Charles Humble

The XZ Utils aftermath: Inside the mission to stop the next global backdoor before it starts Learn how Commonhaus Foundation protects solo open source maintainers from burnout and security risks like XZ Utils through low-touch, agile governance.

Learn how Commonhaus Foundation protects solo open source maintainers from burnout and security risks like XZ Utils through low-touch, agile governance.

I have nothing but good things to say about www.starfishaccounting.co.uk

In fairness though I’ve not read much of her oeuvre!

Orwell was doing the same sort of thing caustically in essays at
the same time, and he was explicitly theorising it (Politics and the English Language, 1946). Or someone like Wyndham would be another example.

The style point is interesting but is it Blyton or is it Hemingway and the American wire services reaching Britain? She may have been the vector for children/mainstream rather than the origin.

Abby Haddican:
Times New Resistance is like Times New Roman — the official font of the U.S. State Department. It autocorrects specific words as they are typed. For eg, the word ICE autocorrects to the Goon Squad and Trump autocorrects to Donald Trump is a felon. www.abbyhaddican.com/times-new-re...

Thank you

Also Paul Thomas Anderson has very literal film titles.
“Is there any blood in it?” “There will blood.”
“Any battles?” “It’s one battle after another.”

H is for Hawk is a criminally underrated film (as well as a wonderful book).

Charles Hamilton? Over 5,000 stories under various pseudonyms, most notably as Frank Richards. Barbara Cartland (723+ novels) and John Creasey (560+ books).

I’m so happy to be designing for Monki Gras for the second year running.
I’m glad it’s not been my ‘difficult second conference’.

This really is a great picture:

Just so you know, this week's AI for the rest of us newsletter will be an absolute belter. Everything from Jóhann Jóhannsson vs AI generated music, vibe coding vs security, more Grok horror, and some personal stuff from me. You really should subscribe.

ai-for-the-rest-of-us.kit.com/139e8e415d

X-rays reveal kingfisher feather structure in unprecedented detail Synchrotron radiation imaging revealed a porous, almost sponge-like nanostructure to create bright hues...

This is wonderful! arstechnica.com/science/2026...

Nobody knows what programming will look like in two years Kent Beck doesn't know what programming will look like in two years, and he's been thinking about this longer than most of us.

Kent Beck at @yowconf.bsky.social Sydney: nobody knows what programming will look like in two years — "even getting to 'it depends' would be progress."
If you're feeling anxious or grief-stricken about where our industry is heading, I wrote this for you.
👉 leaddev.com/ai/nobody-kn...

Charles Humble, Conissaunce Ltd. Charles is an IT industry veteran with 30 years' experience. A former software engineer, architect and CTO, he now focusses on providing content strategy, writing, training, publishing and speaking fo...

@timnitgebru.bsky.social would it be possible for me to interview you about this, either for a podcast or article?

This is my work:
www.conissaunce.com

Your AI strategy is built on layers of API sediment AI protocols, such as MCP and Agent Skills, are agent-first, which risks bypassing the governance, security, and access controls that enterprises have spent years building around their APIs and data.

I was rather pleased with the term "API sediment" for this sponsored article for @thenewstack.io. I hope it catches on!
thenewstack.io/ai-strategy-...

Durable Execution: Build reliable software in an unreliable world Durable Execution helps ensure applications continue running despite failures, beyond what defensive coding and hardware redundancy can handle.

Durable Execution helps ensure applications continue running despite failures, beyond what defensive coding and hardware redundancy can handle.

I find this strangely adorable.

(It's also literally a-door-able, but let's all pretend that pun never happened.)

This interview was recorded for GOTO State of the Art in November 2025. #GOTOcon #GOTO https://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview… State of the Art of Container Security • Adrian Mouat & Charles Humble • GOTO 2026

@charleshumble.bsky.social & @adrianmouat.com discuss container security: why distroless images matter, how Chainguard builds from source for zero CVEs, and lessons from XZ Utils & Shackle-Alert attacks.

This interview was recorded for GOTO State of the Art in November 2025. #GOTOcon #GOTO https://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview… State of the Art of Container Security • Adrian Mouat & Charles Humble • GOTO 2026

I spoke with @charleshumble.bsky.social a few weeks back for @gotocon.com

We dived into a wide range of security and container topics, from why containers came about and how vulnerability scanners work, to SBOMs and the evolution of Distroless into @chainguard.dev images

youtu.be/9NUOiL48hbo?...

China's Xinhua news agency has just published this editorial cartoon in response to Trump's rejection of climate policies.

It is pretty clear that China views this as a HUGE geopolitical fumble by the US leaving the field clear for China's to win the global race to clean-tech hegemony

JUST FANCY THAT! "I kind of think of [taking] ads as like a last resort for us as a business model" - ChatGPT founder Sam Altman, October 2024 "We are starting to test ads in ChatGPT free and Go (new $8/month option) tiers" - Sam Altman, January 2026

The always brilliant Private Eye.

You should try and get Frank Elavsky. He’s amazing. I might be able to introduce. DM me if interested.

I'd be delighted. Just let me know. I can also recommend a very good accessibility speaker if you like.

Help shape #Øredev2026 👇
If we introduce a new track, what should it be?
Let’s build the program together 💙
👉 Let us know in a comment or DM!

I’m happy to help find speakers for it if needed

Can we get a sustainability track? As LLMs dominate the conversation, we’re sidelining hard questions about energy, infra, and long-term impact. Architecting for sustainability deserves real stage time.

Somewhere between Christmas and Easter I buy Cadbury Creme Egg, eat it, and then feel slightly sick. I have no idea why I do this. I don’t like them. I don’t think I ever did.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue