Richard Griffiths

Imagine if everyone did just a 5-minute prep before meetings…
More value
Less wasted time
Better collaboration
Try it this week and see the difference. #Meetings #Agile

Image from the WFH office .. showing a lack of rain and a blue sky

What is this blue thing in the sky? The light is strange and there is a lack of rain ... #Spéirghorm I had almost forgotten its factory settings.

Lads, I'm Welsh.
I was 12 before I realized I could take my raincoat off.
Lightweights.
(With apologies to Rhod Gilbert)

Showing up isn’t just about being there —
It’s about leaving behind:
Mental baggage
Distractions
Tunnel vision
…and stepping into the meeting with purpose #Meetings #Agile

Magwyd Magi Madog mewn ffedog ond methwyd magu mab Magi Madog yn yr un ffedog ag y magwyd Magi Madog. #Cymraeg

My first home computer was a zx81. My school computer, a BBC model B. My first game was lunar lander on a teletype connected to the college ICL1901 via dialup #AgeVerification

If you don’t know why you were invited, simply ask!.
Example:
“I want to make a meaningful contribution here — what were you hoping I’d bring to this meeting?”
Clarity fuels better engagement #Meetings #Agile

a man in a green shirt is eating a sandwich with the words life on mars on the bottom right Alt: GIF of Sheldon Cooper Hyperventilating into a paper bag

Here we go #ENGvWAL #6N2026 #Rugby

Be Intentional, Not Passive
Too often people are “in” a meeting physically, but not really present.
Ask yourself:
How can I engage in a way that genuinely helps the group?
What attitude or mindset do I want to bring?
A few minutes of prep → higher contribution. #Meetings #Agile

Ok. You're right. But why stop at cyclists? Let's make pedestrians wear high-vis and helmets too! It's safer right? Actually, let's make absolutely everyone wear high-vis and helmets at all times everywhere (except people in cars obviously!) so people driving cars feel better

Think Before You Walk In. Before your next meeting, take ~5 minutes to reflect:
What's the meeting’s purpose?
What knowledge or experience do you bring?
What do you need to show up with (and what baggage should you leave behind)?
Showing up prepared makes meetings better #Meetings #Agile

If your bug report were a crime scene️?
Photos, witnesses, and a timeline would really help. #Bugs #Detail #Support

‘Can I get a sausage roll?’ and other Americanisms you should never hear in Greggs: the Stephen Collins cartoon There’s a hidden world beneath Greggs

Very funny cartoon from @stephencollins.bsky.social, although — alas — I must point out many of the words & phrases we think of as ‘American’ imports are themselves originally British English being returned back to us on a timer delay

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Brexit is officially six years old today. Like many six-year-olds, it’s selfish, irrational, destructive and incapable of clearing up the mess it’s made.

Next time you spot a bug, take 30 seconds to add context.
It could save hours of investigation later. #Bugs #Detail #Support

It also really doesn't address any of the issues like image abuse; recommender algorithms and much more besides.

But it's so palatable politically because it's easy to understand as a "we care" option.

The full cover, back and front, of my novel, Steel-Plate Subversive. Overall, it’s a deep blue and sea green, the colour of sea at night. On the front, the view is from above, looking down at the deck of a small, steel-grey submarine at night. The hatch in the low-profile turret is open. A bearded white man in a green woollen jumper and brown flat cap is in the open hatch, holding a Thompson submachine gun. He’s lit from below by the red light inside the submarine. The title is vertical, in orange, down the left side, and the tagline is in white, much smaller to the right: ‘Irish revolutionaries, British spies, German mercenaries, and a submarine that shouldn't exist.’ My name is in white at the bottom. The back cover shows the same submarine in the harbour of a small town at night, racing away at speed. The blurb reads: There's something out there in the water. A shaky truce has been established in Ireland's War of Independence. In 1921, as negotiations begin in London to finally free the Irish from British control, a young intelligence agent named Esther Sinclair discovers that a nightmarish weapon has gone missing in France. Akiko Regan and her cousin Liam O'Leary have made their own discovery: Akiko's father, Michael, is the leader of the mysterious rebel group known as the Selkies. Michael is an engineer who trained under the famous John Philip Holland in New Jersey. At the start of the century, Holland's designs had established the submarine fleets of five nations. But the Irishman's very first submarines were built for the Irish republican movement. The Royal Navy have no idea that a Holland vessel has heen operating in the Irish Sea. Michael had hoped to shield Akiko and Liam from the ongoing violence. Now, however, the family find themselves drawn into a crisis that threatens not just their lives but the future of their country. There’s an Arts Council of Ireland logo across from the barcode, to acknowledge funding for the writing of the book.

I've never understood how nobody has ever written a novel about this before, but there was a brief time when the *Irish republican movement* possessed the first fully functional submarine.

Yes, you heard that right.

A short thread . . . 1/

#SpeirGorm #JohnPhilipHolland #Submarine

Better bug reports = fewer back-and-forth messages
Everyone wins #Bugs #Detail #Support

40 years after Challenger: Lingering guilt and lessons learned The space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 28, 1986, in a cloud of smoke with a crew of seven aboard. The shuttle exploded shortly after this photo. Thom Baur/AP

Forty years after the Challenger disaster, engineers who fought to stop the launch still grapple with the guilt of "what if." The tragedy remains a definitive lesson in the danger of prioritizing management goals over engineering truths and the fatal cost of silencing dissenting voices.

Reminds me of a very similar bit of training female members of the British secret service were given during WW2: "Don't ask a man who works for their government what's happening. Confidently tell him something you know to be inaccurate, and he will be forced to correct you".

A great bug report answers 5 questions:
What happened?
Where did it happen?
When did it happen?
What did you expect?
Can you repeat it? #Bugs #Detail #Support

France announced today it’s phasing out Teams, Zoom, etc. to be replaced with a French/European solution called Visio. The data is hosted on Outscale. Transcripts and subtitles are also handled by French providers. The target is set on 2027 for government agencies.

❤️ Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus ❤️

From ancient legend to modern tradition, today is a day to celebrate love across Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Sut ydych chi'n dathlu heddiw? 💚

At the end of part one, it was announced that part two (about the rules) had been postponed due to "scheduling difficulties".

Thus, we are forever stuck in Nidd., even with Thornton’s controversial 3rd amendment in play. #Rules #MorningtonCrescent

At Christmas 1984, Radio 4 broadcast a special programme, Everyman's Guide to Morning ton Crescent, a "two-part documentary" on the history of the game and its rules, presented by Raymond Baxter.

Next time you spot a bug, take 30 seconds to add context.
It could save hours of investigation later. #Bugs #Detail #Support

A bug report without steps to reproduce isn’t a report, it’s a mystery
Details save hours. Screenshots save days. #Bugs #Detail #Support

It’s broken.
Okay … how broken? Where broken? When broken?
Lack of detail turns small issues into long delays. #Bugs #Detail #Support

Ah, DOS internals by Geoff Chappell was my bible at the time.

EMM386 and LOADHIGH and HIMEM.SYS

'scuse me ... I think I left my zimmer frame double parked

I am

SET SOUND=C:\Apps\SB16
SET Blaster=A220 I7 D1 H5 P330 T6

old