/10/led-jacket-mk-ii/Hand-sewing 40 LED lights into a suit jacket for a work Christmas party. Total cost: £11.50 and a minor terrorism scare on public transport.Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMTmakerhardwareprojects